Cameras, media players, cellular telephones and other low profile or personal portable devices can often be used with various accessories. Such accessories can include a lanyard, strap, cord, or other similar item that can be used to hold, secure or even wear the low profile or portable device. Such arrangements can be convenient and/or even fashionable for a user. As one example, a camera hanging on a strap around the neck of a user allows the user to have his or her hands free for various other needs when not using the camera. As another example, many users of media players, such as the iPod® media player made by Apple Inc., like to wear these items by way of straps or lanyards for both convenience and fashion purposes.
In many instances, the portable or low profile device may have a bar, loop, or other similar feature built into its housing for use with such a lanyard, strap, cord or other suitable attaching item. The lanyard or strap can be slipped around or through this bar or loop, and then looped or tied back onto itself as a way of fastening the lanyard or strap to the portable device. In fact, many commercially available personal cameras are sold with such a feature and associated strap.
Although often effective, such loop and strap arrangements can sometimes be cumbersome. In fact, where the strap, lanyard and/or portable device to which it is to be attached get smaller, the difficulty and annoyance factors tend to rise in tying and untying the lanyard or strap in this type of attachment arrangement. These types of arrangements are not always the most aesthetically appealing items either. Unfortunately, many common attachment mechanisms simply do not translate well to similar but smaller structures for smaller devices, such as the exemplary personal or portable devices discussed herein.
While many of the devices and techniques used to attach a lanyard or strap to a portable or other low profile device have generally worked well in the past, there is always a desire to provide other devices or techniques that can achieve the same objectives in a reliable fashion that might also be more aesthetically pleasing.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds