GB2248747A

GB2248747A - Telephone handset

Info

Publication number: GB2248747A
Application number: GB9021972A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Christopher Bryson Garcin; Andrew Charles Woolnough
Original assignee: STC PLC; Northern Telecom Europe Ltd
Current assignee: STC PLC; Nortel Networks Optical Components Ltd
Priority date: 1990-10-09
Filing date: 1990-10-09
Publication date: 1992-04-15
Also published as: GB9021972D0

Abstract

A personal communication handset has a generally rectangular body (1, 2) defining major front and rear surfaces (1A, 2A) and mouthpiece (5) and earpiece (6) located to one side of the front surface on which are located the control keys (7, 8, 9) and display (10) of the handset. This provides good acoustic properties and an attractive appearance. <IMAGE>

Description

TELEPHONE HANDSET This invention relates to battery-powered portable telephone handsets, particularly but not exclusively a set for use in a personal communications network.

Many handsets are known in which the keypad, mouthpiece and earpiece are provided in a one-piece unit. For a portable telephone the shape and size are important and tend to compromise acoustic performance and portability.

It is an object of the invention to provide a portable telephone set which provides good acoustic performance and is attractive in appearance.

According to the present invention a battery-powered portable telephone set for connection with a personal communication network, comprises a casing which houses receive and transmit electronic circuitry and which defines a mouthpiece and earpiece, said casing having major front and back surfaces and a telephone dialling keypad located on the front surface, the mouthpiece and earpiece being located at one edge of the front surface.

Preferably the mouthpiece and earpiece are located on a side of the casing, at least the earpiece facing sideways.

Preferably also the earpiece is formed by a circular dish-like protrusion for providing an effective seal to the ear of the user.

In one embodiment the casing is a generally rectangular box-like shape.

In order that the invention can be clearly understood reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which : Fig 1 is a front perspective view from one side, and Fig 2 is a side view of the telephone set from the opposite side to that shown in Fig 1.

Referring to Figs 1 and 2, the handset comprises a rectangular plastics casing formed of a front part 1 and a rear part 2 which fit together along the interface line 3. A battery compartment 4 houses a rechargeable battery for powering the handset and is removable from a recess in rear part 2.

A mouthpiece protrusion 5 and earpiece protrusion 6 are formed by moulded portions of the casing parts, and face sideways from the casing.

Mouthpiece protrusion 5 comprises two portions 5A and 5B integral respectively with casing parts 1 and 2, and earpiece 6 comprises portions 6A and 6B, integral with casing portions 1 and 2, respectively.

Earpiece 6 also comprises a circular dish-like cap 6C which fits onto holding pieces (not shown) of portions 6A and 6B.

Inside the earpiece 6 is an electro acoustic transducer, and similarly an electro acoustic transducer lies inside the mouthpiece 5.

The casing parts 1 and 2 define a generally rectangular body portion of the handset and the front part 1 defines a major front surface and the rear part 2 defines a major rear surface. On the front surface is located the major controls of the handset, including the conventional CCITT dial push button set 7 comprising numbers 1 to 9, 0, star and hash, start call and end call buttons 8 and a set of function buttons 9, which in relation to the digital display 10 provide delete, last number redial, time break recall and icon function.

It is important that the dial keys and function keys and the display are visible together on the front surface.

Other controls are located elsewhere on the casing, and two buttons 11 are visible in Fig 2 which control scrolling of the display and also function to control volume level of the received signal ie. the sound in the earpiece, during a call.

On the rear surface is a moulded protrusion 2 which houses an on/off switch and together with the battery compartment 4 and the edge 6B of the earpiece provide a tri-point support for the handset when it is lying face up on a flat surface so that the push buttons on the front surface can be operated without the handset rocking or tilting.

The casing parts 1 and 2 house electronic circuitry for transmitting and receiving telephone calls in a personal communication network.

It is important that the earpiece provides a reasonably good seal against the user's ear and in the embodiment described has a circular dish like protrusion 6C which provides this function. However, it would be possible for the earpiece to be differently shaped and could for example be rectangular in shape although it is important that the circular dish-shaped feature remains in order to provide a good seal to the ear for good acoustic transmission between the earpiece and the user's ear. The earpiece could be angled differently for example at 450 to the front surface rather than at 900 as shown in the preferred embodiment.

Furthermore the mouthpiece need not be formed as a protrusion but could in fact be flush with the casing as the acoustic transmission is less important.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A battery-powered portable telephone set for connection with a personal communication network, comprises a casing which houses receive and transmit electronic circuitry and which defines a mouthpiece and earpiece, said casing having major front and back surfaces and a telephone dialling keypad located on the front surface, the mouthpiece and earpiece being located at one edge of the front surface.

2. A handset as claimed in claim 1, wherein the earpiece has a circular dish-like protrusion facing sideways in relation to the front of the handset.

3. A handset as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the casing defines a generally rectangular body portion.

4. A handset as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the casing is formed of a front part and a rear part which fit together along an interface extending around the sides and top and bottom of the handset and a dish shaped part fitting onto protrusions formed in both front and rear parts to complete the earpiece.

5. A handset as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising a battery compartment separable from the handset.

6. A handset as claimed in claim 5, wherein the battery compartment protrudes from the rear of the handset and this protrusion together with the earpiece and a third protrusion form a tri-point support for the handset when it is laid on a surface with its front facing upwards.

7. A portable telephone handset substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.