KR20080065397A - Personal portable device - Google Patents

Abstract

A portable terminal is provided to distinguish between buttons clearly, to carry out button input easily, to improve preciseness in key touch, and to configure button parts in various shapes. A portable terminal(100) comprises a front case(110), a rear case(130), and a key input module. The front case comprises a pad area(113) where a plurality of buttons are defined. Corresponding to a part of the buttons, a button hole(115) is formed at the pad area. Corresponding to the other buttons, the first button part(117) is formed at the pad area. The rear case corresponds to the front case. The key input module comprises a key input sensor part and the second button part(119). The key input sensor part is located below the pad area. The second button part, formed on the key input sensor part, is exposed through the button hole. The key input sensor part creates input signals as the first and second button parts are manipulated.

Description

PERSONAL PORTABLE DEVICE}

1 is an exploded perspective view of an existing personal portable terminal.

Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of a personal portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a cross-sectional view of the personal portable terminal of FIG. 2 as viewed from the direction I-I.

4 is a first modified example according to the embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a second modified example according to the embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a third modified example according to the embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100, 100a ~ 100c: Personal handheld terminal

110, 100a ~ 100c: front case

113, 113a-113c: pad area

115, 115a ~ 115c: Button Hole

117, 117a to 117c: first button portion

119, 119a to 119c: second button portion

The present invention relates to a personal portable terminal, and more particularly, to a personal portable terminal capable of clarifying the distinction between buttons in a personal portable terminal, easy button input, and various design variations.

Use the buttons on the keypad to enter numbers on personal mobile phones such as mobile phones. As technology related to mobile phones is developed, in addition to entering a phone number using a keypad, a character may be input for message transmission using the keypad, and game functions or various functions may be implemented. This trend can be applied not only to mobile phones but also to general personal mobile devices such as other electronic devices.

1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a keypad in an existing mobile phone.

Referring to FIG. 1, the existing mobile phone includes a front case 10 and a rear case 20 corresponding to the front case 10, and the front case 10 is provided with a button pad 13.

The button pad 13 includes a button slit 11 and a button portion 15. The button pad 13 is integrated with the front case 10 and may be molded together with the case during injection molding. In addition, since the button pad 13 is integrated with the front case 20, the button pad 13 forms a single wall, and the button pad 13 is provided with a button portion 15 that can move independently of each other. The button slit 11 may provide a space for the button portion 15 of the front case 10 to move, and the button slit 11 may move independently from the front case 10 by the button slit 11. To help.

As described above, the button pad 13 may be integral with the case and provide a button, and may form one wall surface of the front case 10, wherein the wall surface forms a single wall surface.

A printed circuit board (PCB) having electrodes formed thereon is disposed on the bottom of the button pad 13, and a dome switch pad 17 including a dome switch 19 is provided between the button pad 13 and the printed circuit board. The electrode formed on the printed circuit board has a concentric circular structure of the same shape as the dome switch 19 and is electrically connected by the dome switch 19.

After the above-described dome switch pad 17 and the printed circuit board are mounted on the front case 10, the rear case 20 may cover the rear surface of the front case 10. In addition to the key input module such as the dome switch 19 or the board, various modules capable of performing wireless communication may be mounted in the housing including the front case 10 and the rear case 20.

As described above, by constituting the button pad 13 integrally with the front case 10, the keypad can be formed in a single layer, and as a result, the thickness of the terminal can be made thinner. However, if the front case 10 and the button pad 13 are integrally formed, the distinction between the case and the button may be ambiguous, which may prevent accurate button input.All buttons are formed in the same texture as the case, so that the distinction between the button and the button Can be ambiguous

In addition, since the button pad 13 and the front case 10 are integrally formed, deformation of the button unit 15 of the personal portable terminal is not easy. Therefore, there is a limit to the variation of the design of the personal mobile terminal, which does not support the demand for the personal mobile terminal with various designs.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has an object to provide a personal portable terminal that can clearly distinguish between the buttons in the personal portable terminal.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a personal portable terminal that the button input is easy.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a personal portable terminal that can be modified in a variety of designs.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object of the present invention, a button hole is formed corresponding to a portion of a button on a pad area in which a plurality of buttons are defined, and corresponding to the first portion of the button. The button portion is formed in the pad region, the first button portion can move independently with respect to other button portions in the periphery, a rear case corresponding to the front case is provided, and a key input sensor portion and a key located below the pad region. A second button portion provided on the input and exposed through the button hole, the second button portion being exposed through the button hole, wherein the key input sensor portion generates an input signal in response to the movement of the first and second button portions; A personal handheld terminal having a key input module is provided.

A pad region in which a plurality of button positions are defined may be formed in the front case, and a button hole corresponding to the button positions of the first button portion and the second button portion integral with the case may be formed in the pad region. The button hole thus formed may be formed in a portion instead of being formed throughout the pad area. In addition, the button hole may be formed for each button to correspond to each button seat, but may be provided in an integrated form to correspond to two or more button seats.

The first button portion can be connected to the front case in a variety of ways. For example, one surface of the first button portion may be connected to the front case and the other surface may be provided separated from the front case, that is, in a cantilever shape, and both ends of the first button portion may be provided so as to connect the case or the other first button portion. It may be. In addition, the first button unit may be formed in various ways as long as it is integrally connected to the case and movable independently of the other first button unit.

The first button unit thus formed may repeat deformation and restoration in response to the user's pressing. In addition, the first button unit is formed integrally with the front case is formed of a single wall that can simultaneously serve as a keypad and a personal portable terminal case.

According to the present invention, a key input module including a second button unit is provided, and the second button unit may be disposed in parallel with the first button unit through the button hole while the key input module is mounted under the front case. Since the second button portion may be formed in a shape or a different material from that of the first button portion, the first button portion and the second button portion may be easily distinguished, and the distinction between the case and the button may be clear, and thus it is difficult to input the button. Rest

The key input module includes a second button part and a key input sensor part supporting the second button part. The key input sensor unit may receive a press of the first button unit or the second button unit, and may use a conventional sensor method or a sensor method that may replace the same. For example, the key input sensor unit may include an elastic sheet to which the second button unit is attached, and the elastic sheet may support the first button unit and the second button unit together. In particular, a rubber sheet including a pressing protrusion on the bottom of the elastic sheet may be provided, and the rubber sheet may effectively transmit the pressing of the button portion to the dome switch.

In the present specification, a personal portable device (Personal Portable Device) is a portable electronic device such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a smart phone (PC), a mobile phone, an MP3 player, a CDMA (Code Division Multiplexing Access) module, It may be provided with a predetermined communication module such as a Bluetooth module, an infrared communication module (IrDA) wired or wireless LAN card, and may be used as a concept of collectively a terminal having a predetermined computing power by mounting a predetermined microprocessor for performing a multimedia playback function. have. In addition, in addition to the structure consisting of the dome switch and the electrode, the key input sensor unit may be selected according to the applied technology level, the key input sensor unit of various structures, it can be changed to suit the terminal.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited or restricted by the embodiments.

2 is an exploded perspective view of a personal portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the personal portable terminal 100 includes a front case 110, a rear case 130, and a key input module 128.

Here, the front case 110 includes a pad area 113 in which a plurality of buttons are defined. Here, a button for inputting a number, a letter, or a symbol is defined in the pad area 113. The front case 110 is provided with a first button portion 117, the first button portion 117 is not provided for all the buttons of the front case 110, but may be defined corresponding to a portion and the remaining portion May be defined by the second button unit 119 of the key input module 128 described later.

The first button portion 117 is formed in a cantilever shape, for example, and can move independently of other buttons in the vicinity. However, in the present embodiment, although formed in the shape of a cantilever, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the first button part 117 may be formed in a flowable form other than the cantilever shape. The first button unit 117 is formed integrally with the front case 110, so that the front case 110 can serve as a case of the keypad and the mobile phone at the same time, it is formed as a single wall.

In this case, the button hole 115 is formed in the center portion of the pad region 113, and the second button portion 119 is accommodated in the button hole 115.

The second button part 119 accommodated in the button hole 115 is provided to protrude on the elastic sheet 121 and a key input sensor part is provided on the bottom of the elastic sheet 121. Here, the key input sensor unit includes a push protrusion and a dome switch 125 to be described later.

Thus, the distinction between the buttons in the personal portable terminal can be made clear due to the difference between the first button portion 117 and the second button portion 119 in which the front case 110 and the pad region 113 are integrally formed. Input becomes easy. In addition, the first and second button units 119 may be provided with personal mobile terminals having various designs in addition to texture, such as differences in shape and color.

3 is a cross-sectional view of the personal portable terminal of FIG. 2 as viewed from the direction I-I.

Referring to FIG. 3, an elastic sheet 121 is provided in the second button part 119 at the center of the front case 110 provided with the first button part 117, and is located at the bottom of the first button part 117. The second button part 119 is adhere | attached on the top. The bonded second button portion 119 and the first button portion 117 are combined to provide a button portion of a personal portable terminal. The elastic sheet 121 serves to support the second button portion 119.

The bottom of the elastic sheet 121 is formed is provided with a rubber sheet 123 is formed with a pressing projection 124 to correspond to the first and second button portions (117, 119). In this case, the pressing protrusion 124 may be typically formed of silicon, and a dome switch pad 127 in which the dome switch 125 is provided is formed at the bottom of the pressing protrusion 124. The lower portion of the dome switch pad 127 is provided with a printed circuit board (PCB) in which a circular electrode is formed to correspond to the dome switch 125. Here, the pressing protrusion 124 presses the dome switch 125 when the first and second button portions 117 and 119 are pressed downward by an external force of the user, and the dome switch 125 Is electrically connected to a circular electrode of a printed circuit board (PCB) positioned at a lower portion thereof corresponding to the position of.

The bottom of the first button portion 117 is provided with a rubber sheet 123 in which the pressing projection 124 is formed. The bottom surface of the pressing protrusion 124 is provided with a dome switch 125 corresponding to the pressing protrusion 124. The lower part of the dome switch 125 is electrically connected to a circular electrode of a printed circuit board (PCB) so as to correspond to the dome switch 125.

Modification Example 1

4 is a first modified example according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, a part of the button hole 115a may be extended to a part of the case. That is, in the first modification of the present invention, the button hole 115a extends along the length direction of the personal portable terminal, so that the second button portion 119a is accommodated in the expanded button hole 115a.

At this time, the second button portion 119a includes the cover piece 126. Since the expanded button hole 115a is part of the case, the cover piece 126 accommodates an area where the second button portion 115a is not provided. In this case, the cover piece 126 may be formed of the same material as the second button part 119a, and the cover piece 126 may be formed in another shape to form one surface of a case that is not the same shape as the second button part 119a. Can also be formed.

In the first modification of the present invention described above, due to the difference between the first button portion 117a and the second button portion 119a in which the front case 110a and the pad region 113a are integrally formed, the buttons of the personal portable terminal may be separated from each other. The distinction can be made clear, and the effect of the button input is the same, and it is possible to bring about variations of various designs of the personal mobile device.

Modification Example 2

5 is a second modified example according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the button hole 115b is formed in the center of the pad region 113b, and the first button portion 117b is formed in the region where the button hole 115b is not formed. In this case, the first button part 117b may be divided into an upper first button part 117b and a lower first button part 119b.

Here, the upper first button portion 117b and the lower first button portion 119b may use buttons having the same effect. That is, the upper and lower first button parts 117b and 119b may be provided in a cantilever shape, one surface of which is connected to the front case 100b and the other surface of which is separated from the front case 100b. Both ends of the button portions 117b and 118 may be provided so that the case or other upper and lower first button portions 117b and 118 are connected to each other. Here, the lower first button part 118 may be provided in combination with a portion of the case in which the upper first button part 117b is formed. In addition, the lower first button part 118 is formed to be extended to a part of the front case 110b. That is, in the second modified example of the present invention, the lower first button part 118 may be formed to extend along the longitudinal direction of the personal portable terminal.

In the second modified example of the present invention, since the first button part is divided into upper and lower parts and formed in a different shape or a different material, the distinction between the button and the first button part formed integrally with the case becomes clear. It is easy to type.

Similarly to the present invention, the second button portion 119b is accommodated in the button hole 115b formed in the center of the pad region 113b in which the upper and lower first button portions 117b and 118 are formed. Therefore, in the above-described second modification of the present invention, the difference between the upper and lower first button portions 117b and 118 formed of different shapes or different materials, and the upper and lower first button portions 117b and 118 and the second button portion Due to the difference of (119b), it is possible to clarify the distinction between the buttons in the personal mobile terminal, the effect of easy button input is the same, and also can bring various design variations of the personal mobile terminal.

Modification 3

6 is a third modified example according to the embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6, the button holes 115c are alternately formed with the first button portion 117c in the pad region 113c. For example, the button hole 115c may be formed in the form of a checkerboard with the first button portion 117c.

Here, the first button portion 117c may use a button having the same effect as the first button portion 117c of the embodiment. That is, the first button portion 117c may be provided in a cantilever shape, one surface of which is connected to the front case 110c and the other surface of which is separated from the front case 110c, and both ends of the first button portion 117c may be provided. A case or other first button portion 117c may be provided to be connected. Here, the first button portion 117c is alternately formed with the button hole 115c to provide a part of the button portion.

Therefore, according to the third embodiment of the present invention, the second button portion 119c alternately formed with the first button portion 117c is accommodated in the button hole 115c formed in the case to provide the button portion of the personal portable terminal. do. The provided first button portion 117c and the second button portion 119c may be formed in different shapes or different materials to clarify the distinction between the buttons in the personal mobile terminal due to the difference between the respective button portions, and easy button input. You can get the effect of termination. In addition, it is possible to bring a variety of design variations of the personal mobile device.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited or limited by the embodiments.

As described above, the personal portable terminal according to the present invention is effective in providing a personal portable terminal that can clearly distinguish between buttons in the personal portable terminal.

In addition, the present invention is effective in providing a personal portable terminal with easy button input.

In addition, the present invention can be configured in a variety of forms of the button portion is effective in providing a personal portable terminal that can be modified for a variety of designs.

As described above, although described with reference to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art various modifications and variations of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention described in the claims below I can understand that you can.

Claims (12)

A plurality of buttons including a pad area in which a plurality of buttons are defined, a button hole is formed in the pad area corresponding to a part of the buttons, and a first button part is formed in the pad area corresponding to the remaining parts of the buttons, The first button portion can be moved independently of the other button portion around the front case; A rear case corresponding to the front case; And A key input sensor unit positioned below the pad area and a second button unit provided on the key input sensor unit and exposed through the button hole, and receiving a second button unit exposed through the button hole, The key input sensor unit may include a key input module configured to generate an input signal in response to movement of the first and second button units; Personal mobile terminal equipped with. The method of claim 1, The first button unit is a personal portable terminal, characterized in that formed integrally with the front case. The method of claim 1, And the second button unit corresponds to a plurality of the buttons. The method of claim 1, And the second button unit is coupled to correspond to the button hole. The method of claim 1, The second button unit is a personal handheld terminal, characterized in that made of at least one of a film flake, an injection plastic molding, a metal flake and a laminate of the film. The method of claim 1, And the key input module comprises an elastic sheet in close contact with the bottom of the pad area. The method of claim 6, The second button portion is bonded to the elastic sheet, the second button portion is a personal portable terminal, characterized in that coupled to correspond to the button hole. The method of claim 6, The bottom of the elastic sheet is characterized in that it comprises a rubber sheet is formed with pressing projections corresponding to the first and second button portion, respectively. The method of claim 8, The push protrusion is formed of silicon, the bottom of the push projection is a personal portable terminal, characterized in that the dome switch corresponding. The method of claim 9, The bottom of the dome switch is a personal portable terminal, characterized in that electrically connected with the electrode of the PCB substrate. The method of claim 1, The pad region is divided into an upper portion and a lower portion, wherein a first button portion is formed at the upper portion and a second button portion is provided at the lower portion. The method of claim 1, The first and second button portions of the pad area are alternately formed, respectively. Personal portable terminal, characterized in that.

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