MOBILE TERMINAL

• US 20090117944A1
• Filed: 07/14/2008
• Published: 05/07/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Oh, Han-Cyu, Song, Jun-Hyuck, Lee, Seong-Cheol, Park, Sang Min, Park, Jae-Woon, Park, Hyo-Sung
• Granted Patent: US 8,249,661 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/566
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1624 with sliding enclosures, e.g. sliding keyboard or display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1656 Details related to functional adaptations of the enclosure, e.g. to provide protection against EMI, shock, water, or to host detachable peripherals like a mouse or removable expansions units like PCMCIA cards, or to provide access to internal components for maintenance or to removable storage supports like CDs or DVDs, or to mechanically mount accessories mounting of accessories to a computer display G06F1/1607; display hoods G06F1/1603; cooling arrangements for portable computers G06F1/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1686 the I/O peripheral being an integrated camera
• 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 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0445 using two or more layers of sensing electrodes, e.g. using two layers of electrodes separated by a dielectric layer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/045 using resistive elements, e.g. a single continuous surface or two parallel surfaces put in contact
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0237 Sliding mechanism with one degree of freedom
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0266 for a display module assembly
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector digitizers for touch screens G06F3/041

Abstract

A mobile terminal including a terminal body having first and second regions on a front surface thereof, a touch screen part on the first region and configured to display visual information and perform an inputting operation in a tactile manner, and a touch pad part corresponding to the second region and configured to input information corresponding to a touch applied to a pre-set position on the second region.

Claims

1. A mobile terminal comprising:

a terminal body having first and second regions on a front surface thereof;

a touch screen part on the first region and configured to display visual information and perform an inputting operation in a tactile manner; and

a touch pad part corresponding to the second region and configured to input information corresponding to a touch applied to a pre-set position on the second region.

2. The mobile terminal of claim 1, further comprising:

a display mounted on the first region and configured to display the visual information; and

a window of a transmissive material mounted on the front surface of the first and second regions.

3. The mobile terminal of claim 2, wherein the touch screen part comprises a touch sheet attached on an inner side of the window and configured to sense a touch on the first region.

4. The mobile terminal of claim 3, wherein the touch sheet comprises a first conductive pattern formed in zigzags on the touch sheet.

5. The mobile terminal of claim 4, wherein the first conductive pattern is formed along a lengthwise direction of the terminal body and has bent points at left and right sides thereof.

6. The mobile terminal of claim 5, wherein two lines adjacent to a corresponding bent point are symmetrical based on a horizontal line that passes through the corresponding bent point.

7. The mobile terminal of claim 4, wherein the touch sheet further comprises:

a conductive layer disposed on one face of the first conductive pattern;

a data line electrically connected to the conductive layer and disposed at edges of the touch sheet; and

electric field generating units disposed at the edges of the touch sheet and configured to generate an electric field at the conductive layer.

8. The mobile terminal of claim 7, wherein the touch sheet has a rectangular shape, and the electric field generating units are mounted at positions corresponding to vertexes of the touch sheet.

9. The mobile terminal of claim 7, further comprising:

a correction pattern formed at the edges of the touch sheet and configured to linearly correct an electric field generated at the conductive layer.

10. The mobile terminal of claim 3, wherein a portion of the touch sheet corresponding to the touch pad part includes a second conductive pattern configured to sense a touch of the touch pad part.

11. The mobile terminal of claim 10, wherein the second conductive patterns are spaced apart from each other on the touch sheet.

12. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the touch pad part comprises an illumination sheet configured to illuminate the second region, and

wherein the touch sheet further comprises a shielding pattern electrically short-circuited to ground of the illumination sheet and configured to block an influence of the illumination sheet.

13. The mobile terminal of claim 12, further comprising:

a data line formed at edges of the touch sheet and configured to transfer a touch signal corresponding to the first and second regions being touched,

wherein the shielding pattern is formed at a position corresponding to the data line and positioned at an opposite surface of a surface of the touch sheet on which the data line is positioned.

14. The mobile terminal of claim 12, wherein the illumination sheet has individualized illumination patterns configured to separately illuminate touched regions of the touch pad part, and

wherein the illumination patterns each have a different radius and are formed in concentric circles arranged in sequence along the radius.

15. The mobile terminal of claim 14, further comprising:

a control unit configured to separately control the illumination patterns to have a brightness that changes along an ambient direction based on a length of time a corresponding illumination pattern is touched.

16. The mobile terminal of claim 2, further comprising:

a center key disposed in a through hole formed in the window at a position in the second region; and

a switch disposed within the terminal body and configured to input information according to a pressing operation of the center key.

17. The mobile terminal of claim 2, wherein the display is disposed at the first region, the window of a transmissive material is mounted on a front surface of the display, and the touch screen part includes the touch sheet attached on an inner side of the window.

18. The mobile terminal of claim 17, wherein the touch pad part comprises:

a touch panel disposed at the second region and configured to receive a touch; and

touch sensors mounted within the terminal body and configured to sense the touch input to the touch panel.

19. The mobile terminal of claim 18, wherein the touch panel has a plate shape, and the touch sensors are mounted separately at multiple positions on a printed circuit board within the body.

20. The mobile terminal of claim 19, further comprising:

a center key disposed in a through hole formed in the window at a position in the second region; and

a switch disposed within the terminal body and configured to input information according to a pressing operation of the center key.

21. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the terminal body comprises:

a support frame surrounding a circumference of the first and second regions; and

a switch mounted at an inner side of the support frame and configured to input information according to a pressing operation of a manipulation unit included in the support frame.

22. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the touch screen part displays a selectable list, and the touch pad part has a shape of a direction key to move a cursor or a pointer positioned on the list.

23. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the terminal body comprises a first body;

and

a second body connected to be slidably moved with respect to the first body, and

wherein the first body includes the touch screen part and the touch pad part formed on a front surface thereof, and the second body includes a keypad on a front surface thereof and configured to input numbers or characters.

24. The mobile terminal of claim 4, wherein the first conductive pattern is a single layer.