Portable telephone

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a portable telephone according to the preamble of claim 1.

2. Description of Related Art

Among prior-art portable telephones, there are those with which an operating part, provided with telephone number input keys, etc., has an opening/closing cover mounted thereto, and this opening/closing cover houses the operating part at its inner side.

Fig. 1 shows a prior-art portable telephone equipped with such a cover for the operating part.

In Fig. 1, an operating part 3, provided with telephone number input keys and various function buttons, is disposed at the lower-half portion of the front face of a main casing 2 of a portable telephone 1.

This operating part 3 is disposed in a recessed part 3A formed in the main casing 2 so that when an opening/closing cover 4 is folded and closed, the front face of this opening/closing cover 4 will be flush with the front face of the main casing 2.

The opening/closing cover 4 has its base end part pivotally supported on the lower end part of the main casing 2 and is thereby mounted to the main casing 2 in a manner enabling opening and closing.

In Fig. 1, 5 denotes a display panel, 6 denotes an antenna, 7 denotes a speaker, and 8 denotes a switch or other form of operating lever.

In the standby condition of this portable telephone 1, the opening/closing cover 4 is folded with respect to the main casing 2 and fitted inside the recessed part 3A of the main casing 2 so that the operating part 3, which is disposed in this recessed part 3A, is housed at the inner side and unexposed to the exterior.

When the operation of the operating part 3 for making or receiving a call, etc. becomes necessary, the opening/closing cover 4 is raised from the main casing 2 and opened so that the operating part 3 will be exposed to the exterior.

Such a portable telephone 1, equipped with the opening/closing cover 4 that houses the operating part 3, has the advantage that, by disposing a microphone and a part of the function buttons at the opening/closing cover 4 side, the outer dimensions of the condition in which the opening/closing cover 4 is folded can be made more compact in comparison to a portable phone that is not equipped with an opening/closing cover, and since in the standby condition, the operating part 3 is housed at the inner side of the folded opening/closing cover 4 and is not exposed to the exterior, the input keys, etc. are protected and erroneous operation due to erroneous pressing of the operating part 3 is prevented.

However, with such a prior art portable telephone 1, since the operating part 3 is disposed within the recessed part 3A for housing the opening/closing cover 4 in the main casing 2, when the opening/closing cover 4 is opened, the operating part 3 is positioned at a position that is recessed from the front face of the main casing 2 and is made difficult to operate.

Particularly, if a part of the function buttons is disposed at the inner surface part of the opening/closing cover 4, the operability becomes poor due to the difference in the stroke of the fingers required for operation, since an offset is formed between the operating part 3 disposed on the main casing 2 and the operating part disposed on the opening/closing cover 4.

Moreover, with the above-described prior-art portable telephone 1, when the opening/closing cover 4 is opened, this opening/closing cover 4 extends to the outer side, making the outer shape large as can be understood from Fig. 1.

Also, with the progresses made in the multifunction capabilities of portable telephones and the increased amount of information sent and received, especially in recent years, the need to make the display panel larger and improve the operability and convenience of portable telephones has been becoming stronger.

Since the outer shape of a portable telephone thus tends to be large, when as in the conventional portable telephone, the opening/closing cover extends to the outer side of the main casing when the opening/closing cover is opened, the outer shape of the portable phone during use becomes even larger, making the phone unfit for portable use.

From GB-A-2 330 032 a portable telephone is known comprising an opening/closing cover which can be brought in an opened position in which an angle is formed between the back face of the opening/closing cover and an operating surface of an operating panel. The operating panel is positioned within a main casing of the telephone and can be moved from one position at the inner side of the main casing to another position at the inner side of the main casing.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention has been made to resolve the above-described problems of portable telephones and other portable information terminals.

This invention has also been made to solve the above-described problems of prior-art portable telephones with an opening/closing cover that houses the operating part.

An object of this invention is to secure good operability in a portable telephone equipped with an opening/closing cover that houses the operating part.

In order to achieve the above object, a portable telephone according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises the features of claim 1.

With this portable telephone according to the first aspect of the invention, when the opening/closing cover is closed as in the standby condition of the portable telephone, the operating panel is positioned at the position at the inner side of the main casing and is housed at the inner side of the opening/closing cover.

Besides, when the opening/closing cover is opened for a sending/receiving operation, etc., the moving part is actuated by the opening operation of the opening/closing cover and the operating panel is moved from the position at the inner side to the position at the front face side of the main casing, and when the opening/closing cover is opened completely and is positioned at the opened position, the operating surface of the operating panel that has been moved by the moving part becomes substantially flush with the back face (the surface that becomes the front face when the opening/closing cover is at the opened position) of the opening/closing cover that is positioned at the opened position.

Thus with the first aspect of this invention, when the opening/closing cover of a portable telephone equipped with the opening/closing cover is opened, an offset does not form between the back face of the opening/closing cover at the opened position and the operating surface of the operating panel. Therefore even when a part of the operation part is disposed on the back face of the opening/closing cover, the operating part disposed at this opening/closing cover and the operating part of the operating panel can be operated by the same stroke of the fingers and good operability can thus be secured.

To achieve the above-described object, a portable telephone according to a second aspect of the invention has, in addition to the arrangement according to the first aspect of this invention, a characteristic that a part of the above mentioned operating part is disposed at the back face side of the above mentioned opening/closing cover. The outer shape of the portable telephone can thereby be made compact and good operability is secured by the operating part disposed on the opening/closing cover and the operating part of the operating panel being positioned substantially within the same plane.

To achieve the above object, a portable telephone according to a third aspect of the invention has, in addition to the arrangement according to the first aspect of this invention, the characteristic that the above mentioned moving part is a resilient member that is interposed between the operating panel and the main casing and urges the operating panel in the direction of the position at the front face side of the main casing, and when the opening/closing cover is opened, the operating panel is moved from the position at the inner side towards the position at the front face side of the main casing by being urged by the resilient member.

To achieve the above object, a portable telephone according to a fourth aspect of the invention has, in addition to the arrangement according to the first aspect of this invention, the characteristic that the above mentioned moving part is an arm member, which is provided on the opening/closing cover and, in accompaniment with the opening operation of the opening/closing cover, engages with the above mentioned operating panel to urge the operating panel in the direction of the position at the front face side of the main casing, and when the opening/closing cover is opened, the operating panel is moved from the position at the inner side towards the position at the front face side of the main casing by being urged by the arm member.

To achieve the above object, a portable telephone according to a fifth aspect of the invention has, in addition to the arrangement according to the first aspect of this invention, the characteristic of being equipped with a movable member, which is mounted to the operating panel in a manner enabling movement relative to the operating panel and, by the urging force that accompanies the opening operation of the opening/closing cover, is moved in the direction of engaging with the main casing and becomes latched to the main casing to position the operating panel at the position at the front face side of the main casing.

With the portable telephone according to the fifth aspect, when the opening/closing cover is opened, the urging force that is generated in accompaniment with this opening operation of the opening/closing cover is applied to the movable member and the movable member is moved in the direction of engaging with the main casing.

Besides when the opening/closing cover is positioned at the opened position, the movable member becomes latched to the main casing and the operating panel is thereby positioned at the position at the front face side of the main casing at which it becomes substantially flush with the back face of the opening/closing cover that is at the opened position.

To achieve the above object, a portable telephone according to a sixth aspect of the invention has, in addition to the arrangement according to the fifth aspect of this invention, the characteristic that a disengaging member, which, when the urging force on said movable member is relieved, urges the engaged movable member in the direction of disengaging from the main casing, is provided at the part of the main casing with which the above mentioned movable member engages. Thus when the urging force on the movable member is relieved in the process of closing the opening/closing cover, the disengaging member urges the movable member in the direction opposite that when the opening/closing cover is opened and disengages the movable member from the main casing, thereby enabling the movement of the operating panel from the position at the front face side towards the position at the inner side of the main casing.

To achieve the above object, a portable telephone according to a seventh aspect of the invention has, in addition to the arrangement according to the first aspect of this invention, the characteristic that the above mentioned main casing is equipped with an opened/closed condition detection part, which detects that the opening/closing cover is opened and thereupon sets the above mentioned operating part in the condition that enables operation. Since the operation of the operating part is thereby enabled when the opening/closing cover is opened and the operation of the operating part is disabled when the opening/closing cover is closed, erroneous operation is prevented and saving of power is achieved.

To achieve the above object, a portable telephone according to an eighth aspect of the invention has, in addition to the arrangement according to the first aspect of this invention, the characteristic that the above mentioned opening/closing cover is mounted to the main casing at a position such that the opening direction will be at the display panel side of the portable telephone. The enlargement of the outer shape of the portable telephone when the opening/closing cover is opened can thereby be prevented.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

<ul id="ul0001" list-style="none" compact="compact"><li>Fig. 1 is a perspective view, which shows an example of a prior-art portable telephone.</li><li>Fig. 2 is a front view, which shows the condition where the opening/closing cover of a first embodiment of a portable telephone by this invention has been closed.</li><li>Fig. 3 is a front view, which shows the condition where the opening/closing cover of the same embodiment has been opened.</li><li>Fig. 4 is a sectional side view, which shows the condition where the opening/closing cover of the same embodiment has been closed.</li><li>Fig. 5 is a sectional side view, which shows an intermediate condition during the opening of the opening/closing cover of the same embodiment.</li><li>Fig. 6 is sectional side view, which shows the condition where the opening/closing cover of the same embodiment is positioned at the opened position.</li></ul>

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of this invention shall now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 2 is a front view, which shows a portable telephone equipped with cover opening/closing mechanism by this invention in the standby condition, and Fig. 3 is a front view, which shows this portable telephone in the operated condition.

In Figs. 2 and 3, a portable telephone 10 has a display panel 12 disposed at the central part of the surface of a main casing 11, and an opening/closing cover 13 is mounted to the lower part of this display panel 12.

As shown in Fig. 4, the opening/closing cover 13 has its upper end part (the right end part in Fig. 4) mounted by a parallel shaft 13A to the bottom edge (the left edge in Fig. 4) of the display panel 12 in a manner enabling rotation in the vertical direction (left/right direction in Fig. 4) with respect to the main casing 11.

Furthermore as shown in Fig. 4, the position of the opening/closing cover 13 is set so that when the opening/closing cover 13 is at the closed position with respect to the main casing 11, the surface will be substantially flush with the surface of the main casing 11, and the position of the display panel 12 is set so that it will be positioned to the inner side of the main casing 11 substantially by just the thickness of the opening/closing cover 13.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the opening/closing cover-13 has an integrally formed arm part 13B, which, in the condition where the opening/closing cover 13 is at the closed position with respect to the main casing 11, extends from the position of shaft 13A to the side of the display panel 12.

The upper edge (the right edge in Fig. 4) of this arm part 13B is positioned just at the same position as the lower edge (the left edge in Fig. 4) of the display panel 12 so that when the portable telephone 10 is viewed from the front, a gap cannot be seen between the display panel 12 and the arm part 13B.

An inclined surface 13Ba, which is inclined downwards (leftwards in Fig. 3) from the front face to the back face is formed on the front end part of the arm part 13B.

An operating panel 14 is fitted in a manner enabling rising and lowering onto the portion of the main casing 11 that is covered by the opening/closing cover 13, and at the back face side of this operating panel 14, an ascending/descending support plate 15 is joined to the operating panel 14 in a manner that does not allow separation but enables sliding in the vertical direction (left/right direction in Fig. 4) by the fitting of unillustrated fitting grooves formed on the mutual joining surfaces.

First operating buttons K1, such as telephone number input keys, function keys, etc., are disposed on the front face of the operating panel 14 and second operating buttons K2 are disposed on the back face side of the opening/closing cover 13.

A compression spring 16 is interposed between the back face of the ascending/descending support plate 15 and a frame part 11A, which is formed in an integral manner on the inner side of the main casing 11, and this compression spring 16 urges the ascending/descending support plate 15 and the operating panel 14 towards the front face side of the main casing 11.

An inclined surface 15a, which is inclined downwards (leftwards in Fig. 4) from the front face to the back face, is formed on the upper end part of the ascending/descending support plate 15.

As shall be described in more detail below, a recessed part 11Aa, into which the ascending/descending support plate 15 in the raised position fits upon sliding in the downward direction (leftward direction in Fig. 4) of the main casing 11, is formed on frame part 11A of main casing 11.

Inside this recessed part 11Aa is mounted a spring 17, which is compressed by the entering ascending/descending support plate 15, and an unillustrated opened/closed condition detection switch, which, by being pressed and turned on by the further entry of the ascending/descending support plate 15, conducts power to the first operating buttons K1 disposed on the operating panel 14 and the second operating buttons K2 disposed on the opening/closing cover 13 to enable their operation.

In Figs. 2 and 3, 19 denotes an operating dial for performing the operation of switching the display screen, etc. of the display panel 12.

With the above-described portable telephone 10, when operation is not performed as in the condition of standby for receiving calls, the opening/closing cover 13 is closed so as to cover the operating panel 14 as shown in Fig. 2 and is latched to the main casing 11 by the engagement of an unillustrated engaging part.

When communication by the portable telephone 10 is to performed or when the various functions equipped in the portable telephone 10 are to be used, the opening/closing cover 13 is opened by rotating it about the shaft 13A in the upward direction with respect to the main casing 11 so that the operating panel, 14 will be exposed as shown in Fig. 3.

The action of the operating panel 14 in the process of this opening operation of the opening/closing cover 13 is as follows.

That is, in the condition where the opening/closing cover 13 is closed as shown in Fig. 4, the operating panel 14 and the ascending/descending support plate 15 are pushed towards and housed at the inner side of the main casing 11 against the urging force of the compression spring 16.

Then when the opening/closing cover 13 is rotated in the opening direction as shown in Fig. 5 and the pressing force, which presses the operating panel 14 and the ascending/descending support plate 15 towards the inner side of the main casing 11 against the urging force of the compression spring 16, is relieved, the operating panel 14 and the ascending/descending support plate 15 are raised in the outward direction (rising direction in Fig. 5) of the main casing 11 by the compression spring 16.

In this process, the arm part 13B, which rotates and enters inside the main casing 11 in accompaniment with the upward (rightward in Fig. 5) rotation of the opening/closing cover 13 about the shaft 13A, comes in contact with the upper end parts (right end parts in Fig. 5) of the operating panel 14 and the ascending/descending support plate 15 from below.

The arm part 13B then supportingly raises the upper end parts of the operating panel 14 and the ascending/descending support plate 15 in accompaniment with this rotation of the opening/closing cover 13, and the ascending/descending support plate 15 becomes urged in the downward direction (leftward direction in Fig. 5) of the main casing 11 by the sliding of the inclined surface 13Ba of the arm part 13B against the inclined surface 15a of the ascending/descending support plate 15.

Thus as the ascending/descending support plate 15 is raised in the outward direction of the main casing 11, the ascending/descending support plate 15 slides against the operating panel 14 and slides in the downward direction of the main casing 11.

Then when the opening/closing cover 13 becomes completely opened as shown in Fig. 6, the opening/closing cover 13 becomes positioned at a position on the display panel 12 where the back face (operating surface) on which the second operating buttons K2 are disposed will be substantially flush with the front face of the main casing 11.

In this process, the lower end part (left end part in Fig. 6) of the ascending/descending support plate 15 becomes fitted into the recessed part 11Aa, formed on frame part 11A of the main casing 11, while compressing the spring 17, and the ascending/descending support plate 15 and the operating panel 14, which is joined to the ascending/descending support plate 15 in an inseparable manner, become latched to the main casing 11 and thereby prevented from rising further.

In this condition, the operating panel 14 is positioned at a position at which the front side operating surface on which the first operating buttons K1 are disposed will be substantially flush with the front face of the main casing 11.

Thus when the opening/closing cover 13 is opened, the operating panel 14 is raised and the operating surface, on which the first operating buttons K1 are disposed, and the operating surface (back face) of the opening/closing cover 13, on which the second operating buttons K2 are disposed, become aligned in substantially the same plane.

Also at this time, the unillustrated opened/closed condition detection switch, mounted inside recessed part 11Aa, comes in contact with the end part of the ascending/descending support plate 15 that has been fitted inside this recessed part 11Aa and is thereby turned on to conduct power and thus enable operation by first operating buttons K1 and second operating buttons K2.

In the process of closing the opening/closing cover 13 in reverse to the above-described process, when the opening/closing cover 13 is raised from the display panel 12 and is rotated downwards with respect to the main casing 11, the arm part 13B, which supported the lower part of the operating panel 14 and urged the ascending/descending support plate 15 in the direction of pushing it into the recessed part 11Aa by means of the inclined surface 13Ba, becomes separated from the operating panel 14 and the ascending/descending support plate 15 and the spring 17, which was compressed, urges the lower end part of the ascending/descending support plate 15 and slides it in the direction of pushing it out from inside recessed part 11Aa.

The engagement of the ascending/descending support plate 15 and recessed part 11Aa is thereby disengaged, and thereafter, the opening/closing cover 13, which is being rotated downwards, presses the operating panel 14 towards the inner side of the main casing 11 against the urging force of the compression spring 16, and the operating panel 14 and the ascending/descending support plate 15 are thereby pushed into the main casing 11.

The opening/closing cover 13 then becomes latched to the main casing 11 by means of an unillustrated engaging part and, as shown in Fig. 2, the operating surface of the operating panel 14 becomes completely housed at the inner side of the opening/closing cover 13 so as to become unable to be seen from the outer side.

At this time, the engagement of the opened/closed condition detection switch, mounted to the interior of recessed part 11Aa, and the ascending/descending support plate 15 becomes disengaged and the power to first operating buttons K1 and second operating buttons K2 is thereby turned off and the operation of these buttons is disabled.

Though the raising and lowering of the operating panel 14 is carried out by a mechanical arrangement in the above-described example, this process may also be carried out electrically by a method, such as incorporating a small motor inside the main casing 11.