Foldable keyboard

• US 6,967,831 B2
• Filed: 02/27/2003
• Issued: 11/22/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Gula Consulting Limited Liability Company (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Lite-On Technology Corporation
• Inventors: Chuang, Tsung Jen
• Primary Examiner(s): CHANG, YEAN HSI
• Application Number:
  US10/373,758
• Publication Number:
  US 20030128502A1
• Time in Patent Office: 999 Days
• Field of Search: 361/680
• US Class Current: 361/679.15
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/16 Constructional details or arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0221 Arrangements for reducing keyboard size for transport or storage, e.g. foldable keyboards, keyboards with collapsible keys G06F3/0216 takes precedence; for keyboards integrated in a laptop computer G06F1/1666
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 13/86 characterised by the casing, e.g. sealed casings or casings reducible in size
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 2223/05 composed of hingedly connected sections

Abstract

A foldable keyboard comprises a keyboard body, a circuit, and a plurality of flexible printed circuit. The keyboard body has a plurality of touch panels in serial connection. Each touch panel has a pair of conductive membranes being segmented into a plurality of blocks for generating a panel signal. The adjacent touch panels are connected by the flexible printed circuits so that the touch panels can be folded in a stacked way. The touch panels are segmented into a plurality of blocks. A plurality of legends is formed on the top surface or the bottom surface of the keyboard body. The legends respectively correspond to the blocks.

Claims

1. A foldable keyboard for portable electronic devices comprising:

a keyboard body having a plurality of separate touch panels, each touch panel being substantially flat with a top surface and a bottom surface and flexibly hinged to at least one adjacent touch panel and further comprising;

a rigid base plate;

a lower conductive membrane fixedly disposed on said rigid base plate;

a plurality of protrusive spacers fixedly disposed as an array on said lower conductive membrane;

an upper conductive membrane fixedly disposed on said plurality of spacers so that said plurality of spacers are interposed between said upper and lower conductive membranes and define a plurality of blocks so that a panel signal is generated when said upper conductive membrane contacts said lower conductive membrane as when so caused by a user exerting a sufficient pressure on said upper conductive membrane;

a film disposed on said upper conductive membrane;

a plurality of legends formed on said film wherein each of said plurality of legends corresponds respectively to each of said plurality of blocks and are arranged as a standard keyboard;

a plurality of printed circuits respectively electrically and structurally linking in a flexible hinged manner pairs of adjacent touch panels in a lateral direction thereby enabling the plurality of touch panels to be folded laterally one on the other to a stacked folded condition and electrically connecting said conductive membranes of said touch panels; and

,

a circuit member for reversibly docking and electrically connecting said keyboard to a portable electronic device;

wherein said keyboard body has the same area as that of a main typing region on a standard-sized computer keyboard when said touch panels are unfolded to an unstacked unfolded condition;

wherein the keyboard body in said stacked folded condition is adapted for insertion into a pocket of said user.

2. The foldable keyboard as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of touch panels is business-card size.

3. The foldable keyboard as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a pair of outer cases that together form a container having a cavity for receiving the foldable keyboard in a stacked folded condition therein, each of the outer cases having a flat inner surface.

4. The foldable keyboard as claimed in claim 3, wherein the outer cases are made of an Al—

Mg alloy.

5. The foldable keyboard as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a protective layer with a shape corresponding to that of the keyboard body and fixedly covering a bottom of the keyboard body.

6. The foldable keyboard as claimed in claim 5, wherein the protective layer is made of a synthetic leather.

7. The foldable keyboard as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a plurality of laminas respectively disposed on said top surface or said bottom surface of the touch panels.

8. The foldable keyboard as claimed in claim 7, wherein each of the plurality of laminas is made of a material chosen from the group consisting of an Al—

Mg alloy and an indium-tin oxide composition.

9. The foldable keyboard as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a protective layer with shape corresponding to that of the keyboard body and covering bottom surfaces of the laminas.

10. The foldable keyboard as claimed in claim 9, wherein the protective layer is made of a synthetic leather.

11. The foldable keyboard as recited in claim 1, wherein each of said touch panels has a width substantially equal to 55 mm and a length substantially equal to 90 mm and said keyboard in said unstacked unfolded condition has a width substantially equal to 90 mm and a length substantially equal to 275 mm.

12. A foldable keyboard for portable electronic devices comprising:

a keyboard body having a plurality of separate touch panels, each of said touch panels including an upper conductive membrane overlaying a lower conductive member in spaced relationship and an array of a plurality of protrusive spacers disposed between the upper and lower conductive membranes and affixed on said lower conductive membrane; and

,

a plurality of printed circuits respectively electrically and structurally connecting pairs of adjacent touch panels in a lateral direction thereby enabling the keyboard body to be folded laterally to a stacked folded condition and adapted for insertion of the foldable keyboard into a pocket for portable use, wherein the keyboard body in an unstacked unfolded condition has the same area as that of a main typing region on a standard-sized computer keyboard;

each touch panel having a pair of conductive membranes being segmented into a plurality of blocks, in which a panel signal is generated when the pair of conductive membranes are pressed into contact, and each block corresponds to a panel signal;

a plurality of laminas respectively disposed on a bottom of the touch panels, each lamina having a plurality of legends formed thereon, wherein the legends correspond to the respective blocks and are arranged as a standard keyboard; and

,

a circuit member adapted for docking and electrically connecting at least one of the touch panels to a portable electronic device.

13. The foldable keyboard as claimed in claim 12, wherein the circuit member comprises:

a multiplexer unit being electrically connected to one of the touch panels for multiplexing the panel signal into a multiplexing signal;

an analog-to-digital converter member being electrically connected to the multiplexer for converting the multiplexing signal into a digital signal;

a micro-controller unit being electrically connected to the analog-to-digital converter for controlling and processing the digital signal;

a memory unit being electrically connected to the micro-controller unit for storing the digital signal; and

an interface controller member electrically connected to the micro-controller unit for transmitting the digital signal of the foldable keyboard to said portable electronic device.

14. The foldable keyboard as claimed in claim 12, wherein each of the touch panels has a length and a width substantially the same as a business card.

15. The foldable keyboard as claimed in claim 13, further comprising a buzzer for emitting a warning signal sound.

16. The foldable keyboard as claimed in claim 13, wherein the memory unit consists essentially of an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, EEPROM.

17. The foldable keyboard as recited in claim 12, wherein each of said touch panels has a width substantially equal to 55 mm and a length substantially equal to 90 mm and said keyboard in said unstacked unfolded condition has a width substantially equal to 90 mm and a length substantially equal to 275 mm.