KR20070017889A - Mechanical layout and component placement for thin clamshell phone - Google Patents

Abstract

The foldable wireless communication device includes a two part housing including a first part rotatably connected with a second part. The overall depth of the device is reduced by adjusting the mechanical layout and component placement relative to each other and the already stacked components are rearranged. More specifically, the hinge, battery, and communication and control circuitry are configured to be coplanar and not overlap in the vertical direction.

Layout, layout, mobile phone

Description

MECHANICAL LAYOUT AND COMPONENT PLACEMENT FOR THIN CLAMSHELL PHONE}

The present invention generally relates to a portable communication device. In particular, the present invention relates to a mechanical layout and component arrangement for a thin clamshell communication device having at least two parts of the housing portion configured to rotate with respect to the second housing portion.

There is a growing interest in miniaturizing certain portable electronic devices, such as cellular phones. By miniaturizing such a device, it can always be conveniently carried.

At the same time, there is a trend to increase the functionality of the device. In the case of portable terminals, the increased functionality includes the ability to provide operability on multiple frequency bands using multiple protocols and the ability to capture and play back pictures and / or video clips. do. Adding more functionality usually results in an increase in components and / or circuit components, often requiring more space, contrary to the intention to miniaturize the device. Thus, in general, the space available for containing components is sparse.

Depending on the overall design and purpose of use, it may be more desirable to reduce the desired size than to reduce other sizes. For example, miniaturization is generally more advantageous with regard to overall size, but size reduction may be limited by the requirements of use, and if any component of the device, such as a keypad, is extremely miniaturized, the device may become difficult to operate. . In another example, there may be a need to support larger components, such as in the case of display screens. In conclusion, there is a trade-off between competitive trade offs when components are placed relative to each other.

One of the dimensions considered when further reducing the size of the device includes depth. Historically, the reduction in depth has been at least partially achieved by minimizing the depth of each of the individual components included in the stacked particular component. Although this method is a valid approach to reducing the overall depth at any given point in time, there are limitations to reducing the depth of certain components.

The inventors of the present invention have recognized that an approach that may be used for scaling in a particular direction may involve relocation of one or more components. By relocating one or more components, some components may be moved relative to other components, with the overall potential effect of achieving an overall size in one or more directions, such as depth, to meet the desired result.

The invention will be described through, but not limited to, the exemplary embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements.

1 is a first view of a first portable communication device in a first configuration, for example in an open position;

2 is a second view of the first portable communication device in a second configuration, for example in a closed position;

3 is an exploded view of the portable communication device shown in FIGS.

4 is a side cross-sectional view of the portable communication device shown in FIGS.

5 is a block diagram of an exemplary mechanical layout and component placement in the prior art.

6 is a block diagram of a mechanical layout and component placement in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a block diagram of the portable communication device shown in FIGS.

As required, detailed embodiments of the invention are disclosed herein. However, it should be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples of the invention, which can be embodied in various forms. Accordingly, the specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, and are intended to teach the various uses of the present invention as a basis for the claims and to those skilled in the art as a substantially or schematically detailed structure. It only serves as a representative basis. In addition, the terms and phrases used herein are for the purpose of providing descriptions to help understanding of the present invention and are not intended to be limiting.

1 is a first view of a first portable communication device, in particular a clamshell handheld communication device 100 shown in a first configuration, and FIG. 2 is a diagram of the first portable communication device shown in a second configuration. 2nd drawing. Device 100 also includes top and bottom 104, also known as flip 102. The flip 102 and the bottom 104 are connected by rotational coupling, in particular the hinge 106. The device 100 is relatively flat, ie the depth D dimension is small compared to the width W and length L dimensions. In fact, for the illustrated embodiment, reduced depth is the overall design goal. The axis 108 of the hinge 106 is aligned with the width dimension of the device 100. Flip 102 has a first inner surface 110 and a first outer surface 102. The bottom 104 has a second inner surface 112 and a second outer surface, not shown in FIGS. 1-2, with the second outer surface facing away from the viewer. The hinge 106 has a first configuration in which the flip 102 extends upwards from the bottom 104, ie a second configuration in which the flip 102 covers the bottom 104 from an open position, that is, the flip is rotated to a closed position. Be sure to

The main display 114 of the device 100 is located on the inner surface 110 of the flip 102. The secondary display unit 204 is positioned on the external display unit 202 of the flip 102. The primary display 114 and secondary display 204 are associated with menus and communications, including a list of incoming calls, a list of outgoing calls, a phone number in the phone book, an email address and a web address, as well as a list of functions selectable from others. It is useful for displaying a control screen containing information.

In the illustrated embodiment, flip 102 includes first button 302 (FIG. 3), second button 304 (FIG. 3), third button 306 (FIG. 3) and fourth button 308 (FIG. 3). It includes a plurality of buttons including a. These buttons 302-308 are not shown directly in FIGS. 1-2. The first to third buttons 302-306 are located near the first side edge 116 of the flip 102. The fourth button 308 is located near the second side edge 118 of the flip 102. Four buttons 302-308 are covered with three button covers including a first button cover 120, a second button cover 122, and a third button cover 310. The first button 302 and the second button 304 share the first button cover 120, the third button 306 is covered with the second button cover 122, and the fourth button 308 is The third button cover 310 is covered. Four buttons 302-308 are used to generate signals for controlling various forms of device 100 operation. In one or more modes of device 100 operation, the first button 302 and the second button 304 are used as direction inputs, such as "UP" and "DOWN" commands to control the software of the device 100. . The keypad 124 is located on the inner surface of the bottom 112.

3, an exploded view of a portable communication device 100 is shown. As shown in FIG. 3, the flip 102 is a flip inside housing portion 312 and a flip inside that are coupled together with screws (not shown) or using one or more other well-known components and / or methods. The housing part 314 is included. A number of components are positioned on the flip 102 between the flip outer housing portion 312 and the flip inner housing portion 314. This component includes a display module 316 including a primary display 114 and an auxiliary display 204, an earpiece speaker 320, a flexible circuit 322, and a magnet 325. . The camera 318 is included as part of the portable communication device 100 in the space occupied by the hinge 106. Once the device 100 is assembled, the flexible circuit 322 is positioned on the display module 316. The flip inner housing portion 314 includes an integrally molded rectangular frame 324 that is generally sized to accommodate at least a portion of the display module 316 that fits within the frame 324. The flexible circuit 322 includes three peripheral tab portions 326 nested over the frame 324. Buttons 302-308 are mounted on peripheral tab portion 326 located along the side of display module 316. A plurality of resilient foam blocks 328 are positioned between the button covers 120, 122, 310 and the frame 324. The elastic foam block 328 serves to enhance the feel of the buttons 302-308. The magnet 325 is the flip inner housing portion 314 around the hinge 106, which is associated with the lower portion 104 of the two-part housing and interacts with the Hall effect sensor, as described below. Mounted on the

As shown in FIG. 3, the bottom 104 of the device 100 is a lower inner housing portion 330 and a lower outer housing portion 332 and a lower outer housing portion 332 coupled by screws (not shown). A pair of elastic catches 334 integrally cast. Similar to the top, those skilled in the art will recognize that other components and / or methods may be used to secure the lower inner housing portion 330 to the lower outer housing portion 332. A battery compartment 336 is defined between the lower inner housing portion 330 and the lower battery housing cover 338 positioned adjacent to the lower outer housing portion 332. The battery zone 336 is located near the top 34 of the bottom 104. Battery 342 is located substantially in battery zone 336. The antenna 344 is located near the bottom 346 of the bottom 104. A dense printed circuit board 348 that includes the communication and control circuitry of the device 100 is located between the bottom 346 and the battery zone 336. The bottom 104 further includes a transducer 353 adapted to provide vibration feedback to the user.

Note that the battery 342 and the dense printed circuit board 348 are located in the common plane 362 (FIG. 4) in the length L direction and do not overlap in the depth D direction. Due to the latter alignment, the thickness of the lower part 104 is reduced, and as a result of the smaller number of components to be stacked, the thickness of the entire device 100 is reduced, making the device 100 more portable. However, this alignment also limits the longitudinal size of the battery. In order to increase battery capacity and thus increase the amount of communication that can be performed with device 100 before the standby duration and battery recharge are needed, the width of battery 342 is increased. By placing four buttons 302-308 on the flip 102, opposite the top 340 of the bottom 104, which has been disposed by conventional methods, in the illustrated embodiment the width of the battery 342 can be achieved. An increase in the width of the corresponding device 100 can be avoided, thereby making the device 100 smaller and making the device 100 more portable. In addition, by placing buttons 302-308 on flip 102, it is possible to allow a user to position his hand closer to flip 102 and / or to make the buttons 302-308 easier to operate. Can be. In this position, the user's hand will be located further away from the antenna 344 located around the bottom 346 of the bottom 104 and from the signal radiated from or received by the antenna 344. As it will absorb less energy, the Quality of Service (QoS) is improved. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the keypad 124 includes a cover 349 made of a sheet of flexible material. The microphone 350 is mounted on the dense printed circuit board 348 around the lower end 346 of the bottom 104.

A portion of the lower inner housing portion 330 is cut away to show a Hall effect sensor 352 located in the lower portion 104. Hall effect sensor 352 cooperates with magnet 325 to determine whether flip 102 is positioned above bottom 104, such as a close-closed position as shown in FIG. 2, or opened as shown in FIG. 1. Like position, it detects whether it is extended from the lower part 104. Flexible circuit feedthrough 354 connects the circuitry of the bottom 104 to the circuitry of the flip 102. In the assembled device 100, the flexible circuit feedthrough 354 passes through the hinge 106.

4 is a side cross-sectional view of the portable device shown in FIGS. 1-3 in a closed state. Side cross-sectional view further shows a battery 342 on the same horizontal plane as the printed circuit board 348 and hinge 106 that includes communication and control circuitry. This is a departure from the conventional system of stacking a printed circuit board 348 vertically with most of the battery 342 as shown in FIG. 4 highlights an antenna 344 located around the bottom 346 of the bottom 104 and located in an enclosure further comprising a polyphonic speaker 321. By positioning the antenna 344 near the bottom 346 of the bottom 104, the hinge 106 can be located similarly on the same plane 362 as the battery 342 and the printed circuit board 348. As shown in FIG. 5, the hinge 107 in the same plane 362 as the battery 348 and / or the printed circuit board 348 due to the antenna 345 alternatively located near the top of the bottom 104. ) Is hindered.

5 is a block diagram 370 illustrating an exemplary mechanical layout and component placement in the prior art. As mentioned above, the mechanical layout in the exemplary prior art generally includes a printed circuit board 348 laminated with resin to the battery 342. Block diagram 370 further illustrates the general spatial relationship of keypad 124, display assembly 316, hinge 107, and antenna 345. Dotted line 372 represents a common separation point between items located on top or flip 102 and bottom 104 of portable communication device 100.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a mechanical layout and component arrangement in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention, consistent with the side cross-sectional view shown in FIG. 4, located on the hinge 106, the battery 342, and the same horizontal surface 362. A printed circuit board 348 is shown that includes communication and control circuitry. Vertical dotted lines 382 serve to highlight component placements where corresponding components located on the same horizontal plane 362 do not vertically overlap. In this manner, as long as the depth of the printed circuit board does not need to be increased in addition to the laminate structure including the battery 342, the keypad 124 and the display assembly 316, the overall depth of the device can be reduced.

7 is a block diagram of the portable communication device 100 shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 7, device 100 includes a transceiver 402, a processor 404, an analog-to-digital converter (A / D) 406, and a flip position, interconnected via a system bus 420. It includes a sensor 352, a camera interface 408, a digital-to-analog converter (D / A) 410, a display driver 412, a button interface decoder 414, a program memory 416, and a workspace memory 418. do.

The transceiver 402 is connected to the antenna 344. Radio frequency and / or microwave signals modulated with encoded data (eg, digitized voice audio, text messages, etc.) pass between the transceiver 402 and the antenna 344.

The processor 404 may perform a control program and also perform communication encoding and decoding operations. The program executed by the processor 404 is stored in the program memory 416. Processor 404 uses workspace memory 418 to execute a program. Processor 404 is preferably part of a highly micro-controller integrated circuit. The microcontroller preferably comprises one or more of the other components described above that are interconnected via a signal bus 420. The transceiver 402, the processor 404 and optionally the other blocks shown in FIG. 7 are implemented in circuits of the dense printed circuit board 348.

The microphone 350 is connected to the A / D 406 through a first amplifier 422. The A / D 406 is used by the processor's speech encoder (vocoder) to digitize the user's speech word to be subsequently encoded.

Camera 318 is interfaced to processor 4040 through camera interface 408. Camera interface 408 reads and digitizes pixel data from camera 318 and uses that data to cause processor 404 to perform further processing, such as, for example, image / video compression encoding.

The button input decoder 414 includes not only the keys of the keypad 124, but also the first to fourth buttons 302-308 located in the flip 102 in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3. Is connected to one or more buttons 301. The button input decoder 414 receives an electrically input operation signal from the keypad 124 and one or more buttons 301 and identifies each pressed key or button to the processor 404.

The display driver 412 drives the main display unit 114 and the sub display unit 204. D / A 410 drives earpiece speaker 320 via second amplifier 424. Similar or identical circuitry may also be used to drive the polyphonic speaker 321 shown in FIG.

While preferred and other embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it is obvious that the invention is not so limited. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions and equivalents will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

Claims (17)

In clamshell telephone, A two-part housing comprising an upper housing and a lower housing rotatably connected to each other via a hinge assembly, wherein the lower housing A battery assembly; And Includes communication and control circuitry, And the hinge, the battery assembly and the communication and control circuitry are arranged side by side along a common horizontal plane in a non-vertically overlapping relation. The method of claim 1, And an antenna integrated as part of said lower housing, said antenna being similarly aligned side by side along a common horizontal plane in a non-vertical superposition with said hinge, said battery assembly and said communication and control circuitry. The method of claim 2, The hinge is connected to the lower housing at a first end of the lower housing and the antenna is located near a second end of the lower housing facing the first end. The method of claim 3, wherein And a speaker and corresponding acoustic chamber, wherein the speaker and corresponding acoustic chamber are located near the antenna at the second end of the lower housing. The method of claim 4, wherein And the antenna is located in a space forming the acoustic chamber. The method of claim 1, And a camera included in a space including the hinge. The method of claim 6, The hinge includes a right hinge component and a left hinge component, and the camera is located between the right hinge component and the left hinge component. The method of claim 1, Wherein said communication and control circuitry comprises a planer substrate. The method of claim 8, And the flat substrate is a printed circuit board. The method of claim 1, Wherein said communication and control circuitry comprises at least one of a power management circuit, a wireless communication circuit, and an audio processing circuit. The method of claim 10, And said wireless communication circuitry comprises a radio frequency transceiver. The method of claim 1, And the lower housing includes a keypad. The method of claim 1, The lower housing includes a vibrating component that provides a user with at least one of a vibration alert and vibration feedback. The method of claim 1, And the upper housing includes a display assembly. The method of claim 14, And the display assembly includes a first display portion visible through the front surface of the upper housing and a second display portion visible through the rear surface of the upper housing. The method of claim 1, And wherein the upper housing has one or more selectively operable control components. The method of claim 16, The upper housing is front facing away from the lower housing when the upper and lower housings are in a closed position substantially adjacent to each other along the length of the upper and lower housings. ), A back facing towards the lower housing when the upper and lower housings are in the closed position, and a side edge connected between the front and rear surfaces at least partially around the outer circumference of the front and rear surfaces ( and a selectively operable control component comprising a button positioned along the side edge of the upper housing.

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