JP2003152841A - Foldable mobile phone - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a foldable mobile phone that loses no design performance while satisfying the performance being a requirement and allows a user to utilize a hands-free function even in a folded state. SOLUTION: The foldable mobile phone 1 is configured such that a lower case 3 is projected from an end of an upper case 2 in the folded state, a first inclined face 24 is formed to the upper case 2, and a second inclined face 35 is formed to the lower case 3, and a transmission section 34 is placed obliquely upward opposite to a hinge section 4. This enhances the sensitivity of transmission voice for the hands-free function. Since a gap is formed between the upper and lower cases 2, 3 by a projection 31 and a reception section 21 along keys 32L, 32R, the sensitivity of the transmission voice can further be increased.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a foldable mobile phone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional foldable mobile phone (hereinafter, referred to as a mobile phone) is such that, when folded, an end portion and a side surface of an upper housing are flush with an end portion and a side surface of a lower housing. Was configured. This emphasizes the design when folded, and was the mainstream of mobile phone design. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, in the folded state of the mobile phone 10, it is necessary to secure a gap for preventing interference between the surface of the key 32 and the liquid crystal display unit 22. Therefore, the upper housing 2 is provided with a receiving portion 6 made of rubber or the like, the lower housing 3 is provided with a protrusion 7 corresponding to the receiving portion 6, and the receiving portion 6 and the protrusion 7 contact each other when the mobile phone 10 is folded. By making contact with each other and securing a gap between the upper housing 2 and the lower housing 3, the interference between the surface of the key 32 and the liquid crystal display unit 22 is prevented. The receiving portion 6
Has a function as a cap that closes a screw hole of a screw that connects the front case and the back case of the upper housing 2.

[0003]

By the way, in recent years, there has been a demand for mobile phones having multiple functions.
The hands-free function is one of them. In order to realize the hands-free function, it is necessary to prevent the transmitter from being covered by the upper housing, but with conventional mobile phones, the transmitter is covered by the upper housing when folded. Therefore, it was difficult to realize the hands-free function. Also,
Although it is possible to try to realize a hands-free function by forming a gap between the transmitter and the upper case, it is desired that the protrusion of the mobile phone be formed as small as possible due to design restrictions. When the pressure is reduced, the pressure applied to the receiving portion increases, and the receiving portion is easily deformed or damaged. For this reason, the gap between the lower case and the upper case where the transmitter is provided is narrowed, and it is difficult to realize the hands-free function.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a foldable mobile phone in which the design is not impaired even if the receiving portion is made relatively large, and the handsfree function can be utilized in the folded state. That is.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention, in a foldable portable telephone in which an upper casing and a lower casing are rotatably connected via a hinge portion, In the folded state of the housing, a first inclined surface is formed at an end of the upper housing opposite to the hinge portion so as to be separated from the lower housing toward the end. The lower housing is configured to project from the end of the upper housing, and the upper surface of the projecting portion of the lower housing is provided with A second inclined surface that inclines toward the lower surface side is formed, and a transmitter portion is provided in a portion of the lower housing facing the end portion of the upper housing. , And is oriented diagonally upward in the direction opposite to the hinge portion.

Further, according to the present invention, when the upper and lower casings are folded, a recess is formed in a portion of the lower casing facing the end portion of the upper casing. In the 3rd which inclines to the bottom side of a recess as it goes to the end side of a lower housing.
An inclined surface and a fourth inclined surface inclined in the opposite direction to the third inclined surface are continuously formed, and the transmitter section is provided at the bottom of the third inclined surface. And

Further, according to the present invention, in a state where the upper and lower casings are folded, a projection provided on the lower casing is brought into contact with a receiving portion provided on the upper casing, so that the upper casing and the lower casing are folded. A certain gap is provided, and the protrusion is provided along a part of the outer circumference of the key at the end opposite to the hinge of the lower housing,
The receiving portion is provided at an end portion of the upper housing opposite to the hinge portion.

Further, according to the present invention, the protrusion extends along the lower left outer circumference of the left key and the lower right outer circumference of the right key among the keys located at the extreme end opposite to the hinge portion. It is characterized by being provided.

Further, according to the present invention, edge inclined surfaces are respectively formed on left and right side edge portions on the end portion side of the upper casing,
A part of the receiving portion is provided on the left and right side edge portions so as to be substantially flush with the edge inclined surface.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A foldable mobile phone 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter, referred to as a mobile phone 1 will be described with reference to the drawings.
Will be described in detail. The same components as those of the above-described conventional mobile phone 10 will be designated by the same reference numerals.

First, the configuration of the mobile phone 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile phone 1 includes an upper housing 2, a lower housing 3, a hinge portion 4 and the like, and one end portion of each of the upper housing 2 and the lower housing 3 is connected to the hinge portion 4. It is configured to be rotatably connected via. The upper housing 2 has a function of receiving a call and confirming a user's operation and information fetched from the outside. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the edge inclined surface 2 is provided on the left and right side edges on the end side of the upper housing 2.
5 is formed to improve the functionality and design of the mobile phone 1. Here, the improvement of the functionality of the mobile phone 1 means, for example, when the mobile phone 1 is opened from the folded state, it is easy to open it by putting a finger on the edge inclined surface 25. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a first inclined surface 24 is formed at an end portion of the upper housing 2 so as to be separated from the lower housing 3 toward the end side when the mobile phone 1 is folded. Has been done. Also, the upper housing 2
As shown in FIG. 1, is equipped with a receiver 21, a liquid crystal display 22, a receiver 23, and the like.

The receiving portion 21 is made of, for example, rubber or plastic, and a part of the receiving portion 21 is substantially flush with the edge inclined surface 25 at the left and right side edge portions of the end portion on the opposite side of the hinge portion 4. It is prepared as one. The receiving portion 21 is for contacting the protrusion 31 of the lower housing 3 and providing a gap between the upper housing 2 and the lower housing 3 when the mobile phone 1 is folded. Also,
As shown in FIG. 3, the receiving portion 21 covers the screws used for assembling the upper housing 2 to prevent loosening of the screws and also serves to improve the design of the upper housing 2. .

The liquid crystal display section 22 displays information or the like input or fetched into the mobile phone 1.
A TFT liquid crystal or the like is used, and it is installed in substantially the center of the upper housing 2.

The receiver section 23 is a place for listening to a talk from the other party, and is constituted by a receiver or the like (not shown) provided in the upper housing 2. The earpiece 23 is provided substantially at the center of the end of the upper housing 2 opposite the hinge 4.

The lower housing 3 is a portion where the user operates each function while transmitting a call. The side edge of the lower housing 3 is
Formed on a gentle curved surface, the functionality of the mobile phone 1
It is designed to improve the design. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the lower housing 3 is formed so as to protrude from the end portion of the upper housing 2 when the mobile phone 1 is folded. In addition, on the upper surface of the protruding portion 36 of the lower housing 3,
The second inclined surface 35 is formed so as to incline toward the lower surface side of the protrusion 36 toward the end side. Lower housing 3
1, as shown in FIG. 1, the protrusion 31, the key 32, and the recess 3
3, a transmitter 34 and the like.

The protrusion 31 is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4,
Of the plurality of keys 32 arranged in the lower housing 3, the left and right keys 32L, 32 provided at the end portion on the opposite side of the hinge portion 4
It is equipped along R. The protrusions 31 are formed on the lower left and lower right of the left key 32L and along the outer periphery of about 1/5 of the lower right outer periphery of the right key 32R, respectively. Further, the projection 31 is for abutting against the receiving portion 21 when the mobile phone 1 is folded and for providing a gap between the upper housing 2 and the lower housing 3, and the key 32.
Is formed to be higher than the upper surface of the. That is, when the mobile phone 1 is folded, the receiving portion 21 and the protrusion 31 first come into contact with each other. As a result, a gap is formed between the transmitter 34 and the upper housing 2,
The transmitter 34 is designed so as not to be hidden by the upper housing 2.

The keys 32 are composed of number keys, power keys, and the like, and a plurality of keys 32 are arranged on the lower housing 3 with their surfaces exposed. The user can use the key 32 to make a call, send an e-mail, and so on.

The recess 33, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5,
It is formed in the lower housing 3 in order to improve the sound collection effect when the mobile phone 1 is closed. In the recess 33, a third slope 33a that slopes toward the bottom of the recess 33 toward the end of the lower housing 3, and a fourth slope 33b that slopes in the opposite direction to the third slope 33a. And are formed continuously.
Further, the recess 33 is formed at a position facing the first inclined surface 24, and when the mobile phone 1 is folded, in addition to the gap formed by the receiving portion 21 and the protrusion 31,
A space is further formed between the first inclined surface 24 and the fourth inclined surface 33b. As a result, the transmitter 3
It is possible to improve the sound collection effect of 4 and the transmission sensitivity.

The transmitting section 34 is for transmitting the user's story to the other party, and is formed in the lower housing 3 for collecting a microphone (not shown) provided in the lower housing 3 or this microphone. It is composed of a hole etc. The transmitter 34 is provided at the bottom of the third inclined surface 33 a of the recess 33, facing diagonally upward in the direction opposite to the hinge 4.

Next, the operation of the mobile phone 1 will be described. FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the transmitter 34 when the mobile phone 1 is folded. When the mobile phone 1 is folded, the receiving portion 21 and the protrusion 31 come into contact with each other, and a gap is formed between the upper casing 2 and the lower casing 3 by a height substantially equal to the height of the protrusion 31. Then, when the mobile phone 1 is transmitted with the mobile phone 1 folded, that is, when the handsfree function is used, when a sound wave of a voice is incident from the upper surface direction of the mobile phone 1, the sound wave is emitted from the first inclined surface 2
4 and the fourth inclined surface 33b of the recess 33 to reach the transmitter 34. Further, when the sound wave of the voice is incident from the lower surface direction of the mobile phone 1, the sound wave is reflected by the first inclined surface 24 and is incident on the transmitter 34. Further, since the first inclined surface 24 and the second inclined surface 35 are formed so as to be separated from each other toward the end of the mobile phone 1, it is possible to collect the sound waves of the voice in a wide range. Regarding the received voice when using the hands-free function, a speaker (not shown) may be provided at a location exposed to the outside of the upper housing 2 when the mobile phone 1 is folded.

According to the present embodiment, the first inclined surface 24 is formed at the end of the upper housing 2 opposite to the hinge portion 4, and the first protruding surface 36 of the lower housing 3 is formed. Since the second inclined surface 35 that is inclined toward the lower surface side of the protrusion 36 toward the end side is formed on the upper surface, it is possible to collect the sound wave of the voice in a wide range. Also, the transmitter 34
Is provided diagonally upward in the direction opposite to the hinge portion 4, so that even when the upper and lower casings 2 and 3 are folded, sound waves are incident on the transmitting portion 34 from an oblique direction, and thus the sound collecting effect is obtained. It can be further increased. Further, in the folded state, the transmitter 34 itself is not completely exposed to the outside of the portion sandwiched by the upper and lower casings 2 and 3, so that the design is not impaired.

Further, with the mobile phone 1 folded,
A recess 33 is formed in a portion of the lower housing 3 that faces the upper housing 2. The recess 33 has a third inclined surface 33a and a fourth inclined surface 33b that are formed continuously. Since the talk portion 34 is provided at the bottom of the third inclined surface 33a, the talk portion 3
4 is installed toward the incident direction of the sound wave of the voice, and the sound collection effect and the transmission sensitivity of the transmitter 34 can be enhanced.

Further, when the upper and lower casings 2 and 3 are folded, the projection 31 is brought into contact with the receiving portion 21 so that a constant gap is provided between the upper and lower casings 2 and 3. The sound collection effect of 34 and the transmission sensitivity can be enhanced.
Further, since the protrusion 31 is provided along a part of the outer periphery of the key 32, the design is not impaired even if the protrusion 31 is made slightly larger. In addition, since the protrusion 31 can be formed larger than the conventional protrusion 7, the protrusion 7 is emphasized with an emphasis on design.
When the mobile phone 1 is folded, the receiving portion 21 is less likely to be deformed or damaged and is less likely to be peeled off, as compared with the case where the cell phone is formed small. Furthermore, the finger can be caught on the protrusion 31 to input the key 32 while grasping the position of the key 32. The design of the shape of the protrusion 31 can be changed depending on the shape of the key 32.

Further, the projection 31 has the left and right keys 32L, which are located at the outermost end on the side opposite to the hinge portion 4 when held in the hand.
It is provided on 32R and has a shape that surrounds the outside of the keys 32L and 32R, so that all the keys 32 are arranged inside the protrusions 31 only by touch without touching the eyes. It can be confirmed and the position of the key 32 can be easily grasped when inputting.

Further, since the receiving portions 21 are provided on the left and right side edges of the upper housing 2, the distance between the receiving portions 21 can be maximized, and when the mobile phone 1 is folded. The upper housing 2 does not wobble. Further, since the receiving portion 21 is provided such that a part thereof is substantially flush with the edge inclined surface 25, the receiving portion 21 is less likely to be peeled from the upper housing 2.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and can be freely modified within the scope of the invention. For example, the shape of the key can be changed to a quadrangle, a star, or the like according to a change in design concept. Further, the shape of the recess can be changed, and the shape may be such that it is opened on the end surface of the lower housing.

[0027]

According to the present invention, it is possible to enhance the effect of collecting sound to the transmitting section, and the hands-free function is highly sensitive and
It can be realized with an easy structure.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a foldable mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a cross section taken along the line AA ′ of the upper housing in the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a cross section taken along the line BB ′ of the upper housing in the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a cross section taken along the line CC ′ of the upper housing in the above embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration in the vicinity of a transmitter unit in the above embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a foldable mobile phone according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Foldable mobile phone 2 Upper case 21 Receiver 24 First slope 25 Edge slope 3 lower housing 31 Protrusion 32 keys 33 recess 33a Third inclined surface 33b Fourth inclined surface 34 Transmitter 35 Second inclined surface 36 Projection 4 Hinge part

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A foldable mobile phone in which an upper housing and a lower housing are rotatably connected to each other via a hinge portion, and a hinge portion of the upper housing is provided in a state in which the upper and lower housings are folded. A first inclined surface is formed at the opposite end so as to be separated from the lower housing toward the end, and the lower housing is configured to project from the end of the upper housing. The upper surface of the protruding portion of the lower housing is provided with a second inclined surface that inclines toward the lower surface side of the protruding portion toward the end side opposite to the hinge portion. A voice transmitter is provided in a portion of the lower casing facing the end of the upper casing, and the voice transmitter is directed obliquely upward in a direction opposite to the hinge portion. Foldable mobile phone. 2. The foldable mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein a recess is formed in a portion of the lower casing facing the end of the upper casing when the upper and lower casings are folded. The recess includes a third sloped surface that slopes toward the bottom of the recess as it goes toward the end of the lower housing, and a fourth sloped surface that slopes in a direction opposite to the third sloped surface. Is formed continuously, and the transmitter unit is provided on the bottom of the third inclined surface. 3. The foldable mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein a projection provided on the lower housing abuts a receiving portion provided on the upper housing with the upper and lower housings folded. As a result, a fixed gap is provided between the upper and lower casings, and the protrusion is provided along a part of the outer periphery of the key at the end of the lower casing opposite to the hinge portion. Is a foldable mobile phone, wherein the foldable mobile phone is provided at an end of the upper housing opposite to the hinge. 4. The foldable mobile phone according to claim 3, wherein the protrusion has a lower left outer circumference of a left key and a lower right corner of a right key among the keys located at the outermost end opposite to the hinge portion. A foldable mobile phone characterized in that it is provided along each of the outer circumference. 5. The foldable mobile phone according to claim 3, wherein an edge inclined surface is formed on each of the left and right edge portions on the end portion side of the upper housing, and the left and right edge portions are formed. The foldable mobile phone is characterized in that the receiving portion is provided so that a part thereof is substantially flush with the edge inclined surface.