Touch screen shield

1. A method for protecting a touch screen of an electronic device having a front face that includes a touch screen portion and an outer perimeter, which method comprises:

providing a touch screen protector comprising a film having front and back sides, an outer perimeter that essentially corresponds to the outer perimeter of the touch screen of the front face of the device, and a transparent window that essentially corresponds in size to that of the touch screen portion; a spacer provided on the back side of the film along the outer perimeter thereof and continuously surrounding the transparent window so as to trap air between the film and the touch screen portion with the spacer having a thickness sufficient to space the film near but not in contact with the touch screen; an exposed adhesive on one side of the spacer that faces the touch screen, with the exposed adhesive having sufficient adhesiveness to mount the touch screen protector onto the touch screen; and a joining adhesive for adhering the spacer to the back side of the film; and

removably attaching the touch screen protector upon the touch screen of the device via the exposed adhesive to form a space between the transparent window of the film, the spacer and the touch screen portion of the device.

2. A method for protecting a touch sensitive screen of an electronic device with a shield, the touch sensitive screen having an active area and an inactive area, the method comprising:

removing at least a portion of a protective liner from the shield to expose an adhesive applied about an outer periphery of the shield;

aligning the shield so that the outer periphery of the shield is positioned over the inactive area of the touch sensitive screen; and

applying pressure to the outer periphery of the shield so that the adhesive attaches the shield to the touch sensitive screen,

wherein at least a portion of the attached shield is lifted off the active area of the touch sensitive screen, and wherein air is trapped between the attached shield, the active area of the touch sensitive screen, and the adhesive.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the adhesive applied about the outer periphery of the shield has a thickness sufficient to lift the attached shield off the active area of the touch sensitive screen.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the shield comprises a base layer and an annular film layer applied about an outer periphery on an underside of the base layer, the adhesive being applied on an exposed surface of the annular film, and wherein the annular film and the adhesive have a combined thickness sufficient to lift the attached shield off the active area of the touch sensitive screen.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the wherein the removing step includes removing an outer peripheral portion of the protective liner from the shield to expose the adhesive and to create a step between a remaining portion of the protective liner and a base layer, and wherein attaching the shield to the touch sensitive screen applies tension to the base layer, the tension causing at least a portion of the shield to lift off the active area of the touch sensitive screen.

6. A combination touch screen device and protective shield, the combination comprising:

a touch sensitive screen for an electronic device, the touch sensitive screen comprising an active area and an inactive area; and

a shield having an adhesive layer surrounding a central portion of the shield, the adhesive being applied only to the inactive area so that no part of the shield contacts the active area of the touch sensitive screen, the shield being mounted to the touch sensitive screen via the adhesive layer so that the central portion of the shield covers at least a portion of the active area of the touch sensitive screen,

wherein the shield is mounted to the touch sensitive screen so that the central portion of the shield is lifted off the touch sensitive screen and so that air is trapped between the shield, the touch sensitive screen, and the adhesive layer, and wherein the shield is further mounted to the touch screen device so that the active area of the electronic device maintains touch sensitivity through the mounted shield.

7. The combination touch screen device of claim 6 , wherein the trapped air forms a continuous and planar air bearing between the central portion of the shield and the active portion of the touch sensitive screen.

8. The combination touch screen device of claim 6 , wherein the shield further comprises a liner layer attached to an interior side of a base layer, the liner layer having an outer periphery smaller than an outer periphery of the base layer so as to form a step between the interior side of the base layer and the liner layer, wherein the step places the base layer into tension, and wherein the tension lifts the central portion of the shield off the touch sensitive screen.

9. The combination touch screen device of claim 6 , wherein the adhesive layer is sufficiently thick so that the central portion of the attached shield lifts off the touch sensitive screen.

10. The combination touch screen device of claim 6 , wherein the shield comprises a base layer and an annular film layer between the base layer and the adhesive layer, the annular film layer surrounding the central portion of the shield, wherein a combined thickness of the annular film layer and the adhesive layer lifts the central portion of the attached shield off the touch sensitive screen.

11. The combination touch screen device of claim 6 , wherein the adhesive layer is attached primarily about the inactive area of the touch sensitive screen so that an air gap exists between the shield and a majority of the active area of the touch sensitive screen.

12. A method for protecting a touch sensitive screen of an electronic device, the touch sensitive screen defining a shape having an active area and an inactive area, the method comprising:

providing a shield having a base layer defining a shape that corresponds to the shape of the touch sensitive screen, the base layer having a central portion that corresponds to the active area of the touch sensitive screen and an outer peripheral portion that corresponds to the inactive area of the touch sensitive screen, the shield further having a pressure sensitive adhesive layer disposed about at least a portion of the outer peripheral portion;

aligning the shield over the touch sensitive screen so that the pressure sensitive adhesive layer is positioned over the inactive area of the touch sensitive screen; and

applying pressure around the outer peripheral portion of the shield to secure the shield to the touch sensitive screen so that at least a portion of the central portion of the attached shield is lifted off the touch sensitive screen,

wherein the applying pressure around the outer peripheral portion of the shield traps air between the attached shield, the active area of the touch sensitive screen, and the pressure sensitive adhesive layer.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the base layer is formed from a flexible material.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the trapped air forms a continuous planar air bearing between the central portion of the shield and the active area of the touch sensitive screen.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the active area of the touch sensitive screen maintains touch sensitivity through the attached shield.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the step of providing a shield comprises applying the pressure sensitive adhesive about the outer peripheral portion of the shield such that the pressure sensitive adhesive has a thickness that causes the central portion of the shield to lift off of the touch sensitive screen.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein the shield further comprises a protective liner attached to an underside of the base layer, wherein the pressure sensitive adhesive is applied between the base layer and the protective liner.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the protective liner has a central portion corresponding to the central portion of the base layer and an outer peripheral portion corresponding to the outer peripheral portion of the base layer, further comprising the step of removing the outer peripheral portion of the protective liner from the base layer to expose the pressure sensitive adhesive layer and to form a step between the base layer and the attached central portion of the protective liner, wherein during the step of applying pressure around the outer peripheral portion of the shield, the step places the base layer into tension, and wherein the tension causes the central portion of the shield to lift off the touch sensitive screen.

19. The method of claim 12 , wherein the shield further comprises an annular layer interposed between the outer peripheral portion of the base layer and the pressure sensitive adhesive layer, wherein the annular layer and the pressure sensitive adhesive layer have a combined thickness sufficient to lift the central portion of the attached shield off the touch sensitive screen.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the annular layer is formed from a film material.

21. The method of claim 19 , wherein the annular layer is formed from an opaque material to hide air bubbles between the shield and the touch sensitive screen when the shield is attached to the touch sensitive screen.

22. The method of claim 12 , wherein the shield comprises an opaque border printed about the outer peripheral portion of the base layer.

23. The method of claim 12 , wherein the inactive area of the touch sensitive screen comprises at least one of a physical button and a speaker, and wherein the shield further comprises at least one cutout that corresponds to the physical button or speaker.