GB2330980A - Mobile telephone with transparent loudspeaker panel - Google Patents

Mobile telephone with transparent loudspeaker panel Download PDF

Info

Publication number
GB2330980A
GB2330980A GB9723064A GB9723064A GB2330980A GB 2330980 A GB2330980 A GB 2330980A GB 9723064 A GB9723064 A GB 9723064A GB 9723064 A GB9723064 A GB 9723064A GB 2330980 A GB2330980 A GB 2330980A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
panel
mobile telephone
loudspeaker
display
display panel
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
GB9723064A
Other versions
GB9723064D0 (en
Inventor
Gareth Hayes
James Alexander Blaine
Rowan Nigel Naylor
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Ericsson OMC Ltd
Original Assignee
Ericsson OMC Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Ericsson OMC Ltd filed Critical Ericsson OMC Ltd
Priority to GB9723064A priority Critical patent/GB2330980A/en
Publication of GB9723064D0 publication Critical patent/GB9723064D0/en
Publication of GB2330980A publication Critical patent/GB2330980A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
    • H04M1/02—Constructional features of telephone sets
    • H04M1/03—Constructional features of telephone transmitters or receivers, e.g. telephone hand-sets
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
    • H04M1/02—Constructional features of telephone sets
    • H04M1/0202—Portable telephone sets, e.g. cordless phones, mobile phones or bar type handsets
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
    • H04M1/02—Constructional features of telephone sets
    • H04M1/0202—Portable telephone sets, e.g. cordless phones, mobile phones or bar type handsets
    • H04M1/0206—Portable telephones comprising a plurality of mechanically joined movable body parts, e.g. hinged housings
    • H04M1/0208—Portable telephones comprising a plurality of mechanically joined movable body parts, e.g. hinged housings characterized by the relative motions of the body parts
    • H04M1/0214—Foldable telephones, i.e. with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
    • H04M1/60—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers including speech amplifiers
    • H04M1/6033—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers including speech amplifiers for providing handsfree use or a loudspeaker mode in telephone sets
    • H04M1/6041—Portable telephones adapted for handsfree use
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M2250/00—Details of telephonic subscriber devices
    • H04M2250/22—Details of telephonic subscriber devices including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Telephone Set Structure (AREA)

Abstract

A mobile telephone 2 comprises a microphone (figure 3, 25), a display panel 22 and a loudspeaker panel 23. The loudspeaker panel 23 is transparent and is located over the display panel 22. The mobile telephone 2 may or may not have a moveably hinged section 35. The mobile telephone can either have a keyboard 31 or alternatively the loudspeaker panel (figure 8, 53), located over the display panel (figure 8, 52) can additionally carry a transparent touch sensitive panel.

Description

MOBILE TELEPHONES The present invention relates to mobile telephones, and in particular to loudspeakers used in mobile telephones.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART Mobile telephones which are currently on the market, generally include a telephone housing which carries a keypad, a display, and a loudspeaker. In addition, a microphone is provided, and usually an antenna is attached to the telephone housing.
The loudspeaker, display and keypad are arranged separately from one another on the telephone body, and so such an arrangement places limits on the minimum size of the telephone and/or the maximum size of each component.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of one aspect of the present invention to provide a mobile telephone having a keypad, display and loudspeaker which have improved ergonomics and usability for a given size of mobile telephone body.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobile telephone comprising a display panel and a loudspeaker panel, the loudspeaker panel being transparent and located over the display panel.
Such a construction allows a mobile telephone to have only one surface area used for both the display and the loudspeaker.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows a sectional side view of a previously considered mobile phone; Figure 2 shows a side sectional view of a first embodiment of the present invention; Figures 3 and 4 show perspective and front views of the mobile telephone of Figure 2; Figures 5 and 6 show perspective views of a modification of the mobile telephone of Figures 2, 3 and 4; and Figures 7 and 8 show a perspective view and a side sectional view of a second embodiment of the present invention DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows a conventional mobile telephone, which comprises a handset body 10, which carries a keyboard 11, a display 12, and an earpiece or loudspeaker 13. As will be readily appreciated from Figure 1, since the keyboard 11, display 12 and earpiece 13 are provided by separate individual components, the minimum overall size of the handset is determined by the cumulative size of these components.
Alternatively, the maximum size of the components is determined by the size of the handset/body. Thus, for a given size of handset, with a usable keyboard 11, the display and ear piece 12 and 13 compete with one another for space in the handset body.
An embodiment of the present invention is shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, and comprises a handset body 20, a keyboard 21, a display 22, and a loudspeaker panel 23.
In the mobile telephone 2 of Figure 2, the loudspeaker panel is located directly over the display panel 22.
The loudspeaker panel is made of a transparent material, such that the display can be seen through the loudspeaker.
The loudspeaker panel 23 can be produced by providing an acoustic panel in accordance with the method shown in International Patent Application No.
W097/09842 (Verity Group plc). The patent application describes a method of producing an acoustic device from a substantially planar member.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the transducers used for producing the acoustic panel would be arranged so that the field of view is not obscured.
As can be seen in Figures 3 and 4, a microphone 25 is provided for picking up a user's voice.
The location of the display 22 and loudspeaker panel 23 enables larger components for each function to be used. In an embodiment of the invention the space usually need for a loudspeaker can be used to enlarge the size of display and/or keyboard area. This results in generally improving the ergonomics and usability of particularly small mobile phones.
In small mobile phones, the loudspeaker to microphone distance can prove to be too small, and so this problem can be overcome by use of a flip or extending microphone 35 as shown in Figures 5 and 6.
In Figures 5 and 6, a display 32 and loudspeaker panel 33 are one again coincident on the handset body.
Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in Figures 7 and 8 and comprises a handset body, a display panel 52, and a loudspeaker panel 53. The loudspeaker panel is again located over the display panel and is transparent to allow the display panel to be seen from the front of the phone. The flat loudspeaker surface can carry a touch sensitive panel, which is also transparent, to detect key presses on the surface of the panel. This could be provided by, for example, using conventional touch screen technology.
Alternatively, the acoustic properties of the panel can be used to provide a touch-sensitive panel, by incorporating a secondary transducer which operates in combination with the primary transducers. Such a combination can be used to determine the position of the panel of a finger or selection device such as a pen.
The advantage of the telephone shown in Figures 7 and 8, is that the large size of loudspeaker can permit hands-free performance from a small sized unit. In addition, the functionality and ergonomics of the telephone can be greatly improved, since the display/keyboard is readily controlled by the telephone software.
It will thus be appreciated that embodiments of the present invention, which provide a transparent loudspeaker panel over a display panel, can improve on current mobile telephone technology.

Claims (6)

1. A mobile telephone comprising a display panel, and a loudspeaker panel, the loudspeaker panel being transparent and located over the display panel.
2. A mobile telephone as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a keypad.
3. A mobile telephone as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the loudspeaker panel or the display panel provides a touch sensitive keypad.
4. A mobile telephone as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the loudspeaker panel also provides a microphone for the telephone.
5. A mobile telephone as claimed in claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein the display panel is a liquid crystal display panel.
6. A mobile telephone substantially as hereinbefore descried with reference to, and as shown in, Figures 2 to 8 of the accompanying drawings.
GB9723064A 1997-10-31 1997-10-31 Mobile telephone with transparent loudspeaker panel Withdrawn GB2330980A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9723064A GB2330980A (en) 1997-10-31 1997-10-31 Mobile telephone with transparent loudspeaker panel

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9723064A GB2330980A (en) 1997-10-31 1997-10-31 Mobile telephone with transparent loudspeaker panel

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB9723064D0 GB9723064D0 (en) 1998-01-07
GB2330980A true GB2330980A (en) 1999-05-05

Family

ID=10821411

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB9723064A Withdrawn GB2330980A (en) 1997-10-31 1997-10-31 Mobile telephone with transparent loudspeaker panel

Country Status (1)

Country Link
GB (1) GB2330980A (en)

Cited By (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2373398A (en) * 2000-11-28 2002-09-18 Nec Corp Mobile telephone has transparent speaker over display
GB2374236A (en) * 2001-04-02 2002-10-09 Ericsson Telefon Ab L M Mobile phone utilising the cavity for a microdisplay as a resonant chamber for the speaker
EP1272000A2 (en) * 2001-06-28 2003-01-02 Nokia Corporation Dual diaphragm speaker
WO2003049493A1 (en) * 2001-11-27 2003-06-12 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Display window for radiation of sounds in communication and multimedia devices
EP1345391A1 (en) * 2002-03-12 2003-09-17 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Communication terminal including a flat loudspeaker operated over a turn arrengement
EP1475988A1 (en) * 2002-02-15 2004-11-10 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Card sound device and electronic apparatus having same
EP1879363A3 (en) * 2006-07-14 2008-03-05 LG Electronics Inc. Mobile terminal

Cited By (16)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2373398A (en) * 2000-11-28 2002-09-18 Nec Corp Mobile telephone has transparent speaker over display
GB2373398B (en) * 2000-11-28 2004-12-01 Nec Corp Electronic device
US7305248B2 (en) 2000-11-28 2007-12-04 Nec Corporation Electronic device
GB2374236A (en) * 2001-04-02 2002-10-09 Ericsson Telefon Ab L M Mobile phone utilising the cavity for a microdisplay as a resonant chamber for the speaker
GB2374236B (en) * 2001-04-02 2004-09-01 Ericsson Telefon Ab L M Communications Apparatus
EP1272000A2 (en) * 2001-06-28 2003-01-02 Nokia Corporation Dual diaphragm speaker
EP1272000A3 (en) * 2001-06-28 2005-12-14 Nokia Corporation Dual diaphragm speaker
US7039206B2 (en) 2001-06-28 2006-05-02 Nokia Corporation Dual diaphragm speaker
WO2003049493A1 (en) * 2001-11-27 2003-06-12 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Display window for radiation of sounds in communication and multimedia devices
EP1475988A4 (en) * 2002-02-15 2009-06-03 Sharp Kk Card sound device and electronic apparatus having same
EP1475988A1 (en) * 2002-02-15 2004-11-10 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Card sound device and electronic apparatus having same
US7876916B2 (en) 2002-02-15 2011-01-25 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Card-type sound apparatus and electronic appliance provided therewith
EP1345391A1 (en) * 2002-03-12 2003-09-17 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Communication terminal including a flat loudspeaker operated over a turn arrengement
US7492602B2 (en) 2006-07-14 2009-02-17 Lg Electronics Inc. Mobile terminal
US7656675B2 (en) 2006-07-14 2010-02-02 Lg Electronics Inc. Mobile terminal
EP1879363A3 (en) * 2006-07-14 2008-03-05 LG Electronics Inc. Mobile terminal

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB9723064D0 (en) 1998-01-07

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Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
732E Amendments to the register in respect of changes of name or changes affecting rights (sect. 32/1977)
WAP Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1)