Wristwatch radiotelephone with deployable voice port

A wristwatch radiotelephone is usable as a radiotelephone without the need to remove the apparatus from the user's wrist and without the need to plug any additional elements into the apparatus. During radiotelephone use, simultaneous placement of microphone and speaker ports adjacent the user's mouth and ear, respectively, is facilitated by having at least one of these ports deploy from the remainder of the apparatus to increase the distance between the two ports.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to wristwatch radiotelephones, and more particularly 
to wristwatch radiotelephones which can be used as a radiotelephone 
without removing the apparatus from the user's wrist. 
A number of wristwatch radiotelephone structures have been proposed. Some 
of these structures are intended to be wholly or partly removed from the 
user's wrist and held in his or her hand when the apparatus is to be used 
as a radiotelephone (see, for example, Olsen U.S. Pat. No. 4,847,818, 
Yoshitake U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,864, Seager U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,214,623, 
5,218,577, 5,228,012, 5,235,560, 5,235,561, and 5,274,613, Thorp U.S. Pat. 
Nos. 5,224,076 and 5,251,189, and Houlihan U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,915). 
Others of these structures require the temporary addition of another 
component to the wristwatch for radiotelephone use (see, for example, 
Japanese patent document 59-56586 and FIGS. 8 and 9 of the above-mentioned 
Yoshitake patent). The reason these devices must be removed from the wrist 
and/or temporarily augmented by additional components is that, on the 
wrist and unaugmented, they tend to be too small to provide a microphone 
and a speaker that are sufficiently far apart to enable the microphone and 
speaker to be simultaneously placed near the user's mouth and ear, 
respectively. Thus many of the known structures are removed from the wrist 
so that they can be elongated to increase the linear distance between a 
microphone and a speaker. Alternatively or additionally, a remote speaker 
or a speaker extension is temporarily plugged into the wristwatch in order 
to provide sufficiently widely spaced input and output voice ports. 
Some users of this type of equipment may find it inconvenient or 
undesirable to have to remove the wristwatch from the wrist in order to 
use it as a radiotelephone. It is also believed undesirable to require the 
temporary addition of another element to the wristwatch when 
radiotelephone use is desired. The additional element must somehow be 
carried separately from the wristwatch, and thus it may be more easily 
lost or damaged. 
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of this invention to provide 
improved wristwatch radiotelephone apparatus. 
It is a more particular object of this invention to provide wristwatch 
radiotelephone apparatus which can be conveniently used as a 
radiotelephone without requiring the user to remove the apparatus from his 
or her wrist, and without requiring the temporary addition of other 
elements to the apparatus. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
These and other objects of the invention are accomplished in accordance 
with the principles of the invention by providing wristwatch 
radiotelephone apparatus having at least one voice port (i.e., the 
structure which receives the user's voice from his or her mouth, or the 
structure which delivers to the user's ear audible voice information 
produced by the apparatus from received radio signals) which is deployable 
from the remainder of the apparatus when radiotelephone use is desired. 
The deployable voice port is permanently attached to the wristwatch 
radiotelephone, but it is extendable from the apparatus when 
radiotelephone use is desired. This allows the apparatus to remain on the 
wrist while the deployable voice port is deployed to a position that is 
relatively far from the wrist. The deployable voice port can then be 
placed in or near the user's ear, while the other voice port is placed 
adjacent the user's mouth. Alternatively, the deployable voice port may be 
placed adjacent the user's mouth, while the other voice port is placed 
adjacent the user's ear. 
Any of a wide variety of structures may be used for allowing selective 
deployment of the deployable voice port from the remainder of the 
apparatus. For example, the deployable voice port may be secured to the 
remainder of the apparatus by a flexible tether member that is alternately 
extendable from or retractable into the remainder of the apparatus. Other 
possibilities include mounting the deployable voice port on a telescoping 
and/or folding structure on the remainder of the apparatus. 
Further features of the invention, its nature, and various advantages will 
be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following detailed 
description of the preferred embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
A first illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 1-3. As 
shown in these FIGS., wristwatch radiotelephone 100 includes a strap 
structure 110 with a buckle 112 for releasably encircling a user's wrist. 
Although a particular type of strap structure is shown in FIGS. 1-3, it 
will be understood that any other type of strap structure can be used 
instead if desired. For example, the strap structure may be a resilient 
C-shape which grips the wrist without completely encircling it. Or the 
strap structure may be a resiliently expandable annular structure which 
can be slipped on or off over the hand without the necessity for buckling 
or unbuckling a buckle. 
A combined wristwatch structure and radiotelephone structure 120 is 
disposed at one circumferential location along band structure 110. In this 
particular embodiment structure 120 is shown on what is frequently 
referred to as the "outside" of the user's wrist (i.e., adjacent the 
"back" of the user's hand). Structure 120 includes a display 122 
(typically digital) for visibly displaying such information as the time of 
day, the day of the week, the date, the month, a telephone number being 
dialed, and any other information that it is customary and/or useful to 
display in conjunction with the various timekeeping and radiotelephone 
functions the apparatus is capable of performing. 
Adjacent to display 122 is an array of push buttons 124. Buttons 124 are 
used by the user of the apparatus to control various timekeeping and 
radiotelephone functions of the apparatus. For example, buttons 124 may be 
used to set the time, to set an alarm time, to enable an alarm function, 
to stop an alarm, to enter a telephone number in order to place a 
radiotelephone call to that number, to "pick up" or receive an incoming 
radiotelephone call, to terminate a radiotelephone connection that is no 
longer needed, etc. 
Below buttons 124, as typically viewed by the user, is a structure 130 
which includes two radiotelephone voice ports 132 and 134. Voice port 132 
is a microphone, an opening behind which a microphone is located, or part 
of an acoustic coupling to a microphone located elsewhere in the 
apparatus. Voice port 134 is a speaker, a structure within which a speaker 
is located, or part of an acoustic coupling to a speaker located elsewhere 
in the apparatus. Voice port 134 is normally held resiliently in a recess 
in structure 130 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. However, when it is desired to 
use the apparatus as a radiotelephone, voice port 134 can be pulled out of 
the above-mentioned recess on a flexible tether member 136 as shown in 
FIG. 1. The usable length of tether member 136 is preferably great enough 
to permit voice port 134 to be placed in or near the user's ear while the 
user holds his or her wrist and the remainder of the apparatus on the 
wrist so that voice port 132 is adjacent the user's mouth. Accordingly, 
the user can conveniently speak into voice port 132 while listening to 
received voice via voice port 134. 
Tether member 136 preferably includes an antenna wire for the 
radiotelephone circuitry of apparatus 100 so that when voice port 134 is 
pulled out to deploy that port from the remainder of the apparatus, the 
antenna wire is elongated and becomes more effective as an antenna. Tether 
136 may also include wires for conveying electrical signals to a speaker 
transducer in voice port 134. Alternatively, the speaker transducer may be 
in the apparatus which remains on the user's wrist, and tether member 136 
may include an acoustic coupler (such as a hollow plastic tube) from the 
transducer to voice port 134. 
Tether member 136 is preferably retracted into structure 130 on a reel (not 
shown) inside that structure. This tether dispensing and retracting 
structure may be constructed and operate like a conventional window shade 
mechanism, or it may be constructed and operate like a conventional 
automatic power cord retractor for a vacuum cleaner. Thus any length of 
tether member 136 can be pulled out and will remain out as long as 
desired. But when it is desired to retract tether member 136, a spring 
turns a reel to pull the tether member back into structure 130. This 
retraction operation may be initiated by a momentary further extension of 
the tether member (as in the case of a window shade type mechanism) or by 
manipulating structure 130 to disengage a brake and cause retraction to 
occur (as in the case of a power cord type retractor). For example the 
brake may be released when the user presses in on structure 130. 
The timekeeping and radiotelephone circuitry of apparatus may be entirely 
conventional (e.g., as shown in the above-mentioned Olsen patent 
(incorporated by reference herein) or as shown in any of the other patents 
mentioned above). 
A second illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 4-8. As 
shown in these FIGS., wristwatch radiotelephone 200 includes a strap 
structure 210 that may be similar to above-described strap structure 110. 
Apparatus 200 also includes a combined wristwatch structure and 
radiotelephone structure 220 that may be generally similar to 
above-described structure 120. Thus structure 220 includes display 222 and 
push buttons 224 that may be similar, respectively, to above-described 
elements 122 and 124. 
As can be seen in FIG. 4, a first voice port 2 is located on structure 220 
below display 222, as the apparatus is usually viewed by the user. Below 
that, a second voice port 234 is located on the free end of telescoping 
structure 236. The other end of structure 236 is pivotally connected to 
structure 220 at 226. In addition to being pivotable, the connection 226 
of structure 236 to structure 220 can be a swivel connection if desired. 
During use of apparatus 200 as a wristwatch, telescoping structure 236 is 
typically collapsed and pivoted so that it is largely received in a recess 
228 in structure 220 as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 4 and in full detail 
in FIGS. 5 and 6. On the other hand, when it is desired to use apparatus 
200 as a radiotelephone, voice port 234 is deployed out from the remainder 
of the apparatus by pivoting member 236 out and telescopically extending 
it as shown in solid line form in FIG. 4 and also in FIGS. 7 and 8. This 
separates voice ports 232 and 234 sufficiently from one another so that 
one can be placed near the user's mouth while the other is simultaneously 
placed near the user's ear as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. Moreover, this is 
done without any need to remove apparatus 200 from the user's wrist. To 
return the apparatus to wristwatch use, member 236 is telescopically 
collapsed and then pivoted back into recess 228. 
In addition to providing telescopic support for voice port 234, member 236 
may be or include a telescopic antenna for the radiotelephone circuitry of 
apparatus 200. As in the case of voice port 134, member 236 may be or 
include electrical or acoustic connections to voice port 234 from the 
remainder of apparatus 200. 
Other aspects of apparatus 200 that are not discussed above may be similar 
to corresponding aspects of apparatus 100. 
A third illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 9-12. In 
this embodiment wristwatch radiotelephone 300 again includes a strap 
structure 310 that may be similar to above-described strap structure 110 
or 210. Combined wristwatch structure and radiotelephone structure 320 may 
also be generally similar to above-described structure 120 or 220. Thus 
again structure 320 includes a display 322 and an array of push buttons 
324 respectively similar to above-described display 122 or 222 and buttons 
124 or 224. Apparatus 300, however, illustrates the principle that 
structure 320 may be located on the inside of the wrist (i.e., adjacent 
the user's palm) rather than on the outside of the wrist as shown in 
connection with the first two embodiments. 
Voice port 334 is located on structure 320 above display 322, as the 
apparatus is usually viewed. Voice port 332 is located on the free end of 
a folding structure 336, the other end of which is secured to structure 
320 at 326. If desired, connection 326 may be a sliding connection which 
allows folding structure 336 to slide part way off structure 320 in the 
same general direction that folding structure 336 extends when it is 
unfolded. This sliding feature is another form of the telescoping that is 
used in the second embodiment. (By the same token, the pivoting or 
swiveling of structure 236 in the second embodiment is another form of the 
folding used in the embodiment presently being discussed.) 
When apparatus 300 is being used as a wristwatch, folding structure 336 is 
folded in on itself and slid to a position in which it does not overhang 
the sides of structure 320. This is the condition of the apparatus that is 
shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. On the other hand, when apparatus 300 is to be 
used as a radiotelephone, folding structure 336 is slid relative to 
structure 320 and unfolded as shown in FIGS. 9 and 12. This greatly 
increases the separation between voice ports 332 and 334, and also 
facilitates simultaneous placement of those ports near the user's mouth 
and ear, respectively. As FIG. 12 shows, this can be done without removing 
apparatus 300 from the user's wrist. To return the apparatus to wristwatch 
use, folding structure 336 is folded in on itself and slid back to the 
position shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. 
In addition to providing folding support for voice port 332, folding 
structure 336 may be or include a folding antenna for the radiotelephone 
circuitry of apparatus 300. Folding structure 336 may also be or include 
electrical or acoustic coupling between voice port 332 and the remainder 
of the apparatus. 
The embodiment of FIGS. 9-12 illustrates the point that the voice port 
which is deployed from the remainder of the apparatus may be the voice 
input port 332 rather than the voice output port as is the case in the 
previously described embodiments. 
It will be noted that in the depicted preferred embodiments, simultaneous 
use of the input and output voice ports is facilitated by having the 
deployment of one of the voice ports include a component of displacement 
which is generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the wrist or arm. 
(Stated another way, the apparatus substantially circles the wrist in a 
plane which is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the 
user's wrist or arm. The above-mentioned component of displacement of the 
deployable voice port is then transverse to this plane.) This kind of 
displacement may not be necessary in every case, but it is helpful in the 
embodiments depicted here. 
It will be understood that the foregoing is only illustrative of the 
principles of the invention, and that various modifications can be made by 
those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of 
the invention. For example, although in each of the depicted embodiments 
only one of the voice ports is deployed from the remainder of the 
apparatus, both voice ports could be deployed to some degree if desired.