Hand-held e-mail device

• US 6,452,588 B2
• Filed: 07/06/2001
• Issued: 09/17/2002
• 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: Major, Harry R., Lazaridis, Mihal, Griffin, Jason T., Holmes, John A., Little, Herb A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shalwala, Bipin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Said, Mansour M.
• Application Number:
  US09/900,585
• Publication Number:
  US 20010038382A1
• Time in Patent Office: 438 Days
• Field of Search: 345/156, 345/168, 345/169, 345/146, 345/160, 345/170, 345/171, 345/158, 400/489, 400/472, 400/486, 400/479, 341/20-23
• US Class Current: 345/169
• 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 1/1662 Details related to the integrated keyboard
• 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 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 3/0216 Arrangements for ergonomically adjusting the disposition of keys of a keyboard for keyboards integrated in a laptop computer G06F1/1664
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0219 Special purpose keyboards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0236 using selection techniques to select from displayed items
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 2225/022 other then row-column disposition
• 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

Abstract

A hand-held electronic device with a keyboard optimized for use with the thumbs is disclosed. In order to operate within the limited space available on a hand-held electronic device, the present invention optimizes the placement and shape of the keys, preferably using keys that are oval or oblong in shape, and that are placed at angles designed to facilitate thumb-typing. The angles at which keys on either side of the keyboard are placed is complimentary.

Claims

1. A handheld e-mail device optimally configured for use with the thumbs of a user, comprising:

a QWERTY keyboard comprising a plurality of letter keys, wherein the plurality of letter keys are oblong shaped keys, and wherein each oblong shaped key is tilted at a common angle relative to a vertical reference through the device, wherein the plurality of letter keys in the QWERTY keyboard are grouped into a first set of letter keys and a second set of letter keys, wherein the common angle for the first set of letter keys is a positive angle with respect to the vertical reference and the common angle for the second set of letter keys is a negative angle with respect to the vertical reference;

an auxiliary input device positioned in relative proximity to the QWERTY keyboard;

a display positioned adjacent to the keyboard;

a transceiver for sending and receiving e-mail messages to and from a wireless network; and

software residing in the device for providing functionality to inputs received from the auxiliary input device and the QWERTY keyboard.

2. The handheld e-mail device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of oblong shaped letter keys are oval shaped.

3. The handheld e-mail device of claim 1, wherein the positive angle is about 40 degrees and the negative angle is about 40 degrees.

4. The handheld e-mail device of claim 1, wherein a rho value defining the curvature of the first and second set of oblong shaped keys is about 0.414.

5. The handheld e-mail device of claim 1, wherein the auxiliary input device is a thumbwheel.

6. The handheld e-mail device of claim 5, wherein the thumbwheel is vertically oriented.

7. The handheld e-mail device of claim 1, wherein the device is a two-way pager.

8. The handheld e-mail device of claim 1, wherein the device is a personal digital assistant.

9. The handheld e-mail device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of letter keys are grouped into three rows of letter keys, each row of letter keys positioned on the device along an arc.

10. The handheld e-mail device of claim 9, wherein the arcs are concentric.

11. A handheld e-mail device optimally configured for use with the thumbs of a user comprising:

(a) a device housing;

(b) a QWERTY keyboard residing on the housing, the QWERTY keyboard having a plurality of oblong shaped letter keys, wherein each oblong shaped letter key is tilted at a common angle relative to a vertical reference through the device, and wherein the QWERTY keyboard is used to generate an e-mail message, wherein the plurality of letter keys include two groups of keys, a first group of letter keys that are tilted at a positive angle with respect to the vertical reference and a second group of letter keys that are tilted at a negative angle with respect to the vertical reference, wherein the positive and negative angles are common in magnitude but opposite in sign; and

a transceiver for sending and receiving e-mail messages to and from a wireless network.

12. The handheld e-mail device of claim 11, wherein the plurality of oblong shaped letter keys are oval shaped.

13. The handheld e-mail device of claim 12, wherein a rho value defining the curvature of the oblong shaped keys is about 0.4.

14. The handheld email device of claim 11, wherein the plurality of letter keys are grouped into three rows of letter keys, a first row, a second row, and a third row, wherein the first, second and third rows of letter keys are positioned on the device housing along first, second and third arcs.

15. The handheld e-mail device of claim 14, wherein the first, second and third arcs are concentric.

16. The handheld e-mail device of claim 11, wherein the handheld e-mail device is a two-way pager, a cellular telephone, a portable digital assistant, or an electronic organizer.

17. An electronic communication device, comprising:

a transceiver for transmitting and receiving text messages to and from a wireless network;

a keyboard for composing text messages to be transmitted by the transceiver, wherein the keyboard includes three sets of oblong shaped keys, wherein the three sets of oblong shaped keys are arranged into a QWERTY keyboard having three rows of keys, a top row, a middle row, and a bottom row, wherein the first set of keys is arranged in an arc and forms a top row of keys in the QWERTY keyboard, the second set of keys is arranged in an arc and forms a middle row of keys in the QWERTY keyboard, and the third set of keys is arranged in an arc and forms the bottom row of keys in the QWERTY keyboard, wherein the three sets of oblong shaped keys are oval shaped, and wherein the oval shaped keys are tilted at a common angle with respect to a vertical reference through the electronic communication device; and

a display for displaying the received text messages.

18. The electronic communication device of claim 17, further comprising:

an auxiliary input device for selecting an operation to be performed by the device, wherein a menu of operations is presented on the display.

19. The electronic communication device of claim 17, wherein the text messages are e-mail messages.

20. The electronic communication device of claim 17, wherein the transceiver includes:

a first antenna for receiving a text message; and

a second antenna for transmitting a text message.

21. The electronic communication device of claim 20, wherein the transceiver further includes:

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

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

22. The electronic communication device of claim 21, wherein the transceiver further includes:

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

23. A handheld e-mail device, comprising:

a transceiver for transmitting and receiving e-mail messages to and from a wireless network;

a keyboard for composing email messages to be transmitted by the transceiver, wherein the keyboard includes three sets of tilted keys, wherein the three sets of tilted keys are arranged into a QWERTY keyboard having at least three rows of keys, a top row, a middle row, and a bottom row, wherein the first set of keys is tilted at a first angle to a vertical reference and forms a top row of keys in the QWERTY keyboard, the second set of keys is tilted to a second angle to the vertical reference and forms a middle row of keys in the QWERTY keyboard, and the third set of keys is tilted to a third angle to the vertical reference and forms the bottom row of keys in the QWERTY keyboard, wherein the first, second and third angles are equal; and

a display for displaying the received e-mail messages.

32. The handheld e-mail device of claim 23, further comprising:

a microprocessor; and

a memory for storing the software, the software including an operating system and a plurality of application programs that are executed by the microprocessor to control the operation of the handheld device.

33. The handhold e-mail device of claim 32, wherein the memory is a flash memory.

34. The handheld e-mail device of claim 32, further comprising a digital signal processor coupled between the microprocessor and the transmitter and the receiver included in the handheld device.

35. The handheld e-mail device of claim 32, wherein the plurality of application programs include a messaging application for generating e-mail messages and a calendar application.

36. The handheld e-mail device of claim 35, wherein the plurality of application programs further include an address book application.

24. A handheld e-mail device optimally configured for use with the thumbs of a user, comprising:

a device housing;

a QWERTY keyboard comprising a plurality of letter keys, wherein the plurality of letter keys are oblong shaped keys, and wherein each oblong shaped key is tilted relative to a vertical reference through the device, wherein the plurality of letter keys in the QWERTY keyboard are grouped into a first set of letter keys and a second set of letter keys, wherein the first set of letter keys are tilted at a positive angle with respect to the vertical reference and the second set of letter keys are tilted at a negative angle with respect to the vertical reference;

an auxiliary input device positioned in relative proximity to the QWERTY keyboard;

a display positioned adjacent to the keyboard;

a transmitter and a receiver for transmitting and receiving e-mail messages to and from a wireless network; and

software residing in the device for providing functionality to inputs received from the auxiliary input device and the QWERTY keyboard.

25. The handhold e-mail device of claim 24, wherein the plurality of oblong shaped letter keys are oval shaped.

26. The handhold e-mail device of claim 24, wherein the auxiliary input device is a thumbwheel.

27. The handheld e-mail device of claim 24, 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.

28. The handheld e-mail device of claim 24, wherein the device is a two-way pager.

29. The hand held e-mail device of claim 24, wherein the device is a personal digital assistant.

30. The hsndheld e-mail device of claim 24, wherein the plurality of letter keys are grouped into three rows of letter keys, each row of letter keys positioned on the device along an arc.

31. The handheld e-mail device of claim 30, wherein the arcs are concentric.

37. The handheld e-mail device of claim 24, further comprising a serial port for coupling the handheld e-mail device to a host computer.

38. The handheld e-mail device of claim 24, further comprising a power supply subsystem including a rechargeable battery and an external charger input for receiving a source of electrical charge to recharge the rechargeable battery.

39. The handheld e-mail device of claim 38, wherein the rechargeable battery is a lithium ion battery.

40. The handheld e-mail device of claim 38, 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.

41. The handheld e-mail device of claim 38, wherein the power supply subsystem further includes connections to a microprocessor for monitoring the operation of the power supply subsystem.

42. An electronic communication device, comprising:

a device housing;

a transceiver for transmitting and receiving text messages;

a keyboard for composing text messages to be transmitted by the transceiver, wherein the keyboard includes three sets of tilted oblong shaped keys, wherein the three sets of tilted oblong shaped keys are arranged into a QWERTY keyboard having three rows of keys, a top row, a middle row, and a bottom row, wherein the first set of keys is arranged in an are and forms a top row of keys in the QWERTY keyboard, the second set of keys is arranged in an arc and forms a middle row of keys in the QWERTY keyboard, and the third set of keys is arranged in an arc and forms the bottom row of keys in the QWERTY keyboard, wherein the three sets of tilted oblong shaped keys are oval shaped, and wherein the oval shaped keys are tilted at a common angle with respect to a vertical reference through the electronic communication device.

43. The electronic communication device of claim 42, further comprising:

an auxiliary input device for selecting an operation to be performed by the device, wherein a menu of operations is presented on the display.

44. The electronic communication device of claim 42, wherein the text messages are email messages.

45. The electronic communication device of claim 42, wherein the transceiver includes:

a first antenna for receiving a text message; and

a second antenna for transmitting a text message.

46. The electronic communication device of claim 45, wherein the transceiver further includes:

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

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

47. The electronic communication device of claim 46, wherein the transceiver further includes:

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