Carrying receptacle

Abstract

A method (and device so formed) for adapting a skin type decorative and protective case customized for fitting a hand held electronic device having a viewing screen and/or keyboard and configured for remaining on the device during use of the device. The method comprises the steps of forming the skin with a slot for insertion of thin items such as credit cards and money into a pocket either between walls of the case or between a wall of the case and an electronic device inserted in the skin case. The pockets are provided with elements to minimize any change of appearance of the original profile and elements for assisting in removing the items from the snug pocket element. The pockets further include elements for maintaining the integrity thereof relative to the remainder of the casing. The pocket may alternatively be directly integrated as part of the device housing.

1 . A skin case customized and configured for fitting a hand held electronic device having a viewing screen and/or keyboard, the skin case having length and width dimensions of at least the length and width of a standard credit card of 3.375″ and 2.125″ respectively (85×55 mm), the skin case being customized and configured to closely conform to a shape of the hand held electronic device and to have apertures and cutouts in registration with access elements thereof and configured for remaining on the hand held electronic device during manual operative use of the hand held electronic device, the skin case comprising an outer wall which is configured to conform to the shape of the hand held electronic device and a pocket element positioned within the skin case, the socket element being of structural integrity and the skin case and pocket element being of sufficient size and configured to snugly enclose and hold at least one standard credit card having said length and width dimensions and a standard credit card thickness of 0.02″ (0.76 mm), with minimal change in thickness of the profile of the hand held electronic device, the skin case being formed with a slot for insertion and removal of the at least one credit card into and from the pocket element, the slot having an open access length dimension of at least 2.125″ (55 mm) 
   
   
       2 . The skin case of  claim 1 , wherein the pocket element is provided with at least one of:
 a) at least one element to minimize change of appearance of the original profile,   b) at least one element for assisting in removing the card from the pocket element, and   c) at least one element for maintaining the integrity of the slot relative to the remainder of the case.   
   
   
       3 . The skin case of  claim 1 , wherein the hand held electronic device is a cell phone and wherein the skin case is configured to permit phone calls to be made and received, as the manual operative use. 
   
   
       4 . The skin case of  claim 3 , wherein the cell phone is one of a cell phone with a viewing screen and a cell phone with a viewing screen and a non-virtual keyboard. 
   
   
       5 . The skin case of  claim 1 , wherein the pocket element is configured to be formed between the hand held electronic device and a wall of the skin case with the hand held electronic device providing one wall of the pocket element. 
   
   
       6 . The skin case of  claim 1 , wherein the pocket element is configured to be comprised of an outer wall of the skin case and an inner wall within the skin case. 
   
   
       7 . The skin case of  claim 1 , wherein the skin case is configured for the integrated placement of a separate hard wall element on an outer wall of the skin case and wherein the pocket element is comprised of the hard wall element and one of the outer wall of the skin case and the hand held electronic device. 
   
   
       8 . The skin case of  claim 7 , wherein the hard wall element is provided with a belt clip. 
   
   
       9 . The skin case of  claim 2 , wherein the element to minimize change of appearance of the original profile comprises a recess in an inner wall surface of the pocket element of length and width dimensions of at least 3.375″×2.125″ (85×55 mm) and a depth of at least 0.02″ (0.76 mm), the recess being configured to contain the at least one credit card therein to provide the minimized change of appearance. 
   
   
       10 . The skin case of  claim 2 , wherein the element for assisting in removing the card from the pocket element comprises an aperture in an outer wall of the pocket element configured to permit finger access to materials contained in the pocket element for sliding the materials out of the slot. 
   
   
       11 . The skin case of  claim 2 , wherein the element for maintaining the integrity of the slot relative to the remainder of the case comprises one of radiussed ends of the slot and reinforced ends of the slot. 
   
   
       12 . The skin case of  claim 2 , wherein the case includes a magnetically protective element which protects an inserted item having a magnetic strip. 
   
   
       13 . A method for adapting a skin type decorative and protective case customized for fitting a hand held electronic device having a viewing screen and/or keyboard, the case being customized to closely conform to the shape of the hand held device and to have apertures and cutouts in registration with access elements thereof and configured for remaining on the device during use of the device, the method comprising the steps of
 a) forming the skin to have a pocket element of structural integrity of sufficient size configured to snugly hold at least one credit card, with minimal change in thickness of the profile of the electronic device   b) forming the skin with a slot for insertion of the at least one credit card into the pocket element;   c) providing the pocket element with at least one element to minimize any change of appearance of the original profile;   d) providing the pocket element with at least one element for assisting in removing the card from the pocket element; and   e) providing the slot with at least one element for maintaining the integrity thereof relative to the remainder of the case.   
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the pocket element is formed between an outer wall of the skin case and the electronic device. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the skin case is formed with a pocket element between walls thereof. 
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the case is rectangular with two ends and two sides and wherein a slot is provided in at least one of the ends and sides with a slot in an end being at least 2.125″ in length and a slot in a side being at least 3.375″ in length. 
   
   
       17 . A hand held electronic device contained within the skin case of  claim 10 . 
   
   
       18 . The hand held electronic device of  claim 17 , wherein the hand held electronic device is provided with an element to retain the at least one credit card in the pocket element from non-intended removal. 
   
   
       19 . The hand held electronic device of  claim 18 , wherein the hand held electronic device is one of a cell phone and a PDA. 
   
   
       20 . The skin case of  claim 1 , wherein the skin case is comprised of a flexible stretchable material.