GB2434275A

GB2434275A - Electronic device with rotary and linear movement between two parts

Info

Publication number: GB2434275A
Application number: GB0526514A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Tim Bass
Original assignee: Motorola Inc
Current assignee: Motorola Solutions Inc
Priority date: 2005-12-29
Filing date: 2005-12-29
Publication date: 2007-07-18
Also published as: GB0526514D0

Abstract

A portable electronic device incorporates a plurality of user interfaces (200 and 120, figure 2) and a first section of the device 100 is provided with a sliding 115 and rotational 110 mechanism with at least two substantially parallel guides supporting a slider. A second section of the device is operably coupled to the rotational part. The sliding and rotational mechanism creates a hinge that allows relative motion between the two sections of the device in both rotation and translation. A mechanical or friction stop may be provided to limit relative motion between the two sections. Means may be provided for detecting the relative angle and relative linear position of the two sections. The portable electronic device may be a mobile telephone.

Description

HAND PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a mechanism for facilitating the reconfiguration of a hand-portable electronic device for operation in a plurality of different operational modes. The invention is applicable to, but not limited to, reconfiguring a device such as a mobile phone.

Background of the Invention

Complex hand-portable electronic devices, such as wireless communication devices, have evolved to a point at which they are capable of performing a wide variety of useful functions, above and beyond that of simple voice communication. This presents the device designer with a number of problems not least the issue of incorporating all of the user interfaces required by these functions, and of doing so in an ergonomically acceptable manner.

A number of base-types of mobile communications device are available on the market such as the candy-bar phone, exemplified by the Nokia 3300 series, in which the phone's display is located above the phone's standard T9 keypad. This provides a number of keys, such as 0-9, #, * and a few menu scrolling keys.

Further, clam-type portable phones exist, such as Motorola's flip phone. For normal phone use, it is preferred that there is sufficient distance between a microphone and a speaker in a mobile phone to enable the microphone to be substantially located adjacent a user's mouth and the speaker(s) to be located substantially adjacent a user's ear. Here, the phone may be configured as operational as soon as the phone is opened, by extending the flip.

When the flip is retracted into the clam shape, the phone is typically in standby (receive) mode. Hence, the concept of a flip-phone or clam-shell' to extend a phone's form to cover a user's mouth and ear. In this manner, less background noise enters the microphone and less background noise is heard by the user, i.e. for the same speaker output level, a higher proportion of enunciated sound is heard in the user's ear due to the vicinity of the speaker. Again, the phone's display is located above the phones keypad, which is a standard T9 keypad providing a number of keys, such as 09, 4, * and a few menu scrolling keys.

Dual-function portable phones also exist, such as Nokia's 6800 phone. In a first mode of operation, the Nokia 6800 phone operates as a standard candy-bar' phone, where the phone's display is located above the phone's keypad, which is a standard T9 keypad providing a number of keys, such as 0-9, * and a few menu scrolling keys. In a second mode of operation, the phone operates with a qwerty' keyboard, which is provided by flipping over the keypad portion to reveal two distinct and separated keyboard parts. Both the phone and its display are rotated through 90 for use in this mode. The display separates the two keyboard portions and the image on the display being rotated accordingly. This product is advertised as a 2-in-i' product that offers easier text input and quick access to text-based applications.

The Samsung E800 incorporates a sliding mechanism that allows a candy-bar type phone with a standard display/T9 type keypad to be extended in length, a secondary keypad being thus revealed. The phone display and T9 keypad slide with the top section of the phone.

Both of these systems have disadvantages. For example, the standard configuration remains, in both cases, namely that of a candy-bar type phone with combined T9-type keypad and display, resulting in a limited data input mechanism and small display. In the "extended" or "opened" state, both phones provide only the added benefit of better acoustic reception, i.e. a standard "phone" feature. Furthermore, the hinge mechanism of the clam-type phone is a mechanically weak point, making it difficult for such design to satisfy the stringent drop-test requirements associated with well-known mobile phone testing.

Thus, a need exists for a means of improving the ergonomics of a hand-portable electronic device, such as a wireless communication device, such that it may be re-configured and optimised for multiple uses, whilst at the same time alleviating the aforementioned problems associated with the prior-art.

Statement of Invention

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hand-portable electronic device, as claimed in Claim 1.

Further aspects and advantageous features of the present invention are as described in the appended Claims.

A hand-portable electronic device according to the teachings of the current invention is described incorporating at least a display and a keypad, whereby a first section of the device is provided with a sliding mechanism with at least two substantially parallel guides supporting a slider, the slider incorporating a further integrated rotational part. A second section of the device is attached to the rotational part, the rotational/slider mechanism creating a hinge allowing relative motion between the two sections of the device in both rotation and translation. The combined translational/ rotational mechanism allows the display and keypad sections of the hand-portable electronic device to be easily and accurately positioned relative to each other. The mechanism also acts as a very robust and stable mechanical component of the wireless device.

Preferably, a slider and/or a rotational part of the sliding and rotational mechanism incorporate an electrical interface for transmitting electrical signals between the two sections of the hand-portable electronic device.

In a further advantageous embodiment of the current invention the slider and/or rotational part of the hinge mechanism is provided with a mechanism for transmitting electrical signals between the first and second sections of the wireless device, thus allowing the display and keypad (or other combination of input/output devices) to remain active, independent of the relative positions of the first and second sections of the hand-portable electronic device.

The rotational part of the hinge mechanism is advantageously provided with a mechanical locking mechanism, thus allowing the second section of the hand-portable electronic device to be rotated into the required position by the user, and then locked firmly in that position. The locking mechanism then prevents any further, unwanted relative rotational motion between the two sections of the device.

In a further advantageous embodiment the rotational part of the hinge is provided with a frictional locking mechanism that ensures that, once the second section of the hand-portable electronic device has been rotated into position by the user, it remains in that position. The mechanism provides enough friction to prevent further unwanted rotation of the rotational hinge from a selected position, due for example to the weight of the hand-portable electronic device or a slight knock. The frictional locking mechanism does, though, allow the user to further rotate the second section of the device as required, simply by applying enough torque to overcome the inbuilt friction.

Advantageously, the slide/slider mechanism of the device is provided with a mechanical locking mechanism capable of preventing unwanted motion of the slider. Thus the second section of the phone can be slid into position with respect to the first section, and locked firmly in that position. The locking mechanism then prevents any further undesired relative translational motion between the two sections of the device.

In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention the slide/slider mechanism of the device is provided with a frictional locking mechanism capable of preventing undesirable motion of the slider. Thus, the second section of the phone is preferably configured to be slid into the required position with respect to the first section, and will be held in that position with enough force to prevent motion due to either the weight of the device, or small knocks or nudges to the device. The frictional mechanism thus prevents any accidental, unwanted relative translational motion between the two sections of the device, whilst still allowing the relative positions to be adjusted easily by the user.

The hinge mechanism described in the teachings of the present invention advantageously allows translational and rotational motion simultaneously. That is the second section of the hand-portable electronic device can be simultaneously slid and rotated with respect to the first section, thus allowing the user to very quickly open the hand-portable electronic device, and select the optimum relative position of the two sections for the chosen mode of operation. The user is thus not slowed down by having, for example, to first fully extend the slider mechanism before rotating the display section device.

In a yet further advantageous embodiment of the present invention, the slides that carry the slider extend preferably over the full length of the hand-portable electronic device. This allows the user the maximum flexibility in positioning the two sections of the device with respect to each other. This increases the likelihood that, for example, when using the hand-portable electronic device as a phone, every user will be able to find an optimal "talk" position as this depends to a great extent on the length of the phone and the relative position of microphone and speaker.

The rotational part of the hinge mechanism is, in a yet further advantageous embodiment, conceived such that it rotates though an angle up to 1800, thus allowing the two sections of the device to remain parallel to each other whether the device is fully extended and fully rotated, or un-extended and fully rotated.

One or more sensors integrated into the rotational hinge mechanism are preferably arranged to detect at least one rotational position of the second section of the hand-portable electronic device. Thus, the device is able to advantageously and automatically select operating modes based on an output of the rotation sensor. This ability is further, and advantageously enhanced by the integration of a further (linear position) sensor into the sliding mechanism of the device. The linear position sensor detects one or more linear positions of the slider, thus allowing the device to further optimise performance based on the output of the linear position sensor.

The teachings of the current invention are advantageously embodied in a wireless communications device, PDA or other hand-portable electronic device constructed from at least two sections, the sections being located one to another by means of a mechanical hinging mechanism, with a first section incorporating a data input function such as a keypad, and the second section incorporating a display function such as a type of liquid crystal display (LCD) Advantageously, the teachings of the current invention can be used to significantly improve the flexibility and ruggedness of a portable electronic device or wireless communications device, by providing a highly flexible and easily configurable hinge mechanism, incorporating both a translational and a rotational motion.

In this manner, the aforementioned problems associated with candy-bar and clam-shell designs are resolved. This has been achieved by the integration of a rotational hinge mechanism and a very mechanically stable slider mechanism, the combination of which produces a highly flexible and rigid structure.

The teachings of the current invention are applicable to any hand-portable or mobile electronic device that includes multiple data input/output (I/O) devices such as displays, keypads, microphones or cameras, and has the requirement that two or more of these devices be accessible simultaneously.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication unit, in the "closed" position, adapted in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 illustrates a wireless communication unit, in the "slid-open" position, adapted in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 3 illustrates a wireless communication unit, in the "slid-open and rotated" position, adapted in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Description of Preferred Embodiments

The preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in terms of a mobile telephone. However, it will be appreciated that the inventive concepts may be embodied in any other type of hand-portable electronic device which shares the same or similar physical characteristics such as a personal digital assistant (PDA) or Pocket-PC.

Referring first to FIG. 1, there is shown a schematic of a hand-portable electronic device 150 (such as a mobile phone), adapted to support the inventive concepts of the preferred embodiments of the present invention. The device is constructed of two main parts or sections, a first section 100 and a second section 105, the two sections being physically connected to each other via a mechanical hinge 115, 125, 110.

The construction of the device is such that the top section 105 incorporates a large display 120 for maximum viewing area, the display 120 being of the touch-screen type, thus reducing the requirement for further input devices such as buttons on the surface of the device that incorporates the display. The slider mechanism 115, 125 allows the top section 105 of the wireless communications device 150 to be translated with respect to the lower section 100, thus allowing the wireless device to be slid open, this position being illustrated in FIG. 2.

-10 -It is envisioned that the hinge 125 may, for example, slide on guides across the housing section 100, such that the hinge 125 opens along an axis transverse to the slide guides. The guides may be implemented using projecting rails positioned at 115, or alternatively, slots positioned at 115. Additionally, signalling between the sections 100 and 105 can be effected using an electrical connector, such as a flex strip, or an optical coupling implemented with emitters and detectors (not shown) in each housing section.

In the open position, the keypad 200 is revealed allowing data to be input, the type of the data is preferably arranged depending upon the current operational mode of the device 150. In this configuration the user has access to the large display and a similarly large keypad thus rendering the device much more user friendly.

FIG. 3 shows the device open and rotated, i.e. the top section of the device 105 has been rotated 130 with respect to the lower section 100, thus creating an angle between the two sections allowing the display 120 to be more easily viewed, or optimising the position of the microphone and speaker for voice communication.

The hand-portable electronic device 150 is a multi function device, which comprises the following primary operational modes: First Mode The phone operates as a flip-type phone, primarily for audio communication, as shown in FIG. 3. In this mode, the phone requires length/distance between microphone and -11 -speakers to provide better acoustics, thereby picking up speech and better enunciating received signals into a user's ear. This configuration reduces the effect of background noise and is achieved by a combination of sliding 135 and rotating 130 (flipping) the phone such that the angle between the two sections 100, 105 is preferably approximately 135 .

Starting from the closed position of FIG. 1, in which the display is fully visible and operative, it would be necessary to rotate the top section 105 of the phone with respect to the bottom section 100, by means of the rotational hinge 110 through 45 , and subsequently to slide the top section 105 relative to the bottom section 100 such that the phone was approximately in the position shown in FIG. 3.

Starting from a fully closed position, i.e. display 120 and keypad 200 folded together (for example when the top section 105 of the phone of FIG. 2 is simply rotated until it is closed), it is only necessary to rotate the top section 105 through 135 in order to achieve the optimal voice communication (telephoning) configuration.

In this position it is anticipated that the friction mechanism built into the slider/rotor mechanism provides enough holding force and/or torque to prevent the phone from changing position and form-factor. It is thus not anticipated that the mechanical lock, also provided in the preferred embodiment of the present invention is necessary for this mode of operation Second mode The phone operates as a desk-top device. In this mode the device is used lying on a flat work surface such as a -12 -desk. The top section 105 of the device is rotated, from the position of FIG. 1, such that an approximately 450 angle is formed between the two sections 100, 105. The display section 105 now projects away from the surface (desk) at say 45 degrees and the display is fully visible and operational. The display may now be configured as a touch screen which would facilitate better gaming applications, for example.

Alternatively, a pen-based application can be used in this mode, whereby character recognition is employed when a user writes, using a suitable pen-device directly onto the screen 120. In this mode the keypad may not be required and is "hidden" behind the screen to give the device a clean and uncluttered look.

This mode is particularly beneficial when an application requires stability/ease of viewing. This mode is achieved when there is a substantially 450 angle between the two primary phone portions.

It is within the contemplation of the present invention that alternative positions/angles may be selected, say for alternative applications or other devices. For example, if the phone is to be used for video streaming in a desk-top mode, a more vertical orientation may be suitable or selected. Preferably a mechanical locking mechanism is employed in this mode of operation, thus allowing the display section of the device to be firmly locked with respect to the lower section 100 (which is, in this configuration, acting as little more than a base for the device) -13 -In this manner, the configuration allows the user to apply pressure to the display 120 without causing further rotation 130 of the device. This configuration is also an ideal hands-free mode, which can be used for reading information from the display while the device is sitting on a desk top or other surface. The device is stable in this configuration, i.e. it will not fall over or over-balance, and the viewing angle of the display may be set optimally by the particular user.

Third mode The phone may also operate in a candy-bar' configuration, for ease of storage and/or ease of text-input. In this mode, the phone assumes the configuration of FIG. 1, in which data can be entered via the keypad and simultaneously monitored via the display. It would also be possible to activate the touch screen in this configuration thus allowing the user to lay the device flat on a work surface and enter data via, say either the keypad or a touch or pen-application.

The above modes of operation are provided by a sliding mechanism, as well as preferably a combination of flip and sliding movements to re-configure the form factor of the device.

The multiple functions of the mobile phone, dependent upon the form factor selected by use of the sliding mechanism, support respectively voice communication, hands-free voice communication, desk-top use, gaming or touch-sensitive screen application.

As described, the slider/rotational mechanism is preferably provided with sensors (not shown) for -14 -detecting the position of the top 100 and bottom 105 sections of the phone with respect to one another. This allows an intelligent device to self-initialise or modify its set-up dependent upon the state of these sensors.

Advantageously, the phone will, thus, auto-configure or re-configure based on the information obtained by the sensor(s), which are preferably integrated into a flexible printed circuit board located within the sliding and/or rotating mechanism.

For example, when extended to its maximum length, as in FIG. 2, the phone may be configured in either a desk-top or block (candy-bar) type manner. This could be achieved by integrating micro-switches or other non-contact sensing devices within or local to the sliders 115 at the extremities of travel, the switches being activated when the device is fully extended. The detection of "maximum extension" can then be used to trigger new functionality of the phone, such as a touch display or may be configured to offer pen-based functionality. it is also envisaged that the rotational mechanism 110 may also incorporate micro-switches or other sensing devices for detecting full rotation, and/or activation of the mechanical locking mechanism, the latter triggering activation of the touch display or pen-based modes.

Notably, the flip operation enables two distinct display functions to be employed, one on either side of the top section of the device 105. A smaller display may be used for standard phone activity or for simple display of numbers or warnings or alerts. The large display is preferably used for camera activity, gaming, pen-based applications or other PDA type functions.

-15 -The sliders 115 preferably run substantially the entire length of the device 150. Thus allows the top section 105 to be slid to either extremity of the device, and thus in phone-mode allows the phone to flip at either end of the main body 100. Thus, by extending the phone to its full length and flipping through 135 , the internal side of the second portion 105 may display a first screen 120 or user interface (UI) . In a closed form, for example a flipped closed form with a 135 angle (in FIG. 3), the external side of the second portion 105 of the device 150 may display a second screen/UI.

The flip operation, rotation 130, together with a sliding mechanism 115, 125, enables separate functions on both sides of the device to be made accessible to a user.

Thus, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the second portion 105 of the body 150 includes latches and a locking mechanism to allow the device to be locked into the closed position (that of FIG. 1 for example) Thus, a multi-function hand-portable electronic device is provided with a new sliding/rotating mechanism to convert the phone's form factor. The mechanism allows the phone to be extended and rotated to mimic candy-bar or flip operation and is, due to its design, very stable and rugged. The mechanical hinge realisation offers a variety of operational modes by enabling the unit to be readily re-configurable.

In this regard, the multi-orientation hand-portable electronic device can be readily re-configured to operate either as a candy-bar' or a clam-type phone.

Furthermore, and advantageously the flip-mechanism allows the phone to be configured as a desk-top unit, dependent -16 -upon the user's desired use of the unit at a particular instant of time. The sliding mechanism 115, 125, particularly with sliders located on both sides of the main body of the phone, provides increased stability and less susceptibility to damage upon dropping the unit.

Thus, means for allowing translation and rotation of sections of a hand-portable electronic device such as a wireless communication device in order to provide increased flexibility, utility, and stability have been described, where the aforementioned disadvantages with

prior art arrangements have been substantially

alleviated.

Claims

-17 -Claims 1. A hand-portable electronic device (150) comprising a

plurality of user interfaces, characterised in that, a first section (100) of the device (150) comprises or is operably coupled to a sliding and rotational mechanism (110, 125) with at least two substantially parallel guides (115) supporting a slider (125), the slider (125) incorporating a further integrated rotational part (110), and a second section (105) of the device (150) comprising or being operably coupled to the first section (100) via the sliding and rotational mechanism (110, 125), the sliding and rotational mechanism (110, 125) creating a hinge that allows relative motion (130, 135) between the two sections (100, 105) of the device (150) in both rotation (130) and translation (135)
2. A hand-portable electronic device (150) according to Claim 1 further characterised in that the slider (125) and/or a rotational part (110) of the sliding and rotational mechanism (110, 125) incorporates an electrical interface for transmitting electrical signals between the two sections (100, 105) of the hand-portable electronic device (150)
3. A hand-portable electronic device (150) according to Claim 2 further characterised in that the rotational part (110) incorporates a mechanical locking mechanism arranged to substantially prevent over-rotation of the rotational part (110) -18 -
4. A hand-portable electronic device (150) according to Claim 3 further characterised in that the rotational part (110) incorporates a frictional holding mechanism arranged to substantially prevent over-rotation (130) of the rotational part (110)
5. A hand-portable electronic device (150) according to any of the previous Claims further characterised in that one or more of the two substantially parallel guides 115) and/or slider (125) incorporate(s) a mechanical locking mechanism and/or a frictional holding mechanism arranged to substantially prevent excessive translational motion (135) between the two sections (100, 105)
6. A hand-portable electronic device (150) according to any of the previous Claims further characterised in that the sliding and rotational mechanism is arranged such that rotational (130) and translational motions (135) can occur substantially simultaneously.

7. A hand-portable electronic device (150) according to the previous Claims further characterised in that the two or more substantially parallel guides (115) extend substantially along the entire length of the first section (100) 8. A hand-portable electronic device (150) according to any of previous Claims 2 to 7 further characterised in that the rotational part (110) is capable of rotating (130) through substantially 180 .

9. A hand-portable electronic device (150) according to any of previous Claims 2 to 8 further characterised in that the sliding and rotational mechanism incorporates -19 -further means for detecting an angular position between the first and second sections (100, 105) 10. A hand-portable electronic device (150) according to any of the previous Claims further characterised in that the sliding and rotational mechanism incorporates further means for detecting at least one linear position of the second section (105) with respect to the first section (100) 11. A hand-portable electronic device (150) according to any of the preceding Claims whereby the plurality of user interfaces comprises in first section (100) of the device (150) at least a keypad (200), and in the second section (105) of the device at least a display (120) 12. A hand-portable electronic device (150) according to any of the previous Claims whereby the sliding and rotational mechanism is arranged to facilitate a change in form factor of the device (15) between two of: (1) A desk-top unit (ii) A clam-shell voice communication device; and (ii) A candy-bar form.

13. A hand-portable electronic device (150) substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and/or as illustrated by, FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 or FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings.