Telecommunications – Transmitter and receiver at same station – Radiotelephone equipment detail
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-29
2002-07-16
Le, Thanh Cong (Department: 2684)
Telecommunications
Transmitter and receiver at same station
Radiotelephone equipment detail
C455S090300
Reexamination Certificate
active
06421547
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an arrangement at a cellular mobile telephone apparatus, comprising a protective hatch or flip pivotably arranged on a housing of said apparatus and comprising a microphone, said flip being pivotable around an axle through at least one ear of the flip (flip-ear) and arranged to physically cover at least parts of a keypad on said apparatus, whereby said axle comprises hinge means for providing a physical pivotable mechanical connection as well as establishing an electrical connection between the microphone and a printed circuit board of the telephone along said axle of pivot for the flip.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Mobile telephones provided with such a flip or a hatch, for covering a key pad thereon, have been used by certain manufacturers for some years. The main purpose with such a flip—being to protect said keypad from inadvertent manipulation—has been by some other manufacturers tackled electronically through the use of key pad locks, being initiated by inserting a certain code for using the keypad.
Mobile telephones have now, however, become so small that such a flip must be used for establishing the right distance between the earpiece and a sound receiving means, preferably a microphone. By this establishment the best possible fidelity of the sound registered by said microphone is achieved.
As a consequence an electrical connection has to be established between the flip the mobile telephone housing, which connection for obtaining and retaining a good and well functioning telephone is critical both from a use point of view, and an assembly point of view. The use aspects on the connection is among others that the connection should be able to outlive the operative lifetime of the telephone as a whole. Also a possibility for changing the flip as a whole need to be provided for. Further the connection has to be such that it can be easily and automatically assembled with common robots and related equipment.
In the prior art all kinds of suggestions have been brought forward, however, so far none being of a kind fulfilling the requirements mentioned above. As samples of this prior art PCT/US96/01563 assigned to Ericsson Inc. and EP 0 720 339 A2 can be mentioned.
None of these references comprises elements which either taken alone or combined would lead the man skilled in the art to the solution hereby presented.
The first mentioned reference describes a connector having a sliding contact contained in a hinge. The only matter this reference has in common with the invention is that it provides an electrical connection between the housing and the flip.
The secondly mentioned reference, like the first one, describes an electrical connection which takes up the relative motion in the connection inside the hinge. Difficulties assembling such a device, comprising several parts to be interconnected, makes this solution less or even not at all suitable for automatic assembly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a mobile cellular telephone apparatus with an electrical connection between a microphone contained in its flip, and a printed circuit board contained in its housing, which regarding reliability, serviceability and suitability for automatic assembly is superior compared to prior known arrangements for obtaining the same function.
To meet this object the electrical connection between the microphone and a printed circuit board of the telephone housing is divided into a first wiring length leading from the microphone to a first contacting means, fixedly arranged in the ear of the flip, and a second contacting means fixedly connectable to the first contacting means, and pivotably arranged along the axle in the housing, and from the end of the second contacting means on the inside of the housing, a second wiring length leading from the contacting means to the printed circuit board of the telephone.
According to another aspect of the present invention the microphone is flex-film soldered to the first wiring length. This arrangement is especially advantageous in connection with automatic assembly of the telephone.
Further, in a modified version, the unit comprising the microphone and the first wiring length also comprises a first contacting means. By this integration, automatic assembly becomes easier and certainly much safer from a quality point of view.
The first contacting means is according to a further aspect of the invention turntable arranged in an indentation in the housing, specifically designed for the purpose.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, the second wiring length is at its end opposite the second contacting means attached to the printed circuit board via a disconnectable contact means. The connection can thereby with certainty be obtained retaining the quality requirements, even when assembled automatically.
The second wiring length is within its extension limits freely translatable. The movement of the flip is thereby in full transferred into a translation in said wiring.
According to a modified embodiment the second wiring length is at least partly spirally wound. Thereby any risk of interference with parts inside the telephone is avoided.
As a further aspect of the invention the second contacting means has two knobs extending each in a radial direction perpendicular to the axle of the flip. These knobs has counterparts in the indentation of the housing for allowing insertion of the contacting means into the housing. The counterparts in the housing are preferably oriented such, that the knobs may penetrate the indentation of the housing only at a specific angle of 30° with regard to a plane parallel to the rear side plane of the telephone in its assembled state.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4671582 (1987-06-01), Stromquist et al.
patent: 0836308 (1998-04-01), None
patent: WO 9839942 (1998-09-01), None
Frohlund Stig
Nilén Johan
Thollander Mats
Thor Christer
Cong Le Thanh
Nixon & Vanderhye P.C.
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)
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