Clip-on portable case for carrying a portable electronic device   

This application claims priority of Taiwanese Patent Application No. 099126910, filed on Aug. 12, 2010, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a port able case for carrying a portable electronic device, more particularly to a clip-on portable case rotatable relative to an item of apparel to facilitate insertion or removal of a portable electronic device, such as a cell phone, into or from the portable case.

2. Description of the Related Art

A variety of portable cases are each used to accommodate a portable electronic device, such as a cell phone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), etc., and is clipped on an item of apparel, such as a waist belt or a pocket edge, for facilitating a user to carry it. The conventional portable case generally includes a shell defining an accommodation chamber and an access opening for insertion an electronic device into the accommodation chamber, and a cap disposed to removably cover the access opening. The shell has a surrounding wall configured to be fitted to the electronic device protect the latter from impact or slipping of therefrom. With such a protective measure, the portable case, however, is rendered inconvenient to take the electronic device out. Besides, due to the entire coverage shell, a showy gadget is not readily viewable from outside of the case.

SUMMARY

An object of the present invention is to provide a clip-on portable case which is adapted to easily insert and remove a portable electronic device into and from a receptacle thereof so as to more securely carry the electronic device and which is simple in structure to permit a wearer to show off the electronic device.

According to this invention, the clip-on portable case includes a clip-on mounting frame having a first major surface adapted to be clipped onto an item of apparel, and a second major surface opposite to the first major surface in a direction of rotating axis, and a holding frame including a backboard, a bottom holder, and a gate member. The backboard extends in a lengthwise direction transverse to the direction of rotating axis to terminates at holding and access marginal regions, and has a front major surface which defines a receptacle area for a portable electronic device, and a rear major surface which confronts and which is turnable relative to the second major surface about the rotating axis between an unloading position, where the access marginal region faces upwardly, and a loaded position, where a hinge axis of the access marginal region is oriented uprightly. The bottom holder is disposed on the front major surface and adjacent to the holding marginal region, and is configured to permit the portable electronic device to rest thereon. The gate member has a hinged lateral portion hingedly mounted on the access marginal region about the hinge axis, and a gate portion which is opposite to the hinged lateral portion radially relative to the hinge axis, and which is swingable between open and closed positions, where the gate portion is remote from and closer to the bottom holder, respectively. A slidably retaining unit is disposed between the rear major surface and the second major surface to prevent the backboard from moving away from a selected one of the unloading and loaded positions. A transmitting mechanism is disposed to couple the hinged lateral portion with the turning movement of the rear major surface such that, when the rear major surface is turned from the loaded position to the unloading position, the gate portion is swung from the closed position to the open position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective of the preferred embodiment of a clip-on portable case according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the preferred embodiment when clipped onto a waist belt;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a clip-on mounting frame of the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a partly sectioned view of the preferred embodiment, showing that a holding frame is in an unloading position and a gate member is in an open position;

FIG. 5 is a partly sectioned view of the preferred embodiment, showing that the holding frame is in a loaded position and the gate member is in a closed position; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view showing that the gate member is coupled with the holding frame by a transmitting mechanism.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the preferred embodiment of a clip-on portable case according to the present invention is shown to comprise a clip-on mounting frame 2, a holding frame 3, a slidably retaining unit, and a transmitting mechanism.

The clip-on mounting frame 2 has a first major surface 21 adapted to be clipped on an item of apparel, such as a belt 5, and a second major surface 24 opposite to the first major surface 21 in a direction of rotating axis (X). A clip-on unit 23 is disposed on the first major surface 21, and includes a stationary jaw half 231 securely disposed on the first major surface 21, a movable jaw half 232 confronting and movable relative to the stationary jaw half 231 to grasp the belt 5 therebetween, an a biasing member 235 disposed to bias the movable jaw half 232 toward the stationary jaw half 231, thereby clipping on the belt 5. The movable jaw half 232 has tongue 236 which has a slot 233 for accommodating the biasing member 235 in the form of a tension spring, and a plurality of groove-like retained regions 234 arranged in a direction of movement thereof. A socket 241 is disposed in the second major surface 24, and has a plurality of protuberances 242, and an axial mount 246 disposed along the rotating axis (X) and having a screw hole 247.

The holding frame 3 includes a rectangular backboard 31 extending in a lengthwise direction transverse to the direction of rotating axis (X) and terminating at holding and access marginal regions 311, 316, and a central plug 32 extending in the direction of rotating axis (X) from a rear major surface 315 of the backboard 31 and configured to be fitted in and rotatable relative to the socket 241 about the rotating axis (X). An axial hole 33 is formed through the central plug 32 such that a screw bolt 36 extends through the axial hole to threadedly engage the screw hole 247 so as to permit the backboard rotate about the rotating axis (X) relative to the mounting frame 2 between an unloading position, as shown in FIG. 4, where the access marginal region 316 faces upwardly, and a loaded position, as shown in FIG. 5, where a hinge axis defined by two hinge pins 319 on the access marginal region 316 and transverse to the lengthwise direction is oriented uprightly. A decorative cover 310 is disposed to cover the axial hole 33. A plurality of recesses 323 are formed in the central plug 32 to cooperate with the protuberances 242 to serve as the slidably retaining unit and to permit the protuberances 242 to be slidably engaged therein so as to prevent the backboard 31 from moving away from a selected one of the unloading and loaded positions. The holding frame 3 further includes a limiting wall 34 disposed on the rear major surface 315, extending angularly about the rotating axis (X), and radially spaced apart from the central plug 32, and a cutout portion 35 configured to cooperate with the rear major surface 315 to define a limiting passage 351. Two retaining protrusions 37 are disposed on the limiting wall 34 to engage a selected one of the retained regions 234 so as to enable the mounting frame 2 to be fit for clipping on varying sizes of the apparel item 5.

A plurality of lateral holders 312 and an L-shaped bottom holder 317 are disposed on a front major surface 314 of the backboard 31 adjacent to the long-side regions and the holding marginal region 311 to cooperate with the front major surface 314 to define a receptacle area 313 or an portable electronic device that can be inserted into the receptacle area 313 from the access marginal region 316 to rest on the bottom holder 317.

With reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, a gate member has a hinged lateral portion 422 which has two lugs with two hinged recesses 427 engaging the hinge pins 319 on the access marginal region 316 to be hingedly mounted thereon about the hinge axis, and a gate portion 421 which is opposite to the hinged lateral portion 422 radially relative to the hinge axis to be swingable between open and closed positions, where the gate portion 421 is remote from and closer to the bottom holder 317, respectively.

The transmitting mechanism includes a cam track 243 and a cam follower 41. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the cam track 243 is in the form of a guide slot 243 disposed in the second major surface 24 of the mounting frame 2, extending in a circumferential direction about the rotating axis (X), and defining first and second cam positions 245, 244. The first and second cam positions 245, 244 are disposed to be distanced from the rotating axis (X) by shorter and longer lengths, respectively, so as to correspond to the unloading and loaded positions, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6, the cam follower 41 has cam follower end 415 which has a pin 412 slidably engaging in the guide slot 243 to be movable between the first and second compositions 245, 244, an a web portion 411 extending from the cam follower end 415 in lengthwise direction to terminate at an actuating end 414 and passing through the limiting passe to stabilize movement of the cam follower 41 in the lengthwise direction. The actuating end 414 has two pins 413 engaging in two elongate holes 426 in the hinged lateral portion 422 which are aligned along a coupling line that is offset the hinge axis so as to bring the first and second cam positions 245, 244 into correspondence with the open and closed positions, respectively. Further, a stop member 25 is disposed on the mounting frame 2 to resist further movement of either one of two recessed ends 341 of the limiting wall 34 when the holding frame 3 is turned to the loaded position, as shown in FIG. 5, so as to prevent the holding frame 3 from turning to an undesired position rather than the loaded position.

In assembly, the web portion 411 of the cam follower 41 is inserted through the limiting passage 351, and the hinged lateral portion 422 is hingedly mounted on the access marginal region 316. Subsequently, the socket 241 of the mounting frame 2 is fitted to the central plug 32 while matingly engaging the protuberances 242 in the recesses 323 such that the can follower 41 leans on the rear major surface 315 while bringing the pin 412 into engagement in the guide slot 243. Finally, the screw bolt 36 extends through the axial hole 33 to be secured the screw hole 247 in the mounting frame 2 so as to permit rotation of the holding frame 3 between the unloading and loaded positions.

When desired to clip on an item apparel, the movable jaw half 232 is pulled away from the stationary jaw half 231 and the item is placed between the jaw halves 231, 232 to be clamped by means of the biasing member 235. In addition, by engagement of one of the protrusions 37 with a selected one of the retained region 234, the clip-on unit 23 can be firmly clipped on the item.

When the holding frame 3 is in the unloading position, the pin 412 is in the first cam position that is closer to the rotating axis (X), and the gate member 42 is in the open position. The wearer can easily insert or remove an electronic device into or from the receptacle area 313 from the access marginal region 316.

As shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, when the holding frame is turned to the loaded position for providing a satisfactory feeling of comfort when the wearer is in walking, sitting or lying, the cam follower 41 is moved with the holding frame 3 to move the pin 412 to the second cam position 244 that is remoter from the rotating axis (X) so that the cam follower 41 can actuate the swinging movement the gate member 41 to the closed position so as to guard against falling of the electronic device the receptacle area 313. It is noted that at this stage, one of the recessed ends 341 of the limiting wall 34 abuts against the stop member 25 to prevent turning to an undesired position where the access marginal region faces downwardly. On the other hand, when the holding frame turned to unloading position to move the pin 412 to the first cam position 245, the gate member 41 is swung to the open position by means of the cam follower 41, thereby render removal of the electronic device from the receptacle area 313 easy and convenient. Besides, by virtue of the configuration of the lateral and bottom holders 312, 317, the electronic device can be securely received in the receptacle area 313 while desirably displaying its showy appearance.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretations and equivalent arrangements.