Folding communication terminal having two displays

• US 20020037754A1
• Filed: 09/25/2001
• Published: 03/28/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kiyota, Kenji, Emoto, Tadahiro, Hama, Mitsuji
• Granted Patent: US 6,944,481 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/566
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0214 Foldable telephones, i.e. with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position combined with translation movement H04M1/0235
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0245 using open/close detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27453 Directories allowing storage of additional subscriber data, e.g. metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2746 Sorting, e.g. according to history or frequency of use
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/575 Means for retrieving and displaying personal data about calling party
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/16 including more than one display unit
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/60 logging of communication history, e.g. outgoing or incoming calls, missed calls, messages or URLs

Abstract

The present invention is a folding-type communication terminal which includes first display means which is positioned so as to be visible when a main body of the communication terminal is in a folded state, second display means which is positioned so as to be concealed when the main body is in the folded state, storage means for storing at least one set of a piece of first information and a piece of second information, detection means for detecting that the main body has been put into an unfolded state, first display control means for having the piece of first information displayed on the first display means; and second display control means for having the piece of second information displayed on the second display means, when the detection means detects that the main body has been put into the unfolded state while the piece of first information is being displayed on the first display means, wherein the piece of second information belongs to a same set as the piece of first information.

Claims

1. A folding-type communication terminal, comprising:

first display means which is positioned so as to be visible when a main body of the communication terminal is in a folded state;

second display means which is positioned so as to be concealed when the main body is in the folded state;

storage means for storing at least one set of a piece of first information and a piece of second information;

detection means for detecting that the main body has been put into an unfolded state;

first display control means for having the piece of first information displayed on the first display means; and

second display control means for having the piece of second information displayed on the second display means, when the detection means detects that the main body has been put into the unfolded state while the piece of first information is being displayed on the first display means, wherein the piece of second information belongs to a same set as the piece of first information.

2. The communication terminal of claim 1

wherein the first display control means further terminates a display of the piece of first information on the first display unit, after the detection means detects that the main body has been put into the unfolded state.

3. The communication terminal of claim 2

wherein the detection means further detects that the main body has been put into the folded state,

and the first display control means has, after the detection means detects that the main body has been put into the folded state, another piece of first information displayed on the first display means until the detection means detects that the main body has been put into the unfolded state.

4. The communication terminal of claim 3

wherein the first display control means prohibits the piece of first information from being displayed again on the first display means after the display of the piece of first information has been terminated.

5. The communication terminal of claim 4

wherein each of the at least one sets is a set of pieces of information about one incoming-communication from an external device,

the communication terminal further comprises:

generation means for generating, when new incoming-communication is received, a set of pieces of information about the new incoming-communication; and

the first display control means has, when the generation means has generated the set of pieces of information about the new incoming-communication, a piece of first information which belongs to the generated set of pieces of information displayed on the first display means in place of a piece of first information that was being displayed on the first display means when the new incoming-communication was received.

6. The communication terminal of claim 5, further comprising:

display sequence storage means for storing a display sequence showing an order in which pieces of first information have been displayed on the first display means up until a present time,

wherein a piece of first information to be displayed after the detection means detects that the main body has been put into the folded state is a piece of first information that is one before in the display sequence to a piece of first information that was being displayed until the detection means detected that the main body had been put into the folded state.

7. The communication terminal of claim 4, further comprising:

display sequence storage means for storing a display sequence showing an order in which pieces of first information have been displayed on the first display means up until a present time,

wherein a piece of first information to be displayed after the detection means detects that the main body has been put into the folded state is a piece of first information that is one before in the display sequence to a piece of first information that was being displayed until the detection means detected that the main body had been put into the folded state.

8. An open/close-type communication terminal having a lid which covers a main body of the communication terminal, the lid opening and closing by (a) sliding, or (b) pivoting on a hinge to which the lid is attached, comprising:

first display means which is positioned so as to be visible when the lid is in a closed state;

second display means which is positioned so as to be concealed when the lid is in the closed state;

storage means for storing at least one set of a piece of first information and a piece of second information;

detection means for detecting that the lid has been put into an open state;

first display control means for having the piece of first information displayed on the first display means; and

second display control means for having the piece of second information displayed on the second display means, when the detection means detects that the lid has been put into the open state while the piece of first information is being displayed on the first display means, wherein the piece of second information belongs to a same set as the piece of first information.

9. An information display method for displaying information, being for use with a folding-type communication terminal comprising (a) first display means which is positioned so as to be visible when a main body of the communication terminal is in a folded state, (b) second display means which is positioned to as to be concealed when the main body is in the folded state, and (c) storage means for storing at least one set of a piece of first information and a piece of second information, the information display method comprising:

a detection step for detecting that the main body has been put into an unfolded state;

a first display step for having the piece of first information displayed on the first display means; and

a second display step for having the piece of second information displayed on the second display means, after the detection step detects that the main body has been put into the unfolded state while the piece of first information is being displayed on the first display means, wherein the piece of second information corresponds to the piece of first information.

10. The information display method of claim 9 further comprising:

a display termination step for terminating a display of the piece of first information on the first display means, after the detection step detects that the main body has been put into the unfolded state.

11. The information display method of claim 10

wherein the storage means stores a plurality of sets, and

the information display method further comprises:

a folded detection step for detecting that the main body has been put into the folded state; and

a third display step for having, after the folded detection step detects that the main body has been put into the folded state, another piece of first information displayed on the first display means until the main body is detected to have been put into the unfolded state.

12. The information display method of claim 11 further comprising:

a prohibition step for prohibiting the piece of first information from being displayed again on the first display means after the display of the piece of first information has been terminated.

13. The information display method of claim 12

wherein each of the at least one sets is a set of pieces of information about incoming-communication from an external device, and

the information display method further comprises:

a generation step for generating, when new incoming-communication is received, a set of pieces of information about new incoming-communication, and

a fourth display step for displaying, when the generation step has generated the set of pieces of information about the new incoming-communication, a piece of first information which belongs to the generated set of pieces of information on the first display means in place of a piece of first information that was being displayed on the first display means when the new incoming-communication was received.

14. The information display method of claim 13

wherein the communication terminal further comprises:

display sequence storage means for storing a display sequence showing an order in which pieces of first information have been displayed on the first display means up until a present time, and

in the fourth step, a piece of first information to be displayed after the main body is detected to have been put into the folded state is a piece of first information that is one before in the display sequence to a piece of first information that was being displayed when the detection means detects that the main body had been put into the folded state.

15. The information display method of claim 12

wherein the communication terminal further comprises:

display sequence storage means for storing a display sequence showing an order in which pieces of first information have been displayed on the first display means up until a present time, and

in the fourth step, a piece of first information to be displayed after the main body is detected to have been put into the folded state is a piece of first information that is one before in the display sequence to a piece of first information that was being displayed when the detection means detects that the main body had been put into the folded state.

16. A computer-readable program for displaying information on a folding-type communication terminal, the communication terminal comprising (a) first display means which is positioned so as to be visible when a main body of the communication terminal is in a folded state, (b) second display means which is positioned so as to be concealed when the main body is in the folded state, and (c) storage means for storing at least one set of a piece of first information and a piece of second information, the program comprising:

a detection step for detecting that the main body has been put into an unfolded state;

a first display step for having the piece of first information displayed on the first display means; and

a second display step for having the piece of second information displayed on the second display means, after the detection step detects that the main body has been put into the unfolded state while the piece of first information is being displayed on the first display means, wherein the piece of second information corresponds to the piece of first information.