id="p-0058" num="0057">FIG. 3A illustrates a closer view of the platform 106 having the connector 126 coupled to the interface 128 and pin or pins 130. As noted above, FIG. 3B illustrates a case 112 having an opening 112a that would allow the pins 130 to mate with the port of the electronic product through the opening 112a. FIG. 3C further illustrates the case 112 holding or carrying an electronic product 110 such as a mobile phone. The case 112 can include external ports 112b and 112c that can allow the pins 130 (shown in FIG. 3A) to interface or connect with a port or ports (such as charging ports or screw holes for charging ports) on the electronic product.

Referring to FIG. 4A, another system 400 is shown having a platform 406 and a cavity 408 for receiving and interfacing with an electronic product via interface 428. FIG. 4B illustrates a closer view of the interchangeable interface 428 which can accommodate different configured ports on different electronic products. For example, one electronic product might use a USB charging connector while another might use a lightning connector or a USB-C connector. In some embodiments, the air-flow can enter through the charger port screw holes. In some instances, the port or connector might be in a slightly different location. The interchangeable interface 428 can be modified with different openings and contained within a hinged enclosure having a top portion 428a, a hinge 428c and a bottom portion 428b as shown. The interchangeable interface 428 also allows for a quick change-out of damaged air injection nozzles. The air injection nozzles can, for example, connect to the charger port for all types of charging ports such as the lightning port, USB-C port or other port.

Referring to FIGS. 5A-5C, an alternative carrier or phone case 500 depicts a carrying case for an electronic device that further includes a main body 502, a removable or interchangeable interface 504, and gasket 506. The carrier can be made of a hard plastic such as acetyl, nylon, Teflon, or other material. The removable or interchangeable interface 504 or portions of the interface 504 can be made of a softer plastic. Although the carrier 500 can be made as a unitary piece, the three-part configuration shown allows for an interchangeable interface that can accommodate different devices having different port configurations by swapping out the interface 504 accordingly.

The carrier 500 can be designed to accommodate a particular product model or a series of models having substantially similar dimensions. The carrier 500 can also include one or more holes 520 to allow water, slurry, or other fluids to escape underneath the carrier (due to gravity).

In some embodiments, the carrier 500 can have a main body 502 that further includes a semi-oval notch 502a, a pair of vertical notches 502b, and a channel 502c formed by adjacent outer walls of the main body 502 of carrier 500. The carrier 500 can include the removable interface 504 that can include the extended oval pin port area 504a, vertical extender bars 504b, backwall 504c, and pin holes 504d. The carrier 500 can further include the gasket 506 that can include a semi-oval notch 506a, a pair of vertical notches 506b, and an internal vertical wall 506c.

In assembly, the removable interface 504 is temporarily affixed to the main body 502 by placing the removable interface 504 in-between the gasket 506 and the main body 502 where the extended area 504a (of interface 504) is captured between notches 502a and 506a, extender bars 504b are captured between vertical notches 502b and 506b, and the backwall 504c is captured by the placement of the backwall 504c and internal vertical wall 506c in the channel 502c of the main body. The extender bars 504b being in-between the notches 502b and 506c also helps maintain the removable interface 504 in place.

Note that the removable interface 504 can be designed for different configurations of airline pin inputs or pin holes 504d. The removable interface 504 can also be designed for different phone case bottom port areas by altering the configuration of the backwall 504c. If a phone has input ports such as charging ports in different locations or configurations on the bottom of the phone or if additional ports that need to be covered for a particular phone model, the backwall 504c can be configured to accommodate such differences to provide an adequate interface with adequate or superior sealing. For example, if the phone had a centrally disposed charging port and additional speaker ports or microphone ports on the bottom of a phone, bumps could be included on the interior face of the backwall 504c to “cover-up” the additional speaker and microphone ports if needed. In other embodiments, a spongy (non-porous) or pliable material can be used for the backwall 504c to allow for adequate sealing of such ports.

Referring to FIGS. 6A-6H, a turntable 600 is shown in various views. The exploded view of FIG. 6A or 6F depicts a clam-shell configuration having a top portion 602 and a bottom portion 604. FIG. 6B or 6G shows the top and bottom portions assembled together in a top perspective view. FIG. 6C illustrates a top plane view of the turntable 600 and FIGS. 6D and 6F illustrate an exploded bottom perspective view and a bottom perspective view respectively. FIG. 6H further shows a top plane view of an assembly 650 that has the turntable 600 and further includes a spindle or member 656 centrally disposed on the turntable 600. The turntable 600 can be made of any material such as metal or plastic that can be mounted together by using screws, bolts, adhesives, or other affixing mechanisms or press-fit or snap-fit together. In some embodiments the turntable 600 can be made as a unitary piece that could be formed by molding or by 3D printing. Whether made as a single piece or two pieces (or more), the turntable 600 in some embodiments will have formed therein (integrated) channels for providing air to pressurize one or more electronic devices mounted on the turntable 600.

The top portion 602 of the turntable 600 can include one or more cavities 602a for holding electronic devices and/or carriers for electronic devices such as the carrier 500 in FIGS. 5A-5C. The cavities 602a can further include channels 602b for channeling away water or other fluids used in the polishing process. The channels 602b can lead to cavities or holes 602c that allow the water or other fluids to flow underneath and away from the turntable. Note that the lower portion 604 can include corresponding holes 604c that form a contiguous cavity or hole with hole 602c of the top portion 602. As noted above, the top and bottom portions form channels therein when placed together.

FIG. 6A illustrates a bottom channel portion 604a in the bottom portion 604 that can carry air to the various electronic devices residing above in the different cavities 602a. The top portion 602 would also include channels or holes that (together with the bottom channel portions 604a) would allow air to travel from a central air source to the different electronic devices (and their respective airline input ports). The top portion 602 can further include a central platform 602d that includes a hole 602e centrally disposed in the middle of the platform 602d and also in the middle of the entire turntable 600.

As shown in FIGS. 6F-6G, hole 602e can hold a spindle or member 656 that can include an air intake port 656a. The spindle or member 656 is vertical and perpendicular to the platform 602d or turntable 600. In some embodiments, the member 656 can remain stationary relative to the turntable so that an input airline tube coupled to the air intake port 656a can remain stationary as the turntable 600 turns. The member 656 can include an airline output port (not shown) that centrally feeds the various channels (604a) within the turntable 600 and the respective electronic devices that may be mounted above in the cavities 602a.

As depicted in FIG. 6H, the turntable 600 can also include an interface 602f. The interface 602f can interface with the removable interface 504 of the carrier 500 shown in FIGS. 5A-5C. In some embodiments, the interface 602f can be removable and interchangeable as needed as previously discussed with the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 through 4B. In other embodiments, the interface 602f can be non-removable. A removable version can provide additional flexibility for accommodating different products and their port configurations at the possible expense of additional parts and costs.

In some embodiments, a method 700 for polishing screens on electronic products as illustrated by the flow chart of FIG. 7, can include the step 702 of receiving an electronic product having a screen in a mounting area (such as a cavity among one or more cavities) of a turntable, coupling and providing air via an air source to a port of the electronic product at step 704, and providing an interface at step 706 serving as a port from the air source to the port of the electronic product. In some embodiments, the air source provides a positive pressure environment to an internal area or volume of one or more electronic products during a polishing function. In some embodiments, the interface can be interchangeable. In some embodiments, the method provides an interface that serves as the port from the air source to the port of the electronic product via at least one pin connection. In some embodiments the interface can be fixed where the method only serves a specific set of devices (such as all iPhones of a particular model or all android phones from a particular manufacture or a particular mix of devices). An interchangeable interface provides greater flexibility to polish any combination of devices as desired by correlating interfaces with the port configurations of devices being polished. In most instances, the pin connection will enable the connection from the air source to the electronic device, but other types of connections are certainly contemplated within the scope of the claims to enable providing the positive air pressure environment to the internal area or volume of the phone or electronic product as needed.

In some embodiments, the method 700 further includes the step 708 of applying slurry on a top surface of the screen while the air source provides the positive pressure environment to the internal area of the at least one electronic product.

In some embodiments, the method 700 also includes the step 710 of applying a brush to the surface of the screen while the air source provides the positive pressure environment to the internal area of the at least one electronic product.

Note that the system and method herein simplify the polishing process by essentially removing all or the vast majority of gluing and glue removal steps in the existing systems and methods. For example, there is no need to glue the phone into a corresponding case which was done to avoid having liquid intrusion into the phone. Instead, the claimed embodiments apply a positive internal air pressure environment to mitigate or avoid any liquid or moisture intrusion during and after the polishing process. In the old existing system, glue was used between the phone and the case to avoid having water to intrude between the phone and the case and eventually within the ports on the side of the phone.

In the embodiments herein, even if water, slurry or other liquid gets in-between the case and phone, the positive air pressure applied to the phone during the polishing process will keep all such potential contaminants out of the phone. Also note that with the embodiments herein there is no need to cover up other remaining ports or holes on the phone since the air injected into the phone is pushed out of all the open exit points of the phone in order to mitigate water or liquid intrusion. In some embodiments, there may be a desire to still cover other holes of the electronic product such as a speaker grill or port and portions of a painted bezel of a phone or device (with glue) to avoid decolorization that might be caused by the application of slurry or from polishing brushes. Again, such glue application would only be done on speaker ports or colored bezels subject to decolorization and not for any concern of water intrusion.

Further note that the embodiments herein can further eliminate quality issues that occurs with the existing methods using glue. In some instances, the existing glue methods would fail by wearing off the glue during the polishing process which would then allow water or slurry intrusion. Since the embodiments herein would always have positive pressure pushing out from the exit ports of the electronic device or phone, the lack of glue would not be an issue since glue is not relied upon to provide such function. Thus, the embodiments herein eliminate quality issues caused by gluing the phone to the case.

Another quality improvement over the existing method using glue comes from eliminating any “wave” that might be formed on the surface of the glass during the polishing process. In other words, the surface of the screen that is covered by the glue (such as a speaker port) is not removed by the polishing process and thus causes a slight “wave” on the surface of the glass. This “wave” then further causes issues when applying a screen protector where customers expressed a concern about screen “flatness”. Without use of glue as in the embodiments herein, this quality issue can be eliminated.