JP3937344B2 - Folding mobile phone - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a foldable mobile phone, and more particularly to a foldable mobile phone capable of rotating a display unit provided in an upper housing to be folded.

  In recent years, mobile phones have a mail function, an image display function, and the like, and have become highly functional and multi-functional. Thus, various applications such as e-mail and games can be used as well as telephone calls. Furthermore, at present, cameras are standard equipment on most mobile phones. As its application, a still image or a moving image photographed by a camera is transmitted to a friend by e-mail, or used for a Steinby screen of a liquid crystal display of its own device. At that time, there are many opportunities for the operator to photograph the operator himself / herself with a mobile phone.

  Conventionally, a mobile phone equipped with a camera is attached to a surface on which a lens is mounted, and when an operator takes a picture of the operator, the user takes a picture while referring to the display. The person himself was able to shoot.

  Patent Document 1 is a foldable mobile phone having a display unit on both the front and back surfaces of an upper housing, and by reducing the number of components related to the display unit, it is possible to reduce the cost of parts and assembly, and to reduce the size. We are proposing a mobile phone that can be realized.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a camera-equipped mobile phone that can be turned in the same direction as or opposite to the liquid crystal display portion that captures a subject by rotating the camera about a part of the main body by a hinge portion. Suggests a phone. Therefore, the operator can take a picture while confirming the operator who is the subject on the liquid crystal display unit by turning the camera and the liquid crystal display unit in the same direction.

Patent Document 3 proposes a foldable mobile phone that can open and close the upper housing in a plurality of directions so that it can be easily used depending on the application, such as when reading and writing mail or making a call. Specifically, a foldable mobile phone is generally vertically long when it is opened for easy communication. However, it is difficult to input characters when reading and writing e-mails when opening and closing in only one vertical direction. Therefore, the above problem is solved by opening and closing in a plurality of directions.
JP 2003-188959 A JP 2003-158727 A JP 2003-60759 A

  However, the above invention has the following problems.

  In addition to the display unit provided on the surface provided with the operation keys and the control device, the mobile phone provided with the display unit on the surface provided with the camera lens is equipped with two display units. Thinning required for telephones is difficult.

  The invention described in Patent Document 1 proposes a foldable mobile phone provided with a display unit on both the front and back surfaces of the upper housing. However, the display unit on the back side is simple, such as displaying a telephone number when an incoming call is received. It is not only displaying information, but video taken with the camera cannot be displayed. In addition, since the display portions are provided on both sides, it is impossible to meet the demand for thinning of the folding mobile phone.

  The invention described in Patent Document 2 enables the operator to take a picture while referring to the display unit by rotating the camera itself or the mobile phone body about a part of the main body as a shaft by the hinge part, The display unit itself cannot be rotated. In addition, the camera and the mobile phone body are not integrated.

  The invention described in Patent Document 3 is configured such that when the upper casing is opened and closed in a plurality of directions, the entire upper casing is opened and closed. Therefore, if the camera is installed in the upper housing, the camera itself moves as the upper housing opens and closes, so the operator can take a picture while confirming the operator who is the subject on the display. I can't.

  Therefore, the present invention allows a foldable mobile phone integrated with a camera to be photographed while rotating the display unit itself for displaying video captured by the camera and confirming the operator who is the subject through the display unit. An object of the present invention is to provide a foldable mobile phone.

The invention according to claim 1 includes a lower housing having an operation unit, an upper housing having a display unit on a surface, and a photographing unit for photographing a subject provided on a back surface of the upper housing, In the foldable mobile phone in which the upper housing and the lower housing have the display unit and the operation unit and the front surface faces and folds, the display unit pivots on a peripheral portion of either side of the upper housing Detecting means for detecting that the display unit is rotated, and means for changing the size of an image displayed on the display unit when the detection unit detects rotation of the display unit. It is characterized by having .

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the foldable mobile phone according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an irradiating means for irradiating light to the back surface of the upper casing.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the foldable mobile phone according to the first or second aspect, the display unit is rotated using a hinge on a peripheral portion of one side of the upper casing as a pivot. Features.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the foldable mobile phone according to any one of the first to third aspects, the upper casing has a concave portion at the periphery of the display section.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the foldable mobile phone according to any one of the second to fourth aspects, a switch for switching ON / OFF of light irradiation by the irradiation unit is provided on the operation unit and the lower casing. It has in the side.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the foldable mobile phone according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, a switch for photographing the subject by the photographing means is provided on a side surface of the operation unit and the lower housing. It is characterized by.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the foldable mobile phone according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the power source for rotating the display section is provided.

The invention according to claim 8 is the foldable mobile phone according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , wherein when the upper casing and the lower casing are folded, information on the display unit is displayed. It is characterized by continuing.

  According to the present invention, in a foldable mobile phone integrated with a camera, a display unit that displays an image captured by the camera is folded and rotated around a mobile phone body and a hinge part supported at two points as an axis. Can shoot while confirming the operator who is the subject. Further, since the display portion for displaying the subject is one sheet, the folding mobile phone can be thinned.

  According to the present invention, in a foldable mobile phone integrated with a camera, a display portion that displays an image captured by the camera is folded and rotated around a mobile phone body and a hinge portion supported at two points. In addition, an erroneous operation can be prevented by providing a shutter button and a light button of the camera on the side surface of the lower casing of the folding cellular phone.

  1, 3, and 5 are schematic views of a foldable mobile phone to which the present invention is applied. A foldable mobile phone to which the present invention is applied includes an upper housing 1 and a lower housing 2. The upper housing 1 includes a camera 3 and a light 4 provided on the back surface of the upper housing 1, a camera display screen 5 for displaying video captured by the camera 3, an LCD display unit 6 having a camera display screen, and an LCD display unit 6. The display hinge 7 supports the rotation of the LCD, and the detection switch 10 detects opening / closing of the LCD display 6. On the other hand, the lower housing 2 includes a key operation unit 8 for operating the folding cellular phone, and a side key 9 for operating the shutter and the light 4 of the camera 3 provided on the side surface of the lower housing 2.

  FIG. 6 shows an enlarged view of the display portion hinge 7 that connects the foldable mobile phone and the LCD display portion 6. As shown in FIG. 6, the display unit hinge 7 that connects the LCD display unit 6 and the foldable mobile phone main body has a mechanism that can rotate around a central axis that is fixed to the foldable mobile phone at two points. Yes. The display unit hinge 7 is integrated with the LCD display unit 6, and the display unit hinge 6 rotates and the LCD display unit 6 also rotates.

  FIG. 2 shows an operation in which the camera 3 is activated with the foldable mobile phone opened, and only the LCD display unit 6 rotates using the display unit hinge 7. As shown in FIG. 1, a concave portion is provided on the left side of the LCD display unit 6 as viewed from the drawing. The operator lifts the LCD display unit 6 from the upper housing using the concave portion and pivots the display unit hinge 7 on the axis. Turn to. The LCD display unit 6 can be rotated automatically instead of manually. The LCD display section 6 is configured to rotate 180 ° around the central axis of the display section hinge 7 so as to face the same surface as the camera 3. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the LCD display unit 6 is rotated 180 ° in the same plane as the camera 3. A camera 3 and a light 9 are attached to the back surface of the upper housing 1. Therefore, when the LCD display unit 6 is rotated 180 ° about the central axis of the display unit hinge 7, the operator can take an image taken from the camera 3 while confirming the operator himself / herself on the LCD display unit 6. Can do. In the state of FIG. 3, when the operator photographs the operator himself / herself, the operator cannot confirm the key operation unit 8, so that the shutter of the camera 3 is placed on the side surface of the lower housing 2 as shown in FIG. 3. Side keys 9 for operating the lights 4 are provided.

  Next, a specific operation for photographing the operator himself will be described with reference to FIG. First, the operator activates the camera 3 provided in the folding mobile phone (step S401). Then, when photographing the operator himself, the LCD display unit 6 is rotated on the same plane as the camera 3 (step S402). When the LCD display unit 6 rotates about the display unit hinge 7, it is detected by the detection switch 10. When the detection switch 11 is ON, the LCD display unit 6 is not rotated and is on the same surface as the key operation unit 8. On the other hand, when the detection switch 10 is OFF, the LCD display unit 6 is in a state of being rotated about the display unit hinge 7. Therefore, when the detection switch changes from ON to OFF, the foldable mobile phone recognizes that the LCD display unit 6 has rotated about the central axis of the display unit hinge 7 (step S403). When the rotation of the LCD display unit 6 is recognized (step S403), the LCD display unit 6 is configured so that the image taken by the camera 3 is not displayed on the portion where the upper casing 1 and the LCD display unit 6 overlap. The display size is changed (step S404). Here, the display size in the LCD display unit 6 refers to the size of the image displayed on the LCD display unit 6 and is different from the size of the actually captured image. The operator takes an image with the side key 10 provided on the side surface of the lower housing 2 while confirming the image displayed on the LCD display unit 6 rotated on the same plane as the camera 3 (step S405). As described above, there are two side keys 10, one for operating the shutter of the camera 3, and the other for turning on / off the light. The camera 3 can also be activated by holding down the side key 10 of the shutter for a predetermined period.

  The operation described above can be used not only when shooting a still image with the camera 3, but also when shooting a moving image.

  Further, the foldable mobile phone to which the present invention is applied can also fold the upper casing 1 and the lower casing 2 while rotating the LCD display unit 6 while maintaining the state shown in FIG. When the upper housing 1 and the lower housing 2 are folded while the LCD display unit 6 is rotated, the display of the image on the LCD display unit 6 is maintained and is not turned off. Therefore, even when the operator folds the upper housing 1 and the lower housing 2, information (date and time, incoming call history, etc.) displayed on the LCD display portion 6 by rotating the LCD display portion 6. Can be confirmed.

  In this embodiment, the display unit hinge 7 is provided on the right side of the LCD display unit 6 (FIG. 1). However, the display unit hinge 7 is provided on the other side of the LCD display unit 6. Is also possible.

  In the present embodiment, a recess is provided on the left side of the boundary between the upper housing 1 and the LCD display unit 6 (FIG. 1), but at the other boundary where the display unit hinge 7 is not provided. It is also possible to provide a recess.

It is a figure which shows the outline of the folding type mobile telephone to which this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows a mode that the LCD display part of the folding type mobile telephone to which this invention is applied is rotated. It is a figure which shows the back surface when the LCD display part of the folding type mobile telephone to which this invention is applied is rotated. It is a flowchart of the operation | movement which image | photographs an image in the state which rotated the LCD display part. It is a figure which shows the surface when rotating the LCD display part of the folding type mobile telephone to which this invention is applied. It is an enlarged view of the hinge part which rotates the LCD display part of the folding-type mobile phone to which this invention is applied.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Upper housing | casing 2 Lower housing | casing 3 Camera 4 Light 5 Camera display screen 6 LCD display part 7 Display part hinge 8 Key operation part 9 Side key 10 Detection switch

Claims (8)

A lower casing having an operation section; an upper casing having a display section on a surface; and a photographing unit for photographing a subject provided on a back surface of the upper casing; the upper casing and the lower casing In the foldable mobile phone that the surface having the display unit and the operation unit folds facing each other,
The display unit is installed so as to be rotatable about a peripheral part of any side of the upper housing as a pivot ,
Detecting means for detecting that the display unit is rotated;
Means for changing a size of an image displayed on the display unit when rotation of the display unit is detected by the detection unit;
Folding type portable telephone characterized in that it comprises a.   2. The foldable mobile phone according to claim 1, further comprising an irradiating unit that irradiates light on a back surface of the upper casing.   The foldable mobile phone according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the display unit is rotated by using a hinge as a pivot on a peripheral portion of one side of the upper housing.   The foldable mobile phone according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the upper casing has a concave portion at a periphery of the display unit. Folding type portable telephone according to any one of claims 2 4, characterized in that it comprises a switch for switching ON / OFF of light irradiation by the irradiation unit on the side surface of the operation portion and the lower housing. Folding type portable telephone according to any one of claims 1 5, characterized in that it comprises a switch for capturing the subject to the side of the operating portion and the lower housing by said photographing means. Folding type portable telephone according to any one of claims 1 6, characterized in that it comprises a power source for rotating the display unit. The foldable mobile phone according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , wherein when the upper casing and the lower casing are folded, the information on the display unit is continuously displayed.

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