Telecommunications – Transmitter and receiver at same station – Radiotelephone equipment detail
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-26
2004-03-16
Chin, Vivian (Department: 2682)
Telecommunications
Transmitter and receiver at same station
Radiotelephone equipment detail
C455S575100, C455S090300, C279S110000, C279S110000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06708046
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to folding portable telephones, and more particularly, relates to a folding portable telephone which is folded to be carried, and is unfolded to be used to make telephone conversations.
Portable telephones are structurally divided into two types: a folding type and a so-called stick-type, which does not have a folding structure.
When folded, a folding portable telephone becomes so much smaller in size than a stick-type portable telephone that the folding portable telephone is easy to carry compared with the stick-type portable telephone. However, the folding portable telephone requires unfolding and folding actions every time a telephone conversation is made, which is not the case with the stick-type portable telephone. Therefore, the folding portable telephone is desirably structured to facilitate its unfolding and folding actions for enhanced operability thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1A
is a perspective view of a conventional folding portable telephone
10
folded to be carried and
FIG. 1B
is a perspective view of the conventional folding portable telephone
10
unfolded to make telephone conversations. The conventional folding portable telephone
10
can be automatically unfolded by pushing a button provided thereto. The conventional folding portable telephone
10
includes a first housing
11
including operation buttons
14
, a second housing
12
including a display section and a hinge
13
connecting the first and second housings
11
and
12
. The first housing
11
includes the operation buttons
14
and a microphone
15
. The second housing
12
includes a liquid crystal panel
16
as the display section, an antenna
17
and a speaker
18
. A hinge module
19
and an oil damper
20
are incorporated into the hinge
13
. A button
21
is provided close to the hinge
13
on a side lla of the first housing
11
.
When not in use, the conventional folding portable telephone
10
is folded as shown in
FIG. 1A
with the second housing
12
coupled to the first housing
11
by a lock claw
22
.
On the other hand, when a user makes telephone conversations, the user holds the first housing
11
of the conventional folding portable telephone
10
in the palm of a left hand
30
, and pushes the button
21
with a thumb
31
of the left hand
30
. By this operation, the lock claw
22
is moved back inside by a rotation lever
23
to release the lock on the second housing
12
, so that the second housing
12
is rotated with respect to the first housing
11
by a spring
19
a
in the hinge module
19
in an opening direction indicated by the arrow A shown in FIG.
1
B. As a result, the second housing
12
is opened by approximately 145 degrees up from the first housing
11
. The oil damper
20
allows the second housing
12
to be opened slowly. Then, the user stretches out the antenna
17
and talks on the unfolded conventional folding portable telephone
10
brought close to the face with the speaker
18
touching the ear.
When the telephone conversations are over, the user manually retracts the antenna
17
and rotates the second housing
12
in a closing direction indicated by the arrow B shown in
FIG. 1B
until the second housing
12
is coupled to the first housing
11
by the lock claw
22
. In this way, the conventional folding portable telephone
10
is folded as shown in FIG.
1
A.
The oil damper
20
functions also in the case of rotating the second housing
12
in the closing direction. Therefore, the closing action of the second housing
12
is made against the viscous force of the oil damper
12
, preventing the second housing
12
from being quickly closed. Thus, the operability of the conventional folding portable telephone
10
is not considered good enough.
The lock on the second housing
12
of the folded conventional folding portable telephone
10
is released not only by pushing the button
21
as previously described, but also by forcibly rotating the second housing
12
to some extent with respect to the first housing
11
. The button
21
is pushed with the thumb of the left hand
30
of the user holding the conventional folding portable telephone
10
in the palm thereof. However, the user has to use both hands to forcibly rotate the second housing
12
with respect to the first housing
11
. This is another reason why the operability of the conventional folding portable telephone is not considered sufficient.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a folding portable telephone in which the above disadvantages are eliminated.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a folding portable telephone which allows its folding action to be made quickly with little force.
The above objects of the present invention are achieved by a folding portable telephone including a first housing to be held in a hand of a user, a hinge attached to one end of the first housing a second housing movably supported by the hinge, a damper unit incorporated into the hinge and a unidirectional clutch unit incorporated into the hinge, wherein the unidirectional clutch unit is connected to the damper unit so as to allow the damper unit to generate given resistance with respect to a rotational movement of the second housing when the second housing is rotated in an opening direction thereof, and to prevent the damper unit from generating the given resistance with respect to the rotational movement thereof when the second housing is rotated in a closing direction thereof.
According to the above-mentioned structure, the folding portable telephone can be quickly folded with little force as the damper unit does not function in the folding action of the folding portable telephone.
The above objects of the present invention are also achieved by a folding portable telephone including a first housing to be held in a hand of a user, a hinge attached to one end of the first housing, a second housing movably supported by the hinge, a damper unit incorporated into the hinge, a unidirectional clutch unit incorporated into the hinge, a lock mechanism which provides a lock on the second housing to keep the second housing closed down to said first housing, the lock being released when said second housing is pried open, a spring which presses the second housing in an opening direction thereof, and a space between each of corresponding longitudinal sides of the first and second housings when the folding portable telephone is folded so that the second housing is pried open by inserting a finger of the user into each of the spaces, wherein the unidirectional unit is connected to the damper unit so as to allow the damper unit to generate given resistance with respect to a rotational movement of the second housing when the second housing is rotated in an opening direction thereof, and to prevent the damper unit from generating the given resistance with respect to the rotational movement thereof when the second housing is rotated in a closing direction thereof.
The above objects of the present invention are also achieved by a folding portable telephone including a first housing to be held in a hand of a user, a hinge attached to one end of the first housing, and a second housing movably supported by the hinge, wherein a space is formed between each of corresponding longitudinal sides of the first and second housings when the folding portable telephone is folded so that the second housing is pried open by inserting a finger of the user into each of the spaces.
The above objects of the present invention are further achieved by a folding portable telephone including a first housing to be held in a hand of a user, a hinge attached to one end of the first housing, a second housing movably supported by the hinge, a lock mechanism which provides a lock on the second housing to keep the second housing closed down to the first housing, the lock being released when the second housing is pried open, and a spring which presses the second housin
Chin Vivian
Katten Muchin Zavis & Rosenman
Tran Tuan
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