JP2003134212A - Electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic equipment which a user can use in a more usable posture. SOLUTION: A universal joint 4 has; a tilt mechanism capable of freely setting a tilt angle of a case 2 with respect to a case 3; and a swivel mechanism capable of freely setting a turning angle of the case 2 with respect to the case 3 on a circular-arc orbit in parallel with the case 3 around the universal joint 3, and the electronic device can take various postures by using the tilt mechanism and the swivel mechanism.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic device such as a mobile phone, and more particularly to an electronic device in which a pair of substantially plate-shaped casings are connected by a connecting portion.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a structure of a portable device (cellular phone) as an example of a conventional electronic device. Figure 4
As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile phone 100 includes a housing 101 that is a first housing, a housing 102 that is a second housing, and a housing 1
01 which is a connecting part for connecting 01 and the housing 102
03 and. Both the casings 101 and 102 are substantially plate-shaped casings. In the case 101, a speaker 110 that is a sound generating unit and a display screen 111 that is a display unit are arranged. The casing 102 is provided with a microphone 115 which is a voice input unit, a telephone number, and a plurality of input keys 116 which are operation buttons for inputting characters. The hinge 103 connects the housing 101 and the housing 102 in a foldable manner. With this configuration, the housing 101 and the housing 102 can be folded and downsized, so that the portability of the mobile phone 100 is improved.

On the other hand, recent mobile phones have not only a call function but also an e-mail function, an Internet connection function, and a photographing function by a built-in camera due to the increase in communication speed and processing capacity. When it becomes possible to connect to the Internet, it is naturally required to have a function of not only browsing WEB sites but also distributing music / video from those sites, and mobile phones are becoming more and more multifunctional.

With the multi-functionalization of the mobile phone as described above, the mobile phone can be used in various forms depending on the function to be used. For example, the mobile phone 1 shown in FIG.
When making a call using 00, the speaker 110 is brought close to the ear, the microphone 115 is brought close to the mouth, and the mobile phone 100
It is common to call to the side of your face. Also,
In order to operate the input keys 116 or to see the display screen 111 when creating and sending an e-mail or checking the contents of the received e-mail,
In general, the mobile phone 100 is held in a hand and held in front of the face. Further, when viewing a video distributed from the WEB site, there are cases where the mobile phone 100 is placed on a desk and the video projected on the display screen 111 is viewed.

The mobile phone 100 shown in FIG. 4 is of a type that is relatively compatible with various usage patterns among conventional mobile phones. For example, at the time of a call, in order to bring the speaker 110 closer to the ear and the microphone 115 closer to the mouth, the bending angle between the housings 101 and 102 can be set to an appropriate angle. It can be folded with the housing 102 and placed on a desk so that the display screen 111 can be seen.

However, the positional relationship between the ears and the mouth varies depending on the user, and in the bending adjustment of the casing 101 and the casing 102 via the hinge portion 103, one of the ears and the mouth is connected to the speaker 110. However, there is a problem that it may not be possible to approach the microphone 115 sufficiently. Moreover, images and video are more natural to view on a landscape screen, as is the case with many personal computers and televisions. Therefore, the mobile phone 100
Also, when viewing a web site or an image distributed from the web site on the display screen 111, the mobile phone 1
It is desirable that the display screen 111 can be viewed as a horizontally long screen by setting 00 as the horizontal screen. However, when the mobile phone 100 is placed sideways, the input keys 116 are also placed horizontally as seen from the user, which makes it difficult for the user to operate the input keys 116.

The built-in camera has various objects to be photographed, such as the figure of the user himself or the surrounding scenery, and there is a demand to photograph the object from various angles by the camera. However, if the housing 101 has a built-in camera, it is natural to take a picture with the housing 102 in hand, but the housing 101 and the housing 102 are different from each other in the hinge portion 1.
Since only the angle adjustment according to 03 is possible, the actual situation is that the above-mentioned requirements have not been sufficiently met.

[0008]

As described above, the conventional electronic devices have come to be used in various forms due to the multi-functionalization, and depending on the function, the electronic device should be in a posture that is easier to use. It is required to be available. However, in the conventional electronic device, since the posture can be changed only by adjusting the angle of the pair of housings formed in a substantially plate shape, there is a problem that the above-described requirements cannot be sufficiently satisfied. It was

It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic device that can be used in a posture that is easier to use depending on the function.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has a substantially plate-shaped first housing and a substantially plate-shaped housing having a coupling portion for coupling with the first housing. In the electronic device including the second housing, the coupling unit includes a first mechanism that allows an inclination angle of the first housing with respect to the second housing to be freely set, and the second mechanism. A second mechanism that can freely set a rotation angle of the first housing with respect to the second housing on an arcuate trajectory parallel to the housing of the second body and centered on the coupling portion. Characterize.

In the electronic apparatus of the present invention, the above-mentioned coupling portion enables the positional relationship between the second casing and the first casing to be freely set. With this configuration, the user can change the electronic device to a posture in which it is easy to use, depending on the function to be used. It should be noted that the first housing is provided with a sound generation unit and a display unit,
It is desirable that the second housing is provided with a voice input unit and operation buttons.

Further, in another electronic device of the present invention, a part of an input operation system is arranged in the coupling portion. By disposing a part of the input operation system in the coupling portion, it is not necessary to dispose them in the first housing and the second housing, so that the electronic device can be further downsized.

Further, in another electronic device of the present invention, a part of the input operation system is provided on a surface of the second housing on which the voice input section and the operation button are provided. Has been done. With this configuration, the surface on which a part of the input operation system is provided is always the surface facing the user, so that the operability of these input operation systems can be improved.

A part of the input operation system includes a function mode selector switch, up / down / left / right cursor keys,
It is preferable that the decision button is included. A camera may be built in the electronic device of the present invention.
Further, the present invention is preferably used for portable mobile devices.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of the electronic device of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile phone 1, which is the electronic device of the present embodiment,
A housing 2 that is a first housing and a housing 3 that is a second housing are provided. The housing 3 has a universal joint portion 4 that is a connecting portion that is connected to the housing 2. Case 2,
3 is a substantially plate-shaped housing. The housing 2 includes a speaker 10 which is a sound generation unit and a display screen 11 which is a display unit.
Is provided. The housing 3 is provided with a microphone 15 which is a voice input section, a telephone number, and a plurality of input keys 16 which are operation buttons for inputting characters. Although not shown in FIG. 1, a camera is provided on the upper surface of the back surface of the housing 2.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the structure of the universal joint section 4. As shown in FIG. 2, the universal joint portion 4 is a tilt mechanism that is a first mechanism that allows the inclination angle of the housing 2 with respect to the housing 3 to be freely set, and the universal joint portion 4 that is parallel to the housing 3 And a swivel mechanism that is a second mechanism that allows the rotation angle of the housing 2 with respect to the housing 3 to be freely set on an arcuate path centered at.

Although the housing 2 and the universal joint portion 4 are separated from each other, the housing 2 and the portion indicated by A of the universal joint portion 4 are actually connected by the tilt mechanism, and the casing is formed by the swivel mechanism. When rotating the body 2, the A of the housing 2 and the universal joint portion 4
It rotates in unison with the part indicated by. Therefore, the universal joint section 4 allows the positional relationship between the housing 3 and the housing 2 to be freely set. By doing so, it becomes possible to transform the mobile phone 1 into a posture in which it is easy to use, depending on the function. For example,
If the positional relationship between the speaker 10 and the microphone 15 is deviated from the positional relationship between the ear and the mouth even if the angle between the housing 2 and the housing 3 is adjusted by the tilt mechanism, adjust the swivel mechanism. , It will be possible to eliminate those deviations.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a modification of the attitude of the mobile phone 1. The mobile phone 1 is shown in FIG.
As shown in, it is desirable that the housing 2 and the housing 3 be folded and overlapped to reduce the size. In FIG. 3B, the housing 3
The state is shown in which the housing 2 has an inclination angle of 180 degrees. The mobile phone 1 uses the swivel mechanism of the universal joint section 4 to move the housing 2 into
It can be rotated as shown in (c). Figure 3
By enabling the posture shown in (c), the display screen 1 can be maintained while maintaining the orientation of the input key 16 with respect to the user.
1 can be turned sideways. In such a state, for example, when browsing a WEB site that requires key input (for example, a site that requires membership to browse), the user sets the display screen horizontally and opens the WEB site. The key operation with the input keys 16 can be easily performed while making it easy to see.

In the mobile phone 1, the housing 2 is rotated 180 degrees by the swivel mechanism from the state shown in FIG. 3 (b), and the housing 2 and the housing 3 are overlapped as shown in FIG. 3 (d). You can also match. When the mobile phone 1 is placed horizontally in the posture shown in FIG. 3D, it can be used as a horizontally long screen image viewer. Further, from the state shown in FIG. 3 (d), the tilt angle of the casing 2 with respect to the casing 3 can be increased by the tilt mechanism to bring the state as shown in FIG. 3 (e). In the state shown in FIG. 3E, the mobile phone 1 can be placed on the desk in this state and used as a video viewer in a stable state.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the mobile phone 1, the function mode changeover switch 21, which is a part of the input operation system, the up / down / left / right cursor keys 22, and the enter button are provided on the surface of the universal joint section 4. 23 are provided. The function mode switch 21 is used for the mobile phone 1.
It is a switch for selecting a predetermined function mode from a plurality of function modes included in the. For example, the function mode selector switch 21 is switched to a call mode when making a call and is switched to an e-mail mode when sending and receiving an e-mail. Can be switched to shooting mode. As the shooting mode, a mode for shooting a still image, a mode for shooting a video, or the like may be prepared.

The up, down, left and right cursor keys 22 are keys for moving the cursor position displayed on the display screen 11. These keys may be a combination of up, down, left, and right cursor keys as shown in FIG. 2, or may be provided with up, down, left, and right cursor keys independently. The decision button 23 is a button for the user to select and decide the display content corresponding to the cursor position.

In FIG. 2, the function mode changeover switch 21, the cursor key 22 and the enter button 23 are arranged in this order from the outer side.
It can be changed appropriately from the viewpoint of operability. However, these operation input systems use the microphone 1 in the housing 3.
5 and the input keys 16 are preferably arranged on the surface on the side where they are arranged. This is because normally when the mobile phone 1 is used, the microphone 15 and each input key 1
It is natural that the surface on which 6 is arranged always faces the user, and the operation input system arranged on the universal joint section 4 should also always face the user from the viewpoint of operability. That's why. As a part of the input operation system provided in the universal joint section 4, a jog dial, a trackball, a joystick, etc. may be included in addition to the one shown in FIG.

In the mobile phone 1, the camera 5 is built in the upper part of the back surface of the housing 2 on which the display screen 11 is arranged. As shown in FIG. 3, in the mobile phone 1, since the positional relationship between the housing 2 and the housing 3 can be flexibly set, the subject can be photographed from a flexible angle. In the electronic device of this embodiment, the camera 5 is built in the back surface of the housing 2, but
The present invention is not limited to this, and the camera 5 may be provided on the surface of the housing 2 on which the display screen 11 is provided, or may be provided on the housing 3. .

Although a portable device (mobile phone) has been described as the electronic device of the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and is applied to other portable devices such as a personal digital assistant (PDA). The present invention is also applicable to other electronic devices such as personal computers and digital cameras.

[0025]

As described above, the electronic device of the present invention has the following effects. (1) The positional relationship between the pair of casings can be freely set by the coupling unit having the tilt mechanism and the swivel mechanism. By doing so, it becomes possible to transform the electronic device into a posture in which it is easy to use, depending on the function to be used. (2) By disposing a part of the input operation system in the coupling portion, it is not necessary to dispose them in the two housings, so that it is possible to further reduce the size of the electronic device. (3) Since the surface on which a part of the input operation system is provided is always the surface facing the user, the operability of these input operation systems can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a structure of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a structure near a universal joint section.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a modified example of the attitude of the electronic device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a structure of a conventional mobile phone.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,100 mobile phone 2, 3, 101, 102 housing 4 Universal joint section 10,110 speaker 11,111 Display screen 15,115 microphone 16,116 Input key 21 Function mode switch 22 Cursor key 23 decision button

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 4E360 AA02 AB04 AB05 AB12 AB17                       AB20 AB42 ED03 ED17 ED27                       GA46 GA52 GB26                 5K023 AA07 BB11 DD08 GG08 HH07                       LL06

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An electronic device comprising: a substantially plate-shaped first casing; and a substantially plate-shaped second casing having a coupling portion for coupling with the first casing, wherein the coupling portion is provided. Is a first mechanism that allows the inclination angle of the first casing to be freely set with respect to the second casing, and an arc trajectory parallel to the second casing and centered on the coupling portion. And a second mechanism capable of freely setting a rotation angle of the first casing with respect to the second casing. 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a sound generation unit and a display unit are provided in the first casing. 3. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a voice input section and operation buttons are provided in the second housing. 4. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a part of an input operation system is provided in the coupling section. 5. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a part of the input operation system is provided on a surface where the voice input unit and the operation button are provided. machine. 6. The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein a part of the input operation system includes a function mode changeover switch for selecting a predetermined function mode from a plurality of function modes. 7. A part of the input operation system includes up, down, left and right cursor keys for moving a cursor position displayed on the display unit. Electronics. 8. A part of the input operation system includes an enter button for selecting and deciding the display content corresponding to the cursor position displayed on the display section.
The electronic device according to claim 1. 9. A camera having a built-in camera.
The electronic device according to claim 1. 10. The electronic device according to claim 1, which is a portable device.