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

• US 6,919,879 B2
• Filed: 07/25/2002
• Issued: 07/19/2005
• 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: Walters, David M., Lazaridis, Mihal, Griffin, Jason T., Holmes, John A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Henry N.
• Application Number:
  US10/205,023
• Publication Number:
  US 20030020692A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,090 Days
• Field of Search: 345/156, 345168-172, 345/184, 345/102, 341 20- 22, 200/5.R, 2003021-3022, 200/1.TK, 200/11.TW, 400/486, 400/489, D14/247, D14/252
• US Class Current: 345/168
• 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 1/1664 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 3/0219 Special purpose keyboards
• 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

Abstract

A hand-held electronic device with a keyboard optimized for use with the thumbs is provided. The handheld device includes a keyboard, a display, and a processor. The keyboard is horizontally positioned symmetrically between a left edge and a right edge of a face of the hand-held messaging device. The keyboard has a plurality of keys arranged in a plurality of rows across the face, wherein each row of keys is arranged in a concave pattern. The display is vertically positioned between the keyboard and a top edge of the face and is horizontally positioned symmetrically between the left edge and the right edge of the face. The processor is coupled to the keyboard and the display, and controls the operation of the hand-held messaging device.

Claims

1. A hand-held messaging device, comprising:

a miniaturized QWERTY style keyboard that is horizontally positioned symmetrically between a left edge and a right edge of a face of the hand-held messaging device and having a plurality of keys arranged in three rows across the face, wherein each row of keys is arranged in a concave pattern and wherein each of the plurality of keys is aligned along a vertical axis with a key from an adjacent row of keys, the vertical axis extending perpendicularly from a top edge to a bottom edge of the hand-held messaging device;

a display that is vertically positioned between the keyboard and a top edge of the face and horizontally positioned symmetrically between the left edge and the right edge of the face; and

a processor coupled to the keyboard and the display that controls the operation of the hand-held messaging device;

wherein keys that are aligned along a vertical axis are aligned with substantially no vertical offset.

2. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, wherein the hand-held messaging device includes a plurality of connecting surfaces for connecting the face to a bottom surface, and further comprising:

at least one functional key positioned on the connecting surfaces of the hand-held messaging device.

3. The hand-held messaging device of claim 2, wherein the functional key is an alt key.

4. The hand-held messaging device of claim 2, wherein the functional key is a capitalization key.

5. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, wherein the hand-held messaging device includes a plurality of connecting surfaces for connecting the face to a bottom surface, and further comprising:

at least one functional key positioned on the bottom surface of the hand-held messaging device.

6. The hand-held messaging device of claim 5, wherein the functional key is an alt key.

7. The hand-held messaging device of claim 5, wherein the functional key is a shift key.

8. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, wherein the hand-held messaging device includes a plurality of connecting surfaces for connecting the face to a bottom surface, and further comprising:

at least one type of functional key, wherein two of each type of functional key are positioned on the bottom surface of the hand-held messaging device.

9. The hand-held messaging device of claim 8, wherein the two functional keys of each type include a first functional key that is positioned for use with a left hand of a user and a second functional key that is positioned for use with a right hand of the user.

10. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, wherein the hand-held messaging device includes a plurality of connecting surfaces for connecting the face to a bottom surface, and further comprising:

at least one type of functional key, wherein two of each type of functional key are positioned on two of the connecting surfaces, respectively.

11. The hand-held messaging device of claim 10, wherein the two functional keys of each type include a first functional key that is positioned for use with a left hand of a user and a second functional key that is positioned for use with a right hand of a user.

12. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, wherein the hand-held messaging device includes a plurality of connecting surfaces for connecting the face to a bottom surface, and further comprising:

at least one type of functional key, wherein two of each type of functional key are positioned on one of the connecting surfaces.

13. The hand-held messaging device of claim 12, wherein the two functional keys of each type include a first functional key that is positioned for use with a left hand of a user and a second functional key that is positioned for use with a right hand of user.

14. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, wherein each row of keys is arranged in a concave-up pattern.

15. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, wherein each row of keys is arranged in a concave-down pattern.

16. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, wherein each row of keys is arranged along an arc.

17. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, wherein each row of keys is arranged along two intersecting line segments.

18. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of keys of the keyboard is oblong.

19. The hand-held messaging device of claim 18, wherein the oblong key is tilted at an angle from a vertical axis extending through a center of the key.

20. The hand-held messaging device of claim 18, wherein the oblong key is aligned with a vertical axis extending through a center of the key.

21. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of keys of the keyboard are oblong.

22. The hand-held messaging device of claim 21, wherein a first portion of the oblong keys are tilted at a negative angle from vertical and a second portion of the oblong keys are tilted at a positive angle from vertical.

23. The hand-held messaging device of claim 21, wherein the oblong keys are all tilted at the same or substantially the same angle from vertical.

24. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of keys of the keyboard is oval.

25. The hand-held messaging device of claim 24, wherein the oval key is tilted at an angle from a vertical axis extending through a center of the key.

26. The hand-held messaging device of claim 24, wherein the oval key is aligned with a vertical axis extending through a center of the key.

27. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of keys of the keyboard is circular.

28. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of keys of the keyboard is rectangular.

29. The hand-held messaging device of claim 28, wherein the rectangular key is tilted at an angle from a vertical axis extending through a center of the key.

30. The hand-held messaging device of claim 28, wherein the rectangular key is aligned with a vertical axis extending through a center of the key.

31. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of keys each have a shape that is contoured for optimal typing with a user'"'"'s thumbs.

32. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, wherein the keyboard includes:

a first row of keys having ten (10) keys, wherein a first set of five (5) keys from the first row are arranged in a pattern having a positive slope from vertical and a second set of five (5) keys from the first row are arranged in a pattern having a negative slope from vertical;

a second row of keys having nine (9) keys, wherein a first set of four (4) keys from the second row are arranged in a pattern having a positive slope from vertical, a second set of four (4) keys from the second row are arranged in a pattern having a negative slope from vertical, and a center key from the second row is positioned equidistant or substantially equidistant from the left edge and the right edge of the face; and

a third row of keys having at least eight keys, wherein a first set of four (4) keys from the third row is arranged in a pattern having a positive slope from vertical and a second set of four (4) keys from the third row is arranged in a pattern having a negative slope from vertical.

33. The hand-held messaging device of claim 32, wherein one of the keys from the third row is a line feed key.

34. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, wherein the keyboard includes three (3) rows of keys, wherein each of the three rows of keys includes a first set of five (5) keys that are arranged in a pattern having a positive slope from vertical and a second set of five (5) keys that are arranged in a pattern having a negative slope from vertical.

35. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, wherein the keyboard includes twenty-six (26) letter keys.

36. The hand-held messaging device of claim 35, wherein the twenty-six (26) letter keys are arranged in the format of a QWERTY-style keyboard.

37. The hand-held messaging device of claim 36, further comprising:

a row of functional keys that are horizontally positioned symmetrically or substantially symmetrically between a left edge and a right edge of the face of the hand-held messaging device and vertically positioned between the keyboard and a bottom edge of the hand-held messaging device.

38. The hand-held messaging device of claim 37, wherein the row of functional keys includes a space bar.

39. The hand-held messaging device of claim 37, wherein the row of functional keys includes a an alt key, and wherein at least one letter key has an associated alternate character that may be input to the processor by simultaneously depressing the letter key and the alt key.

40. The hand-held messaging device of claim 37, wherein the row of functional keys includes a shift key.

41. The hand-held messaging device of claim 37, wherein the row of functional keys includes a menu key.

42. The hand-held messaging device of claim 37, further comprising:

at least one additional functional key positioned below the row of functional keys.

43. The hand-held messaging device of claim 42, wherein the additional functional key is a scroll-up key.

44. The hand-held messaging device of claim 42, wherein the additional functional key is a scroll-down key.

45. The hand-held messaging device of claim 42, wherein the additional functional key launches an application program.

46. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, further comprising:

at least one additional functional key positioned above the keyboard.

47. The hand-held messaging device of claim 46, wherein the additional functional key is a backspace key.

48. The hand-held messaging device of claim 46, wherein the additional functional key is a home key.

49. The hand-held messaging device of claim 46, wherein the additional functional key is an escape key.

50. The hand-held messaging device of claim 46, wherein the additional functional key is a menu key.

51. The hand-held messaging device of claim 46, wherein the additional functional key is a delete key.

52. The hand-held messaging device of claim 46, wherein the additional functional key is a cursor-left key.

53. The hand-held messaging device of claim 46, wherein the additional functional key is a cursor-right key.

54. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, further comprising:

a thumb-wheel coupled to the processor, wherein the thumb-wheel is vertically positioned on the face of the hand-held messaging device above the keyboard and below the display.

55. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, wherein the thumb-wheel is horizontally positioned symmetrically or substantially symmetrically between the left edge and the right edge of the face such that the thumb-wheel may be operated by a user with either a right hand or a left hand.

56. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, further comprising:

a thumb-wheel coupled to the processor, wherein the thumb-wheel is positioned on a side surface of the hand-held messaging device.

57. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, further comprising:

a rocker switch coupled to the processor, wherein the rocker switch is positioned on a side surface of the hand-held messaging device.

58. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, further comprising:

a wireless radio subsystem coupled to the processor that transmits and receives electronic messages from a wireless network; and

a memory device coupled to the processor that stores electronic messages received from the wireless network.

59. The hand-held messaging device of claim 58, further comprising:

application software executing on the processor, wherein the application software includes an electronic messaging application that receives electronic messages that are wirelessly redirected to the hand-held messaging device from a redirection software application executing on a corporate server.

60. The hand-held messaging device of claim 59, wherein the application software includes a calendar application.

61. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, further comprising:

a rechargeable battery coupled to the processor that supplies power to the hand-held messaging device.

62. The hand-held messaging device of claim 1, further comprising:

a light source positioned to provide light to the keyboard.

63. The hand-held messaging device of claim 62, wherein the light source also provides light to the display.

64. The hand-held messaging device of claim 62, wherein the light source is a backlight mounted within a housing of the hand-held messaging device.

65. A hand-held messaging device, comprising:

a device housing having a face, a bottom surface, and a plurality of connecting surfaces for connecting the face to the bottom surface;

a display mounted within the face of the device housing and horizontally positioned symmetrically between a left edge of face and a right edge of the face;

a miniaturized keyboard mounted within the face of the device housing in a position between the display and a bottom edge of the face, wherein the keyboard comprises a QWERTY-stile keyboard having a plurality of keys arranged in three rows across the face, wherein each row of keys is arranged in a concave pattern and is distributed symmetrically across the face of the housing, wherein the keyboard includes a plurality of letter keys and at least one specialized key and wherein each of the plurality of keys is aligned along a vertical axis with a key from an adjacent row of keys, the vertical axis extending perpendicularly from a top edge to the bottom edge of the face of the device housing; and

an auxiliary input device mounted within the housing;

wherein keys that are aligned along a vertical axis are aligned with substantially no vertical offset.

66. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, further comprising:

at least one functional key mounted within the connecting surfaces of the device.

67. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, further comprising:

at least one functional key mounted within the bottom surface of the device.

68. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, wherein each row of keys is arranged in a concave-up pattern.

69. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, wherein each row of keys is arranged in a concave-down pattern.

70. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, wherein each row of keys is arranged along an arc.

71. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, wherein each row of keys is arranged along two intersecting line segments.

72. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, wherein the plurality of keys are oblong.

73. The hand-held messaging device of claim 72, wherein the oblong shaped keys are tilted with respect to a vertical reference through the face of the device housing.

74. The hand-held messaging device of claim 72, wherein the oblong shaped keys are aligned with a vertical reference through the face of the device housing.

75. The hand-held messaging device of claim 72, wherein the oblong shaped keys are oval shaped.

76. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, wherein the plurality of keys are circular.

77. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, wherein the plurality of keys are square.

78. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, wherein the plurality of keys are rectangular.

79. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, wherein the specialized key is a line feed key.

80. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, wherein the specialized key is a backspace key.

81. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, wherein the keyboard further comprises a row of functional keys.

82. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, wherein the row of functional keys includes at least a space bar key, an alt key, and a shift key.

83. The hand-held messaging device of claim 81, wherein the row of functional keys includes at least a space bar key, a shift key, and a menu key.

84. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, wherein the hand-held device is a two-way pager, a personal digital assistant or an electronic organizer.

85. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, wherein the display occupies more than half of the surface area of the face of the device.

86. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, wherein the auxiliary input device is mounted within one of the connecting surfaces.

87. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, wherein the auxiliary input device is a thumbwheel.

88. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, wherein the auxiliary input device is a rocker switch.

89. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, wherein the auxiliary input device includes a directional input component for navigating a plurality of menu items presented on the display and a selector switch for selecting a menu item from the plurality of menu items.

90. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, wherein the auxiliary input device is mounted within the face of the device.

91. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, further comprising:

a transceiver for transmitting and receiving messages.

92. The hand-held messaging device of claim 91, further comprising:

a first antenna for receiving messages; and

a second antenna for transmitting messages.

93. The hand-held messaging device of claim 92, wherein the transceiver further comprises:

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

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

94. The hand-held messaging device of claim 93, wherein the transceiver further comprises:

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

95. The hand-held messaging device of claim 65, wherein the keyboard includes a backlight.

96. A wireless e-mail device, comprising:

a device housing having a face and a left and right side surface coupled to the face;

display mourned within the face;

a transceiver for receiving e-mail messages from a wireless network and for transmitting e-mail messages generated on the wireless e-mail device to the wireless network; and

a miniaturized QWERTY style keyboard that is horizontally positioned symmetrically between the left side surface and the right side surface and having a plurality of keys arranged in three rows across the face, wherein each row of keys is arranged in a concave pattern and wherein each of the plurality of keys is aligned along a vertical axis with a key from an adjacent row of keys, the vertical axis extending perpendicularly from a top edge to a bottom edge of the face of the device housing;

wherein keys that are aligned along a vertical axis are aligned with substantially no vertical offset.

97. The wireless e-mail device of claim 96, further comprising:

at least one functional key positioned on the left side surface of the device.

98. The wireless e-mail device of claim 96, further comprising:

at least one functional key positioned on the right side surface of the device.

99. The wireless e-mail device of claim 96, further comprising:

at least one type of functional key, wherein the one type of functional key is positioned on both the left and right side surfaces of the device.

100. The wireless e-mail device of claim 96, wherein the device housing includes a bottom surface coupled to the left and right side surfaces, and further comprising:

at least one functional key positioned on the bottom surface of the housing.

101. The wireless e-mail device of claim 96, wherein the device housing includes a top side surface coupled to the face, and further comprising:

at least one functional key positioned on the top side surface.

102. The wireless e-mail device of claim 96, further comprising an auxiliary input device mounted within the device housing.

103. The wireless e-mail device of claim 102, wherein the auxiliary input device is a thumbwheel.

104. The wireless e-mail device of claim 102, wherein the auxiliary input device is a rocker switch.

105. The wireless e-mail device of claim 102, wherein the auxiliary input device includes a directional input component for navigating a plurality of menu items presented on the display and a selector switch for selecting a menu item from the plurality of menu items.

106. The wireless e-mail device of claim 96, further comprising an antenna coupled to the transceiver.

107. The wireless e-mail device of claim 96, further comprising:

a microprocessor; and

a memory for storing an operating system and a plurality of application programs that are executed by the microprocessor to control the operation of the wireless e-mail device.

108. The wireless e-mail device of claim 107, further comprising a digital signal processor coupled between the microprocessor and the transceiver.

109. The wireless e-mail device of claim 107, wherein the plurality of application programs include a messaging application for generating e-mail messages and a calendar application.

110. The wireless e-mail device of claim 109, wherein the plurality of application programs further include an address book application.

111. The wireless e-mail device of claim 107, wherein the memory is a flash memory.

112. The wireless e-mail device of claim 96, further comprising a serial port for coupling the wireless e-mail device to a host computer.

113. The wireless e-mail device of claim 96, further comprising a power supply system including a rechargeable battery and an external charger input for receiving a source of electrical charge to recharge the rechargeable battery.

114. The wireless e-mail device of claim 113, wherein the rechargeable battery is a lithium battery.

115. The wireless e-mail device of claim 113, wherein the power supply subsystem further includes a voltage regulator coupled to the rechargeable battery for generating a regulated supply voltage for powering the device.

116. The wireless e-mail device of claim 113, wherein the power supply subsystem further includes connections to a microprocessor for monitoring the operation of the power supply subsystem.

117. A hand-held messaging device, comprising:

a device housing having a face;

a display mounted within the face;

a miniaturized keyboard mounted within the face of the device housing in a position between the display and a bottom edge of the face, wherein the keyboard comprises a QWERTY-style keyboard having a plurality of keys arranged in three rows across the face, wherein each row of keys is arranged in a concave pattern and is distributed symmetrically across the face of the housing, wherein the keyboard includes a plurality of letter keys and at least one specialized key and wherein each of the plurality of keys is aligned along a vertical axis with a key front an adjacent row of keys, the vertical axis extending perpendicularly from a top edge to the bottom edge of the face; and

means for receiving e-mail messages from a wireless network and for transmitting e-mail messages generated on the hand-held messaging device to the wireless network;

wherein keys that are aligned along a vertical axis are aligned with substantially no vertical offset.

118. The hand-held messaging device of claim 117, wherein the device housing includes a left side surface and a right side surface, and further comprising:

at least one functional key positioned on the left side surface of the device.

119. The hand-held messaging device of claim 117, wherein the device housing includes a left side surface and a right side surface, and further comprising:

at least one functional key positioned on the right side surface of the device.

120. The hand-held messaging device of claim 117, wherein the device housing includes a left side surface and a right side surface, and further comprising:

at least one type of functional key, wherein the one type of functional key is positioned on both the left and right side surfaces of the device.

121. The hand-held messaging device of claim 117, wherein the device housing includes a bottom surface coupled to the left and right side surfaces, and further comprising:

at least one functional key positioned on the bottom surface of the housing.

122. The hand-held messaging device of claim 117, wherein the device housing includes a top side surface coupled to the face, and further comprising:

at least one functional key positioned on the top side surface.

123. A hand-held messaging device, comprising:

a device housing having a face;

a display mounted within the face;

a miniaturized keyboard mourned within the face of the device housing in a position between the display and a bottom edge of the face, wherein the keyboard comprises a QWERTY-style keyboard having a plurality of keys arranged in three rows across the face, wherein each row of keys is arranged in a concave pattern and is distributed symmetrically across the face of the housing, wherein the keyboard includes a plurality of letter keys and at least one specialized key and wherein each of the plurality of keys is aligned along a vertical axis with a key from an adjacent row of keys, the vertical axis extending perpendicularly from a top edge to the bottom edge of the face;

an auxiliary input device mounted within the device housing;

a transceiver for receiving information from a wireless network and for transmitting information to the wireless network;

an antenna coupled to the transceiver

a microprocessor;

a memory for storing an operating system and a plurality of application programs that are executed by the microprocessor to control the operation of the hand-held messaging device; and

a power supply system including a rechargeable battery and an external charger input for receiving a source of electrical charge to recharge die rechargeable battery;

wherein keys that arc aligned along a vertical axis are aligned with substantially no vertical offset.

124. The hand-held messaging device of claim 123, wherein the device housing includes a left side surface and a right side surface, and further comprising:

at least one functional key positioned on the left side surface of the device.

125. The hand-held messaging device of claim 123, wherein the device housing includes a left side surface and a right side surface, and further comprising:

at least one functional key positioned on the right side surface of the device.

126. The hand-held messaging device of claim 123, wherein the device housing includes a left side surface and a right side surface, and further comprising:

at least one type of functional key, wherein the one type of functional key is positioned on both the left and right side surfaces of the device.

127. The hand-held messaging device of claim 123, wherein the device housing includes a bottom surface coupled to the left and right side surfaces, and further comprising:

at least one functional key positioned on the bottom surface of the housing.

128. The hand-held messaging device of claim 123, wherein the device housing includes a top side surface coupled to the face, and further comprising:

at least one functional key positioned on the top side surface.