Abstract:
An integrated mobile phone and personal digital assistant that includes a telephone keypad which folds onto a personal digital assistant screen with the keypad exposed, and slides to expose a portion of the screen, and unfolds to expose the entire screen, thereby allowing both devices to share a single screen for their respective operations.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to Provisional Application No. 60/151,033, filed Aug. 27, 1999, incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to a combined mobile telephone and personal digital assistant (PDA) and more particularly to a telephone including a slidable telephone keypad which exposes part of the PDA display screen during telephone operation, and which is foldable open to expose the complete PDA display for operation of the PDA. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Many individuals carry individual pagers, mobile telephones and PDAs. The name of a contact might be listed in a PDA as well as stored in the mobile phone. Such duplication naturally requires entry of the information multiple times, resulting in an information overlap among these devices. Furthermore, carrying numerous devices is cumbersome and wasteful. 
     One possible solution to the problem of entering data multiple times is communication ports between the mobile phone and the PDA. Such ports include infra-red and data cable links, although these additions will raise the cost and not solve the problem of having too many devices. 
     There have been various attempts to combine one or more of the devices into a single unit which is carried by the user. There is a need for a device which combines at least a mobile telephone and a PDA in a compact, easy-to-use manner, and which can make use of the PDA display both during operation of the device as a mobile telephone and as a PDA. 
     OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is a general object of the present invention to provide a compact, attractive, easy-to-use combined mobile telephone and PDA. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide a combined mobile telephone and PDA in which the PDA display is used both during telephone operation and also in the PDA operation. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device containing a personal digital assistant and a mobile telephone in which there is a touch sensitive display screen protected by a cover. Along with the cover is a means for attaching the cover to an end of the device and hingably mounting the cover to the device in order to allow rotation away from the display screen. The cover has two parallel spaced rails and a support member including operating electronics, a keypad slidably mounted on the cover between the two parallel spaced rails, facing away from the display screen, and electrically linked to the electronics in the support member. The keypad slides to expose a portion of the display screen before encountering a stop. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The foregoing and other objects of the invention will be more clearly understood from the description to follow when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective top view of the mobile telephone PDA device with the telephone in the folded and closed position. 
     FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the mobile telephone PDA device shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of the mobile telephone PDA device with the keypad slid open to expose part of the PDA display. 
     FIG. 4 is a top perspective view of the mobile telephone PDA device with the keypad folded in the open position exposing the full PDA display. 
     FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the mobile telephone PDA device showing the bottom of the keypad and the telephone&#39;s electronic support and keypad guide. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1 is a view of a mobile telephone PDA device  10  in accordance with the present invention. The device  10  includes a PDA base assembly  12  and a cover  13  hinged to the base by hinges  14 . The electrical connection (not shown) between the PDA base assembly  12  and the cover  13  exists through the hinges  14 . The device  10  determines whether it is being used as a phone or a PDA depending on whether the cover  13  is open or closed, which can be determined by a switch (mechanical, electrical, magnetic, etc.) between the two assemblies  12  and  13  or within the hinges  14 . 
     The cover  13  includes spaced rails  17  and a slidable keypad  16 . The keypad  16  includes a microphone  21 , number keys  22 , and control keys  23 . The speaker  24  for the cover  13  is located at an end of the device  10  opposite the microphone  21 . The device operates as a phone if the cover  13  is closed and the keypad  16  is slid out along the spaced rails  17 . The spaced rails  17  are supported by a support member  18 , shown in FIG.  5 . The antennae  8  is shown to the side of the speaker  24 , although the antennae  8  can be located in any convenient area. 
     FIG. 2 shows the rear side of the device  10 . In this particular embodiment the stencil  30  for the PDA base assembly  12  is located opposite the antennae  8 . The stencil  30  is slid out of the PDA base assembly  12  and removed for use. The battery  26  may take the form of alkaline, rechargeable or any other suitable battery and it is located in the rear of the PDA base assembly  12 . 
     FIG. 3 shows the front side of the device  10  with the keypad  16  slid down to partially expose a touch-sensitive screen  27 , the device  10  able to receive input from either buttons  23 ,  22 , or  28 , or direct contact with the screen  27  surface. The device  10  is therefore configured to operate as a telephone. The spaced rails  17  allow the keypad  16  to slide a limited distance before encountering a stop (not shown) that prevents further movement. The keypad  16  is electrically connected to the support member  18 , which includes operating electronics (not shown), by contacts  19  on the rear of the keypad  16  (shown in FIG. 5) and electrical contacts (not shown) on the front of the electrical support member  18 . Sliding down the keypad  16  reduces interference between the microphone  21  and the speaker  24  by placing them farther apart from one another. 
     While in the phone mode, the screen  27  displays information for the user such as signal and battery strength, number to dial, incoming caller ID, phone book, etc. Although the device  10  can operate as a phone without sliding down the screen  27 , in the preferred embodiment the screen slides down in order to position the speaker  24  and the microphone  21  relative to a user&#39;s ear and mouth. A further option is to disable the activation of the phone until the screen  27  slides down a minimum distance. 
     FIG. 4 shows the device  10  in PDA mode. The keypad  16  on the cover  13  is slid back into a closed position, covering the screen  27 . The cover  3  is then raised from the PDA base assembly  12  in order to expose the full screen  27 . The cover  13  rotates about the hinges  14  and can move through a 180 degree arc. 
     The device  10  operates in PDA mode by using the control buttons  28  and by inputting commands using the stencil  30  via the touch-sensitive screen  27 . In one embodiment of the invention, the device  10  is unable to operate in phone mode if the cover  13  is open at all. In another embodiment of the invention the device  10  could still operate in phone mode despite being open, for instance to transmit to a phone/PDA device of another user information within the device&#39;s  10  database that is easier to access through the touch-sensitive screen  27 . 
     FIG. 5 shows an exploded view of the PDA base assembly  12  and the cover  13 . The keypad  16  maintains contacts  19  on its rear side that provide power and an avenue for communications between the keypad  16  and the device  10 . The contacts  19  interface with electrical contacts (not shown) on the support member  18  which further provides an electrical connection (not shown) with the device  10  through the hinges  14 . The spaced rails  17  on the electronic support member  18  slidably receive the keypad  16 . The hinges  14  on the electronic support member  18  rotatably mount to the socket  40  on the PDA base assembly  12  and electrically connect through the socket  40 . 
     The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used scientific nomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the specific details are not required in order to practice the invention. The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention are presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, obviously many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.