Cases for electronic devices

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 63/408,022, filed Sep. 19, 2022, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

This relates generally to enclosures and, more particularly, to cases for electronic devices.

Electronic devices may be damaged if dropped onto a hard surface or otherwise subjected to excessive force. Cases may be used to protect electronic devices when not in use. Storing an electronic device within a case may help protect the device from damage due to drop events and may help prevent scratches and other wear.

A case for an electronic device such as a head-mounted device may have a main housing portion. A cover may be used to overlap an opening in the main housing portion, thereby enclosing an interior region of the case and separating the interior region from a surrounding exterior region.

Flexible protruding portions of the main housing portion may form a flexible tab and a flexible flap. The cover may be slidably coupled to the main housing portion using the flexible tab. The flexible tab may form a hinge that allows the cover to move between an open position in which the opening in the main housing portion is uncovered and a closed position in which the cover overlaps the opening. In the closed position, the head-mounted device is enclosed within the interior region by the main housing portion and the cover.

The main housing portion may have a flexible flap that is configured to fold over the cover when the cover is in the closed position. Magnets may be provided in the cover, the flap, and the tab to hold these structures together and thereby retain the electronic device within the interior region.

To make size adjustments to the interior region, the flexible tab may slide within a slot or other opening in the cover. A window in the tab may allow interior region size adjustment indicators such as cavity size numbers to be viewed. The size adjustment indicators may be viewed as the flexible tab slides back and forth within the opening. This provides a user of the case with information on the current selected size of the case. After the cover has been slid along the flexible tab to adjust the size of the interior region, magnets in the tab and cover may attract each other to resist further sliding of the cover along the tab.

Deformable protrusions in the case may be used to seal openings in the head-mounted device when the device is in the interior region. The deformable protrusions may be formed from a soft material such as foam on interior surfaces of the main housing portion. Deformable protrusions such as foam protrusions may also be formed on the cover and may be configured to press against the head-mounted device when the head-mounted device is in the interior region.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an illustrative case in an open position in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the illustrative case of FIG. 2 in a closed position after the case has received a head-mounted device in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative case in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 4 A is a diagram of a portion of an illustrative adjustable-size case in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 4 B is a side view of an illustrative pair of magnets in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of an illustrative case having foam protrusions that are configured to engage air vents and/or other portions of an electronic device when the electronic device is stored in the case in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of an illustrative case in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of an illustrative case in accordance with an embodiment.

FIGS. 8 , 9 , and 10 are cross-sectional side views of illustrative foam protrusions in accordance with embodiments.

FIGS. 11 and 12 are front views of illustrative cases in accordance with embodiments.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of an illustrative case in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device case. Case 10 , which may sometimes be referred to as a cover, enclosure, protective case, removable case, carrying case, etc., may have housing walls that form housing 12 . The walls of housing 12 separate an interior region within case 10 from the exterior region surrounding case 10 . The interior of case 10 may be shaped and sized to receive and protect an electronic device such as a head-mounted device, camera, cellular telephone, computer, and/or other electronic equipment. Illustrative configurations in which case 10 is a protective case for a head-mounted device may sometimes be described herein as an example. In general, any suitable electronic device may be stored within case 10 .

Housing 12 may have a front portion such as portion 12 - 1 (sometimes referred to as a main portion or main housing portion) and a rear portion such as portion 12 - 2 (sometimes referred to as a cover, housing cover portion, etc.). Portion 12 - 1 may include shell 20 C and structures that protrude from shell 20 C such as flap 20 A and tab 20 B. Flexible protrusions 18 (sometimes referred to as deformable protrusions or deformable sealing protrusions) may be provided on shell 20 C. Protrusions 18 may be formed from a soft pliable (deformable) material such as foam to help hold a device within case 10 and to help prevent particle ingress into openings in the device (e.g., by temporarily sealing these openings). Portion 12 - 2 may include cover 14 . Flexible protrusions 16 (e.g., foam protrusions or other pliable and deformable protrusions which may sometimes be referred to as alignment protrusions or deformable alignment protrusions) may be formed on cover 14 and may help align and hold the head-mounted device in place in case 10 when case 10 is closed.

Cover 14 may have an opening such as slot 34 through which tab 20 B passes. Tab 20 B and flap 20 A may be formed from elastomeric polymer and/or other flexible materials. Hinge region 30 of tab 20 B (which may be formed from a locally softer material and/or a locally thinned material) is preferably sufficiently flexible to allow tab 20 B to serve as a hinge that bends about bend axis 32 . This allows rear portion 12 - 2 to be folded upwards to overlap and cover the opening formed at the rear of shell 20 C, thereby enclosing interior region 26 . Hinge region 36 of flap 20 A is preferably sufficiently flexible to allow flap 20 A to be folded downwards about hinge axis 38 to cover rear portion 12 - 2 . Flap 20 A may have a pull tab such as pull tab 24 that is formed from a material that allows pull tab 24 to be gripped by the fingers of a user (e.g., when the user desires to move flap 20 A upwards to open case 10 ).

When portion 12 - 2 has been folded upwards and flap 20 A has been folded downwards over portion 12 - 2 , magnets in cover 14 , tab 20 B, and flap 20 A may help hold flap 20 A and cover 12 - 2 in place. The magnets of tab 20 B and cover 14 may attract each other to hold tab 20 B in place (e.g., so that tab 20 B does not slip within slot 34 ). The magnets of cover 14 and flap 20 A may attract each other to hold flap 20 A over cover 14 and thereby help hold cover 14 in its closed position over the opening in portion 12 - 1 . When case 10 is closed, the walls of housing 12 separate interior region 26 from exterior region 28 surrounding case 10 . A head-mounted device may be stored in region 26 to help protect the device from damage.

The head-mounted devices that are stored in interior region 26 may have different sizes (e.g., these devices may have different sizes to accommodate different users). It may therefore be desirable to allow the size of interior region 26 (e.g., the length of region 26 along the Z dimension of FIG. 1 ) to be adjusted. In the example of FIG. 1 , this may be accomplished by sliding tab 20 B within slot 34 . A single tab 20 B and single slot 34 are shown in the example of FIG. 1 . If desired, there may be two or more tabs 20 B, two or more slots 34 , and/or one, two, or more than two flaps 20 A. These structures may be formed as integral portions of portion 12 - 1 or may be formed using one or more separate structures that are attached to the main housing portion of case 10 using slots, hook-and-loop fastener material, magnets, snaps, and/or other attachment mechanisms. Tab 20 B may have a window such as window 22 . Window 22 may overlap a column of internal-region size numbers or other cavity size markings (sometimes referred to as interior-region size indicators) on cover 14 , so that a selected one of the numbers is visible when a user adjusts the size of case 10 by moving tab 20 through slot 34 . Arrangements in which size indicators are formed on tab 20 B in addition to or instead of on cover 14 may also be used.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of case 10 of FIG. 1 in an illustrative configuration in which a head-mounted device has been stored in interior region 26 . As shown in FIG. 2 , head-mounted device 8 A may have straps 8 B. There may be gaps formed between the edges of flap 20 A and the opposing edges of shell 20 C through which straps 8 B may protrude while other portions of device 8 A are received within the interior of case 10 .

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of case 10 of FIG. 2 taken along line 40 of FIG. 2 and viewed in direction 42 . As shown in FIG. 3 , magnets 44 may be embedded within flap 20 A, tab 20 B, and cover 14 so that flap 20 A, tab 20 B, and cover 14 are held in place in a desired configuration when case 10 is closed. If desired, other temporary attachment mechanisms may be used (e.g., clasps formed from snaps, stretchable elastic cords, hook-and-loop fasteners, and/or other attachment mechanisms).

As described in connection with FIG. 2 , a user of case 10 may adjust the size of case 10 by moving tab 20 B back and forth through slot 34 . FIG. 4 A is a diagram showing how cover 14 may be provided with a column of interior-region size indicator markings (e.g., size numbers) such as size indicators 48 . In the orientation of FIG. 4 A , cover 14 is open and lying flat in the XZ plane as shown in FIG. 1 . When tab 20 B is magnetically attached to cover 14 , the currently selected size for case 10 may be determined by viewing which of the cavity size numbers is visible through window 22 in tab 20 B. Other types of size indicators may be used, if desired (e.g., tab 20 B and adjacent portions of cover 14 may contain arrows, numbers, icons, and/or other size indicators that may be used as reference markings that visually indicate the current selected size for case 10 ). The use of an opening in tab 20 B such as window 22 that is lined up with a corresponding cavity size indicator on cover 14 is illustrative. Size indicators may be oriented so that the top of the size indicators points in the +Z direction or the-Z direction (as examples).

FIG. 4 B shows how magnets 44 may have alternating north-south poles (N, S), so that when a pair of magnets 44 are attracted to each other, only certain discrete orientations (shifts along the Y axis of FIG. 4 B ) will be allowed (e.g., orientations in which the N pole on a first of magnets 44 is adjacent to and aligned with the S pole on a second of magnets 44 ). In the orientation of FIG. 4 B , cover 14 is in the closed position of FIG. 2 so that magnets 44 lie in the XY plane. By forming magnets 44 so that the poles of magnets 44 are sufficiently close to each other, the user may be provided with a satisfactorily fine level of position adjustment. This allows the location of tab 20 B within slot 34 to be accurately adjusted to accommodate a desired range of head-mounted device sizes. There may be two or more, three or more, four or more, or five or more possible size adjustments for interior region 26 (as examples).

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of case 10 showing how protrusions 18 on shell 20 C may protrude into openings 8 A′ in head-mounted device 8 A, thereby sealing these openings to prevent particle intrusion while also helping to hold device 8 A in place within case 10 . Openings 8 A′ may correspond to air cooling ports (e.g., fan intake and exhaust ports). Protrusions 18 may be formed from foam or other flexible material. When it is desired to remove device 8 A, the foam of protrusions 16 and 18 may deform so that protrusions 18 can be withdrawn from openings 8 A′.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of case 10 showing illustrative structures that may be used in forming case 10 . In the example of FIG. 6 , portion 12 - 1 is formed from an outer covering portion such as main body 12 A and an interior portion such as foam module 12 B that is covered by main body 12 A.

Main body 12 A may include an elastomeric polymer structure such as structure 50 (e.g., a cosmetic cover layer formed from polyurethane), woven webbing for forming pull tab 24 , an elastomeric polymer mid-layer such as acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) layer 52 in which one of magnets 44 is embedded, a soft liner layer such as microfiber layer 54 , rigid structural members such as inner rigid shell 56 (e.g., a polycarbonate shell structure) and outer rigid shell 58 (e.g., a polycarbonate shell structure), a thin cosmetic elastomeric cover layer such as layer 60 (e.g., a multilayer film of a first polyurethane with a thin skin of a second polyurethane), a soft tab liner such as microfiber liner layer 62 , an elastomeric structural member for tab 20 B such as elastomeric layer 64 (e.g., an acrylonitrile butadiene rubber layer) in which another of magnets 44 is embedded, and a cosmetic elastomeric tab cover layer such as polyurethane layer 66 . Protruding portions 90 of structure 50 , layer 52 , and layer 54 may form flexible flap 20 A. Layer 60 , layer 62 , and layer 64 may form tab 20 B. Flap 20 A and tab 20 B (which may sometimes be referred to as protrusions, protruding housing portions, flexible elongated members, tabs, flaps, tongues, etc.) may, if desired, be formed from unitary set of structures or may, as shown in FIG. 6 be formed from two separate sets of structures in portion 12 - 1 .

Module 12 B may be inserted within body 12 A to provide an interior lining for body 12 A. Module 12 B may have deformable members such as foam structures 70 that are covered with soft layers of material such as microfiber layers 72 to form protrusions 18 and may have a microfiber liner layer 74 on the inner side of foam layer 76 . These structures may help provide a soft interior for protecting device 8 A when device 8 A is stored in case 10 .

Portion 12 - 2 may include an elastomeric layer such as layer 86 (e.g., a cosmetic polyurethane layer), a structural elastomeric layer in which one of magnets 44 has been embedded such as layer 84 (e.g., an acrylonitrile butadiene rubber layer), deformable members such as foam 82 , and a soft covering layer such as microfiber layer 80 . Foam 82 may be covered with portions of layer 80 and/or other microfiber to form protrusions 16 . Layers 86 , 84 , and 80 may have aligned slots 88 that form slot 34 in cover 14 ( FIG. 1 ).

A cross-sectional side view of a portion of case 10 showing how layers of material may be attached together (e.g., using adhesive) to form the walls of the housing of case 10 is shown in FIG. 7 . As shown in FIG. 7 , layer 50 may extend to front F of portion 12 - 1 and may be sandwiched between polycarbonate shells 56 and 58 .

In the example of FIG. 7 , foam 70 and foam 76 are formed from separate structures and may be made of the same foam material or different foam materials. These foam structures may have the same stiffness values or may have different respective stiffness values. Additional illustrative arrangements for forming deformable housing protrusions (e.g., structures for protrusions 16 and/or 18 ) from foam are shown in FIGS. 8 , 9 , and 10 . In the example of FIG. 8 , a foam protrusion is formed from first foam structure 94 (e.g., a member with a T-shaped cross-sectional profile), which has a portion that protrudes through an opening in second foam structure 96 (e.g., a housing liner foam layer that supports the protrusion). In the example of FIG. 9 , a foam protrusion is formed from a protruding portion of foam layer 96 (e.g., the foam material of the protrusion and the housing liner layer that supports the protrusion are integrated). In the example of FIG. 10 , a hollow foam protrusion is formed in housing liner layer 98 (e.g., to enhance the deformability of the protrusion). Other types of arrangements for forming deformable protrusions may be used, if desired.

FIGS. 11 and 12 are front views of illustrative cases. Case 10 of FIG. 11 has an oval outline and is sized to receive device 8 A within its interior. Case 10 of FIG. 12 has a recessed portion such as nose bridge portion NB, which is aligned with a corresponding recessed nose bridge portion in device 8 A, thereby accommodating device 8 A for storage. The shape of case 10 of FIG. 12 may enhance the appearance of case 10 and may help to indicate to a user which type of device is stored in case 10 .

In the example of FIG. 6 , body 12 A includes stiff structures such as shells 56 and 58 , whereas tab 20 B and flap 20 A are formed from soft flexible elastomeric material (e.g., rubber). To help prevent an abrupt transition between the relatively high stiffness of the shell of portion 12 - 1 and the tab/flap structures of portion 12 - 1 , a stiffness transition bridge may be formed. This type of arrangement is shown in FIG. 13 . As shown in FIG. 13 , first housing portion 100 (e.g., a portion of housing 12 including polycarbonate structures such as shells 58 and 60 of FIG. 6 ) may have a first stiffness (e.g., a relatively high stiffness that makes portion 100 rigid), whereas second housing portion 102 (e.g., a structure such as flap 20 A or tab 20 B that has flexible polymer layers) may have a second stiffness (e.g., a relatively low stiffness that makes portion 102 flexible). To reduce the abruptness of the transition between the higher stiffness of portion 100 and the lower stiffness of portion 102 , a stiffness transition structure such as polymer layer 104 (e.g., a layer of flexible polymer with an intermediate stiffness or other stiffness value such as a layer of polyethylene terephthalate) may be attached to portions 100 and 102 (e.g., with adhesive) as shown in FIG. 13 . Layer 104 may be a strip of polymer that extends into the page of FIG. 13 and runs along the seam joining portions 100 and 102 . When portion 104 is present, housing 12 will have a first stiffness in region R1, a second (lower) stiffness in region R2, and will have an intermediate stiffness in region R3 (where stiffness transition layer 104 is present). This arrangement helps smooth the stiffness transition between the rigid and flexible portions of housing 12 and may therefore enhance the feel case 10 during handling by a user.

The above-described technology may involve the gathering and use of information such as sensor information. The present disclosure contemplates that in some instances, data may be gathered that includes personal information data that uniquely identifies or can be used to contact or locate a specific person. Such personal information data can include demographic data, location-based data, telephone numbers, email addresses, twitter ID's, home addresses, data or records relating to a user's health or level of fitness (e.g., vital signs measurements, medication information, exercise information), date of birth, username, password, biometric information, or any other identifying or personal information.

The present disclosure recognizes that the use of such personal information, in the present technology, can be used to the benefit of users. For example, the personal information data can be used to deliver targeted content that is of greater interest to the user. Accordingly, use of such personal information data enables users to calculated control of the delivered content. Further, other uses for personal information data that benefit the user are also contemplated by the present disclosure. For instance, health and fitness data may be used to provide insights into a user's general wellness, or may be used as positive feedback to individuals using technology to pursue wellness goals.

The present disclosure contemplates that the entities responsible for the collection, analysis, disclosure, transfer, storage, or other use of such personal information data will comply with well-established privacy policies and/or privacy practices. In particular, such entities should implement and consistently use privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining personal information data private and secure. Such policies should be easily accessible by users, and should be updated as the collection and/or use of data changes. Personal information from users should be collected for legitimate and reasonable uses of the entity and not shared or sold outside of those legitimate uses. Further, such collection/sharing should occur after receiving the informed consent of the users. Additionally, such entities should consider taking any needed steps for safeguarding and securing access to such personal information data and ensuring that others with access to the personal information data adhere to their privacy policies and procedures. Further, such entities can subject themselves to evaluation by third parties to certify their adherence to widely accepted privacy policies and practices. In addition, policies and practices should be adapted for the particular types of personal information data being collected and/or accessed and adapted to applicable laws and standards, including jurisdiction-specific considerations. For instance, in the United States, collection of or access to certain health data may be governed by federal and/or state laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), whereas health data in other countries may be subject to other regulations and policies and should be handled accordingly. Hence different privacy practices should be maintained for different personal data types in each country.

Despite the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplates embodiments in which users selectively block the use of, or access to, personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplates that hardware and/or software elements can be provided to prevent or block access to such personal information data. For example, the present technology can be configured to allow users to select to “opt in” or “opt out” of participation in the collection of personal information data during registration for services or anytime thereafter. In another example, users can select not to provide certain types of user data. In yet another example, users can select to limit the length of time user-specific data is maintained. In addition to providing “opt in” and “opt out” options, the present disclosure contemplates providing notifications relating to the access or use of personal information. For instance, a user may be notified upon downloading an application (“app”) that their personal information data will be accessed and then reminded again just before personal information data is accessed by the app.

Moreover, it is the intent of the present disclosure that personal information data should be managed and handled in a way to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use. Risk can be minimized by limiting the collection of data and deleting data once it is no longer needed. In addition, and when applicable, including in certain health related applications, data de-identification can be used to protect a user's privacy. De-identification may be facilitated, when appropriate, by removing specific identifiers (e.g., date of birth, etc.), controlling the amount or specificity of data stored (e.g., collecting location data at a city level rather than at an address level), controlling how data is stored (e.g., aggregating data across users), and/or other methods.

Therefore, although the present disclosure broadly covers use of information that may include personal information data to implement one or more various disclosed embodiments, the present disclosure also contemplates that the various embodiments can also be implemented without the need for accessing personal information data. That is, the various embodiments of the present technology are not rendered inoperable due to the lack of all or a portion of such personal information data.

The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made to the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.