Communication device

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

0001The present invention relates to the field of communication device, and in particular to design of waterproof structure for a hand-held communication device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

0002With miniaturization of communication devices, how to arrange a speaker in limited space and ensure the speaker's good sound quality becomes a primary concern in design of the communication devices. Moreover, for a professional user, waterproof function has become necessary for a communication device. In order to achieve good voice spreading effect, a hole which has an area no less than 20% of the area of the speaker should be arranged on the keypad assembly. The bigger the hole area is, the better the sound effect becomes, whereas the harder the waterproof becomes.

0003As shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>, a communication device in the prior art generally includes a front housing <b>103</b>, a keypad assembly <b>104</b>, a speaker <b>102</b>, a middle housing <b>107</b>, a master Printed Circuit Board (PCB) <b>106</b> and a back housing <b>105</b>, the speaker <b>102</b> being arranged directly below the keypad assembly <b>104</b>, and the speaker <b>102</b> and the keypad assembly <b>104</b> being arranged between the front housing <b>103</b> and the middle housing <b>107</b>. As shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>, the voice spreading hole <b>101</b> of the speaker is arranged inside a digital character input keypad area of the front housing <b>103</b>, and the size of the voice spreading hole <b>101</b> is limited by the size of this keypad area. Moreover, the keypad assembly <b>104</b> is directly in contact with the speaker <b>102</b>, and the waterproof design can only be carried out for the keypad assembly <b>104</b>. Mesh fabric and the like are usually employed for the keypad assembly <b>104</b> to implement basic waterproof and dustproof treatment, with a waterproof level of IPX4.

0004According to the above solution in the prior art, during the assembly, a traditional back assembly is required. However, the efficiency of the assembly is not high enough, and First Pass Yields with regarding voice and waterproof are both difficult to be improved.

0005Another solution is to arrange the speaker at a part of the front housing located over the screen to completely separate the speaker away from a keypad assembly and to perform the waterproof design separately. However, this solution may lead to an increase of the overall volume of the device and hence the device is not convenient for carrying and using. Therefore, there is need for improvement and enhancement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

0006In view of the above-described defects in the prior art, the technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a communication device structure which can effectively enhance overall waterproof performance and is more convenient and quick to assemble.

0007The technical solution employed by the invention to solve the technical problem thereof is as follows: <ul id="ul0001" list-style="none"><li id="ul0001-0001" num="0000"><ul id="ul0002" list-style="none"><li id="ul0002-0001" num="0008">configuring a communication device comprising an upper housing and a lower housing connected to each other, a master Printed Circuit Board (PCB) for realizing a communication function, a speaker and a keypad assembly, the master PCB being arranged on the lower housing, wherein the upper housing includes a front housing and a front cover, and the keypad assembly is arranged between the front housing and the front cover;</li><li id="ul0002-0002" num="0009">the speaker is arranged under the front housing, the keypad assembly is connected to the master PCB by a flexible circuit board passing through the front housing;</li><li id="ul0002-0003" num="0010">a voice spreading hole connecting to a front cavity of the speaker is correspondingly arranged on the front cover, the keypad assembly and the front housing;</li><li id="ul0002-0004" num="0011">the joints among the front housing, the keypad assembly, the front cover and the speaker are sealed.</li></ul></li></ul>

0012In the communication device according to the invention, the keypad assembly includes a keypad and a keypad PCB, a waterproof layer is provided between the keypad and the keypad PCB, adhesive is provided between the keypad, the keypad assembly and the waterproof layer to seal.

0013In the communication device according to the invention, a water guiding groove is provided on the front housing. The water guiding groove has the leading end connected to the front cavity of the speaker, and the trailing end connected to the joint between the upper housing and the lower housing, which is used to guide out the water permeating into the front cavity of the speaker under gravity.

0014In the communication device according to the invention, a voice transmission hole is provided on an area of the front housing and the keypad PCB that are corresponding to a digital character input keypad area. The voice transmission hole is used for making the voice from the speaker form a backflow under the keypad in order to prevent the formation of echo.

0015In the communication device according to the invention, a function option keypad area and a digital character input keypad area are provided on the front cover, the voice spreading hole on the front cover is provided between the function option keypad area and the digital character input keypad area, and the voice spreading holes on the front housing and the keypad assembly are provided at a position corresponding to the voice spreading hole on the front cover.

0016In the communication device according to the invention, the waterproof layer includes an adhesive film and a mesh fabric, wherein the adhesive film is adhered to the keypad PCB and the mesh fabric is provided between the adhesive film and the keypad.

0017The invention separates the keypad PCB from the speaker with the front housing by altering the structure of the upper housing of communication device, which is convenient for the waterproofing process. Moreover, the timely draining design is arranged on the front housing to prevent a long-term accumulation of water in the front cavity from affecting sound effect. At the same time, the application of waterproof means such as traditional mesh fabric waterproofing prevents the entry of water and dust so that the overall waterproof performance is effectively improved. It is verified that a waterproof level of IP67 can be reached.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

0018The invention will be further described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying figures and embodiments thereof, wherein:

0019<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> is a front view of a communication device in the prior art;

0020<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> is an assembling structure view of the communication device in the prior art;

0021<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> is an assembling structure view of a speaker and an upper housing of the communication device according to an embodiment of the invention;

0022<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> is a front structure view of a front housing of the communication device according to the embodiment of the invention;

0023<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref> is a back structure view of a front housing of the communication device installed with the speaker according to the embodiment of the invention;

0024<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref> is a front schematic view of the keypad according to the embodiment of the invention;

0025<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref> is a front schematic view of the front cover according to the embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

0026A preferred embodiment of the invention will be descried in detail hereinafter with reference to the drawings.

0027The communication device according to the embodiment of the invention includes an upper housing and a lower housing connected to each other, a master Printed Circuit Board (PCB) for realizing a communication function, a speaker and a keypad assembly, wherein the master PCB is arranged on the lower housing. The various drawings of the embodiment mostly depict the upper housing, the assembly view between the lower housing and the master PCB and the assembly view between the speaker and the master PCB can be seen in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>.

0028As shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>, the upper housing includes a front housing <b>500</b> and a front cover <b>200</b>, the keypad assembly being provided between the front housing <b>500</b> and the front cover <b>200</b>. The keypad assembly includes a keypad <b>301</b> and a keypad PCB <b>302</b>. A speaker <b>600</b> is provided under the front housing <b>500</b>, and a connecting hole <b>501</b> is provided on the front housing <b>500</b>, and the keypad assembly is connected to the master PCB by flexible circuit board <b>303</b> passing through the connecting hole <b>501</b> on the front housing. As shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref>, the speaker is connected to the back surface of the front housing <b>500</b> by adhesive, and the connecting hole <b>501</b> on the front housing <b>500</b> is also sealed by adhesive after the flexible circuit board <b>303</b> passing through. Voice spreading holes <b>201</b> connecting to a front cavity of the speaker are correspondingly arranged on the front cover <b>200</b>, the keypad assembly and the front housing <b>500</b>. The joints among the front housing <b>500</b>, the keypad assembly, the front cover <b>200</b> and the speaker <b>600</b> are sealed.

0029By separating the upper housing into a front housing <b>500</b> and a front cover <b>200</b>, the connecting point between the keypad PCB <b>302</b> and the master PCB can be minimized so as to facilitate sealing, and the waterproof design between the keypad assembly portion and the master PCB is made easier.

0030It is noted that in the embodiment, the holes provided in various layers from the front housing <b>500</b> to the front cavity of the speaker <b>600</b> are connected from outside to inside and all collectively referred to as voice spreading holes <b>201</b>. The voice spreading holes are discriminated from each other in accordance with the different layers at which they are located.

0031In this embodiment, as shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref>, the keypad <b>301</b> includes a function option keypad area <b>311</b> and a digital character input keypad area <b>312</b>, and the function option keypad area <b>311</b> and the digital character input keypad area <b>312</b> are correspondingly provided on the front cover, as shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref>. When in use, the keypad <b>301</b> can directly cover corresponding positions of the front cover <b>200</b>. The voice spreading holes <b>201</b> on the front cover <b>200</b> are arranged between the function option keypad area <b>311</b> and the digital character input keypad area <b>312</b>; the voice spreading holes on the front housing <b>500</b> and the keypad assembly are arranged at positions that correspond to the voice spreading holes on the front cover <b>200</b>. In this way, the area can be used fully, and larger voice spreading holes can be provided on the front cover; besides, it is only required to provide adhesives between the keypad <b>301</b> and the keypad PCB <b>302</b> to realize sealing so as to improve the sound effect and waterproof performance of the communication device effectively, without special waterproof treatment for the keypad portion.

0032In this embodiment, a waterproof layer is provided between the keypad <b>301</b> and the keypad PCB <b>302</b>, and adhesives are provided between the keypad <b>301</b>, the keypad PCB <b>302</b> and the waterproof layer to seal. Specifically, the waterproof layer may include an adhesive film <b>402</b> and a mesh fabric <b>401</b>, wherein the adhesive film <b>402</b> is adhered on the keypad PCB <b>302</b> and the mesh fabric <b>401</b> is provided between the adhesive film <b>402</b> and the keypad <b>301</b>. The adhesive film <b>402</b> performs waterproof function for the keypad PCB <b>302</b>. The mesh fabric <b>401</b> can isolate foreign dust while ensuring acoustic conductance, and can perform the basic waterproof function. The front cover <b>200</b> and the keypad <b>301</b>, after fitted with each other, just snap with the front cover <b>500</b> so as to fit the keypad <b>301</b> and other keypad assemblies and then fit the front housing <b>500</b> and front cover <b>200</b> by ultrasound. The waterproof layer can also be formed by other waterproof materials.

0033In order to deal with the situation of entry of massive water and to prevent a long-term accumulation of water in the front cavity from affecting sound effect, a water guiding groove <b>503</b> is provided on the front housing <b>50</b>. As shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref>, the leading end of the water guiding groove <b>503</b> is connected to the front cavity of the speaker <b>600</b>, and the trailing end thereof is connected to the joint between the upper housing and the lower housing of the communication device. When massive water enters the front cavity of the speaker, the communication device can be erected so that the water can be discharged along the water guiding groove from the bottom of the handheld communication device under gravity.

0034Since the sounding area of the speaker <b>600</b> is relatively large and the voice spreading holes <b>201</b> are relatively small, especially no voice spreading hole <b>201</b> is provided in the digital character input keypad area <b>312</b>, sound made by the speaker will be blocked by this portion of keypad and form an echo inside the device. Therefore, voice transmission holes <b>502</b> are also provided on an area of the front housing <b>500</b>, the keypad PCB <b>302</b> and the waterproof layer that are corresponding to this portion of keypad so that sound made by the speaker can form a backflow under the keypad to prevent the formation of echo and improve the voice quality of communication. The number of the voice transmission holes <b>502</b> can be 4. The voice transmission holes <b>502</b> are arranged in a rectangular shape at corresponding positions on the keypad PCB and the front housing so as to ensure an even voice transmission. If the number of transmission holes is too small, the expected effect may not be achieved; if the number is too large, it will influence the overall structure of the front housing and the keypad PCB so that they will easily get deformed.

0035In this embodiment, the number of voice spreading holes on the front cover <b>200</b>, the keypad assembly and the front housing <b>500</b> is preferably 3. These holes are respectively connected to the front cavity of the speaker from the front cover <b>200</b> and are arranged on various layers in a line. On one hand, the sound guiding effect is ensured; on the other hand, it can be ensured that water entering the front cavity of the speaker will sufficiently flow out. When there is water entering the front cavity, the speaker and the master PCB on the lower housing will not be affected since a seal is provided between the front cavity and the rear cavity of the speaker; meanwhile, the water can be directly discharged through the connected voice spreading holes.

0036During the manufacture and assembly, a front assembly manner can be adopted, namely, after the internal elements such as the speaker are assembled inside the front housing, the keypad assembly is assembled on the front housing, and then the front cover is assembled on the keypad. The joints among various components are made waterproof by adhesive, and the front housing and the front cover are fixed by ultrasound to improve the productivity and waterproof First Pass Yield.

0037The invention separates the keypad PCB from the speaker with the front cover by altering the structure of the upper housing of communication device, which is convenient for the waterproofing process. Moreover, the timely draining design on the front housing can prevent a long-term accumulation of water in the front cavity of the speaker from affecting sound effect. At the same time, the application of waterproof means such as traditional mesh fabric waterproof prevents the entry of water and dust so that the overall waterproof performance is effectively improved. It is verified that a waterproof level of IP67 can be reached.

0038It will be understood that those skilled in the art can make modifications or changes in accordance with the above description, which also fall within the scope of protection defined by the appended claims of the invention.