Patent Grant
8059391
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a portable electronic device and, more particularly, to a portable electronic device having a sliding keyboard.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with the development of the wireless communication technology, functions of a portable electronic device such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone are powerful. Taking the mobile phone as an example, besides a voice communication function, a PDA function, an information transfer function (such as receiving or sending an E-mail), a touch control function (such as a touch panel) and so on are integrated into a single mobile phone.
A mobile phone is one type of a conventional multi-function mobile phone. The mobile phone is generally named a sliding cover phone. This type of mobile phone includes a first body and a second body. The first body and the second body can slide relatively to each other. A keyboard area and a plurality of hot keys are disposed on the first body, and a display panel is disposed on the second body. When the second body slides relatively to the first body, and it is superposed at the first body, the second body can hide the keyboard area and the hot keys. On the contrary, when the second body slides away from the first body, the keyboard area and the hot keys are exposed for input operation.
As for the conventional sliding cover phone, the second body is pushed relatively to the first body by one time, and then the second body is positioned further to allow the keyboard area and the hot keys to be completely exposed. The hot keys outside the keyboard area are not necessary to be used every time when a user inputs data. Along with the development tendency that the whole size of a phone needs to be light, slim, short and small, the size of the keyboard area becomes small. A hot key is easy to be pressed by mistake to execute its function while the keyboard area is used to input data, which causes inconvenience. For example, when an E-mail is not finished, if a hot key of sending an E-mail is pressed by mistake, it causes an unnecessary problem.
The display panel of the second body may be a touch display panel. A touch pen is usually used to facilitate input. A conventional mode of fixing the touch pen is that the touch pen is fixed at the outside or inside of a casing in a fastening mode. In use, a user usually needs to take out the touch pen in a digging or picking mode, which is inconvenient.
The objective of the invention is to provide a portable electronic device to solve the problem that a hot key may be pressed by mistake when a conventional portable electronic device is used.
A portable electronic device according to one embodiment of the invention includes a first body, a second body and a sliding positioning device.
The first body includes a first operation area and a second operation area. The first operation area may be a keyboard area, and the second operation area may have a plurality of hot keys. The second body is slidingly disposed on the first body. The sliding positioning device is connected to the first body and the second body to position the second body at a plurality of locations such as a first location, a second location and a third location relative to the first body, respectively. When the second body is located at one of the locations, the second body hides the second operation area and exposes the first operation area. For example, when the second body is located at the first location, the second body hides the first operation area and the second operation area; when the second body is located at the second location, the second body hides the second operation area and exposes the first operation area; when the second body is located at the third location, the second body exposes the first operation area and the second operation area.
In one embodiment, a first magnetic component is disposed in the second body. The first body is has a long guiding groove and a holding hole. The long guiding groove communicates with the holding hole, and it is corresponding to the first magnetic component. The long guiding groove holds the first magnetic component, and the first magnetic component moves in the long guiding groove. The holding hole holds an operation device, such as a touch pen. One end of the operation device is provided with a second magnetic component, and the polarity of the second magnetic is the same with that of the first magnetic component. When the second body is located at the third location, the second magnetic component and the first magnetic component are opposite to each other.
According to the portable electronic device of the invention, advantages of the portable electronic device of the invention are as follows.
The sliding positioning device provides a plurality of positioning locations between the first body and the second body. When the second body is located at one of the locations, the second body hides the second operation area and exposes the first operation area. Since the second operation area are hidden by the second body, the second operation area are prevented from being pressed by mistake when the first operation area is used to input data.
When the second body slides relatively to the first body, it drives the first magnetic component to slide in the long guiding groove to be opposite to the second magnetic component. The repulsive magnetic force between the two magnetic components can automatically eject an operation device, which increases the convenience in use.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings.
According to the embodiment of the invention, a portable electronic device is a personal digital assistant (PDA) phone. However, the invention can be applied to other portable electronic devices or products.
As shown in
The first body 110 is provided with a first operation area 111 and a second operation area 112. The first operation area 111 may be a keyboard area, and the second operation area 112 may have a plurality of hot keys. The second body 120 is provided with a display panel 121, and the display panel 121 may be a touch display panel. A first magnetic component 122 is disposed in the second body 120.
The first operation area 111 includes a plurality of keys for inputting data. Each of the second operation area 112 has a different function. When one of the second operation area 112 is pressed, the function of the second operation area 112 can be executed. The second operation area 112 are arranged side by side at one side of the first operation area 111. The first body 110 has a long guiding groove 113 and a holding hole 114. The long guiding groove 113 communicates with the holding hole 114, and it is corresponding to the first magnetic component 122. Thus, when the second body 120 is pushed to slide relatively to the first body 110, the first magnetic component 122 can move in the long guiding groove 113 along with the movement of the second body 120.
The holding hole 114 holds an operation device 115, such as a touch pen. One end of the operation device 115 is held in the holding hole 114, and the other end of the operation device 115 is provided with a second magnetic component 116. Polarities of the second magnetic component 116 and the first magnetic component 122 are the same. In the embodiment, the polarities are both s poles. When the second body 120 is located at the third location, the second magnetic component 116 and the first magnetic component 122 are opposite to each other, and repulsive magnetic force exits between the second magnetic component 116 and the first magnetic component 122.
As shown in
As shown in
The runner 134 is disposed on the second body 120, and the runner 134 and the second positioning components 133 are disposed at the same side of the second body 120. The runner 134 holds the first positioning component 132. When the second body 120 is pushed to slide relatively to the first body 110, the slide of the second body 120 is not disturbed by the first positioning component 132.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Since the first magnetic component 122 moves along with the second body 120. The first magnetic component 122 can also move to a location opposite to the second magnetic component 116 along the long guiding groove 113 when the second body 120 slides relatively to the first body 110 to the third location. The repulsive magnetic force between the first magnetic component 122 and the second magnetic component 116 can automatically eject the operation device 115 from the holding hole 114 to help a use to use the operation device 115.
Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, the disclosure is not for limiting the scope of the invention. Persons having ordinary skill in the art may make various modifications and changes without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiments described above.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 96125437 A | Jul 2007 | TW | national |
The present application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/136,273, filed Jun. 10, 2008, (now U.S. Pat No. 7,791,867), and claims priority to Taiwanese Application Serial Number 96125437, filed Jul. 12, 2007. The entire disclosures of all the above applications are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20100304803 A1 | Dec 2010 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12136273 | Jun 2008 | US |
| Child | 12849126 | US |
