Mobile phone with two input modes

• US 7,031,758 B2
• Filed: 11/21/2002
• Issued: 04/18/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: FIH (Hong Kong) Limited (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: FIH Co., Ltd. (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Chang, Suli
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Simon
• Application Number:
  US10/302,074
• Publication Number:
  US 20040198307A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,244 Days
• Field of Search: 455/90.3, 455347-349, 455/575.1, 455/575.3, 455/575.4, 455/550.1, 455/552.1, 455/556.2, 455/566, 379/433.01, 379/433.04, 379/433.07, 379/433.11, 379/433.12, 379/433.13
• US Class Current: 455/575.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0214 Foldable telephones, i.e. with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position combined with translation movement H04M1/0235
• 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 1/0237 Sliding mechanism with one degree of freedom
• 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 1/72466 with selection means, e.g. keys, having functions defined by the mode or the status of the device
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector

Abstract

A mobile phone (1) includes a main body (3), a keypad (5), and a pair of fasteners (7, 9) slidably and pivotally attaching the keypad to the main body. The main body has a housing (2) with a recess (31) defined in a lower portion thereof. The keypad is received in said recess and comprises a front panel (51) for a keypad input mode and a back panel (53) for a touch screen input mode. A switch between two input modes is achieved by sliding and rotating the keypad around the pair of fasteners to display one side or another side.

Claims

1. A mobile phone having a receiver, at least one transmitter and a display, said mobile phone comprising:

a main body having a housing with a recess defined in a lower portion thereof, and a main printed circuit board (PCB) received in the housing;

a keypad portion received in said recess comprising a front panel with a key operating section, a back panel with a touch screen, and a keypad PCB between said front and back panels, wherein the keypad PCB comprises a front PCB, a back PCB and an insulative layer sandwiched between the front PCB and the back PCB; and

at least one fastener to slidably and pivotally attach the keypad portion to the main body so that the keypad portion can be reversed from one side to another side, whereby a switch of input modes is attained by changing an electrical connection between the main PCB and the front and back PCBs.

2. The mobile phone as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least a latch structure is provided in the recess to fix the keypad portion in the recess.

3. The mobile phone as claimed in claim 2, wherein a plurality of function keys is provided between the recess and the display.

4. A mobile phone having a receiver, at least one transmitter, and a display, said mobile phone comprising:

a main body having a housing with a recess defined in a lower portion thereof; and

a keypad portion comprising a front panel with a key operating section, and a back panel with a touch screen;

wherein

the keypad portion is slidably and pivotally received in said recess of the main body so that the keypad can be reversed from one side to another side, whereby a switch of input modes is attained.

5. The mobile phone as claimed in claim 4, wherein a pair of engaging holes is symmetrically formed in bottom ends of the housing and a pair of runners is formed in two lateral sides of the keypad portion.

6. The mobile phone as claimed in claim 5, wherein a pair of fasteners extend through the corresponding engaging holes into the corresponding runners.

7. The mobile phone as claimed in claim 4, wherein said recess is defined by a top surface and two sidewalls of the housing.

8. The mobile phone as claimed in claim 7, wherein at least one latch structure is provided in the sidewalls of the housing to fix the keypad portion in the recess.

9. The mobile phone as claimed in claim 8, wherein a main printed circuit board (PCB) is received in the housing of the main body and a keypad PCB is received between the front and back panels of the keypad portion.

10. The mobile phone as claimed in claim 9, wherein the keypad PCB comprises a front PCB, a back PCB and an insulative layer sandwiched between the front PCB and the back PCB.

11. The mobile phone as claimed in claim 10, wherein the pair of fasteners each comprises a head portion, a neck portion and a tail portion, and a conductive layer is formed, along a circumferential direction on one part of a surface of the tail portion, on the neck portion, and on a surface connecting the neck portion with the tail portion of at least one of said fasteners.

12. The mobile phone as claimed in claim 11, wherein two elastic tongues are respectively provided in the sidewalls adjacent to the engaging holes and at least one of the elastic tongues electrically connects with the main PCB.

13. The mobile phone as claimed in claim 12, wherein two ends of at least one runner each have two separate metal pieces, and at least a metal piece at one end connects to the front PCB and at least a metal piece of the other end connects to the back PCB.

14. The mobile phone as claimed in claim 4, wherein a plurality of function keys is provided between the recess and the display.

15. The mobile phone as claimed in claim 4, wherein a fingerhole is provided on the top surface of the recess of the housing for manipulating the keypad.

16. A hybrid type electronic device comprising:

a main body; and

an operation pad including opposite front and back panels with a key operating section and a touch screen respectively, said operation pad being slidably and rotatable relative to the main body between first and second operation positions to expose said front panel and said back panel, respectively, for easy access from an exterior.

17. The device as claimed in claim 16, wherein said main body defines a cavity to receive said operation pad.

18. The device as claimed in claim 16, wherein said operation pad slides along a front-to-back direction, and rotates about an axis perpendicular to said front-to-back direction.

19. The device as claimed in claim 16, wherein said operation pad is constantly linked to the main body in either said two operation positions or during switching between said two operation positions.

20. The device as claimed in claim 16, wherein said main body includes a phone receiver and a display thereon.

21. A method of using a hybrid type electronic device, comprising steps of:

providing a main body with an operation pad movably mounted on a specific region thereof; and

sliding and rotating the operation pad, thereby mutually exclusively having a first face of the operation pad facing outwardly for a key input use or having a second face of the operation pad facing outwardly for a touch input use.

22. The method as claimed in claim 21, wherein the operation pad is located in said same specific region either for the key input use or for the touch input use.