WO2004021155A2

WO2004021155A2 - Improvements in or relating to hand-held electronic devices

Info

Publication number: WO2004021155A2
Application number: PCT/GB2003/003765
Authority: WO
Inventors: David John Knott
Original assignee: Stuff Happens Limited
Priority date: 2002-08-28
Filing date: 2003-08-28
Publication date: 2004-03-11
Also published as: WO2004021155A3; GB0219983D0; AU2003260761A8; AU2003260761A1

Abstract

A hand-held electronic device (1), for example a mobile phone, including an interface comprising a keyboard (2) provided with a plurality of keys (4) arrayed in such manner as to be accessible and actuable by the user's thumbs.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO HAND-HELD ELECTRONIC DEVICES

[0001] The invention concerns improvements in or relating to handheld electronic devices.

[0002] In particular the present invention has reference to such devices employed for computing and/or telecommunications in which the inputting of data is effected by key actuation on an alphanumeric pad, a screen being provided for the display of inputted data and for downloaded or return data.

[0003] Conventionally, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), electronic organisers or mobile telephones respectively have either dedicated numerical and letter keys laid out in the usual QWERTY (or equivalent) format or numerical keys in ascending order of value together with letter function in ordinary alphabetic order with keys having multi-letter stroking.

[0004] The size of the keys on the majority of hand-held electronic devices of the kind indicated is small and therefore makes operation difficult especially when data or text input is likely to be substantial.

[0005] In the case of mobile 'phones, it is common practice to use the texting feature and for this purpose, and also for dialling, the thumb has become the operating digit.

[0006] In view of current and projected developments in the general field of hand-held electronic devices where wireless computer connections and increased computer/telecommunications equipment connectivity are constantly improving there is clearly a requirement for a different type of interface which can be used with a wide range of technologies and which would replace the conventional keyboard, mouse and telephone-style key interfaces.

[0007] It is an object of the present invention to provide a hand-held electronic device having a keyboard that facilitates inputting of text and data.

[0008] A further object of the present invention is to provide a keyboard per se for the hand-held electronic device.

[0009] A still further object of the present invention is to provide a computer/telecommunications interface.

[00010] According to the invention a hand-held electronic device includes a keyboard having a plurality of alphanumeric keys adapted for operation by the use of both thumbs, the adaptation being effected by matrices arrayed on either side of the keyboard for access by the respective thumb, a screen for displaying data, and click keys for activating functions of the device.

[00011] Letters, characters and numbers are allocated to individual keys with the option of assigning other characters to keys when pressed in addition to conventional 'shift' keys and function 'F' keys in the manner of a conventional keyboard. The keyboard of the invention affords the same wide range of character and function options as a conventional keyboard using single keystroke or simultaneous double or triple key depression, but with the added benefit of the double thumb-operation. [00012] The electronic device of the invention includes a casing for housing the keyboard and ancillary circuitry and other elements provided for incorporating the keyboard into the device which may be a computer and/or a telecommunications medium. The other elements that are employed may be hardware and software of a conventional nature or may be specifically developed for further functions. The device preferably has the capability to have additional software loaded as appropriate in order to update or to add to the functionality of the device.

[00013] The click keys may conveniently be provided on the reverse side of the device to that on which the keyboard is located, and may comprise relatively large buttons to provide the 'left click' and right click' functions normally associated with the computer mouse. These buttons would be actuated by the fingers of the left and right hands as appropriate and would be suitably located to facilitate operation.

[00014] The device may additionally be provided with a ball-style mouse on the upper, keyboard surface thereof as part of the general keyboard operation or may be disposed on the reverse side adjacent the click keys.

[00015] The invention also provides an interface and a keyboard per se for the electronic device.

[00016] By way of example only one embodiment of electronic device and a keyboard interface therefor is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: [00017] Figure 1 shows a layout of the keyboard;

[00018] Figure 2 shows a layout of the click buttons;

[00019] Figure 3 shows a configuration of a roller-ball pointer control; [00020] Figure 4 shows a typical cross section of the keys of the keyboard; [00021] Figure 5 shows schematically the method of holding the device; [00022] Figure 6 shows an isometric view of the device; and [00023] Figure 7 shows an end view, a further end view, a plan view and an underside plan view respectively at a, b, c, and d.

[00024] Referring to the drawings there is shown a hand-held electronic device 1 which may be a computer and/or telecommunications unit, for example a mobile 'phone with computing and/or teletext messaging with or without internet and e-mail access capability.

[00025] The device 1 includes a keyboard 2 which is so designed with a plurality of keys 4 that are 'thumb-operated' . The keys 4 are arranged in a matrix of electronic keys of conventional technology and so arrayed as to facilitate access by both thumbs of the user. The designation of the alphanumerics and other characters and functions to the keys enables the user to input text by pressing the keys with either or both thumbs as appropriate.

[00026] An example of an arrangement of keys 4 is given in Figure 1 and envisages a keyboard layout of 54 keys in six columns and nine rows, namely three columns for the left hand thumb and three for the right hand thumb and one possible allocation of letters and numbers is displayed in this figure. [00027] The device 1 further incorporates click keys 6, 8 equivalent to the keys on a conventional mouse and also may as an optional feature be provided with a roller-ball 10 or other mouse pointer control device, for example a joystick. The roller-ball 10 is shown in Figure 3 and is inset into the keyboard with appropriate pick-ups 11 for sending instructions to the circuitry of the device. The click keys 6, 8 are conveniently arranged for operation by the user's fingers and for this purpose would be deployed on the reverse side of the device from that on which the keyboard is located. The roller-ball 10 may be disposed on the same side as the keyboard or may in the alternative be located on the reverse side adjacent the click keys 6, 8.

[00028] The device is provided with a casing 13 for housing the keyboard 2 and associated circuitry and the click keys 6, 8 and a screen 12 is arranged on the front surface. In one embodiment (not shown) the keyboard 2 may be incorporated in the screen to give a touch-screen capability.

[00029] In use and as shown in Figure 5 the device 1 , which may be a mobile phone, is held between the hands 30, 32 of the user, one on each side of the device in such manner as to allow the thumb 34, 36 of each hand to access the keys on the respective sides of the device. With the layout depicted in the accompanying drawings the roller-ball 10 is located on the upper keyboard surface of the device thus making it actuable by the thumbs with the ordinary click keys 6, 8 being accessible by the user's fingers 40, 42. As is conventionally the case, data, for example in the form of text, are inputted by depressing the relevant keys in the appropriate sequence or the relevant function keys as necessary simultaneously or otherwise.

[00030] The keyboard of the present invention allows ease of operation by the use of the thumbs on either side of the device as an extension of what has become the practice of for example mobile phone users in the use of a single thumb for keying in numbers or text. The layout of the keyboard which provides all the functions of a conventional QWERTY keyboard facilitates the inputting of data. The positioning of the roller-ball and the click keys also make the use of the device easy and comparable to that of other devices currently available and accordingly no special skills are required for its operation.

[00031] The device may be a mobile phone as indicated in the example with certain well-know functions or may be a computer with telecommunications facilities including apposite preloaded software. The device may also be provided with the capacity to have additional software loaded with appropriate ports for connecting to driver devices and the like.

[00032] The keyboard of the present invention may be adopted and adapted for use in a variety of applications using hand-held electronic devices. Thus for example a PDA may be adapted to employ the keyboard configuration proposed herein thereby to allow actuation of the keys by using the thumbs. Alternatively the keyboard may be employed in peripheral devices, with possible infrared connection, for personal computers or in the creation of peripheral devices with the keyboard incorporated a part of a touch screen as hereinbefore mentioned.

Claims

1. A hand-held electronic device (1) includes a keyboard (2) having a plurality of alphanumeric keys (4) , and a screen (12) for displaying data characterised in that the keys (4) are adapted for operation by the use of both thumbs, the adaptation being effected by matrices arrayed on either side of the keyboard for access by the respective thumb, and characterised by click keys (6, 8) for activating functions of the device (1) .

2. A device according to Claim 1 characterised by a casing (13) for housing the keyboard (2) and ancillary circuitry and other elements provided for incorporating the keyboard (2) into the device (1).

3. A device according to Claim 1 or 2 characterised in that the click keys (6, 8) are conveniently provided on the reverse side of the device (1) to that on which the keyboard (2) is located, and comprise buttons to provide the 'left click' and 'right click' functions normally associated with the computer mouse and operable by use of a finger.

4. A device according to any one of the preceding claims characterised in that the keyboard (2) is additionally provided with a roller ball-style mouse (10) on the upper, keyboard surface thereof as part of the general keyboard operation or disposed on the reverse side adjacent the click keys (6, 8) .

5. A device according to any one of the preceding claims characterised in that the device is a mobile phone.

6. A device according to Claim 5 characterised in that the mobile phone incorporates a computing function.

7. A device according to any one of the preceding Claims 1 to 4 characterised in that the device is a computer.

8. A keyboard for a hand-held electronic device according to any one of the preceding claims .

9. A keyboard according to Claim 8 characterised by a plurality of keys (4) provided and arranged in a matrix thereon to allow access on either side of the keyboard by a user's thumbs.

10. A keyboard according to Claim 8 or 9 characterised in that the keys (4) are arrayed on one side of the keyboard and the click keys (6, 8) on the reverse side thereof.

11. A keyboard according to Claim 10 characterised in that a roller- ball style mouse (10) is provided on the keyboard (2) on either the front key face thereof or on the reverse side adjacent the click keys (6, 8) .

12. A keyboard according to any one of the preceding Claims 8 to 11 characterised in that the keyboard (2) has a layout of 54 keys in six columns and nine rows, namely three columns for the left hand thumb and three for the right hand thumb.

13. An interface for a mobile phone or a computer or a combination thereof including a keyboard (2) according to any one of the preceding Claims 8 to 12.