Sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus

• US 7,269,450 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2004
• Issued: 09/11/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Lee, Yang-Jic, Lee, Jong-Seong, Jeong, Hun-Jong, Yoo, Taig-Jong
• Primary Examiner(s): Kincaid; Lester G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Figueroa; Marisol
• Application Number:
  US10/930,078
• Publication Number:
  US 20050078443A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,106 Days
• Field of Search: 455/575.1, 455/575.4, 455/575.8, 379/433.12, 379/433.13, 379/433.11
• US Class Current: 455/575.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1622 with enclosures rotating around an axis perpendicular to the plane they define or with ball-joint coupling, e.g. PDA with display enclosure orientation changeable between portrait and landscape by rotation with respect to a coplanar body enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1624 with sliding enclosures, e.g. sliding keyboard or display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1666 Arrangements for reducing the size of the integrated keyboard for transport, e.g. foldable keyboards, keyboards with collapsible keys G06F1/1664 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1686 the I/O peripheral being an integrated camera
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1688 the I/O peripheral being integrated loudspeakers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0231 Including a rotatable keypad body part
• 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 1/0247 comprising more than two body parts

Abstract

A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus including a main housing having a speaker unit positioned on its rear surface; key housings, each of which is positioned on a side of the main housing, the key housings being adapted to slide a predetermined distance toward or away from the main housing along a longitudinal direction for exposing or hiding the speaker unit according to whether or not the key housings have slid; and a swing housing adapted to rotate about a hinge axis, which is oriented perpendicular to the sliding direction of the key housings, within a predetermined range of angle while continuously facing an upper surface of the main housing and upper surfaces of the key housings for exposing and hiding predetermined areas of the key housings.

Claims

1. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus comprising:

a main housing having a speaker unit positioned on a rear surface of the main housing;

two key housings, each of which is positioned on a side of the main housing, and being slidable on a slide plane a first predetermined distance and a second predetermined distance toward or away from the main housing along a longitudinal direction of the main housing; and

a swing housing which is hinged to the main housing, rotatable within a predetermined angle about a hinge axis perpendicular to the slide plane, and continuously facing an upper surface of the main housing and upper surfaces of the key housings;

wherein, for increasingly exposing predetermined areas of the key housings, the key housings and the swing housing move with respect to the main housing in three sequential phases including firstly a first sliding of at least one of the key housings over the first predetermined distance, secondly a rotation of the swing housing over the predetermined angle, and thirdly a second sliding of at least one of the key housings over the second predetermined distance.

2. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the key housings are provided with, on their upper surfaces, a first key array composed of a number of keys which are visually exposed after the first sliding;

a second key array composed of a number of keys which are visually exposed after the rotation; and

a third key array composed of a number of keys which are visually exposed after the second sliding.

3. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the second key array is disposed between the first key array and the third key array, and the first, second, and third key arrays are arranged on the upper surfaces of the key housings.

4. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the number of keys composing the second key array is greater than the number of keys composing the first key array, and is less than the number of keys composing the third key array.

5. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the key housings is positioned on each of opposite sides of the main housing and is slidable toward or away from each other.

6. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the key housings are positioned symmetrically with respect to each other and with respect to the main housing.

7. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the swing housing after rotating 90°

is adjacent to the upper surfaces of the key housings in a cross-shaped configuration.

8. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the swing housing is provided with, on an upper surface of the swing housing, a display unit and a fourth key array composed of a number of keys disposed adjacent to the display unit.

9. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the key housings is provided with, on a rear surface of the at least one key housing, one or more openings for the speaker unit.

10. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the openings on the key housings face the speaker unit when the key housings are closed on the main housing.

11. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus comprising:

a main housing including a battery pack positioned on a lower surface of the main housing, a camera lens positioned adjacent to a side of the battery pack, and a locking knob positioned adjacent to an other side of the battery pack;

two key housings, each of which is positioned on each of opposite sides of the main housing and being slidable on a slide plane a first predetermined distance and a second predetermined distance toward or away from the main housing along a longitudinal direction of the main housing; and

a swing housing which is hinged to the main housing, rotatable within a predetermined angle about a hinge axis, perpendicular to the slide plane and, continuously facing an upper surface of the main housing and upper surfaces of the key housings;

wherein, for increasingly exposing predetermined areas of the key housings, the key housings and the swing housing move with respect to the main housing in three sequential phases including firstly a first sliding of at least one of the key housings over the first predetermined distance, secondly a rotation of the swing housing over the predetermined angle, and thirdly a second sliding of at least one of the key housings over the second predetermined distance.

12. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein the key housings are provided with, on their upper surfaces, a first key array composed of a number of keys which are visually exposed after the first sliding;

a second key array composed of a number of keys which are visually exposed after the rotation; and

a third key array composed of a number of keys which are visually exposed after the second sliding.

13. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the second key array disposed between the first key array and the third key array, and the first, second, and third key arrays are arranged on the upper surfaces of the key housings.

14. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein the number of keys composing the second key array is greater than the number of keys composing the first key array, and is less than the number of keys composing the third key array.

15. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein the key housings are positioned symmetrically with respect to each other and with respect to the main housing.

16. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein the swing housing after rotating 90°

is adjacent to the upper surfaces of the key housings in a cross-shaped configuration.

17. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein the swing housing is provided with, on an upper surface of the swing housing, a display unit and a fourth key array composed of a number of keys disposed adjacent to the display unit.

18. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus comprising:

a main housing having a battery pack positioned on a lower surface of the main housing;

two key housings, each of which is positioned on each of opposite sides of the main housing and slidable on a slide plane a first predetermined distance and a second predetermined distance toward or away from the main housing along a longitudinal direction of the main housing;

a swing housing which is hinged to the main housing, rotatable within a predetermined angle about a hinge axis, perpendicular to the slide plane and continuously facing an upper surface of the main housing and upper surfaces of the key housings; and

a set of key arrays provided on the upper surfaces of the key housings, the key arrays being increasingly exposed upon a sequential movement of the key housings and the swing housing with respect to the main housing,

wherein the set of key arrays comprises a first key array composed of a number of keys visually exposed after a first sliding of the key housings over the first predetermined distance;

a second key array composed of a number of keys visually exposed after a rotation of the swing housing over the predetermined angle; and

a third key array composed of a number of keys visually exposed after a second sliding of the key housings over the second predetermined distance.

19. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the swing housing is provided with, on an upper surface of the swing housing, a display unit and a fourth key array composed of a number of keys disposed adjacent to the display unit.

20. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein, firstly after the first sliding, the first key array, the display unit, and the fourth key array are disposed adjacent to one another;

secondly after the rotation the second key array is disposed adjacent to and between the first key array and the display unit; and

, thirdly after the second sliding the second key array is disposed adjacent to and between the first and third key arrays, and the third key array and the display unit are disposed adjacent to each other.

21. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein the number of keys composing the second key array is greater than the number of keys composing the first key array, and is less than the number of keys composing the third key array.

22. A sliding/swing-type portable digital communication apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the key housings are provided with holding means for sliding the key housings along edges of the battery pack.