Portable radio telephone

Details Portable radio telephone Portable radio telephone

1998-05-07

2002-04-30

Wimer, Michael G. (Department: 2821)

Communications: radio wave antennas

Antennas

With radio cabinet

C343S895000, C379S433130, C455S575100

Reexamination Certificate

active

06380897

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a portable radio telephone having a projecting antenna. The portable radio telephone may, for example, be a radio telephone such as a conventional handheld cellular telephone, or it may be a so-called smart radio telephone or personal organizer having radio frequency (RF) communication capabilities.
A handheld cellular telephone generally includes an antenna for transmitting and receiving radio frequency signals. Some handheld cellular telephones have antennas which are movable, for example, between retracted and extended positions.
European patent publication EP 0 516 490 shows an example of a movable antenna for a portable cellular radio telephone, in the form of a whip antenna which may be extended out of the housing of the portable telephone, or retracted into the housing of the portable telephone.
The Ericsson EH97 handheld cellular telephone shows another example of a movable antenna. Here the movable antenna is in the form of a rod antenna joined to the side of the cellular telephone housing so that it may rotate through 360 degrees. The antenna can be rotated manually by a user between a retracted position and an extended position (see FIG.
1
).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention there is provided a portable radio telephone having an antenna which can be pivoted between a first position in which it projects from a surface of the telephone housing, and a second position in which it projects from the surface of the telephone housing, to control the operation of the telephone.
A portable radio telephone in accordance with the invention may have an advantage that the telephone can be controlled simply by pivoting the antenna between a first position and a second position.
The antenna of the portable radio telephone projects from a surface of the telephone housing in both the first position and the second position. Thus a user can easily pivot the antenna from the first position to the second position or vice versa to control the operation of the telephone. This provides an advantage over conventional methods of controlling the operation of a telephone such as, for example, activating keys on a keypad or opening and closing a two-part telephone.
As the size of radio telephones decreases, the size of the keys of the keypad tends to decrease accordingly, whereas the size of the antenna tends to remain the same. Therefore, the use of a pivoting antenna in accordance with the invention may become increasingly advantageous as keys become smaller and more difficult to operate. In some instances the use of a pivoting antenna in accordance with the invention may make the use of a conventional keypad redundant.
Having the antenna projecting from the surface of the telephone housing in both the first position and the second position may also improve performance of the antenna by providing a better radiation pattern compared to an antenna not projecting from a surface.
Preferably the telephone comprises switching means for switching the telephone between first and second operational states in response to movement of the antenna between the first and second positions. In this way the telephone may operate in a first operational state when the antenna is in the first position and in a second operational state when the antenna is in the second position. The switching means may respond to movement of the antenna between the first and second positions by sensing the movement of the antenna as it pivots between the two positions. Alternatively, the switching means may respond to movement of the antenna between the first and second positions by sensing the antenna reaching the first and/or second positions.
In one preferred embodiment the first operational state of the telephone is an on-hook state and the second operational state of the telephone is an off-hook state. This may provide the advantage that a user may start and end a telephone call by simply moving the antenna back and forth between two predetermined positions. In this embodiment the portable telephone may dispose with the conventional ‘send’ and ‘end’ keys thus saving space on the keypad of the portable telephone. When carrying the portable telephone in a pocket this embodiment may provide a further advantage of allowing the user to answer calls quickly by pivoting the antenna as the telephone is removed from the pocket.
In another preferred embodiment the first operational state is a powered up state of the telephone and the second operational state is a powered down state of the telephone.
In another preferred embodiment the telephone includes a user actuable key, whereby in the first operational state the key is enabled and in the second operational state the key is disabled. This may provide an advantage that the user can avoid accidental depression of keys on the keypad by pivoting the antenna to a position in which the key is disabled. Ideally, this feature may also operate for more than one key of the keypad or ultimately all the keys of the keypad. In this way the pivotal movement of the antenna to a certain position may activate a so-called keyguard facility.
In another preferred embodiment the telephone further comprises a user interface including illuminating means, whereby in the first operational state the illuminating means is active and in the second operational state the illuminating means is inactive. This may provide an advantage that by pivoting the antenna the lights illuminating the display and/or keypad may be switched on or off.
In a preferred embodiment the portable radio telephone further comprises a user interface including voice recognition means, whereby in the first operational state the voice recognition means is active and in the second operational state the voice recognition means is inactive.
This may provide an advantageous way of making a telephone call whereby the antenna is pivoted to a position for activating the voice recognition, the user then speaks the name of the person to be called and the telephone dials the number. The call is then ended by moving the antenna back to its original position.
In a preferred embodiment the surface which the antenna projects from is an end surface of the telephone. Ideally the surface is a top surface of the telephone.
Preferably the antenna is a helical antenna which may be substantially axially symmetric.
The shape of the antenna may be cylindrical, or it may be conical.
In a preferred embodiment the antenna is attached to the telephone by a hinge arrangement.
In a preferred embodiment the hinge arrangement permits rotation of the antenna only in a single plane.
In a preferred embodiment the hinge permits rotation of the antenna only through an acute angle.


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