Portable terminal unit

• US 8,009,144 B2
• Filed: 11/18/2003
• Issued: 08/30/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Original Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Inventors: Yajima, Takayuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Wang; Quan-Zhen
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ma; Calvin
• Application Number:
  US10/716,118
• Publication Number:
  US 20040257334A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,842 Days
• Field of Search: 345/154, 345/156, 345/169, 345/173, 345/179
• US Class Current: 345/169
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0225 Rotatable telephones, i.e. the body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis perpendicular to the plane they define in closed position combined with translation movement H04M1/0235
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0245 using open/close detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails

Abstract

The opening and closing state detecting section to detect an opening and closing state of the first and the second housing is provided. In the case where an opening motion is conducted after a specific item is selected from the selecting screen, which is displayed on the display section, by the operation of the auxiliary operation section in the closed state of the first and the second housing, the control section controls so that a display screen image corresponding to the specific item can be displayed on the display section.

Claims

1. A portable terminal unit comprising:

a first housing having at least a display section;

a second housing having at least a main operation section, wherein both said first housing and said second housing are coupled together so that said main operation section is covered with said first housing in a closed state and is exposed in an opened state, and said display section is exposed in both said closed state and said opened state;

an auxiliary operation section provided on either said first housing or said second housing other than on surfaces of said first housing and said second housing opposed to each other in said closed state; and

a control section for controlling said display section in the closed state and in the opened state,

wherein in the closed state said control section controls said display section to display thereon an item selecting screen for selecting an item from a plurality of items, wherein each item of the plurality of items represents functionality that can be activated in response to a state change from the closed state to the opened state, and

wherein in a state where a specific item which requires a text input operation by the main operation section is selected from the plurality of items on the item selecting screen, in response to a state change from the closed state to the opened state, the control section controls said display section to change from the item selecting screen, into displaying a text input screen for the selected specific item,

wherein in a state where a specific item which requires a text input operation by the main operation section is selected from the plurality of items on the item selecting screen, in response to that selection of the specific item is determined by the auxiliary operation section, said control section controls said display section to display thereon a message screen prompting a user to change said portable unit from the closed state into the opened state, and

wherein said control section controls said display section to display thereon a text input screen for the selected specific item in response to a state change from the closed state to the opened state after the message is displayed.

2. The portable terminal unit according to claim 1,

wherein the selecting screen displays a plurality of function items.

3. The portable terminal unit according to claim 2 wherein said function items are a mail function, a memorandum function, a schedule book function, a browser function, a message/voice memorandum function, a history function and a camera function.

4. The portable terminal unit according to claim 1,

wherein said selecting screen displays a plurality of selecting items for one function item.

5. The portable terminal unit according to claim 1, wherein said portable terminal unit is a mobile telephone.

6. The portable terminal unit according to claim 1, wherein said portable terminal unit is a personal digital assistant.

7. The portable terminal unit according to claim 1, wherein said first housing and said second housing are coupled to each other so as to be opened and closed by a sliding motion.

8. The portable terminal unit according to claim 1, wherein the control section controls the display section to change from displaying an upper layer screen in the closed state into a lower layer screen in response to a state change from the closed state to the opened state.

9. The portable terminal unit according to claim 1, wherein the control section activates a function corresponding to the selected item in response to the state change from the closed state to the opened state, to display the screen image corresponding to the selected item.

10. The portable terminal unit according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary operation section is configured to input a first signal for selecting an item from the plurality of items on the item selecting screen, and a second signal for determining the selection of the item selected by the first signal.

11. A portable terminal unit comprising:

a first housing having at least a display section;

a second housing having at least a main operation section, wherein both said first housing and said second housing are coupled together so that said main operation section is covered with said first housing in a closed state and is exposed in an opened state, and a display screen of said display section is exposed in both said closed state and said opened state;

a state detecting section for detecting whether said first housing and said second housing are in said opened state or in said closed state;

an auxiliary operation section provided on either said first housing or said second housing other than on surfaces of said first housing and said second housing opposed to each other in said closed state,

a control section to control said display section in said closed state and in the opened state,

wherein in the closed state said control section controls said display section to display thereon an item selecting screen for selecting an item from a plurality of items, and wherein each item of the plurality of items represents functionality that can be activated in response to a state change from the closed state to the opened state,

wherein in a state where a specific item which requires a text input operation by the main operation section is selected from the plurality of items on the item selecting screen, in response to a state change from the closed state to the opened state, the control section controls said display section to change from the item selecting screen, into displaying a text input screen for the selected specific item,

wherein in a state where a specific item which requires a text input operation by the main operation section is selected from the plurality of items on the item selecting screen, in response to that selection of the specific item is determined by the auxiliary operation section, said control section controls said display section to display thereon a message screen prompting a user to change said portable unit from the closed state into the opened state, and

wherein said control section controls said display section to display thereon a text input screen for the selected specific item in response to a state change from the closed state to the opened state.

12. The portable terminal unit according to claim 11,

wherein said selecting screen displays a plurality of function items.

13. The portable terminal unit according to claim 12 wherein said function items are a mail function, a memorandum function, a schedule book function, a browser function, a message/voice memorandum function, a history function and a camera function.

14. The portable terminal unit according to claim 11,

wherein said selecting screen displays a plurality of selecting items for one function item.

15. The portable terminal unit according to claim 11, wherein said portable terminal unit is a mobile telephone.

16. The portable terminal unit according to claim 11, wherein said portable terminal unit is a personal digital assistant.

17. The portable terminal unit according to claim 11, wherein said first housing and said second housing are coupled to each other so as to be opened and closed by a sliding motion.

18. A portable terminal unit comprising:

a first housing which has a main operation section;

a second housing;

a coupling section which rotatably couples said first housing and said second housing, in which said portable terminal unit is in a closed state when said first and second housings are overlapped thereby covering said main operation section or in an opened state by rotating either of said first and second housings to expose said main operation section;

a display section provided on a surface of said second housing, which faces in a same direction as a surface of said main operation section;

a state detecting section for detecting whether first and second housings are in said opened state or said closed state;

an auxiliary operation section provided on either said first housing or said second housing other than on surfaces of said first housing and said second housing opposed to each other in said closed state; and

a control section to control said display section in said closed state and in the opened state,

wherein in the closed state said control section controls said display section to display thereon an item selecting screen for selecting an item from a plurality of items, and wherein each item of the plurality of items represents functionality that can be activated in response to a state change from the closed state to the opened state, and

wherein in a state where a specific item which requires a text input operation by the main operation section is selected from the plurality of items on the item selecting screen, in response to a state change from the closed state to the opened state, the control section controls said display section to change from the item selecting screen, into displaying a text input screen for the selected specific item,

wherein in a state where a specific item which requires a text input operation by the main operation section is selected from the plurality of items on the item selecting screen, in response to that selection of the specific item is determined by the auxiliary operation section, said control section controls said display section to display thereon a message screen prompting a user to change said portable unit from the closed state into the opened state, and

wherein said control section controls said display section to display thereon a text input screen for the selected specific item in response to a state change from the closed state to the opened state.

19. The portable terminal unit according to claim 18,

wherein the selecting screen displays a plurality of function items.

20. The portable terminal unit according to claim 19 wherein said function items are a mail function, a memorandum function, a schedule book function, a browser function, a message/voice memorandum function, a history function and a camera function.

21. The portable terminal unit according to claim 18,

wherein said selecting screen displays a plurality of selecting items in one function item.

22. The portable terminal unit according to claim 18, wherein said portable terminal unit is a mobile telephone.

23. The portable terminal unit according to claim 18, wherein said portable terminal unit is a personal digital assistant.