Telephone set

• US 5,910,815 A
• Filed: 09/06/1995
• Issued: 06/08/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: US Philips Corporation (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: US Philips Corporation (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Giron, Louis, Boursier, Alain
• Primary Examiner(s): Loomis, Paul
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ramakrishnaiah, Melur.
• Application Number:
  US08/523,838
• Time in Patent Office: 1,371 Days
• Field of Search: 379/53, 379/54, 379/93.17, 379/110.01, 348/14, 348/17, 348/18, 348/20, 455/556, 455/557
• US Class Current: 348/14.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/725 Cordless telephones user interfaces specially adapted therefor H04M1/724
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2007/145 Handheld terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/142 Constructional details of the terminal equipment, e.g. arrangements of the camera and the display

Abstract

The telephone set comprises a base (27) which can be connected to a telephone line, and a handset (28) which includes speech circuits which are connected to the telephone line via the base. The telephone set further comprises a casing (17 or 28) which includes a picture sensor (31 or 1) producing a picture signal, and a screen (32 or 19) forming a viewfinder. The use of the casing is analogous to the use of a photo camera. The picture is digitized, then stored and transmitted to the base to be transmitted by facsimile.

Claims

1. A telephone set comprising:

a part intended for transmitting/receiving signals, connected to a telephone line, including means for transmitting a picture over the telephone line;

one or more detachable parts, which collectively include a picture sensor, a microphone and an earphone, and which collectively communicate with the part connected to the telephone line;

wherein;

the detachable part including the picture sensor comprises a converter for digitizing a picture signal coming from the picture sensor and a picture memory for locally storing at least one complete digitized picture, and

the part connected to the telephone line has a specialized link to the detachable part which includes the picture sensor for the delayed transmission of a still picture from the detachable part which includes the picture sensor to the part connected to the telephone line, a screen and means for storing and displaying on this screen a still picture extracted via said special link from the picture memory of the detachable part which includes the picture sensor, and means for transmitting such a still picture over the telephone line.

2. The telephone set as claimed in claim 1, wherein the picture memory of the detachable part which includes the picture sensor has a capacity of several pictures.

3. The telephone set as claimed in claim 2, further comprising means for selecting a picture from various pictures in the picture memory of the detachable part which includes the picture sensor.

4. The telephone s et as claimed in claim 1, wherein the part connected to the telephone line comprises means for transmitting over the telephone line a picture coming from the detachable part which includes the picture sensor in the standard form of a facsimile message.

5. The telephone set as claimed in claim 1, wherein the part connected to the telephone line includes means for storing and displaying on its screen a still picture extracted via the telephone line from the picture memory of the detachable part which includes the picture sensor of another telephone set of the same type.

6. The telephone set as claimed in claim 1, wherein the detachable part which includes the picture sensor includes a display screen which displays in real time the picture picked up by the sensor.

7. The telephone set as claimed in claim 1, wherein the part which includes the picture sensor has a viewfinder and means for displaying thereon a stored picture.

8. The telephone set as claimed in claim 1, wherein the detachable part which includes the picture sensor and the part connected to the telephone line both have a display screen, and the display screen of the part connected to the telephone line has a higher definition.

9. The telephone set as claimed in claim 1, further comprising means, in addition to the telephone line, for transmitting a still picture from the detachable part which includes the picture sensor to an external apparatus.

10. A telephone set, comprising:

a base part for connection to a telephone line for transmitting and receiving signals;

a handset part detachable from the base part, the handset part communicating with the base part and having a microphone and earphone for voice communication;

a digital photo camera in the handset part for taking digital photographs and storing digital photographs;

a display screen or viewfinder in the handset part for displaying digital photograhs taken by the digital photo camera; and

means for communicating digital photographs from the digital photo camera to the base part.

11. Telephone apparatus, comprising:

a portable handset having a battery, a microphone, an earphone and a transmitter for wireless voice communication with a receiver;

a digital photo camera in the portable handset for taking and storing a digital photograph;

a display screen or viewfinder in the portable handset for displaying digital photograhs taken by the digital photo camera; and

means in the portable handset for communicating the digital photograph from the digital photo camera to the transmitter for wireless communication of the digital photograph to the receiver.