WO2004098078A1 - Portable electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a portable electronic device (MFG) comprising a light source (LQ) emitting light and a fibre-type medium (F) consisting of an input section (EA) for inputting or injecting light emitted by the light source (LQ) and at least one output section (F11,F12, F13) for outputting light in the direction of the outside of the portable electric device (MFG). A great deal of freedom in terms of design is achieved by using a fibre-type medium for the conduction and emission of light (either in a punctiform manner or in a homogeneous manner over an extended section), since the light source for emitting light can be disposed essentially at will in or on the mobile telephone. A fibre-type medium, especially a polymer optic fibre or glass fibre, also offers a great deal of flexibility and is not impact-sensitive, thereby guaranteeing effective operation.

Description

description

Portable electrical device The present invention relates to a portable electrical device, in particular in the form of a mobile radio device or mobile telephone, with a flexible design for a light emission option. In the prior art, mobile telephones are known which have a light source on the outside in the form of an LED (LED: light-emitting diode = light-emitting diode), which offers the user an optical signaling option for certain events. Because of the striving for ever smaller cell phones, there are limits to the design freedom to place such LEDs on the surface of the housing.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to create a possibility for light emission of an electrical device with great freedom of design.

This object is achieved by an electrical device according to claim 1. Advantageous refinements are the subject of the dependent claims.

An electrical device, in particular a portable electrical device, initially has a light source for emitting light. The light source can be an LED, for example. Furthermore, the electrical device has a fibrous

(Optical) medium with an input section for admitting the light emitted by the light source and at least one exit section for emitting the light from the fibrous medium, in particular in the direction of the outside of the electrical device. By using a fiber-like medium for light conduction, the light emitted by the light source can advantageously be low directional effort to be transported to any location of the portable electrical device. This in turn has the advantage that the light source can be arranged anywhere in the portable electrical device, and thus the design of the portable electrical device is no longer dependent on the light source. For example, the light source can now be arranged in the interior of the portable electrical device, the light from the light source being coupled into the fiber-like medium and being conducted or transported to the outside. In the event that the fibrous medium has a plurality of outlet sections, the advantage is that only one powerful light source, such as an LED, (or in the case of a structure with a plurality of fibrous media with associated light sources, only a few powerful light sources) must be provided, to achieve a lighting effect in several places of the portable electrical device. In this way it is thus possible, for example, to provide illumination for a keyboard, which ensures the illumination of each key (for example illumination from the inside of the electrical device in the case of transparent keys) with a minimal outlay on device technology. In the prior art, a large number of individual (low-power) light sources were necessary here, but these lead to an increase in the dimensions of the portable electrical device. Another advantage of using a fiber-like medium for guiding light in the manner described above is to reduce the electromagnetic interference caused by leads etc. The conventional use of a fiber-like medium or fiber-like optical medium is to couple light into the medium with great efficiency, ie with little loss to guide or transport from a starting point (the light source) to a destination. Such an efficient light conduction is achieved in a fiber-like medium or an (optical) fiber by total reflection. This occurs when a beam of light from an optically you medium (higher refractive index) hits a optically thin medium (low refractive index) from the plumb line at a certain minimum angle. In the case of a fibrous medium, this difference in refractive index is achieved by a high-refractive core and a low-refractive cladding surrounding the core, from which the fibrous medium is formed. According to an advantageous embodiment, however, storage locations are provided in or on the fibrous medium, so that light emerges from the medium at these storage locations. These storage locations can include storage elements or storage particles that are located inside the fibrous medium, more precisely in the core thereof. It is possible to introduce these particles, such as reflective (metal) particles, during the production of the fibrous medium, ie when the fibers are being drawn. The particles can be designed such that they reflect white light or else light in one or more different colors. Furthermore, the storage locations can include machined portions of the surface of the fibrous medium. This means that certain areas of the surface, ie the casing, are machined, for example, mechanically by grinding, scoring etc., but also by the action of a laser, so that total reflection in the medium is prevented and decoupling points are deliberately created at the storage locations. These decoupling points or outlet sections can be punctiform or essentially punctiform, but they can also extend over an extensive area which comprises a certain section of the fibrous medium or even the entire length of the medium or the fiber. Another possibility of creating a location in the fiber-like medium is to bend the medium or the fiber to such an excessive degree (as seen from the straight line) that the minimum angle leading to total reflection inside the medium is one Light beam is exceeded, and thus in turn there is a leakage of light at these sections of excessive bending. According to an advantageous embodiment, the fibrous medium can have one or more glass fibers or polymer-optical fibers (POF) or consist of such fibers. The advantage of these fibers is that they are small, inexpensive and mechanically resilient, that is, for example, insensitive to impact. Polymer-optical fibers also have the advantage that, if desired, they can have a relatively large cross-sectional diameter of a few 100 μm to several millimeters and have a good coupling-in efficiency of light. In addition, they advantageously continue to have large adjustment tolerances.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the portable electrical device has a housing along which the fibrous medium is guided at least in sections. The fibrous medium can be guided, for example, on the outside of the housing. Here, in the case of a housing in the form of a rectangular, elongated parallelepiped, the fibrous medium can, for example, be guided once around the housing, ie along the right, upper, left and lower side surfaces. This has the advantage that light emitted by the fibrous medium can be seen from all sides, in particular if the electrical device is placed, for example, on a shelf, such as a table. If the portable electrical device has a display device, the fibrous medium can also be guided around this display device. It is also conceivable to feed the fibrous medium on the inside of the housing. In this case, however, it is assumed that the housing is at least partially transparent in order to allow light to pass through from the at least one outlet portion of the fibrous medium in the direction of the outside. In this case, the at least one outlet section of the fibrous medium can be oriented directly in such a way that light is directed in the direction of the transparent housing Section is emitted, but it is also possible that the at least one outlet section is oriented towards the interior of the electrical device, wherein the light emitted there is reflected by components inside the electrical device in the direction of the transparent housing section. Special effects can be achieved if the housing is translucent but colored with one or more colors. Graphic patterns can also be provided in the housing or the housing wall thereof, which are then illuminated in the background by an outlet section of a fibrous medium lying underneath.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the portable electrical device can be used as a portable computer, such as a PDA

(personal digital assistant) or an organizer, or a watch. In addition, the portable electrical device can be designed as a mobile radio device, such as a mobile phone or a smartphone (a combination of a mobile phone and a portable computer). These portable electrical devices advantageously comprise a control device which is connected to the light source in order to emit optical signals in response to certain events in the portable electrical device via the light source and thus the fiber-like medium. These events can be, for example, a warning signal given on the basis of an alarm or an appointment reminder, but in the case of a mobile radio device it can also be a contacting signaling of a communication partner. The contact signaling can include an incoming (telephone) call, an incoming message according to the SMS (short message service) or an incoming message according to the MMS (multimedia message service).

Such devices used as mobile radio devices or mobile phones can work, for example, in accordance with the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) standard or the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) standard, etc. Preferred embodiments of the present invention are explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Show it:

Figure 1 is a view from the left of a mobile phone, in which a fiber-like medium with outlet sections for light is arranged on the left side according to a first embodiment;

Figure 2 is a schematic front view of the mobile phone of Figure 1 with the top cover of the mobile phone omitted for illustration; FIG. 3 shows a rear view of a mobile telephone in which two fiber-like media with outlet sections for light are arranged on the rear side along the entire length of the fibers in accordance with a second embodiment;

FIG. 4 shows a front view of a mobile telephone, in which a fiber-like medium with an outlet section for light along the entire length of the fiber is arranged around a display on the front side according to a third embodiment.

Reference is first made to FIG. 1, in which a view from the left of a portable electrical device in the form of a cell phone MFG is shown. The mobile phone

MFG has on its left side a fiber-like medium or a fiber F, which in the example is designed as a polymer-optical fiber. The polymer-optical fiber F consists of a high-index core and a low-index jacket surrounding the core. As can be seen in the figure, the fiber has dark sections in which no light is emitted to the outside and light sections F1, F12, F13 which represent exit sections for light for emitting an optical signal. These exit sections F1, F12, F13 represent defects in the light guide in the fiber F. At these defects, the surface of the fiber F, more precisely its cladding, has been processed by laser or mechanically (grinding, scoring), so that none Total reflection occurs in the core or at the interface between core and cladding and the light is coupled out at the exit points or emitted to the outside. This means that the cladding with a low refractive index is removed at the outlet sections, so that total reflection of the light beams guided in the fiber F is no longer possible. As can be seen in the figure, these impurities or exit points F1, F12, F13 were only provided in sections, not over the entire length of the fiber F. In FIG. 2 there is now a schematic front view of the mobile telephone MFG shown in FIG. 1 with the front cover removed shown. As has already been explained in relation to FIG. 1, a fiber F is provided on the left side of the mobile telephone MFG, which fiber emerges from the inside of the housing on a lower section of the mobile telephone MFG and then essentially with its entire length on the outside the housing wall GW runs or is guided. As already mentioned above, the fiber F has outlet sections F1, F12, F13 for light which is introduced or coupled into the fiber F.

As can also be seen in the figure, the mobile telephone MFG has a light source LQ, for example in the form of an LED, which is arranged in the interior of the mobile telephone. The light source can emit white light, but it can also emit colored light to achieve a more optically effective effect. It can be in the light source or at one A correspondingly colored color filter can be arranged at the light exit point of the light source LQ. The light exit point of the light source LQ is arranged adjacent to an end of the fiber F which serves as an input section EA in such a way that the light emitted by the light source Q is coupled directly into the fiber. In particular, the design of fiber F as a polymer-optical fiber offers a high coupling efficiency. As can be seen from the illustration in the figure, the use of a fiber-like medium or a fiber for light conduction and light emission has the advantage that the light source LQ can be arranged at virtually any location in or on the mobile telephone MFG , since the fiber-like medium can be easily guided from the light source to another desired location of the mobile phone due to its flexibility or flexibility. It is thus possible to design the mobile phone independently of a light emitting device or optical signaling device. In the example, the light source LQ is also connected to a control device ST, which in turn is connected on the one hand to a power supply source or a battery EQ and on the other hand to a radio module FM. The control device ST is connected to the radio module FM in such a way that the radio module emits a call signal to the control device ST when a call comes in from a communication partner. Accordingly, it is also conceivable that the radio module sends an SMS signal or an MMS signal to the control device ST when a message from an SMS or MMS service of a communication partner arrives at the mobile phone MFG or its radio module FM. Depending on one of the above-mentioned signals from the radio module FM, the control device ST can then control the light source LQ so that it emits an optical signal via the fiber F. The control device ST of the light source LQ then carries current from the

Battery EQ in such a way that the light source in a certain time interval or time pattern (eg Blin ken) emits light or no light. In the case of a light source with a plurality of light generating means (for example LEDs) which have different colors, it is also conceivable that the control device supplies current only to certain light generating means, so that light with a different color can also be emitted depending on the application. To distinguish which signal was passed from the radio module FM to the control device ST, the control device ST can provide a different temporal pattern for each signal (and / or in the case of a light source with a plurality of light generating means, a signal for a specific color) and to the light source Submit LQ. This enables a user of the mobile phone MFG to recognize on the basis of the light emitted by the fiber F that a call or a message from a communication partner is being received by the mobile phone MFG, and possibly to differentiate whether it is a call or a message or a message what message it is. Such optical signaling has the advantage that, particularly in a quiet environment, for example in a meeting, the mobile phone MFG can be placed on the table and incoming calls or messages can be signaled to the user without disturbing other people. According to one embodiment, the control device ST can be connected to a further control device (not shown) of the mobile telephone MFG, which sends signals to the control device ST in order to signal any other events via the light source LQ and the optical fiber F to a user. For example, the further control device can be designed to signal reminders of appointments or tasks to a user. If an appointment or task entered by the user is due, the further control device sends a corresponding signal to the control device ST, which then in turn causes the light source to emit an optical signal with a specific temporal pattern via the fiber F. It should be noted that the optical signal can vary not only in the temporal structure and the color, but also in the intensity. For example, incoming messages from the SMS service can be emitted with a lower light intensity than incoming calls, since no immediate time response is required here.

Although it will not be explained in detail below with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the coupling of the light into the fibrous medium F and the activation of a light source can be carried out via a control device (including its connection to a radio module, a power supply source and one further control device, etc.) as well, as has already been explained for the embodiment shown with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3, in which a second embodiment of a mobile telephone MFG with a light emission device or an optical signaling device is shown. The reference symbol F here denotes a fibrous medium which has two sections, namely an upper and a lower section, both of which are designed in the shape of a "U". The fibrous medium F or its individual sections advantageously again consists of polymer-optical fibers, which in the example each emerge from the inside of the mobile telephone MFG, are guided along the outside of the housing, and are finally reinserted into the housing. As can be seen in the figure, the two fiber sections are designed such that they have light exit sections F31 and F32 at least along their entire section on the outside of the housing. This means, in contrast to the first embodiment, in which the outlet sections only on small sections or

Points were restricted, an extensive homogeneous light emission possibility is created here. This extended Light exit sections F31, F32 can again be created simply by machining the surfaces of the fiber sections of fiber F (by laser or mechanically).

Instead of guiding the fiber sections on the outside of the mobile phone housing, it is also possible to guide the fiber sections on the inside, in which case the housing must be transparent, at least at light exit points.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4, which shows a third embodiment of a mobile telephone MFG with a light emission device or an optical signaling device. The reference symbol F again designates a fiber-like medium or a fiber F, which are formed around a display device DSP. The fiber F advantageously again consists of a polymer optical fiber. Here again, a light exit section F41 is provided along the entire length of the part of the fiber F that is visible to the outside. This in turn means that an extensive, homogeneous light exit section can be created in a simple manner by machining the surface of the fiber F. Characteristic of this embodiment is that, as indicated schematically in the figure, along the visible area of the fiber F, storage elements or storage particles STE, such as metal particles, are provided in the fiber, on which the light conduction is disturbed, so that it emits light outside comes. Although it has been said in the above-described embodiments that a fibrous medium F has a single or two individual fibers, it is also conceivable that a fibrous medium can have a fiber bundle consisting of a plurality of fibers, which is made by means of a special device such as a band of a cladding layer, etc. are bound together. It should also be noted that in addition to the polymer-optical fibers mentioned for light conduction and light emission, the use of glass fibers is also possible.

In summary, it can be said that the use of a fibrous material for guiding and emitting light (either punctiform or homogeneous over an extended section) gives great freedom of design in the design of the mobile phone, since the light source for emitting light into the fibrous Medium can be arranged in any way in or on the mobile phone. In addition, it should be noted that the fibers mentioned, despite their great flexibility, are also insensitive to shocks and ESD (electrostatic discharge) - insensitive, so that safe operation is guaranteed, with less interference radiation in particular in the device or on the fiber-like one Medium.

Claims

claims 1. Portable electrical device (MFG) with the following features: a light source (LQ) for emitting light; a fibrous medium (F) with an input section (EA) for admitting the light emitted by the light source (LQ) and at least one exit section (Fll, F12, F13; F31, F32; F41) for emitting the light towards the outside of the portable electrical device (MFG). 2. Portable electrical device according to claim 1, wherein the fibrous medium (F) in the region of at least one Has outlet section Storstellen. 3. Portable electrical device according to claim 2, wherein the storage locations comprise storage elements in the fibrous medium (F), machined sections of the surface of the fibrous medium or sections with a large bend. 4. Portable electrical device according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the fibrous medium comprises glass fibers or polymer optical fibers. 5. Portable electrical device according to one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a housing (GW), along which the fibrous medium is guided at least in sections. 6. Portable electrical device according to claim 5, wherein the fibrous medium (F) on the outside of the housing (GW) is led. 7. Portable electrical device according to claim 5, wherein the fibrous medium is guided on the inside of the housing, the housing being transparent at least in sections is designed to transmit light from the at least one outlet section of the fibrous medium in the direction of the outside. 8. Portable electrical device according to one of claims 1 to 7, which is designed as a portable computer or a watch. 9. Portable electrical device according to one of claims 1 to 7, which is designed as a mobile radio device (MFG). 10. Portable electrical device according to claim 9, further comprising a control device (ST) connected to the light source (LQ), which generates a light signal via the light source when contacting a communication partner. 11. A portable electrical device according to claim 10, wherein the contact signaling comprises an incoming call, an incoming message according to the SMS or an incoming message according to the MMS. 12. Portable electrical device according to one of claims 9 to 11, in which the mobile radio device operates according to the GSM or UMTS standard.