Antenna operating mechanism for a portable radio communication apparatus

Abstract: An antenna handling mechanism incorporated in a portable radio communication apparatus (1) and including an antenna (2) which can be pulled out of the casing (7) of the apparatus, as desired. When the antenna (2) is received in the casing (7), the lower end (3) of thereof is locked by a latch mechanism (4) disposed in the casing (7). In this condition, as the tip (5) of the antenna (2) is pressed, the latch mechanism (4) unlocks the lower end (3) of the antenna and, at the same time, pushes the antenna out of the top of the casing (7) by a pushing stroke. When the antenna being inserted into the casing reaches a predetermined position, the latch mechanism locks the lower end of the antenna.

Description: The present invention relates to a portable radio communication apparatus and, more particularly, to an antenna handling mechanism incorporated in such an apparatus and including an antenna which can be pulled out of the casing of the apparatus, as desired. Various kinds of portable radio communication apparatuses are extensively used today and include an on-board communication apparatus for an automobile telephone system, a radio pager, and a portable radio telephone. Many of such apparatuses are provided with an antenna which can be pulled out of a casing when a communication is to be held. This kind of antenna has the tip thereof protruded from the casing to allow the user of the apparatus to easily hold it and pull it out. Specifically, even when the antenna is received in the casing, only the tip thereof protrudes from the top of the casing to promote easy handling of the antenna. However, the problem is that the tip of the antenna protruding from the casing is a hindrance while the apparatus is simply carried by the user, degrading the portability. To eliminate this problem, the casing may be formed with a recess deep enough to accommodate the tip of the antenna to thereby prevent the tip from projecting from the casing when the antenna is received in the casing, as proposed in the past. This kind of scheme, however, brings about another problem that it is troublesome for the user to hold and pull out the tip of the antenna buried in the casing. In the specification of the French patent application which was published under No. 2,062,937 on July 2 1971, there was proposed a telescopic antenna having a lower part fixed to an inner tube, the inner tube being within an outer tube which is fixed to a support plate. A helical spring between the two tubes forces the inner tube, and the lower part of the antenna, upwards by a predetermined amount when a tongue on the outer tube is moved out of engagement with a collar on the inner tube. In the specification of United Stated patent number 4,725,845, which was published on February 16 1988, there was proposed a retractable antenna having a helical section and a selectively positioned core in the helical section for tuning the antenna. The helical antenna was retractable within a radio housing and employed a barrel-cam latching mechanism. A feature of an antenna handling mechanism for a portable radio communication apparatus to be described below is that it allows an antenna to be easily pushed into and pulled out of the casing of the apparatus while ensuring the portability of the apparatus. In a particular portable radio communication apparatus to be described below as an example there is an antenna capable of being selectively pulled out of the casing of the portable communication apparatus, at least part of the antenna appearing on the casing when the antenna is received in the casing, and a locking mechanism for locking, when the antenna is received in the casing, another part of the antenna for holding the antenna in the casing or unlocking the another part of the antenna when the antenna is pulled out of the casing. The following description and drawings disclose a previously proposed arrangement, and, by means of an example, the invention which is characterised in the appended claims, whose terms determine the extent of the protection conferred hereby. In the drawings:- FIG. 1A is a front view of a conventional portable radio communication apparatus; FIG. 1B is a section of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1A; FIG. 1C is a plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1A; FIG. 2 is a side elevation of another conventional portable radio communication apparatus; FIG. 3A is a front view of a portable radio communication apparatus to which an antenna handling mechanism embodying the present invention is applied; FIG. 3B is a partly sectional side elevation of the antenna handling mechanism; and FIGS. 4A and 4B are side elevations showing the mechanism of FIG. 3B in, respectively, a condition wherein an antenna is pulled out of a casing and a condition wherein it is received in the casing To better understand the present invention, a brief reference will be made to a conventional antenna handling mechanism for a portable radio communication apparatus, shown in FIGS. 1A-1C. As shown, the communication apparatus, generally 11A, has an antenna 12A and a casing 15A. The antenna may be pulled out and pushed into the casing 15A, as desired. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the antenna 12A assumes a position indicated by a solid line when received in the casing 15A or a position indicated by a phantom line when pulled out from the top 14A of the casing 15A. Even when the antenna 12A is received in the casing 15A, the tip 13A thereof protrudes from the top 14A of the casing 15A. In this condition, the user of the apparatus 11A can easily hold the tip 13A of the antenna 12A to pull it out. However, the problem with this type of mechanism is that the tip 13A is a hindrance while the apparatus 11A is simply carried by the user, degrading the portability of this kind of apparatus. FIG. 2 shows another conventional portable radio communication apparatus, generally 11B, having an antenna 12B. This antenna 12B assumes a position indicated by a solid line when received in a casing 15B or a position indicated by a phantom line when pulled out of the casing 15B. This apparatus 11B is advantageous over the apparatus 11A in respect of portability since the tip 13B of the antenna 12B does not protrude from the top 14B of the casing 15B when received in the casing 15B. However, the apparatus 11B has a drawback that the user cannot easily hold the tip 13B of the antenna 12B since the tip 13B is buried in the top 14B of the casing 15B. Referring to FIGS. 3A, 3B, 4A and 4B, a portable radio communication apparatus is shown to which an antenna handling mechanism embodying the present invention is applied. As shown, the communication apparatus, generally 1, has a rod-like antenna 2, a casing 7, and a bistable latch mechanism 4 supported by the casing 7 and including a locking portion 6 which has a lower, untilted locking position shown in FIGS. 4B and 3B, and a higher tilted unlocking position shown in FIG 4A. When the antenna 2 is received in the casing 7, the lower end 3 thereof is retained between transverse detent faces by the locking portion 6 of the latch mechanism 4 (see FIG. 4B). In this condition, the tip 5 of the antenna 1 slightly protrudes from the top 8 of the casing 7 only enough to be manually pushed downwards. As the user of the apparatus 1 pushes the tip 5 of the antenna 2 from this slightly protruding position toward the top 8 of the casing 7 with a force greater than a predetermined one, the locking portion 6 tilts into an unlocking position shown in FIG. 4A, and thereby unlocks the lower end 3 of the antenna 2 and, at the same time, pushes the end 3 toward the top 5 by a distance A which is the pushing stroke of the locking portion 6. The end 3 is now abutted by an inclined detent face of the locking portion, as seen in FIG. 4A. As a result, the tip 5 of the antenna 2 is further forced out from the top 8 of the casing 7 by the distance A (see FIG. 4A). Then, the user can easily hold the tip 5 and manually pull out the antenna 2 which is freed by a further inclined face of the locking portion 6. As the antenna 2 pulled out of the casing 7 is sequentially moved into the casing 7, the lower end 3 thereof arrives at and presses on the first mentioned inclined face of the locking portion 6 (see FIG. 4A). When the antenna 2 is further inserted into the casing 7 by the distance A to a predetermined position relative to the top 8 of the casing 7, i.e., when the lower end 3 reaches a predetermined position relative to the locking portion 6 and abutting its lower transverse detent face, the end 3 is locked by the locking portion 6 which has by now lowered axially by the amount A and tilted back to its locking position of FIGS 3B and 4B. In this manner, the antenna 2 can be received and locked in the casing 7 by a single operation. The latch mechanism 4 described above may be implemented by any conventional mechanism to toggle between two positions of stability, e.g. one using a spring and a cam. The locking portion 6 responds to this toggling by itself toggling between the two positions shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B respectively. In summary, it will be seen that the present invention provides an antenna handling mechanism which allows the user to push and pull an antenna of a portable radio communication apparatus with ease. This advantage is derived from a latch mechanism which causes the tip of the antenna to protrude more than usual when it should be pulled out or locks the lower end of the antenna within the apparatus in response to a single operation. Moreover, since the user does not have to hold the tip of the antenna for pulling it out, it is not necessary to maintain the tip in a protruded position which would degrade the portability of this kind of apparatus. Various modifications will become possible for those skilled in the art after receiving the teachings of the present disclosure without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Claims: A portable radio communication apparatus (1) including a casing (7), an antenna (2) having first and second parts, and being capable of being extended from and withdrawn substantially into the casing (7) and locking and unlocking means (4,6) to engage and lock the first part (3) of the antenna (2) in its withdrawn position (FIG. 4B) into the casing (7) and to unlock the first part (3) of the antenna (2) from its withdrawn position, characterised in that the first part (3) is an inner end portion of the antenna (2), the second part (5) of the antenna (2) protrudes only slightly from the casing (7) when the first part (3) is locked by the locking means (4,6) in its withdrawn position (FIG. 4B) in the casing (7), in that a locking portion (6) of the locking means (4,6) is pivoted into an untilted locking position to lock the first part (3) of the antenna in its withdrawn position (FIG. 4B), and in that the locking portion (6) is pivoted into a tilted unlocking position (FIG. 4A) whereby to unlock and push the first part (3) of the antenna (2) from the locked position, and thus to allow holding of the second part (5) of the antenna and pulling out of the antenna to an extended position. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the locking and unlocking means (4,6) includes a latch mechanism (4) which, when the second part (5) of the antenna (2) which protrudes only slightly from the casing (7) is pressed towards the casing (7) by a predetermined force, unlocks the first part (3) of the antenna (2), and causes the second part (5) of the antenna (2) to be extended from the casing by an amount (A) beyond the position in which it slightly protrudes from the casing (7), and when the antenna (2) is withdrawn into the casing (7) to a predetermined position (FIG. 4B) locks the antenna (2) in the casing (7). An apparatus as claimed in either claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the antenna (2) is a rod.

Inventors: NAGAI MICHIO, NAGAI, MICHIO, NAGAI, MICHIO, NEC CORPORATION
Applicants: NIPPON ELECTRIC CO, NEC CORPORATION
Application year: 1992
Main classification: H01Q1
IPC codes: H01Q1, H04B1