CN1140989C - Devices for Numeric Handypads - Google Patents

Abstract

A digital keyboard-oriented device has an interconnected arrangement of multikey data and control input means, a display, communication facilities, data processing elements and a camera that may be controlled to feed the said communication facilities. In particular, the device is handheld, the camera is provided with optical output elements for delimiting a short range image capturing area through one or more visual indicators, and the communication facilities are wireless.

Description

Devices for Numeric Handypads

technical field

The invention relates to a device for a numeric keypad, comprising: a processing unit; interconnection means of a multi-key data and control input unit for inputting data to the processing unit and controlling said device; a display unit for displaying data provided; a communication unit for providing a data link to the processing unit; and a switchable camera unit for feeding images to the processing unit.

Background technique

German laid-open specification 3613585A1 discloses a user equipment for video telephony, in particular its mechanical arrangement which is optimally used in two-way communication. This device transmits sound as well as images of objects such as pictures. Advanced digital technology has allowed the miniaturization of such and similar devices. However, known devices cannot miniaturize themselves due to their inherent need for large frame structures.

Contents of the invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention, among other things, to transform the fixed and bulky structure of known devices into a flexible and easy-to-use arrangement, in order to give the user exactly an indication of a definite target area, while keeping the user interface as friendly as possible .

Thus, according to one aspect of the invention, the invention is characterized in that said device is hand-held, said camera unit is provided with light-emitting elements for delimiting a small image capture area by one or more illuminated lines , the communication unit is wireless.

The basic function of the device may be an organizer storing multiple data items, which may be accompanied by images, or a communication device such as a mobile phone which may include a portable and easy-to-use facsimile device. Further advantageous aspects of the invention are stated in the dependent claims. In general, the inventors have realized that having a video camera in the device is more useful than requiring a separate facsimile machine or similar camera driving device. In particular, the mechanism could be integrated into future devices, allowing real-time exchange of information between users. Finally, Internet exchange connections can also benefit from the use of the HTML language.

Description of drawings

These and further aspects and advantages of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the disclosure of preferred embodiments, with particular reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows the front cover of a mobile phone according to the invention;

Figure 2 shows the rear cover of the same device;

Figure 3 represents a block diagram of a device according to the invention;

Figure 4 shows the image of the print in operation of the device.

Detailed ways

Figure 1 shows the front cover of a mobile phone according to the invention. Because mobile phones have been in common use for some time, we are not going to specifically disclose their phone functions here. Both keyboard control and information transmission can be digital. This combination of equipment and facsimile mechanisms conventionally requires a separately located mechanical scanner to capture the image, and a physical communication layer to allow the image data to be transferred between the cell phone and the computer. In fact, the following inconvenient steps are required:

Use a scanner to capture images and store them on a computer hard drive;

Connect the phone to the computer;

The image is transmitted via software installed in the phone.

It should be clear that this is a complex process. The present invention avoids these complex actions. In Figure 1, housing 20 is approximately conventional in size. It has 12 conventional telephone control keys 22 and 4 special function keys 30 . The latter controls inter alia switching between telephone and fax functions, and setting image sensitivity levels. In other circumstances, these keys may comprise alphabetic keys to enter text elements, or even a more or less complete alphanumeric keyboard. An antenna 24 , a display screen 26 and a magnifying glass 28 are additionally shown. Antennas allow wireless communication within a suitable range. A video camera is mounted on the rear side, see FIG. 2 , and a small image, whether captured or taken from memory, is displayed on a screen 26 . A magnifying glass 28 as part of the end of the light tunnel allows immediate inspection of what the camera effectively "sees". Comparing images 26 and 28 will tell the user whether the captured image is of sufficient quality to warrant further processing. Another use of the magnifying glass is to check that the image is ok and only store the image when the enable key is activated.

Figure 2 shows the back cover of a mobile phone according to the invention. This figure shows the housing 20 and the antenna 24 and a further miniature camera 32 as well as the optical objective 34 of the magnifying glass of FIG. 1 . Alternatively, the magnifying glass can be based on the same objective as the camera, see FIG. 3 . The axis and focus of the camera are adjusted by an appropriate button (the button is not specifically indicated). The effective range varies between 10-20 cm for small page fax applications and 1-2 m for flipovers and similar media.

Figure 3 shows a block diagram of the data processing arrangement of the device according to the invention. The camera 32 has been shown to be a self-supporting subsystem which includes all the electronics required to perform the scanning function. Magnifier 28 receives the raw image for immediate inspection by the user. Element 48 converts the analog camera signal into digitized samples. Element 50 forms the interface between the DSP core and the top row of peripherals 24 , 28 , 32 , 42 , 48 . Among other things, antenna 24 allows two-way communication between the device shown and another station, such as a base station. Screen 42 displays a digitized image of the captured analog scene. Central processing is performed by DSP core 58, which includes various application software modules to operate image encoder 64, channel encoder 62, and encryption and burst construction. These 3 successive operations transform the digitized image into a data stream optimized for wireless transmission via the antenna 24, such as in MPEG4 or GIF format. Additional system software modules are element 66 for synchronization and monitoring, element 68 for interfacing to the system controller, and element 70 for various miscellaneous functions. Examples of miscellaneous functions are white noise filtering, image segmentation and contour detection, and other image enhancement functions, which themselves may not form part of the invention. The DSP is additionally connected to the general system control and data bus 52 . This bus is also connected to memory facilities 54, including the illustrated RAM and ROM, and finally to an element 56 representing the CPU of the system, further peripherals not shown here.

Activation of the active key generates an interrupt call to the CPU56. Then a resident ROM program is driven to perform the following functions:

Displays a selection menu allowing one of the following functions to be actuated: sending still images to an end user fax machine, sending animated images to an end user mobile phone or computer with an Internet connection, such as saving the image on a hard drive through a connection to the computer Still or animated image, allowing selection of image resolution and sound mix for the animated image.

The two-dimensional image is sampled according to selection.

In each case, the image is displayed on the screen, indicating a size that may or may not be larger than a magnifying glass.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the footprint of the device in operation. The field of view of the camera is limited by the arrangement of the laser irradiation elements, which in this case form a rectangular continuous illuminated line around the area of the image to be recorded. Formation of line displays can be achieved by elongating the light emitting elements. Concentration of the light energy within the narrow strip can be achieved by placing a linear lens in front of the elongated laser and along the direction of the elongation. Alternatively, an astigmatic lens in front of the spot laser can produce an extended image of the laser in question. Energy consumption can be reduced by using interrupted line images instead of continuous lines; to further reduce energy consumption, the laser is powered by time-division multiplexing. Alternatively, the perimeter of the field of view may be indicated by a series of small dots, for example 8 dots on each side. In extreme cases, the dots can be only one at each corner, with or without imaging lenses. Of course other field of view shapes other than rectangles are also suitable.

Although the above has been described in particular for use with mobile telephone devices, various alternative applications are suitable. First, a voice channel is not necessary so that the communication can be wider; it can be extended to both image and data, or image transmission can be combined with both voice and data transmission in a single device. In addition, the present invention can be applied to an organizer or the like whose basic function is data storage but which can be combined with image transmission. Such organizers themselves have a wide range of applications, such as managing appointments, address files and other personal files, and storing items that are usually of limited size. In this case, the transmitted image can be supplemented by suitable items stored in a database.

Claims (8)

1. A device for a numeric keypad, comprising: a processing unit; and connected to the processing unit: - a multi-key data and control input unit for inputting data to said processing unit and controlling said device; - a display unit for displaying the data provided by said processing unit; - a communication unit for providing a data link to said processing unit; and - a switchable camera unit for feeding images to said processing unit, It is characterized in that the device is hand-held, the camera unit is provided with light-emitting elements for delimiting a small-scale image capture area by one or more illuminated lines, and the communication unit is wireless. 2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the device is operable as an organizer. 3. The device of claim 1, wherein the device is operable as a communication device. 4. A device as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the device is operable as a telephone. 5. The device of claim 1, wherein the communication unit is arranged to effectuate facsimile transmissions. 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the illuminated lines comprise a line pattern. 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the illuminated line comprises a pattern of dots. 8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, having said camera unit on the opposite side to said multi-key data and control input unit.

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