Antenna unit for portable communication terminal

An antenna unit for a portable communication terminal in which an incoming call lamp is mounted to the top of an antenna thereof so that a user can easily identify a ring signal, for example, flickering of the lamp in all directions. The antenna unit for a portable communication terminal includes an antenna which is configured to be mounted on a body of the portable communication terminal; and an incoming call lamp which is fixedly mounted to the top of the antenna.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to an antenna unit for a portable 
communication terminal, and more particularly to an antenna unit for a 
portable communication terminal having an incoming call lamp mounted 
thereon to function as a ring signal indicator. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
In general, a portable communication terminal refers to a hand-held 
portable communication unit such as, for example, a portable cellular 
telephone, CT-2, a wireless telephone and a car phone, etc. The portable 
communication terminal typically communicates via radio waves between 
itself and a base station, and the cellular telephone similarly 
communicates between a portable unit and a fixed unit. 
Recently, the cellular cordless telephone has become smaller in its 
physical dimensions, due in large part to a continuing trend toward 
increased electronic component sensitivity and reduced electronic 
component size. Accordingly, a flip-type cellular telephone of very high 
sensitivity has enjoyed increasing popularity in telecommunication 
applications. A flip cover pivotably mounted to the lower portion of a 
body of the portable communication terminal may be configured to protect a 
plurality of function buttons on the body as well as house the electronics 
required to transmit the voice of the user. Furthermore, the portable, 
flip-type communication terminal may be made smaller than conventional 
terminals by incorporating state-of-the art electronics. 
Such a flip-type communication terminal typically includes a flip cover, a 
body and a shutting unit (a flip module) connecting the flip cover with 
the body. A microphone can be positioned at the lowest portion of the body 
and can also be positioned in the flip cover. The foregoing will be easily 
understood by those having ordinary skill in the art. 
Referring to the embodiment of the prior art as shown in FIG. 1, the 
portable communication terminal includes a body 10, a flip cover 11 and a 
flip cover shutting unit pivotally connecting the body 10 with the flip 
cover 11. Mounted to the middle portion of the front upper side of the 
body 10 is an incoming call lamp 20 which is turned on when a power supply 
is switched on, the telephone rings or a message is received. An antenna 
30 is mounted to the one end portion of the top side of body 10. A speaker 
12 and a LCD window 13 are disposed under the incoming call lamp 20. A 
plurality of function keys 14 are arranged in a row and column 
configuration under the LCD window 13, and a microphone 15 and a flip 
cover 11 are assembled together at the lowest portion of the body 10. As 
illustrated, the flip cover 11 is mounted to the body 10 in such a manner 
that it is fitted into the shutting unit included in a housing 16 and may 
be opened or closed within a predetermined angle range. 
However, in the conventional portable communication terminal, a problem 
exists in that the incoming call lamp is mounted to the front upper side 
of the body of the portable communication terminal. According to the 
position of the terminal vis a vis the user, the user may not be able to 
see the flickering of the lamp. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an antenna 
unit for a portable communication terminal in which an incoming call lamp 
is mounted to the top of an antenna thereof so that a user can easily 
identify a ring signal by, for example, flickering of the lamp in all 
directions. 
This and other objects of the present invention have been attained by 
providing an antenna unit for a portable communication terminal including: 
an antenna which is configured to be mounted on a body of the portable 
communication terminal; and an incoming call lamp which is fixedly mounted 
to the top of the antenna.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Now, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in 
detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Throughout the 
drawings, it is noted that the same reference numerals or letters will be 
used to designate like or equivalent elements having the same function. 
The detailed descriptions of known functions and constructions 
unnecessarily obscuring the subject matter of the present invention will 
be avoided hereinafter. Technical terms as will be mentioned hereinbelow 
are terms defined in consideration of the function in the present 
invention, which may be varied according to the intention of a user, so 
the terms should be defined based on the contents across all of this 
specification. 
Now, an explanation of the construction and the operation according to an 
embodiment of the present invention will be in detail given hereinafter 
with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. 
In FIGS. 2 and 3, an antenna unit for a portable communication terminal 
according to the present invention comprises a body 10, an antenna 30 and 
an incoming call lamp 20. 
The antenna 30 which is mounted on one side of the top of the body 10 of 
the portable communication terminal is provided with an antenna cap 31 of 
a cylindrical shape having a bore 32 formed therein. The incoming call 
lamp 20 having a light emitting diode (LED) 40 placed therein is made of a 
mold material. The incoming call lamp 20 includes two hooks 21 extending 
downwardly from both sides of the bottom surface thereof and each having 
an outwardly projected jaw formed at the lower end of the hooks 21. Lamp 
20 is fixedly mounted to the antenna 30 in such a manner that the hooks 21 
are snap-fit into the bore 32 formed in antenna cap 31. The upper end of a 
housing connecting portion having antenna windings 33 attached thereon is 
fitted into the lower portion of bore 32 of the antenna cap 31, so that 
the antenna windings 33 are housed within antenna cap 31. The housing 
connecting portion 34 has a cylindrical hole formed longitudinally in the 
direction of a central axis and a male screw thread formed along the 
circumferential surface thereof. A flange 35 is fitted into the 
cylindrical hole of the housing connecting portion 34 during the assembly, 
and connecting terminals 36a and 36b are disposed on the upper portion and 
the lower portion of the flange 35. Two wires 41 having first ends 
attached to the LED 40 are connected at second ends thereof to the 
connecting terminals 36a and 36b through the bore 32 and the cavity of the 
antenna cap 31, respectively. The housing connecting portion 34 coupled to 
the lower end of the antenna windings 33 is secured to the body 10 by 
means of a conductive ring 37 in such a manner that the male screw thread 
of the housing connecting portion 34 is fitted into a female screw of the 
conductive ring 37 provided for the body 10. The conductive ring 37 is 
electrically connected to a printed circuit board (PCB) 38 through an 
antenna terminal 39 one end of which is coupled to a matching circuit 50, 
to complete the impedance matching. 
The connecting terminals 36a and 36b are coupled to positive and negative 
(+/-) connecting terminals 42a and 42b of the PCB 38, respectively. Two 
wires 41 of the LED 40 are connected to +/- connecting terminals 42a and 
42b of the PCB 38 for coupling with a lamp driver 60. The connecting 
terminals 36a and 36b of the flange 35 are made of a conductive ring. The 
mold material of the incoming call lamp 20 is made of a transparent rubber 
or a transparent resin. The antenna terminal 39 and the connecting 
terminals 42a and 42b are made of a plate spring. 
The aforementioned antenna 30 for a portable communication terminal 
functions as an antenna by means of the antenna windings 33, and as an 
incoming call indicator by means of the lamp driver 60 which operates the 
LED 40. The first ends of the wires 41 are connected to LED 40. The second 
ends of wires 41 are connected to terminals 36a and 36b of the flange 35 
which is, in turn, connected to the +/- connecting terminals 42a and 42b . 
Terminals 42a and 42b are connected to the lamp driver 60. When a power 
supply is switched on, the telephone rings or a message is received, the 
incoming call lamp 20, mounted on the top of the antenna cap 31, can be 
turned on. At this time, the LED 40 of the incoming call lamp 20 radiates 
a light so that the light is projected in all directions by the 
transparent mold covering the LED 40, thereby to easily identify a ring 
signal, for example, via flickering of the lamp. 
As described above, the present invention has an advantage that since an 
antenna having an antenna cap is installed to the one side of the top of a 
body of a portable communication terminal and an incoming call lamp having 
a LED placed therein is mounted on the top of the antenna cap, it is 
possible for a user to easily identify a ring signal. 
While there have been illustrated and described what are considered to be 
preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood by 
those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications and 
equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from 
the true scope of the present invention. Therefore, it is intended that 
the present invention not be limited to the particular embodiments 
disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out the present 
invention, but that the present invention embraces all alternatives, 
modifications and variances falling within the scope of the appended 
claims.