Mobile terminal

• US 8,447,364 B2
• Filed: 07/09/2012
• Issued: 05/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Lee, Seong-Cheol, Oh, Han-Gyu, Park, Hyo-Sung, Song, Jun-Hyuck, Park, Sang-Min, Park, Jea-Woon
• Primary Examiner(s): Milord, Marceau
• Application Number:
  US13/544,591
• Publication Number:
  US 20120274595A1
• Time in Patent Office: 316 Days
• Field of Search: 455/566, 455/90.3, 455/575.1, 455/575.4, 379/433.06, 345/173, 345/174, 345/156, 345/157
• 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;

a window mounted on the terminal body and having first and second regions;

a touch screen part corresponding to the first region of the window and configured to sense a touch on the first region of the window;

a display module disposed below the first region of the window and configured to display visual information to the touch screen part;

a touch key input unit located on the second region of the window, and configured to sense a touch applied thereto;

a through hole formed in the second region of the window; and

a mechanical key disposed in the through hole and configured to be pressed.

2. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein an outer circumference of the mechanical key is completely enclosed by the window.

3. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein a size and a shape of the mechanical key correspond to a size and a shape of the through hole.

4. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the mechanical key protrudes from the window.

5. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the mechanical key extends in a widthwise direction of the terminal body.

6. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the touch key input unit comprises touch key parts disposed separately at multiple positions within the second region.

7. The mobile terminal of claim 6, wherein the mechanical key is disposed between the touch key parts, and

wherein the mechanical key and the touch key parts are aligned in the widthwise direction of the terminal body.

8. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the touch screen part comprises a touch layer disposed between the window and the display module, and

wherein the touch screen part is configured to sense a touch on the first region of the window.

9. The mobile terminal of claim 8, wherein the touch layer is implemented as a touch sheet made of a transparent material.

10. The mobile terminal of claim 9, wherein the touch sheet is attached at an inner side of the window for sensing a touch applied to the window.

11. The mobile terminal of claim 9, wherein the touch sheet is electrically connected with a printed circuit board by a flexible printed circuit board.

12. The mobile terminal of claim 9, wherein the touch sheet extends to the second region of the window for sensing a touch applied to the touch key input unit.

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

a hole formed at the touch sheet in correspondence to the through hole of the window.

14. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the mechanical key is disposed in the hole, and an outer circumference of the mechanical key is completely enclosed by the window.

15. The mobile terminal of claim 9, wherein the touch sheet comprises:

a conductive layer disposed on one surface of the touch sheet and having a first conductive pattern corresponding to the touch screen part to sense a touch applied thereto;

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.

16. The mobile terminal of claim 15, wherein the touch sheet has a rectangular shape, and

wherein the electric field generating units are formed at positions corresponding to vertexes of the touch sheet.

17. The mobile terminal of claim 15, wherein the touch sheet further comprises:

a correction pattern formed at the edges of the touch sheet, and

wherein the touch screen part is configured to linearly correct the electric field generated at the conductive layer.

18. The mobile terminal of claim 15, wherein the touch sheet further comprises:

a shielding pattern disposed on another surface of the touch layer at a position corresponding to the data line, and

wherein the touch screen part is configured to block an influence of electro-magnetic waves generated from electronic components.

19. The mobile terminal of claim 15, wherein the touch sheet extends to the second region of the window, and the conductive layer has a second conductive pattern formed at a position corresponding to the touch key input unit to sense a touch applied thereto.

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

an illumination unit disposed below the second region and configured to illuminate the touch key input unit.

21. The mobile terminal of claim 20, wherein the illumination unit is illuminated when a touch is applied to the touch key input unit.

22. The mobile terminal of claim 20, wherein the illumination unit individually illuminates the touch key input unit.

23. The mobile terminal of claim 20, wherein the touch key input unit comprises touch key parts disposed separately at multiple positions within the second region, and

wherein the illumination unit comprises individualized illumination patterns configured to illuminate the corresponding touch key parts.

24. The mobile terminal of claim 23, wherein the illumination patterns are formed in a shape of concentric circle and arranged in sequence in a radial direction.

25. The mobile terminal of claim 23, further comprising:

a control unit configured to separately control the illumination patterns to have brightness based on a length of touched time on the touch key input unit.

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

a sound hole formed at the window, and configured to emit sound from an audio output unit.

27. The mobile terminal of claim 26, wherein the through hole and the sound hole are disposed at both sides with the first region of the window interposed therebetween in a lengthwise direction of the terminal body.

28. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the through hole extends in a widthwise direction of the terminal body.

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

a first body; and

a second body connected to the first body so as to slidably move with respect to the first body, and

wherein the first body includes the first and second regions formed on a front surface thereof.

30. The mobile terminal of claim 29, wherein the second body comprises a keypad formed on a front surface thereof and configured to input numbers, characters, or symbols.

31. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the terminal body comprises a case having a window mounting part recessed from a surface of the case so as to receive the window.

32. The mobile terminal of claim 31, wherein the terminal body further comprises a support frame mounted at the window mounting part and having a manipulation unit formed at one region of the support frame, and

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

33. The mobile terminal of claim 31, further comprising:

a first image input unit disposed below the window and configured to capture an image or a video; and

an aperture formed at the window mounting part in correspondence to the first image input unit.

34. The mobile terminal of claim 33, wherein the first image input unit is located below the window outside the first and second regions.

35. The mobile terminal of claim 33, further comprising:

a second image input unit having an image capture direction which is substantially opposite to that of the first image input unit.

36. The mobile terminal of claim 35, wherein the first and second image input units are cameras configured to support a different number of pixels from each other.

37. The mobile terminal of claim 35, wherein an image frame processed by the first or second image input units is stored in a memory or is transmitted to the outside through a wireless communication module.

38. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the terminal body comprises a battery cover configured to cover a battery that supplies power to the mobile terminal, and

wherein a pattern part is formed on the battery cover and has a geometrical pattern.

39. The mobile terminal of claim 38, wherein the geometrical pattern is a lattice or a comb-like pattern.

40. The mobile terminal of claim 38, wherein the pattern part is formed by coating or injection molding a resin material on a metal base.

41. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the display module comprises a liquid crystal display (LCD) module or an organic light emitting diode (OLED) module.

42. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the window has a transparent region through which the visual information displayed on the display module can be viewed.

43. The mobile terminal of claim 42, wherein the window is made of synthetic resin or tempered glass.

44. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein a selectable list is displayed at the touch screen part, and

wherein a cursor or a pointer is positioned on the list.

45. The mobile terminal of claim 44, wherein the touch key input unit is implemented in the form of a direction key that can move the cursor or the pointer disposed on the list.

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

a sensing unit configured to detect a current status of the mobile terminal, and to generate a sensing signal for controlling an operation of the mobile terminal.

47. The mobile terminal of claim 46, wherein the sensing unit senses the touch and applies a touch signal to a controller when a touch is input to the touch key input unit.

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

an interface configured to allow the mobile terminal to exchange data with an external device.

49. The mobile terminal of claim 48, wherein the interface is implemented as a card socket for accommodating an external card therein.

50. The mobile terminal of claim 49, wherein the interface is disposed at one side of the terminal body, and

wherein the external card is implemented as a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), a User Identity Module (UIM), or a memory card for storing information.

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

a broadcast signal receiving antenna disposed at one side of the terminal body and retractable from the terminal body.

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

a broadcast receiving module configured to receive supplementary data relating to a broadcast.

53. The mobile terminal of claim 52, wherein the supplementary data is an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) or a channel list.