In general, the invention relates to the electric and mechanical structure of telephones. In particular, the invention relates to the structure of a telescopically expanding telephone and to the location of its elements. The term telephone here means any hand-held apparatus designed for radio communications and provided with a microphone and a loudspeaker. By way of example, we shall here discuss a mobile phone.
Mobile phones are attempted to be made as small as possible in order to make them easily transportable in pockets or handbags. This tendency is, however, controversial to the feasibility of the telephone, because the user interface, i.e. mainly the keyboard and the display, must be made so small that on the display screen, there is room for limited information only (or the information must be shown on the screen with unreasonably small characters), and the keys and the spaces between them are unreasonably small for the fingers of an adult user. As a solution, there are suggested various folding telephones.
In the applications illustrated in
a and 5b illustrate a known method for realising a large-size user interface. A multiple-use mobile phone 500 comprises a top part 501 and a bottom part 502, which are interconnected with a hinge. The outer surface of the top part 501 constitutes a first user interface including a small-size display 503 and a number keyboard 504. The inner surfaces of the top part 501 and the bottom part 502 are shown by opening the telephone like a book, as is seen in
The object of the present invention is to introduce a telephone which is small in the transport position, but is still provided with a large-size user interface. Another object of the invention is that the telephone is, with respect to its mechanical structure, easy to use, durable and ergonomic. Yet another object of the invention is that in the regular usage position, the telephone antenna does not fall in the shadow of the user's hand.
The objects of the invention are achieved by locating, in the upper part of the telephone, an antenna and the radio frequency parts, among others, and in the lower part, the power source and the major part of the keys, among others. The lower part and the upper part are movably attached to each other, so that the telephone has a small-size transport position and a larger-size operating position.
The telephone according to the invention comprises a first part and a second part attached thereto, said second part being movable in relation to the first part between a first position and a second position. It is characterised in that it in the first part comprises a radio transmitter/receiver and a connected antenna, and in the second part an arrangement for fastening the battery to the second part.
The mobile phone according to the invention comprises two parts that are sliding in relation to each other, and these parts are in the present application called upper part and lower part. Said terms refer to the mutual location of the parts in the appended drawings, and they do not restrict the manufacture, treatment or usage of the mobile phone of the invention with respect to any particular direction. The upper part is also called the first part of the telephone, and the lower part is respectively called the second part. The mutual movability of the upper and the lower part is realised in a sliding fashion, so that in the transport position, the upper and the lower part are located mainly in an overlapping fashion, and for operation they can be sled to a mutual position which is most comfortable for the user in each particular case.
According to a preferred embodiment, the upper part of the telephone according to the invention comprises at least an antenna, a radio transmitter/receiver, a loudspeaker, a microphone and a display as well as part of the keys and a scanner for a smart card. The lower part comprises an arrangement for fastening a battery or a corresponding power source for the telephone, as well as the major part of the keys. The lower part is designed so that during operations, it is most natural for the user to hold the lower part of the telephone in his hand. Thus the antenna provided in the upper part is not left in the shadow of the user's hand, and not even very near to said hand. The battery attached to the lower part is a fairly heavy component, which improves the ergonomy of the telephone according to the invention in comparison with for example the telephone according to
An additional feature according to the invention is the lock and release mechanism based on spring power that is provided between the upper and the lower part, whereby the telephone can be adjusted from the transport position to the operating position by using one hand only. This is particularly advantageous because when a call comes in, the user must react fairly rapidly in order to answer the call, and he cannot always use both hands to do this. Other advantageous additional features are attenuation connected to the opening mechanism, and the realisation of the lower part keyboard as a module—provided, in addition to the keys, also with electric connections to the upper part, to the battery, to the charging device and to other possible electric components of the lower part.
The invention is explained in more detail below, with reference to the preferred embodiments presented by way of example and to the appended drawings, where
a illustrates a prior art mobile station,
b illustrates the mobile station of
a illustrates a telephone of the invention in the operating position,
b illustrates the telephone of
a illustrates a method for realising the motion between the upper and the lower part,
b illustrates a method for attenuating the motion between the upper and the lower part, and
In the above description of the prior art we already referred to
a is a schematical illustration of a mobile phone 600, including an upper part 601 and a lower part 602. In the upper part 601, inside the shell, there is provided an antenna 603 for transmitting and receiving radio frequency messages, as well as a radio transmitter/receiver 604. In addition, the upper part 601 includes a loudspeaker 605, a microphone 611, a display 606, a smart card scanner 607 and a quick-action keyboard 608 including a few keys, advantageously provided with at least three and no more than ten keys; however, these numbers are not restrictive from the point of view of the invention. Typical keys of the quick-action keyboard 608 are the keys for starting and finishing a call, arrow keys or corresponding browsing keys and memory management keys. The quick-action keyboard 608 may also include a known multi-usage key, such as a Navi™ key. In
The lower part 602 of the mobile phone illustrated in
b illustrates the mobile phone of
The microphone 611 could also be installed in the lower part, in which case it would in the operating position be located nearer to the user's mouth than in the structure illustrated in
The use of a mobile phone according to the invention can be further facilitated by providing it with a function according to which an incoming call can be answered simply by opening the telephone from the transport position to the operating position. The technical application for implementing this function could in principle be similar to the one provided in the known Nokia 8110 mobile phone manufactured by Nokia Mobile Phones; in structure this application corresponds to the one illustrated in
a is a schematical illustration of a preferred embodiment as regards the means for realising the mutual slide function between the upper and the lower part. The lower part is provided with slide rails 701, and the upper part is provided with matching counter-rails 702. In addition, the lower part is provided with a string 703 surrounded by a support tube 704. The upper part is provided with a piston 705, and the piston is designed and placed so that when the telephone according to the invention is sled to the transport position, the piston 705 is pressed to inside the support tube 704, and it presses the spring 703 together in the direction of the longitudinal axis thereof. The lower part includes a trigger 706 provided with a detent pin 707 that is matched to fit in the recess 708, provided in the upper part, when the mobile phone is in the transport position. The detent pin 707 and the recess 708 together constitute a locking design, the purpose of which is to keep the mobile phone in the transport position, although the strength of the compressed string 703 tries to push the piston 705 and thereby the whole upper part towards the operating position. When the trigger 706 is now suitably moved, the detent pin 707 slides out of the recess 708, so that the string 703 pushes the mobile phone, by intermediation of the piston 705, to the operating position. The trigger 706 is advantageously arranged in connection with a grip design that is also otherwise natural for the user to hold. Such a grip design is for instance the bulge 613 illustrated in
In the slide rails 701, and/or in the counter-rails 702, or in some other place in the mechanical structure of the apparatus, there are easily arranged stoppers which stop the mutual motion between the upper and the lower part before the string 703 has fully returned. Now in the operating position, the remaining compression of the spring 703 causes a strength in between the upper and the lower part, and this strength tries to maintain said parts in the operating position. There can also be presented an embodiment where a lock design connected to the trigger 706 or to another particularly designed trigger—or another known quick-release lock arrangement—locks the upper and the lower part in the operating position.
Advantageously the material of the parts illustrated in
If the string 703, as the only factor affecting the motional speed, can freely adjust the opening of the mobile phone according to the invention from the transport position to the operating position, the opening motion easily becomes too sudden and vigorous. From the point of view of usage comfort, it is advantageous to use an attenuator for softening the opening motion. The invention does not restrict the type of the attenuator employed.
The invention does not require that the illuminated patterns of the keyboard are realised by using electroluminescence. An alternative is a prior art LED illumination, where the above mentioned EL control and EL film are replaced by a known LED control and LED illumination means.
As a counterpart for the slide connector 802, the upper part of the telephone (not illustrated in the drawing) is provided with a number of lead tracks on the surface that is placed against the lower part of the telephone. The mutual design and location of the slide connector 802 and the lead tracks is chosen so that irrespective of the fact whether the telephone is in the transport position or in the operating position or somewhere in between, each switch spring 811 of the upper surface of the slide connector touches its own lead track. In other words, when sliding the upper and the lower parts of the telephone in relation to each other, each switch spring 811 of the upper surface of the slide connector slides, along its own lead track, in the lengthwise direction of said lead track. The slide connector 802 and the above mentioned lead tracks form an electric contact in between the upper and the lower parts of the telephone. The switch springs 811 of the slide connector are advantageously made elastic, in which case the location of the slide connector is chosen so that in a closed telephone, the switch springs 811 are continuously subjected to a slight compressing force. The counteractive force caused by this elasticity then holds each switch spring compactly pressed against the respective lead track.
In
The switch springs 812 provided at the side of the slide connector 802 are meant for forming a connection to the battery 810. Most advantageously the fastening of the battery is such that when fastened, it is pressed lightly against the switch springs 812, in which case the spring power improves the connection between the contact electrodes and the switch springs 812. The invention does not restrict the number or target of use of the switch springs provided at the side of the slide connector 812.
The keyboard module is easy to manufacture owing to its compact structure. Moreover, the keyboard is easily detached and reattached in case it is somehow damaged or it should be replaced for some other reason. The achieved structure becomes fairly thin, which is advantageous with respect to the overall measures of the telephone. In a structure according to a preferred embodiment, the battery 810 is narrower than the lower part of the telephone (cf. the battery illustrated by dotted lines in
Obviously the above described embodiments are presented by way of example only, and they do not restrict the invention. For example, most of the mechanical parts illustrated in
The invention does not require that the motion between the upper and the lower part takes place by sliding, but it is possible to realise an embodiment where the upper and the lower part are interconnected by a hinge, in similar fashion as the housing and flap in the prior art telephone illustrated in
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