Telecommunications – Transmitter and receiver at same station – Radiotelephone equipment detail
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-23
2001-07-31
Legree, Tracy (Department: 2744)
Telecommunications
Transmitter and receiver at same station
Radiotelephone equipment detail
C455S550100, C379S433020
Reexamination Certificate
active
06269256
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a foldable portable telephone set and, more particularly, to a foldable portable telephone set with an automatic off-hook function.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a portable telephone set, upon reception of an incoming call, a ringing tone is generated and at the same time a termination light-emitting portion (e.g., an LED) is turned on, or flashes in order to inform the user of this. The user depresses a speech communication start key or a key having a similar function to go off hook, so that he or she can start a speech communication.
A foldable portable telephone set has two states, i.e., folded and open and calls may arrive in both states. Usually, the user carries the portable telephone folded, and accordingly calls are received in this state more often. When an incoming call is received as the telephone set is folded, the user must perform two operations, i.e., opening the portable telephone set to start a speech communication, and depressing the speech communication start key to go off hook.
In a prior art, a function similar to a speech communication stat key (off-hook key) is merely assigned to a specific key that can be depressed even as the telephone is folded. In this case as well, two operations are needed, i.e., opening the portable telephone set and depressing the speech communication start key.
In the foldable portable telephone set, various control operations may be performed after whether the portable telephone set itself is folded or open is confirmed. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-74691 discloses a technique for monitoring whether the portable telephone set is folded or open, in order to control power consumption. According to this technique, whether the portable telephone set is folded or open is determined by using a photosensor and an LED which constantly flashes when the power supply is ON.
In the conventional foldable portable telephone set, when an incoming call is received as the telephone set is folded, two operations of opening the portable telephone set and depressing the speech communication start key are required. These series of operations are tedious for the user to perform.
If whether the portable telephone set is folded or open is to be monitored by using a photosensor and an LED which flashes constantly, the power consumption of the LED increases. This cuts the wait time and speech communication time of the portable telephone set short.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of the above situations in the prior art, and has as its object to provide a foldable portable telephone set in which, when an incoming call is received as the telephone set is folded, operations required before start of a speech communication can be facilitated.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a foldable portable telephone set in which, when whether the portable telephone set is folded or open is to be monitored by using a light-emitting portion and a photosensor, the power consumption of the light-emitting portion is minimized, and so the wait time and the speech communication time can be prolonged.
In order to achieve the above objects, according to a principal aspect of the present invention, there is provided a foldable portable telephone set, which is foldable so as to be conveniently carried and allows a speech communication in an open state, and in which a light-emitting portion which emits light when an incoming call is received and a light-detecting portion which detects light from the light-emitting portion are arranged such that, in a folded state, the light-detecting portion can detect light from the light-emitting portion, and in an open state, the light-detecting portion cannot detect light from the light-emitting portion, the foldable portable telephone set comprising an automatic off-hook function so that, after light emission of the light-emitting portion is started when an incoming call is received, if light from the light-emitting portion is detected once by the light-detecting portion but is not detected by the light-detecting portion again immediately thereafter, the foldable portable telephone set is automatically shifted to a speech communication mode even if speech communication start operation is not performed.
When the foldable portable telephone set is formed as in the principal aspect described above, when an incoming call is received as the telephone set is folded, the user can start a speech communication by only opening the portable telephone set.
If the light-emitting portion emits light only during the transition time between immediately after the termination and start of the speech communication mode, the power consumption of the light-emitting portion can be decreased.
According to the present invention, whether the foldable portable telephone set is folded or open can be determined by optical detection. When an incoming call is received as the telephone set is folded, the user can start a speech communication by only opening the portable telephone set. Therefore, the burden of user operation can be alleviated.
Since the light-emitting portion used for detection of the folded/open state operates only during the transition time between immediately after the termination and start of the speech communication mode, the power consumption of the light-emitting portion can be decreased, and the wait time and speech communication time can be prolonged.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4847900 (1989-07-01), Wakim
patent: 5148471 (1992-09-01), Metroka et al.
patent: 5327584 (1994-07-01), Adachi et al.
patent: 5442814 (1995-08-01), Seo
patent: 5463687 (1995-10-01), Takizawa
patent: 5493690 (1996-02-01), Shimazaki
patent: 5504813 (1996-04-01), Takasaki
patent: 5615259 (1997-03-01), Gilbert
patent: 5668867 (1997-09-01), Nagai
patent: 5706332 (1998-01-01), Nagai
patent: 7-074691 (1995-03-01), None
Legree Tracy
NEC Corporation
Young & Thompson
LandOfFree
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