MOBILE TERMINAL

• US 20080305838A1
• Filed: 11/21/2007
• Published: 12/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Joo, Won-Seok
• Granted Patent: US 8,233,942 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/566
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/22 Illumination; Arrangements for improving the visibility of characters on dials
• 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 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector

Abstract

A mobile terminal in provided. The mobile terminal includes a housing having at least one manipulation part, a signal display unit located in the housing, the signal display unit being configured to selectively display one of at least two inputable signal sets, the selectively displayed inputable signal set being visible through the at least one manipulation part, and an input unit located in the housing, the input unit being configured to receive at least one signal corresponding to the selectively displayed inputable signal set.

Claims

1. A mobile terminal comprising:

a housing having at least one manipulation part;

a signal display unit located in the housing, the signal display unit being configured to selectively display one of at least two inputable signal sets, the selectively displayed inputable signal set being visible through the at least one manipulation part; and

an input unit located in the housing, the input unit being configured to receive at least one signal corresponding to the selectively displayed inputable signal set.

2. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein a surface of the at least one manipulation part that faces the signal display unit is substantially smooth.

3. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the at least one manipulation part is formed of a material that allows light to be transmitted therethrough to display the selectively displayed inputable signal set.

4. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein each of the at least two inputable signal sets include one of one or more numbers, one or more symbols, one or more images, one or more characters representative of a language, one or more menus, or any combinations thereof.

5. The mobile terminal of claim 1, further comprising:

a light source located in the housing to generate light; and

a light guiding part to guide the generated light towards the at least one manipulation part.

6. The mobile terminal of claim 5, wherein the light guiding part is a film located at a lower side of the manipulation part, and the film includes a diffusion pattern located at a position corresponding to the manipulation part.

7. The mobile terminal of claim 5, wherein the light guiding part is located between the input unit and the signal display unit.

8. The mobile terminal of claim 1, further comprising a light source configured to generate light;

and

wherein the at least one manipulation part includes a diffusion pattern located at a surface of the at least one manipulation part adjacent the light source.

9. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the input unit includes one of a touch screen disposed at an upper side of the signal display unit and a dome switch disposed at a lower side of the signal display unit.

10. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the housing includes a plurality of key holes, the at least one manipulation part includes a plurality of manipulation keys, and each of the plurality of manipulation keys is disposed in a corresponding key hole of the plurality of key holes such that each of the plurality of manipulation keys can be manipulated.

11. The mobile terminal of claim 10, wherein the input unit includes a plurality of dome switches, and each dome switch is associated with a corresponding manipulation key of the plurality of manipulation keys.

12. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the manipulation part is made of a ductile material.

13. The mobile terminal of claim 12, wherein the input unit includes a plurality of dome switches located at a lower side of the signal display unit, and the at least one manipulation part includes a single pad having a size corresponding to the area where the plurality of dome switches are located.

14. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the input unit comprises:

a touch screen located at an upper side of the signal display unit; and

at least one dome switch located at a lower side of the signal display unit.

15. The mobile terminal of claim 14, wherein when one of the touch screen and the dome switch is activated, the other is deactivated.

16. The mobile terminal of claim 1, further comprising:

a signal set determining unit electrically connected with the signal display unit, wherein the signal set determining unit selects one of the at least two inputable signal sets to be displayed by the signal display unit.

17. The mobile terminal of claim 16, further comprising:

a signal set input unit located at the housing, the signal set input unit being electrically connected with the signal set determining unit to generate a signal for selecting one of the at least two inputable signal sets to be displayed by the signal display unit.

18. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the housing includes a first body slidably supported by the second body, the first body includes a display, and the second body includes the at least one manipulation part.

19. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the housing includes a first cover, a second cover, and the at least one manipulation part is located in the first cover.