PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE INCLUDING HINGE ASSEMBLY WITH USER INTERFACE ELEMENT

• US 20080112113A1
• Filed: 11/14/2006
• Published: 05/15/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: SAWADSKI, MICHAEL J., VOSS, KARL R., JELLICOE, ROGER J., McWILLIAM, GILES D.
• Application Number:
  US11/559,643
• Publication Number:
  US 20080112113A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 361/680
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0218 The hinge comprising input and/or output user interface means
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/022 The hinge comprising two parallel pivoting axes
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/16 including more than one display unit

Abstract

A portable electronic device, for example, a cellular telephone, (100) including a hinge assembly (106) interconnecting first and second housing portions, wherein the housing portions are pivotal about respective non-collinear pivot axes, and a user-interface element, for example, an image capture or a display device, disposed on the hinge assembly.

Claims

1. A portable electronic device comprising:

a first housing portion;

a second housing portion; and

a hinge assembly interconnecting the first and second housing portions, an upper portion of the first housing portion pivotally coupled to the hinge assembly about a first pivot axis and an upper portion of the second housing portion pivotally coupled to the hinge assembly about a second pivot axis,

the first and second pivot axes are non-collinear;

a user-interface element disposed on the hinge assembly.

2. The device of claim 1, the hinge assembly including an electrical interface, the electrical interface coupled to the user-interface element and to circuitry in the first housing portion.

3. The device of claim 1, the user-interface element is selected from a group comprising a camera, a keypad, a flash, a touch screen, a battery, a head jack, a power connection, a scrolling button, and a vibrator.

4. The device of claim 1, the user-interface element is an image capture module including a lens, the image capture module at least partially encapsulated by the hinge assembly.

5. The device of claim 4,

the hinge assembly forms an outer surface of a top portion of the portable electronic device when the first and second housing portions are pivoted to a closed position,

the lens is disposed on the outer surface of the top portion of the portable electronic device.

6. The device of claim 5, an optical axis of the lens substantially perpendicular to the first and second pivot axes.

7. The device of claim 6,

the first housing portion is a flip and the second housing portion is a base, the flip includes a first display device on a first side thereof and a second display on a second side thereof,

the second housing portion includes a keypad on at least one side thereof.

8. The device of claim 1,

the hinge assembly forms an outer surface of a top portion of the portable electronic device when the first and second housing portions are pivoted to a closed position,

the user-interface element is a display device disposed on the outer surface of the top portion of the portable electronic device.

9. The device of claim 8, a planar surface of the display substantially perpendicular to facing side portions of the first and second housing portions in the closed position.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein the portable electronic device is selected from a group comprising a multimedia playback device, a mobile phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), and a gaming device.

11. A hinge assembly for pivotally coupling first and second housing portions, the assembly comprising:

a body portion having a first pivotal interconnect with a first pivot axis and a second pivotal interconnect with a second pivot axis, the first and second pivot axes are non-collinear,

a first housing portion pivotally connectable to the first pivotal interconnect and a second housing portion pivotally connectable to the second pivotal interconnect,

a user-interface element coupled to the body portion.

12. The assembly of claim 11, an electrical interface disposed on the body portion, the electrical interface coupled to the user-interface element, the electrical interface connectable to housing portion circuitry.

13. The assembly of claim 11, the user-interface element is selected from the group comprising an image capture device, a keypad, a flash, a touch screen, a battery, a head-jack, a power connection, a scrolling button, a liquid crystal display, a headset jack, a discrete button, a security interface, and a vibrator.

14. The assembly of claim 11, the user-interface element comprises a user-interface function control button.

15. The assembly of claim 11, the user-interface element is an image capture module including a lens, the image capture module at least partially encapsulated by the hinge assembly.

16. The assembly of claim 11, the user-interface element is a display device disposed on the outer surface of the top portion of the portable electronic device.