ELECTRONIC DEVICE

• US 20150022475A1
• Filed: 02/06/2013
• Published: 01/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/08/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Watanabe, Hisashi, Narutaki, Yohzoh
• Granted Patent: US 9,342,174 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1643 the display being associated to a digitizer, e.g. laptops that can be used as penpads details related to the relative motion of the display enclosure with respect to the body enclosure, e.g. to move between laptop and tablet PC configuration G06F1/1615
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0393 Accessories for touch pads or touch screens, e.g. mechanical guides added to touch screens for drawing straight lines, hard keys overlaying touch screens or touch pads
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0266 for a display module assembly
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0281 for providing single handed use or left/right hand conversion

Abstract

The electronic device is an electronic device (100) having a multilayer structure including a touch panel (12) and a display device (10), the electronic device including a manipulation surface (22A) configured to accept an input from a user, the manipulation surface being provided on a surface closer to the touch panel, and constituting a curved surface such that a central portion of the manipulation surface (22A) is dented relative to an end of the manipulation surface (22A). The most-dented portion of the manipulation surface (22A) is dented relative to an end of the manipulation surface (22A) by a distance of not less than 0.2 mm and not more than 3.0 mm along a direction perpendicular to the panel plane.

Claims

1. :

An electronic device having a multilayer structure including a touch panel and a display device,

the electronic device comprising a manipulation surface configured to accept an input from a user, the manipulation surface being provided on a surface of the electronic device closer to the touch panel,

the manipulation surface constituting a curved surface such that a central portion of the manipulation surface is dented relative to an end of the manipulation surface, wherein

a most-dented portion of the manipulation surface is dented by a distance of not less than 0.2 mm and not more than 3.0 mm relative to an end of the manipulation surface along a direction perpendicular to the panel plane.

2. :

The electronic device of claim 1, wherein,

the electronic device has an outer shape of a rectangular plate; and

the electronic device has a width of not less than 40 mm and not more than 70 mm and is configured to be manipulable by the user with one hand.

3. :

The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the curved surface contains a curve with a radius of curvature of not less than 50 mm and not more than 500 mm.

4. :

The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the display device is plate-shaped.

5. :

The electronic device of claim 1, wherein,

the touch panel is disposed on a viewer'"'"'s side of the display device; and

the manipulation surface is provided on a light-transmitting front plate, the light-transmitting front plate being disposed so as to constitute the surface closer to the touch panel.

6. :

The electronic device of claim 5, wherein,

the display device is plate-shaped; and

the light-transmitting front plate is made of an acrylic resin, and includes a portion with a thickness greater than 1.7 mm on a display region of the display device.

7. :

The electronic device of claim 5, wherein,

the display device is plate-shaped; and

the light-transmitting front plate is made of glass, and includes a portion with a thickness greater than 2.7 mm on a display region of the display device.

8. :

The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the light-transmitting front plate includes a convex lens portion disposed so as to cover a peripheral display region and a frame region of the display device.

9. :

The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the light-transmitting front plate further includes a flat portion provided outside the convex lens portion.

10. :

The electronic device of claim 8 satisfying 3.0≦

Y/X≦

4.2, where X is a width of a non-display region including the frame region; and

Y is a distance from a light-outgoing surface of a display element of the display device to a lens vertex of the convex lens portion along a panel normal direction.

11. :

The electronic device of claim 1, wherein a touch sensitivity at the end of the manipulation surface is lower than a touch sensitivity at the central portion of the manipulation surface.

12. :

The electronic device of claim 1, wherein a distance from a display region of the display device to an outer end face of the electronic device is not less than 3 mm and not more than 5 mm.

13. :

An electronic device having a multilayer structure including a touch panel and a display device,

the electronic device comprising a manipulation surface configured to accept an input from a user, the manipulation surface being provided on a surface closer to the touch panel,

the manipulation surface constituting a first curved surface such that a central portion of the manipulation surface is dented relative to an end of the manipulation surface, wherein

a convex second curved surface is formed outside of the manipulation surface, the convex second curved surface being connected continuously to the first curved surface and bulging with a curvature different from that of the first curved surface.

14. :

The electronic device of claim 13, wherein both of the first curved surface and the second curved surface are formed on a light-transmitting front plate, the light-transmitting front plate being disposed so as to constitute the surface closer to the touch panel.

15. :

The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the second curved surface contains a convex lens surface provided so as to cover a peripheral display region and a frame region of the display device.

16. :

The electronic device of claim 13, wherein,

the display device is plate-shaped; and

a sensitivity at the end of the manipulation surface is lower than a sensitivity at the central portion of the manipulation surface.

17. :

The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the first curved surface contains a curve with a radius of curvature of not less than 50 mm and not more than 500 mm.