Portable wireless communication device having an extendible section

• US 6,243,595 B1
• Filed: 06/16/1998
• Issued: 06/05/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nortel Networks Limited (Nortel Networks Corporation)
• Inventors: Craven, Michael J., Mok, Henry C., Lee, Michael C. G., Anderson, Arlan J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hunter, Daniel
• Assistant Examiner(s): ARMSTRONG, DARNELL R
• Application Number:
  US09/097,592
• Time in Patent Office: 1,085 Days
• Field of Search: 455/90, 455/550, 455/575, 455/566, 379/368, 379/433, 341/26
• US Class Current: 455/566
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0235 Slidable or telescopic telephones, i.e. with a relative translation movement of the body parts; Telephones using a combination of translation and other relative motions of the body parts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0245 using open/close detection
• 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 1/724 User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector

Abstract

A portable cellular telephone comprising a main body for housing at least a microcontroller, a display screen, an audio receiver and a microphone. An extendible section that houses a number of function keys such as the standard telephone keys, slides out of the main body to expose the display screen in its entirety. The extendible section also includes LED'"'"'s to back light the keys when desirable. The electrical connections between the extendible section and the main body are achieved through wiper contacts in the main body that slide over conductive strips on the under surface of the extendible section. The keys in the extendible section are each connected to resistors of different values, these resistor/key combinations are all connected in parallel to two conductive strips. A resistor bridge is formed by connecting a resistor in the main body to the resistor key combinations. The voltage change at the junction between the resistor and the combinations is detected to sense the closure of a key, and the voltage value is used to identify the key that is closed. The device also detects when the extendible section is in the open or closed positions. The extendible section is mounted such that it will detach from the main body when a force is applied to it such as by dropping the telephone; the section may be simply replaced by snapping it back into place without damage to the telephone.

Claims

1. A portable wireless communications device comprising:

a main body including at least a microcontroller and a display screen attached to the microcontroller;

an extendible section slidably mounted in the main body to cover a significant partial portion of the display screen in a fully non-extended position and extending from the main body in a fully extended position to uncover the entire display screen, the extendible section having a user input component mounted thereon and electrically connected to the microcontroller, said portable wireless communications device being fully functional in both the extended position and the non-extended position.

2. A portable wireless communications device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the user input component consists of a series of function keys.

3. A portable wireless communications device as claimed in claim 2 wherein each key is connected in series with a resistor of different size and the key/resistor combinations are connected in parallel between two leads, the two leads being electrically connected to circuit means within the main body for identifying closed keys.

4. A portable wireless communications device as claimed in claim 3 wherein the extendible section is planar having the function keys mounted on a top planar surface and two elongated parallel conductive strips fixed to the bottom planer surface parallel to the direction of movement of the extendible section, the conductive strips being in contact with wiper contacts mounted within the main body and electrically connected to the circuit means within the main body for identifying closed keys.

5. A portable wireless communications device as claimed in claim 4 wherein the extendible section further includes a series of light emitting diodes mounted to illuminate the keys.

6. A portable wireless communications device as claimed in claim 5 wherein the light emitting diodes are connected to two further elongated parallel conductive strips fixed to the bottom planer surface parallel to the direction of movement of the extendible section, the conductive strips being in contact with two further wiper contacts mounted within the main body and electrically connected to a power supply.

7. A portable wireless communications device as claimed in claim 6 wherein the a fifth elongated conductive strip divided into two sections along its length is fixed to the bottom planer surface parallel to the direction of movement of the extendible section, the conductive strip being in contact with a further wiper contact mounted within the main body and electrically connected to circuit means within the main body to determine whether the extendible section is in the open or closed position.

8. A portable wireless communications device as claimed in claim 7 wherein the main body further includes an audio receiver mounted at one end and a microphone mounted at the other end of the main body.

9. A portable wireless communications device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the extendible section is detachably connected to the main body allowing detachment of the extendible section from the main body on application of a significant force and a subsequent reattachment of the extendible section to the main body.

10. A portable wireless communications device as claimed in claim 9 wherein the extendible section is planar having a user input component mounted on a top planar surface and at least two elongated parallel conductive strips fixed to the bottom planer surface parallel to the direction of movement of the extendible section, the conductive strips being in contact with wiper contacts mounted within the main body to electrically connect the user input component to the microcontroller.

11. A portable wireless communications device as claimed in claim 10 wherein the main body further includes an audio receiver mounted at one end and a microphone mounted at the other end.

12. A portable wireless communications device as claimed in claim 3 wherein the closed key identifying circuit means includes:

resistor means forming a resistor divider with the key/resistor combinations; and

detector means for detecting the voltage between the resistor means and the key/resistor combinations to identify the closed key.

13. A portable wireless communications device as claimed in claim 12 which further includes circuit means for sensing the closure of one of the function keys.

14. A portable wireless communications device as claimed in claim 13 wherein the key closure sensing circuit means includes a comparator having first and second input, with the voltage between the resistor means and the key/resistor combination being applied to the first input to produce a comparator output when the first input voltage is less than a fixed voltage applied to the second input.

15. A portable wireless communications device as claimed in claim 14 wherein the comparator output is applied to the microcontroller to activate the communications device.