REMOVABLE PROTECTIVE GUARD FOR PORTABLE ELECTRONICS DEVICE

The present invention relates to an accessory for a portable electronics device and more particularly to a removable protective guard therefor, mainly for protecting vulnerable corners or edges of the device.

Use of portable electronics devices such as mobile phones, PDAs, MP3 players and so on is increasingly widespread. Such devices are designed and manufactured to be as light as possible and generally have components and casings made from plastics materials. Such materials are not particularly durable and there is a risk of damage to the casing when the device is dropped. Such damage is generally but not exclusively to one or more corner regions of the casing, which may result in a mark on the surface or a split in the casing. If the device is dropped and a corner of its casing lands on a particularly hard material such as a paving slab, there is a risk of the shock being transferred to the interior components or a screen of the device, resulting in the device becoming inoperable. Since such devices are expensive, this is clearly undesirable.

Attempts to resolve this problem have generally focussed on either strengthening the casing material(s) or on preventing the device from being dropped. For example, casings on some portable electronic devices may be made from metal. This increases the weight and cost of the device and may not offer substantial protection against contact with a particularly hard surface. In any event a metal casing may still be scratched or scuffed if dropped. Drop prevention measures include accessories such as wristbands or belt attachments. Such measures are rarely used by a user of the device, possibly for reasons of comfort or convenience.

It is from a consideration of portable electronic devices, drawbacks associated therewith, and previous attempts at a solution, that has led to the development of the present invention.

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a removable protective guard useful for protecting the periphery of a portable electronic device casing, comprising a guard of resiliently deformable material and capable of defining a substantially rectangular shape adapted in use removably to fit around a periphery of the device casing and thereby protect from damage the corners and/or edges of said device casing

The present invention also extends to combinations of the protective guard and the electronic device, when assembled together or when in kit form suitable for assembly.

Serious damage is most often sustained when an unprotected portable electronic device lands on one of its corners (due to the entire weight of the device landing on its smallest surface area) but the present resiliently deformable material of the guard protects from shock better than a metal reinforcement. Since the protective guard is removable it does not matter if it alone is damaged by a drop, although preferred embodiments are substantially damage-resistant.

Preferably one or more corner pieces of the protective guard is (are) adapted in use to form an interlock with a corner of the case. Conveniently this may be achieved by integrally formed protruding lips in the vicinity of the guard intended for its corners.

An advantage of that construction is that the removable guard is less likely to be dislodged by the force of its being dropped, and provides even greater protection in the

corner regims of the device. Such provisions may also help retain the guard in place in normal use of the device.

Preferably the protective guard is of a smaller peripheral size than the periphery If the intended electronic device case and so must be stretched to fit around its periphery. This helps retain the guard in position.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided, in combination, a removable protective guard as defined above for a portable electronic device removably fitted around a periphery of a casing for a portable electronics device.

Preferably the electronic device is a mobile phone, most preferably such phones as have a rigid, fixed construction and so do not flip or slide to operate.

In order that the present invention may be more easily understood, reference will now be made by way of non-limiting example to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view from above or below of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 shows a side orientation of an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 3 shows an end orientation of an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 4 shows an isometric orientation of an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 5 shows an orientation of the present invention from Figure 4 in use with a portable electronics device;

Figures 6 to 31 show further orientations of embodiment of the present invention in combination with a variety of mobile phones in differing shapes and sizes; and

Figure 32 shows a variety of markings which can be applied to embodiments of the present invention.

Referring to Figure 1, the present invention comprises a protective resiliently flexible guard such as a comer guard 10 made of a resiliently deformable material which may be conveniently and cheaply manufactured in any colour and/or have a design applied to its exterior surface 11 (shown in Figure 32). The material of the corner guard 10 defines a peripheral shape complementary with the periphery of a portable electronics device 20 (shown in Figure 5) but is preferably slightly smaller so that it must be stretched along axis A in order to fit onto the device 20. It can be seen that the guard

10 has corner arrangements 12A, 12B, 12C and 12D in the nature of integrally formed protuberances in the form of oppositely spaced lips formed from the same material.

The spaced apart projecting lips are formed so as to form an interlock with complementary corners (not shown) of the portable electronic device 20. This arrangement is best seen in Figure 4, where it can be seen that corner arrangements

12A - 12D have flanges 13 corresponding to said spaced lips which will in use protrude slightly over the front and back of the device 20. It can be seen from Figure 4 that the

such that when dropped, the guard 10 is less likely to be dislodged. Removal of the guard 10 is effected by stretching along axis A and/or width wise (not shown).

It can be seen at least from Figure 5 that the guard 10 does not cover functional parts of the front or rear of the device 20 or adversely interfere with operability of the device 20 when fitted. Its use is therefore not a drawback in the way a belt clip or wrist band may be.

The guard 10 may be stretched or configured so as to fit over a variety of portable electronics devices of different dimensions due to its elastic qualities, and examples of other types of mobile phone to which the guard may be fitted are depicted generally in the views of Figure 6 to 31 inclusive.

An advantage of the present guard resides in its capacity to bear information, such as advertising material, on its exterior surface and /or be fabricated in specific colours. Examples of the combination of a portable electronics device with a fitted guard, optionally including externally visible information such as advertising material are to be found in Figure 32 (a) to (T) inclusive.

The guards can be lightweight, resilient, protective, economical and disposable. They can be fabricated, for example, from an elastic, elastomeric or rubber based material. The guards are preferably one piece integrally formed items, whereas protrusions if fitted have no discernible join to the main body of the guard.