Hand-held electronic device with a keyboard optimized for use with the thumbs

• US 6,278,442 B1
• Filed: 06/29/1998
• Issued: 08/21/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Major, Harry R., Lazaridis, Mihal, Griffin, Jason T., Holmes, John A., Little, Herb A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shalwala, Bipin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Said, Mansour M.
• Application Number:
  US09/106,585
• Time in Patent Office: 1,149 Days
• Field of Search: 345/168, 345/169, 345/172, 345/158, 345/170, 345/171, 345/156, 345/146, 345/160, 345/902, 341/23, 341/22, 341/21, 341/20, 400/472, 400/486, 400/489, 400/479
• US Class Current: 345/169
• 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 1/1662 Details related to the integrated keyboard
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1664 Arrangements for ergonomically adjusting the disposition of keys of the integrated keyboard
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1671 Special purpose buttons or auxiliary keyboards, e.g. retractable mini keypads, keypads or buttons that remain accessible at closed laptop G06F1/1666 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0216 Arrangements for ergonomically adjusting the disposition of keys of a keyboard for keyboards integrated in a laptop computer G06F1/1664
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0219 Special purpose keyboards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0236 using selection techniques to select from displayed items
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0362 with detection of 1D translations or rotations of an operating part of the device, e.g. scroll wheels, sliders, knobs, rollers or belts
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0383 Signal control means within the pointing device
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 2225/022 other then row-column disposition
• 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

Abstract

A hand-held electronic device with a keyboard optimized for use with the thumbs is disclosed. In order to operate within the limited space available on a hand-held electronic device, the present invention optimizes the placement and shape of the keys, preferably using keys that are oval or oblong in shape, and that are placed at angles designed to facilitate thumb-typing. The angles at which keys on either side of the keyboard are placed is complimentary.

Claims

1. A handheld device optimally configured for use with the thumbs of user, comprising:

tilted at a positive angle relative to a common vertical reference through the device, and each oblong shaped key in the second set of oblong shaped keys is titled at a negative angle relative to the common vertical reference through the device;

an auxiliary input device positioned in relative proximity to the keyboard;

a display positioned adjacent to the keyboard; and

software residing in the device for providing functionality to inputs received from the auxiliary input device and the keyboard.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first and second set of oblong shaped keys are oval shaped.

3. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the positive angle is about 40 degrees and the negative angle is about 40 degrees.

4. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein a rho value defining the curvature of the first and second set of oblong shaped keys is about 0.414.

5. The device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the auxiliary input device is a thumbwheel.

6. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the thumbwheel is vertically oriented.

7. The device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the device is a two-way pager.

8. The device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the device is an integrated email device.

9. The device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the device is a personal digital assistant.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein the first and second sets of oblong shaped keys are positioned on the device along an arc.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein the first set of oblong shaped keys and the second set of oblong shaped keys comprise a first row of keys.

12. The device of claim 11, further comprising a second row of oblong shaped keys positioned on the device beneath the first row of oblong shaped keys.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the first and second rows of oblong shaped keys are positioned on the device along respective first and second arcs.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the first and second arcs are concentric.

15. A handheld device optimally configured for use with the thumbs of a user comprising:

(a) a device housing; and

(b) a keyboard residing on the housing, the keyboard having a first set of oblong shaped keys and a second set of oblong shaped keys, wherein each oblong shaped key in the first set of oblong shaped keys is tilted at a positive angle relative to a vertical reference and each oblong shaped key in the second set of oblong shaped keys is tilted at a negative angle relative to the vertical reference.

16. The handheld device of claim 15, wherein the first and second set of oblong shaped keys are oval shaped.

17. The handheld device of claim 16, wherein a rho value defining the curvature of the oblong shaped keys is about 0.4.

19. The handheld device of claim 15, wherein the first and second sets of oblong shaped keys are positioned on the device along the arc.

20. The handheld device of claim 15, wherein the first set of oblong shaped keys and the second set of oblong shaped keys comprise a first row of keys.

21. The handheld device of claim 20, further comprising a second row of oblong shaped keys positioned on the device beneath the first row of oblong shaped keys.

22. The handheld device of claim 21, wherein the first and second rows of oblong shaped keys are positioned on the device along respective first and second arcs.

23. The handheld device of claim 15, wherein the first and second sets of oblong shaped keys form a QWERTY keyboard.

24. The handheld device of claim 15, wherein the handheld device is a two-pager, a cellular telephone, a portable digital assistant, or an electronic organizer.

18. The handheld device 15, wherein the positive angle is about 40 degrees and the negative angle is about 40 degrees.

25. A keyboard for use with a handheld electronic device, comprising:

a first set of oblong shaped keys and a set of oblong shaped keys, wherein each key in the first set of oblong shaped keys is tilted at a positive angle relative to a vertical reference and each oblong shaped key in the second set of oblong shaped keys is titled at a negative angle relative to the vertical reference.

26. The keyboard of claim 25, wherein the first and second set of oblong shaped keys are oval shaped.

27. The keyboard of claim 26, wherein a rho value defining the curvature of the oblong shaped keys is about 0.4.

28. The keyboard of claim 25, wherein the positive angle is about 40 degrees and the negative angle is about 40 degrees.

29. The keyboard of claim 25, wherein the first and second sets of oblong shaped keys are positioned on the device along the arc.

30. The keyboard of claim 25, wherein the first set of oblong shaped keys and the second set of oblong shaped keys comprise a first row of keys.

31. The keyboard of claim 30, further comprising a second row of oblong shaped keys positioned on the device beneath the first row of oblong shaped keys.

32. The keyboard of claim 31, wherein the first and second rows of oblong shaped keys are positioned on the device along respective first and second arcs.

33. The keyboard of claim 25, wherein the first and second sets of oblong shaped keys form a QWERTY keyboard.

34. The keyboard of claim 25, wherein the first and second sets of oblong shaped keys form a DVORAK keyboard.

35. The keyboard of claim 25, wherein the positive and negative angles are in the range of about 20 to 70 degrees from the vertical reference.

36. The keyboard of claim 25, wherein the keys in the first and second sets of keys are separated from each other by a common spacing.

37. The keyboard of claim 25, wherein the keys in the first and second sets of keys are about 5 millimeters in width and 7 millimeters in length.

38. A QWERTY keyboard for use with a handheld electronic device, comprising:

a first set of oblong shaped keys and a second set of oblong shaped keys, wherein each key in the first set of keys is tilted at a positive angle relative to a vertical reference and each key in the second set of keys is tilted at a negative angle relative to the vertical reference,

wherein the first and second set of keys form a QWERTY keyboard.

39. An electronic communication device, comprising:

a transceiver for transmitting and receiving text messages;

a keyboard for composing text messages to be transmitted by the transceiver, wherein the keyboard includes a first set of oblong shaped keys and a second set of oblong shaped keys, wherein each key in the first set of keys is tilted at a positive angle relative to a vertical reference and each key in the second set of keys is tilted at a negative angle relative to the vertical reference; and

a display for displaying the received text messages.

40. The electronic communication device of claim 39, wherein the first and second sets of keys are oval shaped keys.

41. The electronic communication device of claim 39, further comprising:

an auxiliary input device for selecting an operation to be performed by the device, wherein a menu of operations is presented on the display.

42. The electronic communication device of claim 39, wherein the text messages are e-mail messages.

43. The electronic communication device of claim 39, wherein the transceiver includes:

a first antenna for receiving a text message; and

a second antenna for transmitting a text message.

44. The electronic communication device of claim 43, wherein the transceiver further includes:

a receiver, coupled to the first antenna, for demodulating the received text message; and

a transmitter coupled to the second antenna, for generating a modulated text message.

45. The electronic communication device of claim 44, wherein the transceiver further includes:

a digital signal processor coupled to the transmitter and the receiver for processing demodulated text messages from the receiver, and for providing modulation information to the transmitter.

46. A keyboard for use with a handheld electronic device, comprising:

a first set of oblong shaped keys and a second set of oblong shaped keys, wherein the keys in the first set of keys are tilted at a first angle relative to a vertical reference and the keys in the second set of keys are tilted at a second angle relative to the vertical reference,

wherein the first and second set of keys form a QWERTY keyboard.

47. The keyboard of claim 46, wherein the oblong shaped keys are oval shaped.

48. The keyboard of claim 46, wherein the handheld electronic device is a cellular telephone, a two-way pager, a personal digital assistant, or an electronic organizer.