JP2003046624A - Portable terminal equipment and portable electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a display body easy to watch for a user even within the limited range of operating keys. SOLUTION: A portable telephone is provided with an expansion means, with which the area of an operating key 12 to be occupied by the display body can be expanded. The expansion means has a front side display body 21 provided on the front face of the operating key 12 and a rear side display body 22 provided on the rear face of the operating key 12. The front side display body 21 is described on a protecting film 23, which is provided on the front face of the operating key 12, by printing. The rear side display body 22 is displayed by being directly printed on the lower face of the operating key 12.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mobile terminal device and a mobile electronic device, and more particularly to a device suitable for more clearly displaying a display body written on an operation key.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a mobile phone as a mobile terminal device, various functions are added in addition to a communication function. Therefore, in the conventional mobile phone, a display body for displaying each function for each operation key is written on the front surface or the back surface of the operation key. A plurality of such display bodies are provided for one operation key because not only the operation keys are downsized with the downsizing of the mobile phone but also the functions of the mobile phone are increasing.

[0003]

As described above, the conventional portable telephone is downsized and has an increased number of functions so that one operation key can be used in combination with a plurality of functions. Since the contents of a plurality of functions have to be described respectively, the display bodies are crowded with small operation keys in a limited range, which makes it difficult for the user to see.

In view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a portable terminal device and a portable electronic device which can make a display body easily visible to a user even within a limited range.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention according to claim 1 is a portable terminal device in which an operation key having a display is exposed on the surface of a housing, and the operation key is provided. It is characterized by having an expansion means capable of expanding the area occupied by the display body. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal device according to the first aspect, the expanding means forms the operation keys with a transparent material, and the operation keys are provided on the front and back sides of the front side display body and the back side. It is characterized in that each display body is described and configured. The present invention according to claim 3 provides the mobile terminal device according to claim 2,
The front surface side display body and the back surface side display body are arranged at positions different from each other on the front surface and the back surface of the operation key. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal device according to the second or third aspect, the back side display body is described in a shape larger than the front side display body. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the mobile terminal device according to any one of the second to fourth aspects, the operation key blocks the rear side display body from being transmitted in the front direction of the operation key. It is characterized by having a switching means for selectively switching between and. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal device according to the fifth aspect, the switching unit switches the liquid crystal light control resin layer provided on the operation key and the power to the liquid crystal light control resin on / off. And a power supply. According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal device according to the fifth aspect, the switching means includes a liquid crystal light control resin that forms an operation key, and a switching power supply that turns on / off power to the liquid crystal light control resin. It is characterized by having. The present invention according to claim 8 is the portable terminal device according to claim 2, wherein the expanding means is
One of the front-side display body and the back-side display body is configured to transmit the irradiation light according to the wavelength of the irradiation light from the light source that illuminates the operation key. According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal device according to the eighth aspect, a plurality of the front side display bodies and the back side display bodies are provided on the front surface and the back side of the operation key, respectively, and the front side display body is composed of a plurality. , One of the back side display bodies is configured to transmit the irradiation light on the same surface of the operation key according to the wavelength of the irradiation light from the light source. According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal device according to the ninth aspect, one of the front side display body and the back side display body is formed of a transmissive material that is tuned with a wavelength of light emitted from a light source. It is characterized by being. According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal device according to the eighth aspect, the light source for illuminating the operation key selectively emits light in a plurality of types of colors. According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, a portable electronic device is provided with the expanding means according to the first to eleventh aspects.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
~ It demonstrates based on FIG. [First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is an overall front view showing a mobile phone to which an embodiment of a mobile terminal device according to the present invention is applied.
1 is an enlarged view of part A of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure corresponding to the line BB of FIG. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10
Is a mobile phone, and an operation key 12 is provided on a housing 11 that forms a front case thereof. The operation key 12 is integrally provided on the upper surface of a key sheet (not shown) so that when the key sheet is incorporated into the housing 11, the key formed on the housing 11 as shown in FIG. By being inserted into the insertion hole 13, the upper surface is provided so as to be exposed to the outside. As shown in FIG. 2, the operation key 12 has a display 21 composed of a telephone number, a symbol, etc. written on the basis of the function of the mobile phone 10. The user presses the housing 11 from the outside to operate the display 21. The function of can be obtained.

When the operation key 12 is depressed, the metal dome 14 provided therebelow as shown in FIG.
When is pressed and operates, a control unit (not shown) connected to the printed circuit board 15 executes a predetermined function. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a light source 16 made of a light emitting diode is provided on the printed circuit board 15, and the light from the light source 16 is applied to the operation keys 12 so that the user can easily recognize the light.

The lower side of the printed circuit board 15 is covered with a back case (not shown). In FIG. 1, reference numeral 17 is a liquid crystal display unit, 18 is an antenna, 19a is a transmitter, and 19b is a receiver.

This mobile phone is provided with an expansion means 20 capable of expanding the area occupied by the display body in the operation keys 12. This expansion means has a front surface side display body 21 provided on the front surface of the operation key 12 and a back surface side display body 22 provided on the rear surface of the operation key 12. Front side display 21
Is a protective film 23 provided on the surface of the operation key 12.
It is displayed by being printed on. In this example, the surface of the left operation key 12 in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, an indicator 21 "A" is written in the upper right position, and on the surface of the right operation key 12 in FIG. 3, an indicator 21a "ka" is displayed in the upper right position as shown in FIG. Is displayed, and a display body 21b called "ABC" is displayed at the lower right position.

On the other hand, the back side display 22 has the operation keys 12
It is displayed by being printed directly on the lower surface of the.
In this example, the lower surface of the operation key 12 on the left side of FIG.
The number "1" is written at the center position on the left side in Fig. 3, and the number "2" is written at the center position on the left side in Fig. 2 on the lower surface of the operation key 12 on the right side in Fig. 3.

The front surface side display body 21 and the back surface side display body 22 are, when viewed by the user from the front side of the operation keys 12,
You can see any of them,
Therefore, the operation keys 12 and the protective film 23 are made of a transparent material (synthetic resin) so that the front surface side display body 21 and the back surface side display body 22 can be visually recognized.
Moreover, the front-side display body 21 and the back-side display body 22 are arranged at different positions so that they do not overlap each other in the operation key 12. In that case, the back side display 2
2 is shown in a shape larger than that of the front side display body 21 as shown in FIG.

In the mobile phone 10 of the embodiment, the front side display 21 is displayed on the front side of the operation key 12 as described above, the back side display 22 is also displayed on the back side, and the operation key 12 is transparent. Since the expansion means 20 made of a different material is provided, the area occupied by the display body in the operation keys 12 can be doubled, and the front and back side display bodies 21, 22 can be expanded as much as possible. Can be large.

Therefore, as compared with the prior art, despite the miniaturization and multi-functionality of the mobile phone, it is possible to prevent the display body written on one operation key 12 from becoming complicated, and the operation is performed. Within the limited range of the key 12, the front and back side display bodies 21, 22 can be easily and surely made visible to the user. This makes it possible to deal with the addition of further functions.

Further, in that case, since the front surface side display body 21 and the back surface side display body 22 are arranged at different positions on the front surface and the rear surface of the operation key 12, they are provided on the front surface and the rear surface, respectively. Nevertheless, it is not complicated.

Moreover, although the front side display body 21 and the back side display body 22 are slightly different in viewability depending on the thickness of the operation keys 12 and the viewing angle of the user, symbols such as symbols and alphabets are simple characters. So operation key 12
Even if they are written on the front and back respectively, they can be clearly read.

Further, if the display bodies 21 and 22 are provided on the front and back sides, the back side display body 22 may be difficult to see, but the back side display body 22 is more than the front side display body 21 as in the present embodiment. Since the shape is large, the user can make the identification of the back side display 22 more clear.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 4 shows a main part of a mobile phone to which a second embodiment of a mobile terminal device according to the present invention is applied. In this case, instead of the transparent protective film 23 used in the one embodiment, the liquid crystal light control film 24 is used.
The liquid crystal light control film 24 is configured to be turned on / off by the switching power supply 25 by using.

The liquid crystal light control film 24 contains liquid crystal molecules in a transparent polymer, and when a voltage is applied by the switching power supply 25, the liquid crystal molecules in the transparent polymer are regularly arranged in a light transmitting direction. As a result, light is easily transmitted (substantially transparent state), and when voltage application is stopped, liquid crystal molecules are irregularly arranged and light is difficult to pass through.

As a result, the liquid crystal light control film 24 becomes transparent when the switching power supply 25 is turned on, so that the user can visually recognize both the front surface side display body 21 and the rear surface side display body 22 of the operation key 12. , The switching power supply 25
Since the liquid crystal light control film 24 becomes cloudy by turning off, the back surface side display body 22 cannot be transmitted in the direction of the operation keys 12 and is blocked. As a result, the user sees only the front side display body 21. You can It is preferable that the switching power supply 25 is automatically set in advance in accordance with the function of the mobile phone, but may be switched by the user pressing a specific operation key.

According to this embodiment, by turning on / off the liquid crystal light control film 24, the back side display 22 is made to be selectively visible or not visible. By comparison, it is possible to prevent the user from being complicated by the presence of the front-side display body 21 and the back-side display body 22.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, an example in which the liquid crystal light control film 24 is provided on the surface of the operation key 12 is shown, but the invention is not limited to this. Even if it is provided so as to be sandwiched between, it is possible to obtain the same effect as the above.
Further, the same effect can be obtained by forming the operation key 12 with the same material as the liquid crystal light control film 24 and switching the operation key 12 itself between the transparent state and the non-transparent state.

[Third Embodiment] In this case, the operation is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, and the transparent operation keys 12 constituting the expansion means 20 are covered with the parentheses in FIG. The front side display body 31 and the back side display body 32 shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, when the light from the light source 16 is irradiated, the front side display body 31 transmits the irradiation light, and the display body 31 is assimilated with the surroundings, which makes it difficult to read from the outside. ing. Therefore, the front side display body 31 is
It is made of a transmissive material (for example, transmissive ink) having a color matched to the wavelength of the light emitted from the light source 16.

As described above, the front side display body 31 is the light source 16
When provided on the surface of the operation key 12 with a material having a color matched to the wavelength of the irradiation light from, when the light source 16 is turned on, the irradiation light is transmitted through the front side display body 31 of the operation key 12, Since the display body 31 becomes transparent and is assimilated to the front side of the operation keys 12 and becomes difficult to see, the user can see only the back side display body 22.

Therefore, even if the back side display body 32 is provided on the back side of the operation key 12, the back side display body 32 is provided.
Can emphasize only the material of the color (impermeable type) different from the wavelength of the illumination light, the user can
2 can be clearly read. In this case, the front side display body 31 is provided with a material having a color matched to the wavelength of the irradiation light of the light source 16, but the back side display body 32 is provided with a material having a color matched to the wavelength and the light source 16 is turned on. At this time, by making the back side display body 32 assimilate to the surroundings and making it difficult to see,
You may make it emphasize only the front side display body 31.

Although the operation keys 12 themselves are made of a transparent material, the operation keys 12 are formed in a light-diffusing color such as milky white or the like, and the back side display member is in the same color as that color. When 32 is formed, at the time of irradiation, light can be diffused by the operation keys 12, and the diffused light can assimilate the back-side display 22 to make it difficult to see.

In the illustrated embodiment, the example applied to the mobile phone is shown, but the same operation and effect can be obtained by using the mobile phone in the PHS.
It can be reliably used for mobile communication devices such as S. Further, the same effect can be obtained by using it in a portable information terminal (PDF) called mobile, or a portable electronic device such as a notebook personal computer, an electronic dictionary, etc. other than the portable communication device. .

The printed circuit board 15 is formed into a circuit necessary to have a communication function and the like as a mobile phone, and is provided with an illuminating device (not shown) having a light source 16 on its upper surface. The light source 16 is composed of a light emitting diode or the like arranged on both sides of the printed circuit board 15 in the longitudinal direction so as to face each other.
The operation keys 12 on the key sheet are illuminated through the light.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the display unit is configured to have an expansion means capable of expanding the area occupied by the display body in the operation keys, the display body can be made as large as possible. As a result, the display body can be displayed to the user within a limited range of the operation keys. Has the effect of making it easy and clear to see, and it is possible to deal with the addition of further functions.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall front view showing a mobile phone to which a first embodiment of a mobile terminal device according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of part A in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal configuration corresponding to line BB in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view corresponding to FIG. 3 showing a mobile phone to which a second embodiment of a mobile terminal device according to the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Mobile phones (mobile terminal devices) 11 housing 12 Operation keys 13 key insertion hole 14 Metal Dome 15 Printed circuit board 16 light sources 17 Liquid crystal display 18 antenna 19a transmitter 19b Earpiece 20 Expansion means 21,31 Front side display 22, 32 Back side display 23 Protective film 24 Liquid crystal light control film 25 Switching power supply

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H04M 1/23 H04M 1/23 F H04Q 7/32 H04B 7/26 V F term (reference) 5C096 AA01 AA22 BA01 BB49 BC15 FA12 FA18 5G006 AA01 AB25 FB04 JA01 JB05 JC02 JD02 LA09 5K023 AA07 BB03 BB11 GG10 RR05 5K067 AA34 BB04 EE02 KK17

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A portable terminal device in which an operation key having a display body is exposed on a surface of a housing, the mobile terminal device having an expansion means for expanding an area occupied by the display body in the operation key. Terminal device. 2. The mobile terminal device according to claim 1,
The portable terminal device is characterized in that the expansion means is formed by forming operation keys with a transparent material, and a front side display body and a back side display body are written on the front and back sides of the operation keys, respectively. 3. The mobile terminal device according to claim 2,
The mobile terminal device, wherein the front-side display body and the back-side display body are arranged at positions different from each other on the front surface and the back surface of the operation key. 4. The mobile terminal device according to claim 2, wherein the back side display body is described in a shape larger than that of the front side display body. 5. The portable terminal device according to claim 2, wherein the operation key selects whether the rear display body is to be transmitted or blocked in a surface direction of the operation key. A portable terminal device having a switching means for selectively switching. 6. The mobile terminal device according to claim 5,
The mobile terminal device is characterized in that the switching means includes a liquid crystal light control resin layer provided on an operation key and a switching power supply for turning on / off power to the liquid crystal light control resin. 7. The mobile terminal device according to claim 5,
The switching means is a liquid crystal light control resin forming an operation key,
A mobile terminal device, comprising: a switching power supply for turning on / off power to the liquid crystal light control resin. 8. The mobile terminal device according to claim 2,
The expansion means is configured such that one of the front side display body and the back side display body transmits the irradiation light according to the wavelength of the irradiation light from the light source that illuminates the operation key. Mobile terminal device. 9. The mobile terminal device according to claim 8, wherein
A plurality of the front-side display bodies and the back-side display bodies are provided on the front surface and the back surface of the operation key, respectively, and one of the front-side display body and the back-side display body is provided with one of the irradiation light from the light source. A mobile terminal device, wherein the irradiation light is transmitted on the same surface of the operation key according to the wavelength. 10. The portable terminal device according to claim 9, wherein one of the front-side display body and the back-side display body is formed of a transmissive material that is tuned to a wavelength of light emitted from a light source. A mobile terminal device. 11. The mobile terminal device according to claim 8, wherein the light source for illuminating the operation key selectively emits light in a plurality of colors. 12. A portable electronic device comprising the expanding means according to claim 1.