Portable computing device with foldable keyboard

• US 20050057891A1
• Filed: 09/12/2003
• Published: 03/17/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Madsen, Jeffrey C., Hutchings, Cameron
• Granted Patent: US 7,031,143 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 361/679.200
• 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 1/1666 Arrangements for reducing the size of the integrated keyboard for transport, e.g. foldable keyboards, keyboards with collapsible keys G06F1/1664 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0221 Arrangements for reducing keyboard size for transport or storage, e.g. foldable keyboards, keyboards with collapsible keys G06F3/0216 takes precedence; for keyboards integrated in a laptop computer G06F1/1666

Abstract

A personal digital assistant comprises a body having a display; and a keyboard attached to the body, the keyboard being divided into two separate sections and being foldable between a closed position and an open position, wherein the keyboard provides a cover for the body in the closed position and functions as an alphanumeric keyboard to input data in the open position.

Claims

1. ) A personal digital assistant, comprising:

a body having a display; and

a keyboard attached to the body, the keyboard being divided into two separate sections and being foldable between a closed position and an open position, wherein the keyboard provides a cover for the body in the closed position and functions as an alphanumeric keyboard to input data in the open position.

2. ) The personal digital assistant of claim 1 wherein each section of the keyboard has a size and shape similar to the body.

3. ) The personal digital assistant of claim 1 wherein the sections are stacked on top of the body in the closed position.

4. ) The personal digital assistant of claim 1 wherein the sections are pivotally connected to the body and rotationally move between the closed and open positions.

5. ) The personal digital assistant of claim 1 wherein at least one of the sections covers the display in the closed position.

6. ) The personal digital assistant of claim 1 wherein the keyboard covers a portion of the body in the closed position and unfolds to function as the alphanumeric keypad in the open position.

7. ) The personal digital assistant of claim 1 wherein a first section is over a surface of the body and a second section is on top of the first section.

8. ) The personal digital assistant of claim 1 wherein the keyboard does not add to the overall length or width of the body in the closed position.

9. ) A method, comprising:

covering at least a portion of a body of a personal digital assistant (PDA) with an attached keyboard while the keyboard is in a closed position;

moving the keyboard from the closed position to an open position; and

typing on the keyboard to input data into the PDA.

10. ) The method of claim 9 wherein moving the keyboard further comprises unfolding two separate sections of the keyboard.

11. ) The method of claim 9 wherein moving the keyboard further comprises rotating the keyboard from a first position covering at least a portion of the body to a second position with two keyboard halves positioned side-by-side and below the body.

12. ) The method of claim 9 further comprising stacking two sections of the keyboard in the closed position.

13. ) The method of claim 12 further comprising unstacking the two sections in the open position.

14. ) The method of claim 9 wherein moving the keyboard from the closed position to an open position further comprises rotating a first section of the keyboard in a clockwise direction and rotating a second section of the keyboard in a counterclockwise direction.

15. ) A portable computing device, comprising:

a body having a display coupled to a processor and memory; and

an alphanumeric keyboard electrically and mechanically coupled to the body,

wherein the keyboard provides a housing for at least a portion of the body in a closed position and is movable to an open position for typing data.

16. ) The portable computing device of claim 15 wherein the keyboard comprises two separate and distinct halves that are movable to vertically stack onto each other in the closed position.

17. ) The portable computing device of claim 15 wherein the keyboard comprises two sections with a first section pivotally connected to a first corner of the body and a second section pivotally connected to a second corner of the body.

18. ) The portable computing device of claim 15 further comprising a flexible member coupling the keyboard to the body.

19. ) The portable computing device of claim 15 wherein the keyboard has touch-sensitive key areas for entering data.

20. ) The portable computing device of claim 15 wherein the keyboards folds to a size approximately equal to a size of the body while in the closed position and while attached to the body.