Smartphone with novel opening mechanism

• US 20040185922A1
• Filed: 02/04/2004
• Published: 09/23/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/06/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Flextronics America LLC (Flextronics International Limited)
• Original Assignee: Flextronics America LLC (Flextronics International Limited)
• Inventors: Sutton, Thomas, Tornaghi, Barbara
• Application Number:
  US10/772,905
• Publication Number:
  US 20040185922A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/575.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1622 with enclosures rotating around an axis perpendicular to the plane they define or with ball-joint coupling, e.g. PDA with display enclosure orientation changeable between portrait and landscape by rotation with respect to a coplanar body enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1671 Special purpose buttons or auxiliary keyboards, e.g. retractable mini keypads, keypads or buttons that remain accessible at closed laptop G06F1/1666 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1677 for detecting open or closed state or particular intermediate positions assumed by movable parts of the enclosure, e.g. detection of display lid position with respect to main body in a laptop, detection of opening of the cover of battery compartment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1686 the I/O peripheral being an integrated camera
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1614 Image rotation following screen orientation, e.g. switching from landscape to portrait mode
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2230/015 PDA [personal digital assistant] or palmtop computing devices used for musical purposes, e.g. portable music players, tablet computers, e-readers or smart phones in which mobile telephony functions need not be used
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/061 MP3, i.e. MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, lossy audio compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0231 Including a rotatable keypad body part
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0235 Slidable or telescopic telephones, i.e. with a relative translation movement of the body parts; Telephones using a combination of translation and other relative motions of the body parts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/23 Construction or mounting of dials or of equivalent devices; Means for facilitating the use thereof by improving visibility H04M1/22
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/52 including functional features of a camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2007/145 Handheld terminals

Abstract

An electronic device comprises a first substantially planar panel and a second substantially planar panel. The first panel includes a first interface. The second panel includes a second interface and is coupled to the first panel, so that the first panel can rotate relative to the second panel. The device further can be configured in one of two positions. In the first position, the second interface is obscured by the first panel. In the second position, the first panel partitions the second interface into a plurality of exposed sections. The device can be a wireless telecommunications device with a telephone interface as the first interface, a keyboard as the second interface, and a digital camera lens. The device provides simultaneous accessibility of multiple elements based on its configuration.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising:

a. a first substantially planar panel including a first interface; and

b. a second substantially planar panel including a second interface, coupled to the first substantially planar panel such that the first substantially planar panel rotates relative to the second substantially planar panel,

wherein in a first position the second interface is obscured by the first panel and in a second position the first panel partitions the second interface into a plurality of exposed sections.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the first panel includes a display, such that when the device is configured in the first position, the first interface controls the display and when the device is configured in the second position, the second interface controls the display.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the first panel includes a display, such that when the device is configured in the first position, the first interface controls the display and when the device is configured in the second position, both the first interface and the second interface control the display.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the first panel includes a display, such that when the device is configured in the first position, an entry made on the first interface is displayed on the display, and when the device is configured in the second position, an entry made on the second interface is displayed on the display.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the first panel includes a display, such that when the device is configured in the first position, an entry made on the first interface is displayed on the display, and when the device is configured in the second position, entries made on the first interface and the second interface are displayed on the display.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device operates in a first mode when configured in the first position and operates in a second mode when configured in the second position.

7. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device senses when the device is configured in one of the first position and the second position.

8. The device according to claim 1, wherein the first panel is operatively coupled to the second panel to allow an exchange of electronic data.

9. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device is a portable handheld device.

10. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device is a telephone.

11. The device according to claim 1, wherein the first panel further comprises a front side and a back side, wherein the front side of the first panel includes a display and the first interface, and the back side of the first panel includes an engaging end.

12. The device according to claim 11, wherein the second panel further comprises a receiving end.

13. The device according to claim 12, wherein in one of the first position and in the second position, the receiving end receives the engaging end.

14. The device according to claim 1, wherein the first panel further comprises a front side and a back side, wherein the front side of the first panel includes a display and the first interface, and the back side of the first panel includes a receiving end.

15. The device according to claim 14, wherein the second panel further comprises an engaging end.

16. The device according to claim 15, wherein in one of the first position and in the second position, the receiving end receives the engaging end.

17. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device further comprises a digital camera lens.

18. The device according to claim 17, wherein the device operates in a first mode when configured in the first position with the digital camera lens obscured, operates in the second mode when configured in the second position with the digital camera lens obscured, and operates in a third mode when configured in one of the first position and second position with the digital camera lens exposed.

19. The device according to claim 18, wherein the first mode is a telephone mode, the second mode is a keyboard mode, and the third mode is a camera mode.

20. A wireless telecommunications device comprising:

a. a first substantially planar panel including a display and a telephone interface; and

b. a second substantially planar panel having a front side and a back side, the front side including a keyboard, the back side including a digital camera lens and a camera door, the camera door moveably coupled to the back side, such that when the camera door is open the digital camera lens is exposed, and when the camera door is closed the digital camera lens is obscured, the second panel coupled to the first panel such that the first panel rotates relative to the second panel, such that in a first position the keyboard is obscured by the first panel and in a second position the keyboard is partitioned by the first panel into a plurality of exposed sections.

21. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 20, wherein in the first position an entry made on the telephone interface is displayed on the display and in the second position an entry made on the keyboard is displayed on the display.

22. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 20, wherein in the first position an entry made on the telephone interface is displayed on the display and in the second position, entries made on both the keyboard and the telephone interface are displayed on the display.

23. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 20, wherein in one of the first position and the second position, with the camera door open, a button in the telephone interface is configured to operate a digital camera operatively coupled to the digital camera lens.

24. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 20, wherein in one of the first position and the second position, with the camera door open, the display shows what the digital camera lens sees.

25. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 20, wherein in the first position with the camera door open, the display shows what the digital camera lens sees in a first orientation and in the second position with the camera door open, the display shows what the digital camera lens sees in a second orientation.

26. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 25, wherein the second orientation is rotated about 90 degrees from the first orientation.

27. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 20, wherein in the second position, the second panel is rotated about 90 degrees from the first panel.

28. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 20, wherein the device operates in a first mode when configured in the first position with the camera door closed, operates in the second mode when configured in the second position with the camera door closed, and operates in a third mode when configured in one of the first position and second position with the camera door open.

29. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 28, wherein the first mode is a telephone mode, the second mode is a keyboard mode, and the third mode is a camera mode.

30. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 20, wherein the device senses when configured in one of the first position and the second position with the camera door closed.

31. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 20, wherein the device senses when configured in one of the first position and the second position with the camera door open.

32. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 20, wherein the first panel further comprises a front side and a back side, the front side of the first panel includes the display and the telephone interface, and the back side of the first panel includes an engaging end.

33. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 32, wherein the second panel further comprises a receiving end.

34. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 33, wherein in one of the first position and the second position, the receiving end receives the engaging end.

35. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 20, wherein the first panel further comprises a front side and a back side, the front side of the first panel includes the display and the telephone interface, and the back side of the first panel includes a receiving end.

36. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 35, wherein the second panel further comprises an engaging end.

37. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 36, wherein in one of the first position and the second position, the receiving end receives the engaging end.

38. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 20, wherein the keyboard is a qwerty keyboard.

39. A wireless telecommunications device comprising:

a. a first substantially planar panel having a front side and a back side, the front side including a display and a telephone interface, the back side including a digital camera lens; and

b. a second substantially planar panel including a keyboard, the second panel coupled to the first panel such that the first panel rotates relative to the second panel, such that in a first position the keyboard and the digital camera lens are obscured by the first panel, and in a second position the keyboard and the digital camera lens are exposed, with the keyboard partitioned by the first panel into a plurality of exposed sections.

40. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 39, wherein the device further comprises a camera door moveably coupled to the back side of the first panel, such that when the camera door is open the digital camera lens is exposed, and when the camera door is closed the digital camera lens is obscured.

41. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 39, wherein in the first position an entry made on the telephone interface is displayed on the display and in the second position an entry made on the keyboard is displayed on the display.

42. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 39, wherein in the first position an entry made on the telephone interface is displayed on the display and in the second position, entries made on both the keyboard and the telephone interface are displayed on the display.

43. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 39, wherein in one of the first position and the second position, with the digital camera lens exposed, a button in the telephone interface is configured to operate a digital camera operatively coupled to the digital camera lens.

44. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 39, wherein in one of the first position and the second position, with the digital camera lens exposed, the display shows what the digital camera lens sees.

45. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 39, wherein in the first position with the digital camera lens exposed, the display shows what the digital camera lens sees in a first orientation and in the second position with the digital camera lens exposed, the display shows what the digital camera lens sees in a second orientation.

46. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 45, wherein the second orientation is 90 degrees rotated from the first orientation.

47. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 39, wherein in the second position, the second panel is rotated about 90 degrees from the first panel.

48. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 39, wherein the device operates in a first mode when configured in the first position with the keyboard and the digital camera lens obscured, operates in the second mode when configured in the second position with the keyboard exposed, and operates in a third mode when configured in the second position with the digital camera lens exposed.

49. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 48, wherein the first mode is a telephone mode, the second mode is a keyboard mode, and the third mode is camera mode.

50. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 39, wherein the device senses when configured in the first position with the digital camera lens exposed.

51. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 39, wherein the device senses when the second position with the keyboard exposed.

52. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 39, wherein the device senses when the digital camera lens is exposed.

53. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 39, wherein the front side of the first panel includes the display and the telephone interface, and the back side of the first panel includes an engaging end.

54. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 53, wherein the second panel further comprises a receiving end.

55. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 54, wherein in one of the first position and the second position, the receiving end receives the engaging end.

56. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 39, wherein the front side of the first panel includes the display and the telephone interface, and the back side of the first panel includes a receiving end.

57. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 56, wherein the second panel further comprises an engaging end.

58. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 57, wherein in one of the first position and the second position, the receiving end receives the engaging end.

59. The wireless telecommunications device according to claim 39, wherein the keyboard is a qwerty keyboard.