WO2000025499A2 - Telephone having a keypad cover - Google Patents
Telephone having a keypad cover Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- WO2000025499A2 WO2000025499A2 PCT/US1999/025533 US9925533W WO0025499A2 WO 2000025499 A2 WO2000025499 A2 WO 2000025499A2 US 9925533 W US9925533 W US 9925533W WO 0025499 A2 WO0025499 A2 WO 0025499A2
- Authority
- WO
- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- flip cover
- housing
- telephone
- pin
- hinge
- Prior art date
Links
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
- H04M1/02—Constructional features of telephone sets
- H04M1/0202—Portable telephone sets, e.g. cordless phones, mobile phones or bar type handsets
- H04M1/0206—Portable telephones comprising a plurality of mechanically joined movable body parts, e.g. hinged housings
- H04M1/0208—Portable telephones comprising a plurality of mechanically joined movable body parts, e.g. hinged housings characterized by the relative motions of the body parts
- H04M1/0214—Foldable telephones, i.e. with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
- H04M1/0216—Foldable in one direction, i.e. using a one degree of freedom hinge
Definitions
- the present invention relates to telephones having a keypad cover, i.e., cordless or cellular phones having a "flip" cover.
- cellular phones have become increasingly popular, in part due to improvements in the portability and convenience of these phones.
- Cellular phones now are generally compact, cordless units that in some cases are smaller than the handset of a conventional phone.
- Some cellular phones now include a "flip" cover, a flat cover that covers the keypad of the phone when the cover is in its closed position, and that pivots about a hinge at the base of the phone to an open position.
- the flip cover is provided both to protect the keypad of the phone and to provide the user of the phone with a sense that the user is "speaking into” the open flip cover (as the user of a conventional phone would speak into the lower portion of the handset) .
- This latter function is thought to provide a certain sense of familiarity to users that are more accustomed to using conventional phones.
- Other, non-cellular, cordless phones are also provided with flip covers for similar reasons.
- the present invention features a telephone, e.g., a cordless or cellular phone, having a "breakaway" flip cover, i.e., a flip cover that is designed to break off of the phone body without damage to the cover or body when the cover is flexed beyond its normal open position.
- the telephone also features a hinge design that is particularly simple and thus easy to manufacture and assemble and resistant to damage.
- the invention features a telephone including (a) a housing, (b) a flip cover constructed to cover a portion of the housing, the flip cover being rotatably mounted on the housing to pivot between a closed position and an open position, and (c) a hinge assembly providing the rotatable mounting of the flip cover on the housing.
- the hinge assembly includes a hinge member retained within the housing, and a pair of hinge pins rotatably engaged at opposite ends of the hinge member and extending outwardly from the housing through apertures in the housing.
- the hinge pins are received by pin-receiving portions of the flip cover, and the pin-receiving portions are constructed so that rotation of the flip cover between the open and closed positions rotates the hinge pins.
- the housing includes a portion constructed to cause said flip cover to disengage from said housing, without damage to said flip cover, when said flip cover is rotated beyond its normal open position.
- the hinge member includes a pair of spring members, each spring member being constructed to resiliently engage a shaft portion of one of the hinge pins.
- the shaft portion includes a first pair of longitudinally extending flat surfaces positioned to releasably engage flat surfaces of the spring member when the flip cover is in its open position.
- the shaft portion further includes a second pair of longitudinally extending flat surfaces positioned to releasably engage the flat surfaces of the spring member when the flip cover is in its closed position.
- the surface of the shaft portion between the first and second pairs of flat surfaces is semi-cylindrical .
- Each hinge pin further includes a cylindrical end portion and each spring member includes an aperture for receiving the cylindrical end portion in rotatable engagement.
- Each hinge pin includes a keyed tab and each pin-receiving portion includes an opening shaped to receive the keyed tab in a manner so as to prevent relative rotation of the hinge pin with respect to the flip cover.
- the housing includes a land region constructed to disengage the pin-receiving portions from the hinge pins when the flip cover is rotated beyond the predetermined normal open position.
- the housing further comprises, adjacent the land region, a curved surface constructed to allow the pin-receiving portions to rotate freely when the flip cover is moved between the closed and the normal open positions.
- the land region is substantially planar. In the predetermined normal position, the flip cover forms an angle of from about 125 to 145 degrees with the housing.
- FIG. 1 is a front view of a telephone according to one aspect of the invention, with the flip cover in the closed position.
- Fig. 2 is a front view of the telephone of Fig. 1, with the flip cover in the open position.
- Fig. 2A is a side cross-sectional view of the telephone, taken along line A-A in Fig. 2 .
- Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the telephone of Fig. 1, with dotted lines indicating how the exploded parts are assembled.
- Figs. 3A and 3B are highly enlarged detail views of area A in Fig. 3, with 3A being a perspective view and 3B being a planar view.
- Fig. 3C is a front cross-sectional view of area A, taken through the longitudinal axis of pins 38.
- Figs. 4 and 4A are enlarged perspective views showing the assembly of the hinge pin into the spring member .
- telephone 10 includes a phone body 12 having a housing 14 that defines an ear speaker 16, a keypad 18 and a microphone opening 20.
- a flip cover 22 is rotatably mounted on the phone body in the vicinity of the microphone opening 20 by a hinge assembly 24.
- Flip cover 22 rotates between a closed position (Fig. 1) and an open position (Figs. 2 and 2a), and is releasably held in each position by a detent, as will be explained below with reference to Figs. 4-4A. In the open position, flip cover is releasably held at a predetermined angle 0 relative to the phone body.
- hinge assembly 24 includes a pair of spring members 34, extending in opposite directions when assembled as indicated by the dotted lines, and a pair of pins 38 received by the spring members. This hinge assembly is easily assembled during manufacturing, using the following procedure.
- hinge pins 38 are assembled with spring members 34 as shown in Figs. 4 -4a.
- Pins 38 are moved in the direction of arrow A in Fig. 4, to their engaged position, shown in Fig. 4A.
- shaft 48 of pin 38 engages the curved surfaces 50 of spring member 34, causing them to resiliently deflect.
- Pin 38 then slides in direction A until cylindrical end 52 is received by aperture 54 in the spring member and flange 55 engages ends 57a, 57b of the spring member.
- pin 38 can rotate freely within the spring member.
- spring members 34 are inserted between the circuit board 26 and housing 14, and secured by threading screws 11 into bosses (not shown) on the underside of housing 14, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 3.
- pins 38 are inserted through apertures 42 in housing 14, so that the pins extend out of the housing from these apertures.
- pins 38 are inserted into apertures 44, 46 in arms 45a, 45b of flip cover 22, to pivotably mount the flip cover 22 on the housing 14.
- Each of the hinge pins 38 includes a tab 60 that fits into an opening of corresponding shape in apertures 44,
- housing 14 includes a curved surface 39, over which the curved surface of arms 45a, 45b can smoothly slide when the flip cover is rotated from the closed position to the open position. When the flip cover is rotated beyond its normal open position, arms 45a, 45b are forced against edge 40 and substantially planar land 41 of housing 14 (see Figs. 3A and 3B) .
- the hinge assembly includes two detents to releasably hold the flip cover 22 in its closed and open positions.
- pins 38 each include two pairs of flat surfaces 56a, 56b and 58a, 58b that extend longitudinally along shaft 48. The two flat surfaces of each pair are positioned on opposite sides of the pin. The remainder of the surface of the shaft, between the flat surfaces, is semi-cylindrical .
- One pair of flat surfaces resiliently engages surfaces 50 of the spring member when the flip cover is in its closed position, while the other pair resiliently engages surfaces 50 when the flip cover is in its closed position.
- the pairs of flat surfaces act as a detent to releasably retain the cover in these positions .
- the spring member resiliently deflects and the pin rotates smoothly over the portion of its surface that is semi-cylindrical.
- the phone may be constructed to be activated/deactivated by opening and closing the flip cover 22. This may be accomplished using any standard flip activation device, for example a conventional magnet/reed switch assembly 70 on the housing 14 and a magnet 72 on the flip cover 22, as shown in Fig. 3.
- any standard flip activation device for example a conventional magnet/reed switch assembly 70 on the housing 14 and a magnet 72 on the flip cover 22, as shown in Fig. 3.
Abstract
Description
Claims
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
AU12412/00A AU1241200A (en) | 1998-10-28 | 1999-10-28 | Telephone having a keypad cover |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US09/181,629 US6108417A (en) | 1998-10-28 | 1998-10-28 | Telephone having a keypad cover |
US09/181,629 | 1998-10-28 |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
WO2000025499A2 true WO2000025499A2 (en) | 2000-05-04 |
WO2000025499A3 WO2000025499A3 (en) | 2000-09-08 |
Family
ID=22665098
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/US1999/025533 WO2000025499A2 (en) | 1998-10-28 | 1999-10-28 | Telephone having a keypad cover |
Country Status (3)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US6108417A (en) |
AU (1) | AU1241200A (en) |
WO (1) | WO2000025499A2 (en) |
Families Citing this family (8)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US6341227B1 (en) * | 1999-06-11 | 2002-01-22 | Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) | Method and apparatus for reducing effect of mismatches and increasing the rigidity of mobile communication device |
JP4782970B2 (en) * | 2000-06-30 | 2011-09-28 | パナソニック株式会社 | Mobile phone |
US20020089817A1 (en) * | 2001-01-05 | 2002-07-11 | Eisenbraun Kenneth D. | Keypad protector for portable electronic device |
US6525929B2 (en) * | 2001-01-25 | 2003-02-25 | Dell Products L.P. | Computer chassis door with position damping detent hinge |
TW560785U (en) * | 2002-10-01 | 2003-11-01 | Toppoly Optoelectionics Corp | Cellular phone without opening a cover for communicating |
USD493436S1 (en) | 2003-01-21 | 2004-07-27 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | Mobile phone |
USD493437S1 (en) | 2003-01-31 | 2004-07-27 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | Mobile phone |
KR100582970B1 (en) * | 2004-07-29 | 2006-05-25 | 삼성전자주식회사 | door opening and closong apparatus and electronic machine having the same |
Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4897873A (en) * | 1988-11-04 | 1990-01-30 | Motorola, Inc. | Multipurpose hinge apparatus for foldable telephones |
US5111503A (en) * | 1990-08-07 | 1992-05-05 | Fujitsu Limited | Portable telephone set |
US5257310A (en) * | 1990-02-27 | 1993-10-26 | Fujitsu Limited | Portable telephone |
US5930353A (en) * | 1997-05-28 | 1999-07-27 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Electrical contact free microphone attachment for a flip-type radio phone |
-
1998
- 1998-10-28 US US09/181,629 patent/US6108417A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
-
1999
- 1999-10-28 AU AU12412/00A patent/AU1241200A/en not_active Abandoned
- 1999-10-28 WO PCT/US1999/025533 patent/WO2000025499A2/en active Application Filing
Patent Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4897873A (en) * | 1988-11-04 | 1990-01-30 | Motorola, Inc. | Multipurpose hinge apparatus for foldable telephones |
US5257310A (en) * | 1990-02-27 | 1993-10-26 | Fujitsu Limited | Portable telephone |
US5111503A (en) * | 1990-08-07 | 1992-05-05 | Fujitsu Limited | Portable telephone set |
US5930353A (en) * | 1997-05-28 | 1999-07-27 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Electrical contact free microphone attachment for a flip-type radio phone |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
WO2000025499A3 (en) | 2000-09-08 |
US6108417A (en) | 2000-08-22 |
AU1241200A (en) | 2000-05-15 |
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