This invention relates to a, preferably transparent, indicating accessory arranged to be used on intelligent mobile devices, and more particularly to an accessory arranged to attach to the surface of the intelligent mobile device, in order to clarify the operational area for a user when the mobile application is executed.

Nowadays, advanced technology brings increasing development of telecommunication technologies. Moreover, as a result of improvement to our living standard, mobile phones have been widely used in our daily life. Almost everyone has a mobile phone. Functions of mobile phones have become far more than phone calls and texts, and they include camera, access to internet, video, music and film, and especially games.

Recent games have higher definition pictures and need more complicated operation. Meanwhile, because most of the present mobile devices are operated by touching the screens of the mobile devices, as shown in figures 1 A and 1 B, a user can control the application software by swiping the touch screen 21 of the intelligent mobile device 2 in the operational area 21 1 with their finger 1 .

However when the user is playing many types of games where the user needs to be looking at the screen of the device (for example at a location where a character of the game is virtually located) rather than the position of their finger on the device 2, it is difficult for the user to check if their fingers are properly located in the operational area 21 1 (comprising for example direction arrows and virtual buttons). Furthermore, the accuracy of the touch screen 21 cannot compare with a simulated joystick. It causes operation mistakes and the user's finger 1 easily falls outside of the operational area 21 1 when swiping on the touch screen 21 . Thus the user cannot control the games or the application software well. This is particularly true of emulations of classic games which were originally designed to be played by a game pad with tactile feedback.

Aspects of the invention address or at least ameliorate at least one of the above issues.

In one aspect, by means of an accessory arranged to attach on the intelligent mobile device, the user can be freed from concentrating on the operational area while operating the application software. In another aspect, the accessory builds a height difference between the operational area and the non-operational area, so that the user is enabled to recognize the operational area clearly as soon as he/she touches the screen, and is enabled to tell the difference between the operational area and the non-operational area when swiping on the touch screen. Therefore, the operation mistakes decrease when the user is playing the games or using the application software on the intelligent mobile device. In view of the above, in one aspect the present disclosure provides a, preferably transparent, indicating accessory arranged to be used on intelligent mobile devices, which is arranged to attach to the surface of intelligent mobile devices, in order to clarify the location and extent of the operational area for a user when the mobile application is executed.

In order to implement the above function of the indicating accessory, aspects of the present disclosure provide an indicating accessory for a mobile device with a touch panel and at least one mobile application installed therein, comprising at least one indicating unit arranged to locate on a predetermined location of the touch panel, the touch panel comprising an indicating operational area and a non-operational area while the mobile device executes the mobile application, and the predetermined location corresponds to the indicating operational area.

In some examples, the above intelligent mobile device may be an intelligent (or smart) mobile phone or a tablet computer.

In some examples, the above indicating unit may further comprise a protrusion portion.

In some examples, the above operational area on the touch screen may have signs indicating directions, and the indicating operational area may comprise indicating signs, and the protrusion portion may correspond to the indicating signs.

In some examples, a thickness of the protrusion portion is greater than a thickness of the indicating unit.

In some examples, the operational area and the non-operational area may be established on different planar heights respective with each other by using the indicating unit.

In another aspect, an example implementation structure of the indicating accessory arranged to be used on intelligent mobile devices provides an indicating accessory for a mobile device with a touch panel and at least one mobile application installed therein, comprising at least one indicating unit having a through-hole arranged to locate on a predetermined location of the touch panel, the touch panel comprising an indicating operational area and a non-operational area while the mobile device executes the mobile application, and the predetermined location corresponds to the indicating operational area.

In some examples, the above mobile device may be a smart phone or a tablet computer.

In some examples, the indicating operational area may comprise indicating signs, and the through-hole may correspond to the indicating signs.

In some examples, the operational area and the non-operational may be established on different planar heights respective to each other by using the indicating unit with the through- hole. In another aspect, an example implementation structure of an indicating accessory used on intelligent mobile devices provides an indicating accessory for a mobile device with a touch panel and at least one mobile application installed therein, comprising at least one indicating unit having a through-hole arranged to locate on a predetermined location of the touch panel, the touch panel comprising an indicating operational area and a non-operational area while the mobile device executes the mobile application, and the predetermined location corresponds to the indicating operational area; and the indicating accessory further comprising a decorative unit arranged to be located around the indicating unit and arranged to be attached on the non- operational area of the touch panel.

In some examples, the above the mobile device is smart phone or tablet computer.

In some examples, the above indicating operational area may comprise indicating signs, and the through-hole may correspond to the indicating signs.

In some examples, the above the operational area and the non-operational area may be established on different planar heights respective to each other by using the indicating unit with the through-hole.

In another aspect, an example implementation structure of an indicating accessory arranged to be used on intelligent mobile devices provides an indicating accessory for a mobile device with a touch panel and at least one mobile application installed therein, comprising at least one indicating unit having a concave portion arranged to locate on a predetermined location of the touch panel, the touch panel comprising an indicating operational area and a non-operational area while the mobile device executes the mobile application, and the predetermined location corresponds to the indicating operational area.

In some examples, the above intelligent mobile device may be an intelligent mobile phone or a tablet computer.

In some examples, the indicating operational area may comprise indicating signs, and the concave portion may correspond to the indicating signs.

In some examples, the operational area and the non-operational area may be established on different planar heights respective to each other by using the indicating unit with the concave portion.

The indicating accessory may be at least partly transparent.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 A, already discussed, schematically illustrates a conventional touch screen comprising an operational area;

Figure 1 B, already discussed, schematically illustrates an instruction on a conventional touch screen comprising an operational area;

Figure 2A schematically illustrates a scattered representation of a 1 ^st example implementation structure of an indicating accessory arranged to be used on an intelligent mobile device;

Figure 2B schematically illustrates a 1 ^st example implementation structure of an indicating accessory as used on an intelligent mobile device;

Figure 2C schematically illustrates a scattered representation of a 1 ^st example implementation structure of an indicating accessory arranged to be used on an intelligent mobile device;

Figure 3A schematically illustrates a scattered representation of a 2 ^nd example implementation structure of an indicating accessory arranged to be used on an intelligent mobile device;

Figure 3B schematically illustrates a 2 ^nd example implementation structure of an indicating accessory as used on an intelligent mobile device;

Figure 4A schematically illustrates a scattered representation of a 3 ^rd example implementation structure of an indicating accessory arranged to be used on an intelligent mobile device;

Figure 4B schematically illustrates a 3 ^rd example implementation structure of an indicating accessory as used on an intelligent mobile device;

Figure 5A schematically illustrates a scattered representation of a 4 ^th example implementation structure of an indicating accessory arranged to be used on an intelligent mobile device; and

Figure 5B schematically illustrates a scattered representation of a 4 ^th example implementation structure of an indicating accessory as used on an intelligent mobile device.

Figures 2A and 2B schematically illustrate an example 1 ^st implementation structure of a, preferably transparent, indicating accessory arranged to be used on an intelligent mobile device, Figure 2A being a scattered representation and Figure 2B being a representation of the indicating accessory as used on an intelligent mobile device. As shown in the two figures, a touch screen 21 is arranged on an intelligent mobile device 2. At least one piece of application software is installed on the intelligent mobile device 2. A, preferably transparent, indicating accessory 3 has at least one indicating unit 31 . As seen from figure 2A, there is one indicating unit 31 in the 1 ^st implementation structure. The indicating unit 31 is arranged to locate on and connect to a function of the touch screen 21 . When the application is running on the intelligent mobile device 2, an operational area 21 1 and a non-operational area 212 show on the touch screen 21 . The non-operational area 21 2 includes all the area other than the operational area 21 1 on the touch screen 21 . The indicating unit 31 is arranged to locate on the touch screen 21 , on a location corresponding to the operational area 21 1 showing on the touch screen 21 when application is running on the intelligent mobile device 2.

In the 1 ^st implementation structure, the operational area 21 1 shows on the touch screen 21 . 5 Alternatively or additionally, in some examples, when the, preferably transparent, indicating unit 31 is attached to the touch screen 21 , as can be seen in figure 2C, the operational area 21 1 can be hidden or not displayed (as represented by the dotted lines) by setting such a function of the application software (for example in the function setting menu in a game). In the case were the operational area 21 1 is hidden or not displayed on the screen 21 , the whole 10 picture of the application software may be displayed on the touch screen 21 without being partly covered by the operational area 21 1 . In the case were the indicating unit 31 is transparent, the user may see the whole picture of the application software as displayed on the touch screen 21 . In all the cases, the user can control the application software by using the indicating unit 31 .

15 In some embodiments, four protrusion portions 31 1 are arranged on the indicating unit 31 . In some examples, four direction (or circle) signs may be located on the operational area 21 1 on the touch screen 21 . The protrusion portions 31 1 arranged on the indicating unit 31 may correspond to the direction signs on the touch screen 21 . Consequently, when the user swipes their finger on the indicating unit 31 which is attached to the touch screen 21 , the movement of

20 the finger of the user on the indicating unit 31 can be limited within the range of the four protrusion portions 31 1 . In some examples, the four protrusion portions 31 1 may also correspond to the four directions signs. Alternatively or additionally, the thickness of the protrusion portions 31 1 may also be greater than the indicating unit 31 , thus the indicating unit 31 builds a height difference between the operational area 21 1 and the non-operational area

25 212 on the touch screen 21 . Therefore even if the user does not watch the touch screen 21 , the operation range can be easily found by the user by means of the height difference between the operational area 21 1 and the non-operational area 212 built by the four protrusion portions 31 1 . The operation mistakes can be accordingly decreased.

It is understood that as non-limiting examples, the intelligent mobile device 2 may include an 30 intelligent mobile phone, an intelligent tablet and/or any other intelligent electronic mobile devices with a touch screen.

It is understood that apart from the above structure, the, preferably transparent, indicating accessory 3 may be modified according to the shape of the operational area 21 1 . The disclosure is not limited to the structure above.

35 In another aspect of the disclosure, there is another implementation structure example showing as figure 3A and figure 3B. Unlike the previous structure, the transparent indicating accessory 4 may have more than one indicating unit 41 .

Let one indicating unit 41 be a non-limiting example, as illustrated in Figures 3A and 3B. The indicating unit 41 has at least one through-hole 41 1 . The indicating unit 41 is arranged to locate on, and register to, the screen 21 of the intelligent mobile device 2. When the application is running on the intelligent mobile device 2, the touch screen 21 shows the operational area 21 1 and the non-operational area 212. The indicating unit 41 is arranged to locate on, and register to, the screen 21 of the intelligent mobile device 2 so that the through- hole 41 1 is arranged to be located at a location corresponding to the operational area 21 1 on the touch screen 21 of the intelligent mobile device 2.

In some examples, the operational area 21 1 showing on the touch screen 21 may have direction signs. The through-hole 41 1 on the indicating unit 41 is arranged to be located on a location corresponding to the direction signs of the touch screen 21 . As shown in figure 3B, the through-hole 41 1 encloses the four direction signs. In some examples the through-hole 41 1 may build a height difference between the operational area 21 1 and the non-operational area 212. Therefore when the user swipes their finger, the range of movement may be limited in the through-hole 41 1 , and may not go outside of the operational area 21 1 . Thus the user can control the operational area 21 1 easily, and the operation mistakes can be decreased. As already stated, when the application software in the intelligent mobile device 2 is running, the touch screen 21 shows the operational area 21 1 and the non-operational area 212. In some examples there may be direction signs in the operational area 21 1 on the touch screen 21 , and those direction signs are a modality of implementation of the application software. It is understood that the disclosure is not limited to the described number of signs, and the application software may show for example two direction signs or circle signs, whilst still within the scope of the claimed invention.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is another implementation example described in the present disclosure. As illustrated in figures 4A and 4B, the indicating accessory 5 may comprise a transparent part corresponding to an indicating unit 51 , in order to enable the user to see, at least partly, the non-operational area 212. Alternatively or additionally, the indicating accessory may further include a decorative border or unit 52 around the indicating unit 51 . A hole 51 1 located in the indicating unit 51 is arranged to locate at a location still corresponding to an operational area 21 1 of the touch screen 21 . The decorative unit 52 is arranged to be attached or to register to the non-operational area 21 1 of the intelligent mobile device 2, for example with different topics matching different games, thus enabling creating stunning visual effects. Alternatively or additionally, the decorative unit 52 may provide a frame providing many printing and promoting opportunities. In another aspect of the disclosure, there is a further implementation example described in the present disclosure. As can be seen in figures 5A and 5B, unlike the 2 ^nd implementation example, an indicating unit 61 arranged on a, preferably transparent, indicating accessory 6 is not a hole, but a concave portion or structure 61 1 arranged on the surface of the indicating unit 61 . In some embodiments, the concave portion 61 1 appears like a ring, and is arranged to be connected to the main body of the indicating unit 61 , instead of a hole. The concave portion 61 1 is arranged to be located at a location corresponding to the operational area 21 1 on the touch screen 21 . When the indicating unit 61 is attached to the surface of the intelligent mobile device 2, a height difference will be built by the concave structure 61 1 . When the user swipes their finger on the indicating unit 61 , the operation range can be easily appreciated by means of the height difference, with a sense of touch similar to a joystick.

Compared with conventional techniques, the, preferably transparent, indicating accessory arranged to be used on intelligent mobile devices, according to aspects of the disclosure may have the following features.

1 . The, preferably transparent, indicating accessory arranged to be used on intelligent mobile devices, according to the disclosure, may be a kind of accessory arranged to locate or register to the surface of the intelligent mobile devices, by means of which a user can appreciate or feel the operation area accurately when operating the application software in the intelligent mobile devices; thus the operation mistakes can be decreased.

2. The, preferably transparent, indicating accessory arranged to be used on intelligent mobile devices, according to the disclosure, may preferably be, but not exclusively, made out, at least partially, of transparent materials where it is necessary for the user to see, at least partly, the non-operational area 212. Preferably the transparent part of the indicating accessory does not bring impact on the visual effect of the device when the application software is running in the intelligent mobile device.

3. The, preferably transparent, indicating accessory arranged to be used on intelligent mobile devices, according to the disclosure, may have a thickness, which causes a height difference between the operational area and the non-operational area. The, preferably transparent, indicating accessory according to the disclosure may be arranged to register to the screen of a mobile device, and thus the dimensions of the indicating accessory can be small, therefore the indicating accessory can be easy to carry and store.

The above details of the implementation samples demonstrate some of the features and main components of the indicating accessory according to the disclosure, which means that the scope of the claimed invention is not only directed to the above described examples. These examples aim at covering different example forms of implementations based on the claimed invention or within the scope of the same claimed invention.

The disclosure describes embodiments where a transparent indicating accessory is arranged to be used on intelligent mobile devices with a touch screen and at least one piece of application software. The transparent indicating accessory may include at least one indicating unit, which may be arranged to connect with the function of the touch screen. When the application software runs on the intelligent mobile device, the operational area and the non- operational area may show on the screen. The indicating unit may be arranged to be attached at the corresponding position of the operational area while the application software is running on the intelligent mobile device. The indicating unit may build a height difference between the operational area and the non-operational area showing on the touch screen, thus the location and extent of the operational area can be clearly known by users, and operation mistakes such as touching the incorrect position will also be decreased.

In some embodiments, the indicating accessory may be a, preferably transparent, overlay for the touch screen of the phone or the tablet. In some examples, the indicating accessory may have mechanically etched areas (for examples laser-etched) which are arranged to correspond to on-screen control positions (such as the direction arrows and the buttons) located in the operational area of the touch screen. Alternatively or additionally, it is appreciated that the indicating accessory may also comprise any other types of mechanical embossing.

In some examples, there is provided a transparent indicating accessory for a mobile device with a touch panel and at least one mobile application installed therein, comprising : at least one transparent indicating unit which may be arranged to be placed on a predetermined location of the touch panel, the touch panel comprising an indicating operational area and a non-operational area while the mobile device executes the mobile application, and wherein the predetermined location corresponds to the indicating operational area.

The mobile device may be a smart phone or a tablet computer. The transparent indicating unit may further comprise a protrusion portion. The indicating operational area may comprise indicating signs, and the protrusion portion may be arranged to be located on a location corresponding to the indicating signs. A thickness of the protrusion portion may be greater than a thickness of the indicating unit. The operational area and the non-operational area may be established on different planar heights respective to each other by using the indicating unit. In some examples, there is provided a transparent indicating accessory for a mobile device with a touch panel and at least one mobile application installed therein, comprising : at least one transparent indicating unit having a through-hole which may be arranged to be placed on a predetermined location of the touch panel, the touch panel comprising an indicating operational area and a non-operational area while the mobile device executes the mobile application, and wherein the predetermined location corresponds to the indicating operational area. The mobile device may be a smart phone or a tablet computer. The indicating operational area may comprise indicating signs, and the through-hole may be arranged to be located on a location corresponding to the indicating signs. The operational area and the non-operational area may be established on different planar heights respective to each other by using the indicating unit with the through-hole.

In some examples, there is provided a transparent indicating accessory for mobile device with a touch panel and at least one mobile application installed therein, comprising : at least one transparent indicating unit having a through-hole which may be arranged to be placed on a predetermined location of the touch panel, the touch panel comprising a indicating operational area and a non-operational area while the mobile device executes the mobile application, and the predetermined location corresponds to the indicating operational area; and a decorative unit which may be arranged to be located around the indicating unit and arranged to be attached on the non-operational area of the touch panel. The mobile device may be a smart phone or a tablet computer. The indicating operational area may comprise indicating signs, and the through-hole may be arranged to be located on a location corresponding to the indicating signs. The operational area and the non-operational area may be established on different planar heights respective to each other by using the indicating unit with the through-hole.

In some examples, there is provided a transparent indicating accessory for a mobile device with a touch panel and at least one mobile application installed therein, comprising : at least one transparent indicating unit having a concave portion which may be arranged to be placed on a predetermined location of the touch panel, the touch panel comprising an indicating operational area and a non-operational area while the mobile device executes the mobile application, and the predetermined location corresponds to the indicating operational area. The mobile device may be a smart phone or a tablet computer. The indicating operational area may comprise indicating signs, and the concave portion may be arranged to be located on a location corresponding to the indicating signs. The operational area and the non-operational area may be established on different planar heights respective to each other by using the indicating unit with the concave portion.

In the disclosure, the indicating accessory may be at least partly transparent. Therefore the indicating accessory may be completely transparent or partly transparent, i.e. may comprise parts and/or zones which are not transparent. In the disclosure, "transparent" describes a feature which does not bring impact on the visual effect of the device when the application software is running in the intelligent mobile device, i.e. also encompasses translucent or substantially translucent. In the figures, the reference signs are as follows:

1 User's finger

2 Intelligent mobile device

21 Touch screen

Operational area

Non-operational area

3 Transparent indicating accessory

31 Indicating unit

31 1 Protrusion portion or salient point

4 Transparent indicating accessory

41 Indicating unit

41 1 Empty zone

5 Transparent indicating accessory

51 Indicating unit

52 Decorative unit

51 1 Through-hole

6 Transparent indicating accessory

61 Indicating unit

61 1 Concave portion