Handheld electronic device with reconfigurable keypad

• US 7,372,959 B2
• Filed: 12/12/2005
• Issued: 05/13/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Griffin, Jason T., Ladouceur, Norman M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Perez-Gutierrez; Rafael
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, MY XUAN
• Application Number:
  US11/301,095
• Publication Number:
  US 20070133788A1
• Time in Patent Office: 883 Days
• Field of Search: 455/433.07, 455/433.01, 455/433.04, 455/433.06, 455/433.11, 455/433.12, 455/440, 345/168, 345/169, 361/680, 361/686, 379/433.07, 379/433.01, 379/433.04, 379/433.06, 379/433.11, 379/433.12, 379/440
• US Class Current: 379/433.07
• 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 1/1666 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: 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 1/23 Construction or mounting of dials or of equivalent devices; Means for facilitating the use thereof by improving visibility H04M1/22

Abstract

An improved handheld electronic device has a display and a keypad, with the keypad being movable among a number of configurations that enable the “real estate” occupied by the keypad to be increased or decreased, and to correspondingly enable the viewable area of the display to be relatively decreased and increased, respectively. In one aspect, a first keypad portion and a second keypad portion can be disposed substantially coplanar when the keypad is in a first position and disposed noncoplanar when in a second position. In another aspect, a device can include a keypad and a flexible sheet-like piece of covering material structured to overlie a display, with the keypad and the piece of covering material being connected together. In another aspect, a keypad assembly can being movable between a first position wherein at least a portion of the keypad overlies a first area of a display and is operable to provide input, and a second position overlying one of none of the display and a second area of the display smaller than the first area. In another aspect, a method of operating a device includes translating at least a portion of a keypad apparatus between a first position overlying a first area of a display and second position overlying one of none of the display and a second area of the display smaller than the first area. In another aspect, a method of protecting a device includes overlying at least a portion of a display with at least a portion of a keypad apparatus. In another aspect, a method of adjusting a device between an ON condition and an OFF condition includes translating at least a portion of a keypad assembly between a first position and a second position.

Claims

1. A keypad assembly for a handheld electronic device, the keypad assembly comprising:

a keypad comprising a first keypad portion and a second keypad portion;

at least some of the keypad assembly being movable between a first position and a second position;

at least a portion of the first keypad portion and at least a portion of the second keypad portion being disposed substantially coplanar when the at least some of the keypad assembly is in the first position; and

the at least portion of the first keypad portion and the at least portion of the second keypad portion being disposed noncoplanar when the at least some of the keypad assembly is in the second position,

wherein the keypad is disposed at an exterior of a housing of the handheld electronic device when the at least some of the keypad assembly is in the first position and a retracted portion of the keypad remains entirely disposed at the exterior of the housing when the keypad assembly is in the second position.

2. The keypad assembly of claim 1 wherein the first and second keypad portions are flexibly connected together.

3. The keypad assembly of claim 1 wherein the keypad further comprises a connection extending between the first and second keypad portions, the connection being a flexible sheet-like member that flexibly connects together the first and second keypad portions.

4. The keypad assembly of claim 1 wherein the at least portion of the first keypad portion and the at least portion of the second keypad portion are oriented at an angle nonparallel with one another when the at least some of the keypad assembly is in the second position.

5. The handheld electronic device of claim 1 further comprising a flexible sheet-like piece of covering material structured to overlie a display of the handheld electronic device,

wherein the keypad and the piece of covering material are connected together,

wherein the piece of covering material is formed out of a reduced reflectivity material,

wherein the covering material is a glare-reducing covering that is structured to be used in bright light conditions, and

wherein the glare-reducing covering is structured to reduce ambient light.

6. The handheld electronic device of claim 1 wherein some of the keypad is elastically deformable,

wherein some of the keypad in the first position having an expanded configuration and a first dimension along a first axis,

wherein some of the keypad in the second position having a compressed condition and a second dimension along a second axis, and

wherein the first dimension is larger than the second dimension when the at least portion of the keypad is in the first position and has an expanded configuration,

wherein the second axis is transverse to the first axis and,

wherein the first dimension along the first axis is reduced and the second dimension along the second axis is increased when the at least portion of the keypad is in the second position and has a compressed condition.

7. The handheld electronic device of claim 6 wherein some of the keypad in the first position has another first dimension along the second axis,

wherein some of the keypad in the second position has another second dimension along the second axis, and

wherein the another second dimension is larger than the another first dimension.

8. The handheld electronic device of claim 1 wherein a portion of the keypad is stationary,

wherein some of the keypad is disposed adjacent the stationary keypad portion when some of the keypad is in the first position, and

wherein some of the keypad is spaced from the stationary keypad portion when some of the keypad is in the second position.

9. A handheld electronic device comprising:

a housing;

a processor apparatus disposed at least partially on the housing and comprising a processor and a memory;

an input apparatus disposed at least partially on the housing and being structured to provide input to the processor apparatus;

the input apparatus comprising a keypad assembly, the keypad assembly comprising a keypad;

an output apparatus disposed at least partially on the housing and comprising a display, the output apparatus being structured to receive output from the processor apparatus;

at least a portion of the keypad assembly being movable between a first position and a second position, at least a portion of the keypad overlying a first area of the display and being operable to provide input to the processor when the at least portion of the keypad assembly is in the first position, the at least portion of the keypad overlying one of none of the display and a second area of the display smaller than the first area when the at least portion of the keypad assembly is in the second position,

wherein at least some of the at least portion of the keypad is elastically deformable, the at least portion of the keypad in the first position having an expanded configuration and a first dimension along a first axis, the at least portion of the keypad in the second position having a compressed condition and a second dimension along a second axis, the first dimension being larger than the second dimension when the at least portion of the keypad is in the first position and has an expanded configuration,

wherein the second axis is transverse to the first axis and,

wherein the first dimension along the first axis is reduced and the second dimension along the second axis is increased when the at least portion of the keypad is in the second position and has a compressed condition.

10. The handheld electronic device of claim 9 wherein the at least portion of the keypad in the first position has another first dimension along the second axis, the at least portion of the keypad in the second position having another second dimension along the second axis, the another second dimension being larger than the another first dimension.

11. The handheld electronic device of claim 9 wherein the housing is of a predetermined form factor when the at least portion of the keypad assembly is in the first position, the housing being of the predetermined form factor when the at least portion of the keypad assembly is in the second position.

12. The handheld electronic device of claim 11 wherein the predetermined form factor is substantially unvarying between the first position and the second position of the at least portion of the keypad assembly.

13. The handheld electronic device of claim 9 wherein at least some of the keypad is in a retracted condition disposed within an interior of the housing when the at least portion of the keypad assembly is in the second position.

14. The handheld electronic device of claim 13 wherein another portion of the keypad is in a deployed condition operable to provide input to the processor when the at least portion of the keypad assembly is in the second position.

15. The handheld electronic device of claim 9 wherein the keypad comprises a first keypad portion and a second keypad portion, at least a portion of the first keypad portion and at least a portion of the second keypad portion being disposed substantially coplanar when the at least portion of the keypad assembly is in the first position, and the at least portion of the first keypad portion and the at least portion of the second keypad portion being disposed noncoplanar when the at least portion of the keypad assembly is in the second position.

16. The handheld electronic device of claim 15 wherein the at least portion of the first keypad portion and the at least portion of the second keypad portion are oriented at an angle nonparallel with one another when the at least portion of the keypad assembly is in the second position.

17. The handheld electronic device of claim 9 wherein the keypad is disposed at an exterior of the housing when the at least portion of the keypad assembly is in the first position and a retracted portion of the keypad remains entirely disposed at the exterior of the housing when the keypad assembly is in the second position.

18. The handheld electronic device of claim 9 wherein at least some of the keypad is translatable with respect to the display along an axis parallel with a surface of the display.

19. The handheld electronic device of claim 9 wherein another portion of the keypad overlies another first area of the display and is operable to provide Input to the processor when the at least portion of the keypad assembly is in the first position, the another portion of the keypad overlying one of none of the display and another second area of the display smaller than the another first area when the at least portion of the keypad assembly is in the second position, the at least portion of the keypad and the another portion of the keypad each being movable away from one another from the first position toward the second position.

20. The handheld electronic device of claim 19 wherein the display has a major axis and a minor axis, the at least portion of the keypad and the another portion of the keypad each being movable away from one another in a direction substantially parallel with the major axis.

21. The handheld electronic device of claim 9 wherein another portion of the keypad is stationary, at least some of the at least portion of the keypad being disposed adjacent at least some of the another portion of the keypad when the at least portion of the keypad assembly is in the first position, the at least some of the at least portion of the keypad being spaced from the at least some of the another portion of the keypad when the at least portion of the keypad assembly is in the second position.

22. The handheld electronic device of claim 9 wherein the keypad assembly further comprises a flexible sheet-like piece of covering material, at least a portion of the piece of covering material overlying a region of the display when the at least portion of the keypad assembly is in the second position, the at least portion of the piece of covering material overlying one of none of the display and another region of the display smaller than the region when the at least portion of the keypad assembly is in the first position.

23. The handheld electronic device of claim 9 wherein the display has a major axis and a minor axis, the at least a portion of the keypad assembly being movable between the first and second positions in a direction substantially perpendicular with the major axis.