JP2002185591A - Portable telephone - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a folding portable telephone with which the user can make speech by using the same transmitting section and receiving section in both states where the enclosures of the telephone are folded and where the enclosures are opened. SOLUTION: In the state where the enclosures are opened, the user inputs information by means of an operating section 18 and confirms information by means of a large-sized displaying section 17. The user can confirm the character information of E mail and such information as images, etc., at once by means of the displaying section 17. At the time of folding the enclosures 11 and 12 from the opened state, the user first puts the enclosure 11 upon the other enclosure 12 by turning the enclosure 11 around the axis (a) of a hinge section 16, and then, brings the transmitting section 13 to the position of the hinge section 16 by rotating the section 13 by 180 deg. in the direction shown by the arrow around a shaft b. In the folded state, the function of the portable telephone is limited to speech only and, when the user wants to make a response to an incoming call and speech, the user presses an off-hook operating switch provided on the back of the enclosure 12 upon confirming the sound informing the incoming call or confirming the incoming call from vibrations, etc., and makes the speech by means of the transmitting section 13 and receiving section 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an FDMA system,
DMA method, CDMA method, or PHS (Personal
The present invention relates to a handyphone system (simplified mobile phone) type mobile phone, and particularly to a foldable mobile phone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as portable telephones, there are a portable telephone constructed so as to be foldable and a non-foldable portable telephone. Compared with a non-foldable type mobile phone, a foldable mobile phone can be carried small (compactly) during standby by folding (A). (B) Since the display unit is separated into the first housing and the operation unit is separated into the second housing, the area of each can be increased, and a lot of information can be displayed at a time. It is convenient when operating application functions such as e-mails and games, and an operation unit with better operability can be configured. (C) By being folded, the operation unit is not erroneously pressed during standby, and the display unit is less likely to be broken due to a fall or the like. There are advantages.

[0003] On the other hand, (a) in order to talk from the folded state, the housing must be opened, and it is not possible to talk immediately like a non-folding portable telephone. (B) In the folded state, the display unit is stored inside, so that information such as time and radio wave condition cannot be confirmed. (C) If the function is limited to the call function, it is not necessary to increase the size of the display unit. Rather, the increase in size increases power consumption during a call. And other issues.

[0004] On the other hand, a foldable portable telephone which enables a telephone call even when closed at the time of an incoming call is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 5-3278.
No. 42, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-187098, and the like.

[0005]

In the foldable portable telephone described in each of the above publications, separate transmitting and receiving units are required in the folded state and the open state, so that a speaker and a microphone are required. At the same time, it is necessary to provide a means for switching and selecting the transmission / reception unit according to the open / closed state, and there is a problem that the cost increases accordingly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a foldable portable telephone which can be used in both a folded state and a case opened state using the same transmitting / receiving section.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a means which enables confirmation of minimum necessary information even in a folded state without increasing power consumption.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A foldable portable telephone according to the present invention is rotatably connected by a hinge portion.
A first housing and a second housing configured so that inner surfaces thereof can be folded to abut or substantially abut each other, and a second housing provided on an inner surface of the first housing. A display unit, a reception unit built in a longitudinal end of the first housing, an operation unit having a plurality of key arrangements provided on an inner surface of the second housing, An arm rotatable around a rotation axis provided on a side surface of the second housing, and the first and second housings being attached to a distal end of the arm and being opened; The arm is sometimes positioned on the longitudinal end side of the second housing and positioned on the hinge side of the second housing when the first and second housings are folded. And a transmission unit that is movable by
When the first and second housings are open and
And the second housing is folded so that a common receiving unit and a transmitting unit can communicate with each other.

Also, on the outer surface (back surface) of the second housing,
An operation switch for performing a minimum operation required for a call and a second display unit having a smaller display capacity than the first display unit are provided, and a call can be made with the first and second housings folded. And the power consumption when the housing is folded is smaller than the power consumption when the housing is open.

According to the present invention, the longitudinal dimension of the first housing containing the receiving section is made longer than the longitudinal dimension of the second casing, and the microphone serving as the transmitting section is connected to the second casing. By taking out the rotating arm from the side of the housing, it is possible to make a call using the same transmission / reception unit regardless of whether the housing is open or closed.

[0011] Further, a small display section for displaying a radio wave state and the like on the rear surface of the housing (a surface which becomes outside when folded) and an operation switch for performing a minimum operation required for a telephone call are provided so that the folded state is provided. It is possible to prevent erroneous operations during a call, standby, or call, and to suppress power consumption during a call.

[0012]

1 and 2 are perspective views showing a portable telephone according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a portable telephone 10 opened about an axis a of a hinge 16. FIG. 2 shows a closed state (a folded state).

The portable telephone 10 of the present invention mainly comprises a first
, A second housing 12, and a transmitting section 13. Longitudinal dimension of first housing 11 (A + C)
Is longer than the longitudinal dimension B of the second casing 12 by the dimension C of the earpiece 14, and the second casing 1 is folded when folded.
2 is accommodated in the portion of the first housing 11 having the dimension A.

The receiver 14 has a built-in speaker for outputting voice or music. A large-sized display unit 17 is arranged in a portion of the inner surface dimension A of the first housing 11, and displays information by characters and images when the mobile phone 10 is used in an open state.

The operation unit 18 disposed on the inner surface of the second housing 12 is used when a mobile phone 10 is opened to perform a call operation or an application function such as an e-mail or a game. The sensor unit 19 includes the mobile phone 10
The sensor unit 19 detects whether the first housing 11 is open or folded. The sensor unit 19 includes a sensor that responds to the pressure of the first housing 11 when closed, a sensor that responds to light, and the like.
As long as the open state and the closed state can be distinguished, an appropriate means can be adopted.

The transmitting section 13 has a built-in microphone for inputting voice. The transmitting section 13 is attached to a tip portion of an arm 15 rotatably provided in the side surface of the second housing 12, and the arm 15 is connected to the axis b in FIG.
1 from the position shown in FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrow and about 30 degrees in the opposite direction.

The transmitting section 13 is located at the bottom of the second housing 12 when the mobile phone 10 is opened (FIG. 1), and is rotated 180 degrees by the arm 15 when the mobile phone 10 is folded, so that the second It is located on the hinge part 16 of the housing 12 (FIG. 2). The connection between the transmitting unit 13 and the circuit in the housing 12 can be performed, for example, by forming the arm 15 by a cylindrical body and by wiring provided in the cylindrical body.

On the other hand, a small display unit 20, an off-hook operation switch 21, an on-hook / power supply operation switch 22, and a scroll operation switch 23 are provided on the outer surface (back surface) of the second housing 12. The small display unit 20 displays only information necessary for a call, such as a radio wave state and a telephone number, in characters and diagrams when a call is made with the mobile phone 10 folded.

The off-hook operation switch 21, the on-hook / power operation switch 22, and the scroll operation switch 23 installed on the back of the first casing 11
When the 0 is folded, it is used when transmitting (transmitting) an incoming call response (off-hook) or a telephone number of the other party registered in a storage device built in the mobile phone 10 in advance.

Next, the operation of the portable telephone 10 of the present invention will be described. With the housing shown in FIG. 1 open, application functions such as e-mail and games can be used in addition to the call function.

Input is performed by the operation unit 18 and information confirmation is performed by the large display unit 17. By increasing the size of the display unit 17 (the area occupying most of the inner surface of the first housing 11), it is possible to check a large amount of information such as character information and images of e-mail at a time. It is.

In order to change from the opened state of FIG. 1 to the folded state of FIG. 2, first, the first housing 11 and the second housing 12 are overlapped around the axis a of the hinge portion 16, and The transmitting section 13 is rotated 180 degrees about the axis b in the direction of the arrow, and is placed at the position of the hinge section 16. To change from the folded state to the opened state, the above procedure may be reversed.

In the folded state, the function is limited to a telephone call only. To answer a telephone call and perform a telephone call, when the telephone call is confirmed by a sound or vibration notifying the telephone call, an off-hook operation switch is used. Press 21 and talker 1
3 and the receiver 14 make a call.

To make an outgoing call, the user presses the off-hook operation switch 21 and then selects the other party's telephone number stored in the internal storage device with the scroll operation switch 23. Alternatively, after selecting the other party's telephone number with the scroll operation switch 23, the off-hook operation switch 21 is pressed,
A call is made by the transmitting unit 13 and the receiving unit 14.

The call disconnection and power ON / OFF
The on-hook / power switch 22 is used. In addition, confirmation of an operation related to a call is performed by the small display unit 20. Since the information to be displayed in the folded state may be only the radio wave condition, the telephone number, and the like, it is sufficient to provide a smaller display unit than the large display unit 17.

In the open state, since it has an application function for exchanging a large amount of character information and image information in addition to the call function, the power consumption is large, whereas in the folded state, only the call function is limited. Therefore, it is possible to suppress only the power required for a call without displaying information on the large display unit 17. The switching of the power supply to each of the operation units and the display unit is automatically performed by detecting the open / closed state or the folded state by the sensor unit 19.

In FIG. 2, the operation unit is connected to the second housing 1.
2, but may be provided on the side surface of the second housing 12, and the number of key buttons for operation is also shown in FIG. However, the form of the operation unit is not limited to the key button, and may be a dial or the like.

The mobile phone 10 is an FDMA system,
TDMA system, CDMA system or PHS (Personal
Abbreviation for Handyphone System. (Simplified mobile phone, another name).

[0029]

According to the present invention, a common transmission / reception unit can be used in a folded state and in a state in which the housing is opened, so that a telephone call in a folded state without increasing the number of microphones and speakers can be used. Becomes possible.

Further, since the small display unit is provided on the back surface (the surface which becomes outside when folded) of the second housing, it is possible to check information such as the state of radio waves without opening the housing.

When talking in a folded state,
Since there is no need to operate the large-sized display unit 17 installed on the inner surface of the housing (the surface that becomes inside when folded), power consumption can be suppressed.

Further, the function that can be used in the folded state is limited to only the call function, and the display unit installed on the back of the second housing can be reduced in size (smaller area). The part is not easily scratched.

Further, when only a call is made, the call can be made only by the minimum operation unit necessary for the call installed on the back of the second housing in a folded state, so that erroneous operation and malfunction are prevented. can do.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an open state of a mobile phone according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a folded state of the mobile phone of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Cellular phone 11 1st housing | casing 12 2nd housing | casing 13 Transmission part 14 Reception part 15 Arm 16 Hinge part 17 Large display part 18 Operation part in the open state 19 Opening / closing sensor part 20 Small display part 21 Off-hook operation Switch 22 On-hook / power operation switch 23 Scroll operation switch A Longitudinal dimension of first housing 11 excluding earpiece 14 B Longitudinal dimension of second housing 12 C Dimension of earpiece 14 a Folding axis b Arm 15 Axis of rotation

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A rotatable connection by a hinge portion,
A mobile phone including a first housing and a second housing configured to be foldable so that inner surfaces thereof face each other, wherein a first housing provided on an inner surface of the first housing is provided. A display unit, a receiving unit built in a longitudinal end of the first housing, an operation unit having a plurality of key arrangements provided on an inner surface of the second housing, An arm rotatable around a rotation axis provided on a side surface of the housing, and the first and second arms attached to the distal end of the arm.
The hinge portion of the second housing is located at the longitudinal end of the second housing when the first housing is opened and the first and second housings are folded. And a transmission section movable by the arm so as to be positioned on the side, wherein the first and second housings are opened and
A foldable mobile phone, wherein the mobile phone is configured to be able to communicate with the receiver and the transmitter when the second housing is folded. 2. The size of the inner surface of the second housing is substantially equal to the size of a first display unit provided on the inner surface of the first housing. The said 2nd housing | casing and the receiving part are comprised so that it may not overlap, when a body is folded.
A foldable mobile phone as described. 3. A call function and an application function other than the call function are enabled when the first and second housings are open, and the first and second housings are folded. 3. The foldable mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein the mobile phone is configured to be capable of only a call function in a state. 4. The foldable mobile phone according to claim 3, wherein said application function includes an e-mail function and a game function. 5. An operation switch for performing a minimum operation required for a call and a second display unit having a smaller display capacity than the first display unit are provided on a back surface of the second housing. The foldable mobile phone according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: 6. A sensor unit for detecting whether the first and second housings are open and folded is provided, and the first display unit is provided by a detection output of the sensor unit. 6. A foldable mobile phone according to claim 5, further comprising means for switching power supply to said second display unit. 7. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein said mobile phone is an FDMA system,
The foldable mobile phone according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the mobile phone is a mobile phone based on any one of an A system, a CDMA system, and a PHS (simplified mobile phone) system.