JPH11259207A - Input/output device for portable electronic device using separate type key pad - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to easily see necessary information in one screen by using the key pad separated from a screen display part and increasing the size of the screen display part at a maximum at user's request. SOLUTION: This device is constituted of the key pad 3 which is arranged below the front of a main body 1 and used to input necessary information and the screen display part 5 which is arranged above the front of the main body 1 and sends and displays a part touching it on a screen. In general cases wherein the screen display part 5 requires a small screen, the key pad 3 is inserted into a fixed piece and used in contact with the screen display part 5. When the screen display part 5 requires a large screen, the key pad 3 is separated from the fixed piece and puts away from the screen display part 5, so that the screen of the screen display part 5 can be expanded almost to the size of the key pad 3. Necessary information, messages, etc., can, therefore, be displayed over the entire screen of the screen display part 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an input / output device of a portable electronic device using a separated keypad. That is, by using a keypad that can be separated from the screen display unit, the size of the screen display unit can be maximized as needed by the user, and a separate keypad for the convenience of the user. The present invention relates to an input / output device of a portable electronic device using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a portable electronic device such as a portable telephone, an electronic organizer, a portable data terminal, etc. is displayed on a screen of a screen display unit according to input contents and messages and product functions required by a user. Can be seen.

When the general structure of the input / output device of the portable electronic device is taken as an example of a portable telephone, conventionally, as shown in FIG. And a screen display unit 105 that displays various necessary information input by the keypad 103 according to the user's intention on a required screen by an output device is disposed on another front part. It had been.

Therefore, when the user touches the key 107 of the keypad 103 with the user's hand, the input device senses the touch of the key 107, and in accordance with the sensed signal, the output device outputs information required by FIG. As shown in the above, the image is displayed on the screen having a limited size on the screen display unit 105 so that the user can see it with the naked eye.

[0005]

However, in the input / output device of the conventional portable electronic device, the keypad and the screen display unit are fixedly arranged on the front surface while occupying a certain area, respectively. The size can be arranged only on the front surface of the product except for the keypad, so that the area of the screen display unit is limited. This makes it impossible to display all the necessary messages, data, product function descriptions, and the like on the screen display unit on a single screen, causing a problem of giving the user many inconveniences in use.

In the case of a product using a touch-sensitive screen display unit, the functions of the screen display unit and the keypad are integrated so that the area of the screen display unit can be used widely. Since an input is made by directly touching the front of the screen display unit with an electronic pen and inputting, there is also a problem that touch feeling is inferior.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the size of the screen display unit by using a keypad separated from the screen display unit. Provided is an input / output device of a portable electronic device using a separated type keypad that can be expanded as much as necessary so that a user can easily see necessary information on one screen. It is in.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided an input means for inputting necessary information by a user; said input means being arranged on a front surface of a main body while occupying a certain area. Screen display means for sensing a part contacting with the display and displaying various necessary information; using the screen of the screen display means by isolating the screen display means and the input means arranged on the front of the main body from each other Screen expansion means for expanding as required by the user. When the screen display means requires a wide screen, by separating the input means from the screen display means by the screen expansion means,
The size of the screen display means can be expanded as the area occupied by the input means, and therefore, the size of the screen display means can be expanded to almost the entire front surface of the main body.

[0009]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view showing a combined state of the screen display units according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a combined state of the screen display units according to the present invention. The input / output device of the portable electronic device according to the present invention includes:
A keypad 3 arranged below the front surface of the main body 1 for inputting necessary information; and a screen display section arranged above the front surface of the main body 1 for sensing a portion that comes into contact therewith and displaying it on a screen. 5 is included.

[0010] A transparent touch sensitive plate 7 is disposed on the upper surface of the screen display unit 5 to detect a portion that contacts the keypad 3.

The keypad 3 includes a key 11 installed at a predetermined interval in the housing 9 and an elastic member 13 fixed to an inner surface of the housing 9 for reducing an impact generated when the key 11 is pressed. Have.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a process in which the touch sensitive plate 7 processes a signal that is touch sensitive. That is, when the touch sensitive plate 7 is touched, the touch sensitive signal is transmitted to the circuit unit S1 which electrically senses the signal, and the signal transmitted to the circuit unit S1 inputs necessary data to the central processing unit S2. Thus, the central processing unit S2 displays a screen corresponding to the input information on the screen display unit 5 through the circuit unit S1.

The screen display unit 5 disposed on the front of the main body 1 is separated from the keypad 3 so that the screen display unit 5 is separated.
Screen expansion means for expanding the screen of the user as required. It is preferable that the screen display unit 5 is arranged on the front surface of the main body 1 so as to occupy a maximum area in order to maximize the screen.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a first embodiment according to the present invention. The screen expansion means according to the first embodiment detachably connects the keypad 3 to the front of the screen display unit 5, and 3 from the screen display 5 completely.

The keypad 3 can be inserted and fixed in one or more fixing pieces 4 fixedly installed on both sides of the front surface of the main body 1. Thus, in a general case where the screen display unit 5 requires a small screen, the keypad 3 may be inserted into the fixed piece 4 and used in a state where the keypad 3 is in contact with the screen display unit 5.

When a larger screen is required on the screen display unit 5, the keypad 3 is separated from the fixed piece 4 and isolated from the screen display unit 5, so that the size of the keypad 3 becomes larger. 5 can be extended. Therefore, all necessary information and messages can be displayed on one screen of the screen display unit 5, so that the user can easily see the information and messages at a glance.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a second embodiment according to the present invention, which is the same as the first embodiment except for the following. The screen extending means of the second embodiment is a flip-type hinge 15 so that the keypad 3 can be rotated on one side of the screen display unit 5.
The keypad 3 can be coupled to the screen display 5 by rotating the keypad 3 about the hinge 15.

Thus, when the keypad 3 is rotated from the screen display unit 5 around the hinge 15 by the screen expansion means and opened, the keypad 3 is separated from the screen display unit 5 and the size of the keypad 3 is reduced. The screen of the screen display unit 5 can be extended. Therefore, the screen of the screen display unit 5 occupies a maximum area in front of the main body 1, and all necessary information and messages are displayed on one screen of the screen display unit 5 as shown in FIG. .

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a third embodiment according to the present invention, which is the same as the first embodiment except for the following. The screen expanding means of the third embodiment is such that the keypad 3 is rotatably connected to one side of the screen display unit 5 by a hinge 17 and the cover member 19 or a part of the main body 1 is rotatably hinged to one side of the main body 1. After the connection, the keypad 3 and the cover member 19 or a part of the main body 1 can be rotated and isolated from the screen display unit 5 and the main body 1 respectively.

The cover member 19 can incorporate a microphone or a speaker according to the function of the product. As a result, when the keypad 3 and the cover member 19 or a part of the main body 1 are rotated from the screen display section 5 and the main body 1 around the hinge 17 by the screen expansion means and opened, the keypad 3 is isolated from the screen display section 5. The screen of the screen display unit 5 can be expanded as the size of the keypad 3 is increased.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a fourth embodiment of the present invention, which is the same as the first embodiment except for the following. The screen expanding means of the fourth embodiment is configured such that the keypad 3 is fixedly connected to the front surface of the main body 1 and the screen display unit 5 is slid and inserted into the space 21 formed on the lower surface of the keypad 3. This can be achieved by sliding the screen display section 5 out of the space section 21 and taking out the screen display section 5 by a certain length.

In this way, if the screen display unit 5 is sufficient for a small screen, the space display unit 5
Is slid, the screen of the screen display unit 5 appears small on one side of the keypad 3. Also,
When the screen display unit 5 needs a large screen,
When the screen display section 5 is slid out of the space section 21 of the screen expansion means and taken out from the space section 21 on one side of the keypad 3, the screen of the screen display section 5 can be expanded. become able to.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, the screen of the screen display unit can be maximized as required by the user by the keypad separated from the screen display unit by the screen expansion means. This has the effect that the user can easily see the information displayed on one screen on the screen display unit. In addition, the keypad is designed to be pressed by a user's hand for input, so that there is an effect that the tactile sensation in use is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a combined state of screen display units according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating a combined state of screen display units according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a flow of displaying a screen of a screen display unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a screen expansion unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a screen expanding unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a screen expanding unit according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing a screen expanding unit according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view illustrating a screen expanding unit according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating a use state of a screen expansion unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a front view showing a use state of a screen display unit according to the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body 3 Keypad 4 Fixing piece 5 Screen display part 7 Touch sensitive plate 9 Housing 11 Key 13 Elastic member 15 Hinge 17 Hinge 19 Cover member 21 Space part S1 Circuit part S2 Central processing part 101 Main part 103 Keypad 105 Screen display part 107 Key

Claims (6)

[Claims] An input means for inputting necessary information by a user; and a front surface of the main body, which is arranged so as to occupy a certain area, senses a portion contacting the input means and displays various necessary information. Screen display means for expanding the screen of the screen display means as required by the user by isolating the screen display means and the input means arranged on the front of the main body from each other. Input / output device for portable electronic devices using a separate keypad. 2. A main body of a portable electronic device; an input means having a keypad and a touch sensitive part for a user to input necessary information; and a main body arranged on a front surface of the main body while occupying a predetermined area. Screen display means for displaying various information such as information input by the input means; and separating the screen display means and the input means from each other to make the screen of the screen display means necessary for the user. An input / output device of a portable electronic device using a separated keypad including a screen expansion unit for expanding the image in response to the request. 3. The separation type key according to claim 1, wherein said screen expansion means is constituted by detachably connecting a keypad to a front surface of a screen display unit and isolating the keypad from the screen display unit. Input / output device for portable electronic devices using pads. 4. The screen expanding means according to claim 1, wherein the keypad is rotatably connected to one side of the screen display unit by a hinge, and the keypad is rotated about the hinge to isolate the keypad from the screen display unit. Item 3. An input / output device for a portable electronic device using the separated keypad according to item 1 or 2. 5. The screen extending means, wherein a keypad is fixedly connected to a front surface of the main body, a screen display is inserted into a space formed on a lower surface of the keypad, and the screen display is moved from the space. 3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined length is taken out.
An input / output device for a portable electronic device using the separation-type keypad as described in [1]. 6. The screen expansion means, wherein the keypad is rotatably connected to one side of the screen display unit by a hinge, and a cover member or a part of the main body is rotatably connected to one side of the main body by a hinge. 3. An input / output device for a portable electronic device using a separation-type keypad according to claim 1, wherein the keypad and the cover member or a part of the main body are rotated and isolated from the screen display unit and the main body, respectively. .