Abstract:
An electronic device, comprises a housing including circuitry mounted therein and a touch screen removably mounted on the housing so that a first surface of the touch screen faces out from the housing to display output and receive contact input from a user in combination with a plurality of first electrical contacts receiving from the touch screen electrical signals corresponding to the contact input, the first electrical contacts located on a second surface of the touch screen and a plurality of second electrical contacts coupled to the circuitry, the second electrical contacts being positioned so that, when the touch screen is mounted on the housing, each of the second electrical contacts electrically couples to a corresponding one of the first electrical contacts electrically coupling the touch screen to the circuitry.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     An inherent problem in many mobile devices relates to durability of a touch panel included therein. Due to continual intermittent pressure exerted upon the touch panel in everyday usage, the touch panels of mobile devices often become dislodged, worn, bent or cracked. Further, if the glass covering is cracked if the device is dropped or impacted may also damage an outer conductive layer of some types of touch panels.  
         [0002]     The touch panels of conventional MD&#39;s are generally electrically coupled to internal circuitry by a flexible tail composed of one or more wires with one end of the tail coupled to the touch panel while the second end is coupled of the tail to a connector mated with a corresponding connector on a printed circuit board (“PCB”) internal to the device. Alternatively, the second end of the tail may be directly connected to the PCB. Thus replacement of these touch panels is difficult and often necessitates sending the device for service or replacing the device entirely.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     The present invention is directed to an electronic device comprising a housing including circuitry mounted therein and a touch screen removably mounted on the housing so that a first surface of the touch screen faces out from the housing to display output and receive contact input from a user in combination with a plurality of first electrical contacts receiving from the touch screen electrical signals corresponding to the contact input, the first electrical contacts located on a second surface of the touch screen and a plurality of second electrical contacts coupled to the circuitry, the second electrical contacts being positioned so that, when the touch screen is mounted on the housing, each of the second electrical contacts electrically couples to a corresponding one of the first electrical contacts electrically coupling the touch screen to the circuitry. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0004]      FIG. 1  shows an exemplary embodiment of a mobile device having a touch pad arrangement according to the present invention;  
         [0005]      FIG. 2  shows an exemplary embodiment of an inner portion of a mobile device having a touch pad arrangement according to the present invention;  
         [0006]      FIG. 3  shows an exemplary embodiment of an integration of the mobile device and the touch pad arrangement according to the present invention;  
         [0007]      FIG. 4  shows another view of the exemplary embodiment of the integration of the mobile device and the touch pad arrangement shown in  FIG. 3 ;  
         [0008]      FIG. 5  shows another exemplary embodiment of an integration of the mobile device and the touch pad arrangement according to the present invention; and  
         [0009]      FIG. 6  shows another view of the exemplary embodiment of the integration of the mobile device and the touch pad arrangement shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0010]     The present invention may be further understood with reference to the following description and the appended drawings, wherein like elements are referred to with the same reference numerals. The present invention will be described with reference to a touch panel utilized in a mobile device (e.g., a PDA, a palm sized personal computer, a cellular telephone, a global positioning system (GPS), a bar code scanner, a digital imager, a radio frequency identification (RFID) device, etc.). However, those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention is equally suited for any electronic device utilizing a touch panel, including stationary computing devices such as printers, copy machines, touch panel monitors, etc.  
         [0011]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , a mobile device (“MD”)  10  includes a housing  16 , a touch panel  12 , and a frame  14  for the touch panel  12 . The frame  14  is secured to the housing  16  by, for example, screws  18 , or any other form of attachment (e.g., adhesive, integrally formed latches, mechanical fasteners, etc.). The housing  16  may be monocoque (i.e., substantially formed from one piece of material) or it may be formed from two or more pieces coupled to one another. For example, the housing  16  may be manufactured as two halves of material which are affixed together upon assembly. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the housing  16  may be manufactured utilizing a molding process, for example, injection molding, blow molding, compression molding, or extrusion molding. The material forming the housing  16  may be any substantially rigid material, such as a Polycarbonate, a Lucite, an Acrylic, a Perspex® or any combination thereof.  
         [0012]     The housing  16  encases a number of internal components including, for example, the circuitry and battery of the MD  10 . As would be understood by those skilled in the art, the circuitry may include, for example, an address/data bus for communicating information, a processor coupled with the bus for processing information and instructions, a volatile memory (e.g., random access memory) coupled to the bus for storing information and instructions for the processor and/or a non-volatile memory (e.g., read only memory) coupled to the bus for storing static information and instructions for the processor. The MD  10  may further include a data storage device (e.g., a memory stick) coupled to the bus to provide additional data and/or instruction storage.  
         [0013]     The touch panel  12  of the MD  10  according to one embodiment of the present invention, is external to display information to a user and to receive input from the user in the form of contacts of areas of the screen corresponding to information currently displayed thereon. As would be understood by those skilled in the art, various possible arrangements of displays and different types of displays are suitable for use with the current invention. For example, the display may be an LCD, a cathode ray tube (CRT), a field emission device (FED, or flat panel CRT), or any other display suitable for generating images and/or alphanumeric characters recognizable to the user.  
         [0014]     The touch panel  12  is electrically coupled to the circuitry of the MD  10  so that, as the touch panel  12  is actuated (e.g., touched by the user with a finger or stylus) the processor detects the actuation, determines a location of the actuation and a relationship between the location and an image portrayed on the display to determine an appropriate action (if any) to execute as a result of the actuation. For example, the display may output an image depicting a plurality of boxes, each representing a unique predetermined function. When a user selects one of these functions by touching the corresponding box (e.g., by hand or using a stylus), the processor determines the location of the actuation as within the selected box and executes the corresponding function.  
         [0015]     Several different systems for detecting a point of contact exist including, but not limited to, a resistive system, a capacitive system, an inductive system, and a surface wave acoustic system. The resistive system includes a conductive metallic layer and a resistive metallic layer which are held apart by spacers. The two layers contact one another as they are pressed toward one another by the user contact with the transfer of electrical current allowing the exact location of the user contact to be identified. The capacitive system includes a capacitive layer which stores electrical charge transferred to item contacting the layer (e.g., a finger) causing a reduction in the charge on the capacitive layer which is detected to calculate the exact location of the touch. The inductive system determines the location of user actuation based on changes in the strength of a magnetic field deployed above the surface as a special stylus is moved over the surface. The surface wave acoustic system includes a pair of transducers, each working with a corresponding reflector which reflect an electrical signal sent by the transducer. Each transducer determines whether its signal has been disturbed by contact and the processor uses the data from the two transducers to locate the contact.  
         [0016]     According to an embodiment of the present invention, circuitry for the touch panel  12  extends around the touch panel  12  to a surface of the touch panel  12  different from that on which the user touches the panel  12  (e.g., a surface facing an interior of the housing  16 ) to a plurality of touch panel contacts  30 . In this embodiment, the touch panel contacts  30  are positioned so that, when the touch panel  12  is received within the housing  16  in a desired orientation, the touch panel contacts  30  are aligned with electrical contacts  20  coupled to main circuitry of the MD  10  to establish a connection between the touch panel  12  and the main circuitry of the MD  10  in response to user actuation.  
         [0017]     As shown in  FIGS. 2-4 , the electrical contacts  20  extend from an inner portion of the housing  16  toward an area at which an edge of the touch panel  12  including the touch panel contacts  30  is received when the touch panel  12  is mounted within the housing  16 . The electrical contacts  20  may be any of a number of types, including but not limited to pogo pins and leaf springs to establish electrical contact with the touch panel contacts  30  as the touch panel  12  is slid into position within the housing  16 . This type of connection then poses no bar to removing the touch panel  12  when service or replacement of this part is required. As would be understood by those skilled in the art, the touch panel contacts  30  and the electrical contacts  20  may be formed of any conductive material, such as silver, gold, copper, etc., and preferably rest flat against one another. Furthermore, the mechanical engagement of the electrical contacts  20  and the touch panel contacts  30  may be enhanced by any suitable means, including adhesive, solder, etc. so long as disassembly of the device by the user is not impeded. As would be understood by those skilled in the art, the electrical contacts  20  may be secured to the inner surface of the housing  16  by any suitable means including, for example, a plate  22 .  
         [0018]     Although the circuitry for the touch panel  12  is described as extending around the touch panel to the back surface (i.e., the surface opposite that on which user input is received), those skilled in the art will understand that the touch panel contacts  30  may be mounted on or extend from a side surface of the touch panel  12  with the electrical contacts  20  repositioned to engage the contacts  30 . Furthermore, the circuitry of the touch panel  12  may extend through the touch panel  12  if desired.  
         [0019]     As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  the touch panel  12  may be inserted into the housing  16  via an aperture  36  which may be located in any surface of the housing  16  and locked in place with a member  34  which removably seals the aperture  36 . The member  34  is preferably coupled, for example, mechanically or adhesively, semi-permanently to the aperture  36  and/or the housing  16  so that a user may remove the member  34  without damaging the housing  16  or any other component of the MD  10 . Thus, the touch panel  12  may be easily slid out of the MD  10  via the aperture  36  if, for example, it is damaged or destroyed.  
         [0020]      FIGS. 5 and 6  portray an exemplary embodiment of the present invention wherein the touch panel  12  is coupled to the housing  16  via a frame  40 . As shown, an outer surface of the housing  16  includes a region  48  adapted to receive the touch panel  12 . As would be understood by those skilled in the art, the size and shape of the region  48  is preferably selected to correspond to a size and shape of the touch panel  12  with, for example, a ledge  52  and a cutout  50  holding the touch panel in a desired location and orientation within the region  48  with the touch panel contacts  30  in alignment with the electrical contacts  20 . Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that the touch panel  12  may be secured to the housing  16  by any known means including adhesive, mechanical fasteners, etc. so long as the touch panel  12  may be removed without damaging the housing and/or the touch panel  12 .  
         [0021]     As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the touch panel  12  according to a further embodiment of the invention is secured within the region  48  by a frame  40  including an opening  46  through which a user may access the touch panel  12 . In the exemplary embodiment, the frame  40  contains holes  42 , through which screws  44  may be inserted into corresponding holes in the housing  16  to tighten the frame  40  against the frame  16 . Those skilled in the art will understand that the frame  40  may be tightened to compress the touch panel  12  against the housing  16  to enhance contact between the electrical contacts  20  and  30 . Although a total of four screws is illustrated in this embodiment, it will be understood that any number of screws may be used to secure the assembled components of the mobile terminal.  
         [0022]     According to this embodiment of the present invention, the touch panel  12  may also be easily removed from the housing  16  by removing the screws  44  and lifting the frame  40  from the touch panel  12 . The user may then lift the touch panel  12  from the housing  16  for repair or replacement.  
         [0023]     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations may be made in the structure and the methodology of the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.