Portable terminal device

• US 20040048633A1
• Filed: 07/21/2003
• Published: 03/11/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Suzuki, Suguru, Sato, Noriyoshi
• Granted Patent: US 7,283,854 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/556.1
• 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 1/0233 Including a rotatable display body part
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0245 using open/close detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/576 associated with a pictorial or graphical representation
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/16 including more than one display unit
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/52 including functional features of a camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/142 Constructional details of the terminal equipment, e.g. arrangements of the camera and the display

Abstract

The foldable portable terminal apparatus with a camera includes display sections on the front side (side A) and backside (side B) of the housing. When the housing (1) is open, both the person who is taking a picture using a camera (10, 8) and the person who gets his/her picture taken can check the captured image simultaneously using the display (11, 7). When the housing (1) is closed, the image taken can be checked with the display section on the front. Images taken in the past are stored in association with telephone numbers. When a call arrives from one of the persons, ringing tone sounds and at the same time the image of the sender is displayed on the display section (1, 7).

Claims

1. A portable terminal apparatus with an openable/closable housing, comprising:

at least one camera and at least one display section provided on at least one side of said housing;

a control section that displays an image of a person taken by said camera on said display section as a normal image; and

an image registration memory that registers the image displayed on said display section, the registration of which is authorized as a result of confirmation by said person.

2. A portable terminal apparatus comprising:

an openable/closable housing;

a first display section provided on the first side of said housing;

a second display section provided on the second side provided opposite said first side of said housing;

at least one camera section provided on said housing so as to take a picture of at least one of an object ahead of said first display section or an object ahead of said second display section;

an image registration memory; and

a control section that displays the image taken by said camera section on at least one of said first or second display section and registers the image taken, the registration of which is authorized as a result of a check by a person, in said image registration memory.

3. The portable terminal apparatus according to claim 2, wherein images registered in said image registration memory are associated with attribute information such as telephone number information of people who got their photos taken.

4. The portable terminal apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when an image registered in said image registration memory is read and a reproduced image is displayed on said first display section or second display section, if the open/closed state of said first and second housing members when the image is reproduced is different from the open/closed state of said first and second housing members when the image was taken by the camera, said control section performs image conversion processing of flipping the image registered in said image registration memory vertically or horizontally, obtains a reproduced image and displays the reproduced image on said first display section or second display section.

5. The portable terminal apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said housing comprises first and second housing members connected in an openable/closable manner,

said first display section is provided on the first side of said first housing member which is exposed when said first and second housing members are opened,

said second display section is provided on the second side which is opposite said first side of said first housing member, and

said camera section is provided on at least one of said first side and said second side.

6. The portable terminal apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when said first and second housing members are closed, the image taken by said camera section is displayed on said second display section and when said first and second housing members are open, the image taken by said camera section is displayed on at least one of said first and second display sections.

7. The portable terminal apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an image of an object taken by said camera section is displayed on both said first and second display sections while the image is being taken.

8. The portable terminal apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said second display section is smaller than said first display section and said second display section displays an enlarged view of part of the image displayed on said first display section.

9. The portable terminal apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an externally input image is used instead of the image taken by said camera section.

10. A portable terminal apparatus having a radio communication function, comprising:

an openable/closable housing;

a first display section provided on the first side of said housing;

a second display section provided on the second side opposite said first side of said housing;

a camera section provided on said housing so as to take a picture of at least one of an object ahead of said first display section or an object ahead of said second display section;

an image registration memory; and

a control section that displays the image taken by said camera section on said first and second display sections and registers the image displayed on said first and second display sections in said image registration memory in a mode associated with a telephone number to identify the person only when the registration of the image is authorized as a result of a check by a person, reads upon reception of a radio communication, an image corresponding to the sender'"'"'s telephone number from said image registration memory and displays the read image on said first or second display section.

11. The portable terminal apparatus according to claim 10, where in said housing is constructed of first and second housing members connected in an openable/closable manner,

said first display section is provided on the first side of said first housing member which is exposed when said first and second housing members are opened, and

said camera section is provided on the second side which is opposite said first side of said first housing member.

12. The portable terminal apparatus according to claim 11, wherein when said first and second housing members are closed, the image read from said image registration memory is displayed on said second display section, and

when said first and second housing members are open, the image read from said image registration memory is displayed on said first and second display sections.

13. The portable terminal apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said second display section is smaller than said first display section and said second display section displays an enlarged view of part of the image displayed on said first display section.

14. A portable terminal apparatus with a camera including an openable/closable housing and a camera provided on at least one of the main side of said housing or the back side opposite said main side, comprising:

first and second display sections provided on said main side and said back side of said housing capable of displaying an image being taken and recorded using said camera or images taken in the past using said camera; and

a control section that displays said image being taken and recorded or images taken and recorded in the past using said camera by flipping the image vertically or horizontally on said first or second display section based on information on whether the side of the housing on which said camera is mounted is the same as the side of the housing on which said first or second display section for displaying said image is provided or not or information on the open/closed state of said housing both when said image is taken and when said image is displayed.

15. A portable terminal apparatus having a radio communication function, comprising:

a camera for taking a picture of an object and a first display section that displays said object whose picture is taken by said camera, provided on one side of an openable/closable housing;

a second display section that displays said object whose picture is taken by said camera, provided on the other side opposite said one side of said housing;

a storage section that the person as said object whose image was taken by said camera checks the own image using either said first or second display section and stores the checked image in association with the telephone number of said person; and

a control section that displays said image being taken or an image of a person corresponding to the telephone number of the other party on the other end of communication read from said storage section by flipping the image vertically or horizontally on said first or second display section based on information on whether the side of the housing on which said camera is mounted is the same as the side of the housing on which said first or second display section is provided or not or information on the open/closed state of said housing both when said image is taken and when said image is displayed so that the image becomes a normal image to the viewer of said first display section or second display section.

16. A portable terminal apparatus having openable/closable first and second housing members, comprising:

a display section provided on the first side of said first housing member which is exposed when said first housing member is open;

a camera section provided on the second side opposite said first side; and

a control section that displays the image taken by said camera section when said first housing member and second housing member are closed on said display section when said first housing member and second housing member are open.

17. The portable terminal apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said control section performs processing of flipping the image taken by said camera horizontally or vertically so that said image becomes a normal image to the viewer of said display section and displays the processed image on said display section.