Abstract:
A PDA for connecting with selectively installed communications modules. Both communications modules have their own corresponding connector and fixing device connected electrically and mechanically between the PDA and the communications module. With the above modules, the PDA becomes a tool with extendable specific communication functions. The communications module can be either a GPS or a cellular phone handset&#39;s communications module. They can be attached to a PDA to provide additional communication functions.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a PDA (personal digital assistant), and more particularly, to a PDA for selectively connecting to a communications module so as to provide some specific communication function.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    A PDA (personal digital assistant) has not only a suitable size for carrying and an adequate memory and operating ability, but also a large enough LCD (liquid crystal display) panel to permit easy viewing. A Palm Series, whose memory size ranges from 8 MB to 32 MB and offers a color or black-and-white LCD panel, occupies the lion&#39;s share of the market. The standby time of the Palm Series can last up to one week. The Palm Series also provides a connecting cable that is used for digital data interchange between the PDA and a PC (personal computer). However, the PDA has two drawbacks.  
           [0005]    The first one is the lack of extend-ability for peripheral equipment; the second is a short range of use due to the lack of communication ability with a PC or mainframe.  
           [0006]    A GPS (global positioning system) and a cellular phone are the top products in the portable electrical device field with high communication abilities. A mainframes GPS address is set through its antenna by transmitting and receiving signals to a specific satellite. Surface features will not affect the GPS efficiency as long as the angle of its antenna is set to a specified point of a certain satellite. The cellular phone handset has become the most popular portable electrical device because of an increasing base number and a significant drop in equipment cost. Although a wireless network WAP is gradually replacing existing handsets, an effort to develop the cellular phones digital data capabilities is significantly limited due to insufficient memory and operating ability and too small of an LCD panel.  
         SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
         [0007]    It is therefore a primary objective of the claimed invention to provide a PDA for connecting with a communications module to solve the above-mentioned problems.  
           [0008]    According to the claimed invention, three combinations of a PDA and a communications module have been disclosed. The first one is a PDA for connecting with a communications module. The PDA includes a first housing, an LCD panel formed on a first side of the first housing for displaying data, a first engaging means formed on a second side of the first housing, and a first connector disposed at one end of the first housing for transmitting power and data. The communications module includes a second housing, a second engaging means formed on the second housing for engaging with the first engaging means, and a second connector disposed at one end of the second housing for connecting with the first connector to transmit data.  
           [0009]    It is an advantage of the claimed invention that a PDA that can connect with a communications module extends the PDA&#39;s communication ability.  
           [0010]    These and other objectives of the claimed invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional drawing of a PDA according to the present invention.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 a  is a front view of the PDA of FIG. 1.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 b  is a top view of the PDA of FIG. 1.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 c  is a bottom view of the PDA of FIG. 1.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 1 d  is a left-hand-side view of the PDA of FIG. 1.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 1 e  is a right-hand-side view of the PDA of FIG. 1.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1 f  is a back view of the PDA of FIG. 1.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional drawing of a GPS module according to the present invention.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 a  is a front view of the GPS module of FIG. 2.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 2 b  is a top view of the GPS module of FIG. 2.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 2 c  is a bottom view of the GPS module of FIG. 2.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 2 d  is a left-hand-side view of the GPS module of FIG. 2.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 2 e  is a right-hand-side view of the GPS module of FIG. 2.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 2 f  is a back view of the GPS module of FIG. 2.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 3 is a three-dimensional drawing of a cellular phone module according to the present invention.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 3 a  is a front view of the cellular phone module of FIG. 3.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 3 b  is a top view of the cellular phone module of FIG. 3.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 3 c  is a bottom view of the cellular phone module of FIG. 3.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 3 d  is a left-hand-side view of the cellular phone module of FIG. 3.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 3 e  is a right-hand-side view of the cellular phone module of FIG. 3.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 3 f  is a back view of the cellular phone module of FIG. 3.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 4 is a three-dimensional drawing of a combination of the PDA of FIG. 1 and the GPS module of FIG. 2.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 5 is a three-dimensional drawing of a combination of the PDA of FIG. 1 and the cellular phone module of FIG. 3. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0034]    Please refer to FIG. 1 for an illustration of a PDA  10 , which is a portable digital electrical device that includes memory, a display device, and an operating processor. The data, which is usually input by touching the panel with a handpen, is transformed into digital form and stored in memory. The PDA  10  has a wide application and generally serves as an electrical book, an electrical notebook, or an electrical business card album. Of course, the PDA  10  can interchange data with another PDA or PC by a wire or a wireless transmission port. As shown in FIG. 1, the PDA  10  comprises an LCD (liquid crystal display) panel  11 , operating buttons  12 , a handpen slot  13 , a switch  17 , and an infrared transmitter  18 . The LCD panel  11  occupies as large of an area as possible to better display results. Disposed on the same side of the PDA  10  as the LCD panel  11 , several operating buttons  12  provide specific auxiliary operations, such as paging, executing a program, and cursor movement. The handpen (not shown) is the most important input device. Therefore, there is a handpen slot  13  disposed on one side of the PDA  10  and is used for the safekeeping of the handpen when not in use.  
         [0035]    The switch  17  is used to execute the PDA&#39;s  10  “TURN ON” or “TURN OFF” action. The infrared transmitter  18  provides a wireless transmission function. The PDA  10 , of course, can be assembled with other built-in transmission modules, such as a bluetooth chip module or an IEEE 802.11 module.  
         [0036]    Please refer to FIG. 1 again. The PDA  10  also comprises a pair of engaging slots  14 , a first connector  15 , and a pair of protrusions  16 , all formed on the bottom reverse side of the LCD panel  11 . In general application, the first connector  15  possesses  14  holes and serves as a power and data transmitter. The present invention also utilizes the first connector  15  to connect with a communications module.  
         [0037]    There are two embodiments for the communications module according to the present invention. The first one is a GPS (global positioning system) module  20 , shown in FIG. 2. The second one is a cellular phone module  30 , shown in FIG. 3. Only one communications module can be connected to the PDA  10  at a time. That is to say, the PDA can only perform one single communication function within a certain operating period.  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 2 further illustrates a structure of the GPS module  20 . It comprises a rotatable antenna  21 , a hinge  22  which is connected to the antenna  21 , release buttons  23  which are formed on both sides of the GPS module  20 , a pair of hooks  24  which are mated with the engaging slots  14  of the PDA  10 , a second connector  25  which is mated with the first connector  15  of the PDA  10 , a positioning point  26 , and a switch  27 . Because the communication efficiency of GPS is related to its antenna&#39;s angle, the PDA  10  must comprise an apparatus to properly adjust the antenna  21  to perform its communication positioning function.  
         [0039]    As shown in FIG. 2, the antenna  21  is connected to the GPS module  20  with the hinge  22  allowing it to be pivotally positioned. The antennas  21  angle can also be adjusted by altering the PDA&#39;s  10  position. The second connector  25 , which has  14  pins, is connected with the first connector  15  for power and data transmission. The GPS module  20  can be turned on or off through the switch  27 . Several positioning points  26  on the GPS module  20  are mated with the protrusions  16  disposed on the side of the PDA  10 , so the GPS module  20  can be mounted correctly on the PDA  10 . When the GPS module  20  is being mounted onto the PDA  10 , the L-shaped movable hooks  24  will enter the engaging slots  14 , fixing the GPS module  20  to the PDA  10 .  
         [0040]    Please refer to FIG. 2 again. When users want to remove the GPS module  20  from the PDA  10 , pushing the release buttons  23  will move the hooks  24  to a releasing position allowing easy removal of the GPS module  20  from the PDA  10 . FIG. 4 illustrates the assembled state diagram of the present invention, where antenna&#39;s  21  rotating angle can be adjusted and set to a specific position according to the state of the PDA  10 . Of course, the PDA&#39;s  10  operating system needs a built-in drive program or a plug-n-play model for the GPS module  20  to function.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 3 shows a structure of a cellular phone module  30 . It comprises an antenna  31 , a battery  32 , release buttons  33  which are formed on both sides of the cellular phone module  30 , a pair of hooks  34  which are mated with the engaging slots  14 , a second connector  35  which is mated with the first connector  15 , a positioning point  36 , a chassis  37 , a charging slot  38 , and a microphone  39 . The most obvious difference between the cellular phone module  30  and a conventional cellular phone is that the cellular phone module  30  does not comprise buttons and an LCD panel. Therefore, the cellular phone module  30  cannot perform cellular phone functions until connected with the PDA  10 . Then a PDA&#39;s  10  built-in drive program will start the cellular phone module  30  and the data can be input through the operating buttons  12  or the LCD panel  11  by manipulating the handpen. The antenna  31 , the battery  32 , the charging slot  38 , and the microphone  39  all perform the same functions as those in a conventional cellular phone. A SIM card for the cellular phone can also be installed in the same place as that of the battery  32 .  
         [0042]    Please refer to FIG. 3 again. The cellular phone module&#39;s  30  second connector  35  has  14  pins and is connected with the first connector  15  for power and data transmission. Several positioning points  36  on the cellular phone module  30  are mated with the protrusions  16  disposed on the back of the PDA  10 , so the cellular phone module  30  can be mounted correctly on the PDA  10 . Additionally, when the cellular phone module  30  is mounted on the PDA  10 , the L-shaped movable hooks  34  will enter the engaging slots  14  and the cellular phone module  30  will fix to the PDA  10 . It is worthwhile to notice that the cellular phone module  30  also comprises a chassis  37  that is almost perpendicular to the cellular phone modules  30  main frame, and is used to cradle the PDA  10 . Thus the cellular phone module  30  will combine with the PDA  10  more completely and the user will feel the combination easier to operate. Of course, any function of a WAP cellular phone can be performed on the PDA&#39;s  10  LCD panel  11 . When the cellular phone module  30  is plugged into the PDA  10 , the drive program will start the cellular phone modules  30  cellular phone functions and display a communication service system on the LCD panel  11 . To remove the cellular phone module  30  from the PDA  10 , push the release buttons  33  moving the hooks  34  to a releasing position, and disassemble the cellular phone module  30  from the PDA  10 . Of course, the PDA&#39;s  10  operating system needs a built-in drive program or a plug-n-play model to start the cellular phone module  30  functioning. FIG. 6 illustrates the assembled state diagram of the present invention. The combination of the PDA  10  and the cellular phone module  30  functions exactly the same as a cellular phone. That is to say, the user can dial by touching the communication service system&#39;s buttons on the LCD panel with the handpen.  
         [0043]    In contrast with the prior art, the present invention can provide a PDA with more communication functions so that the problems of extend-ability for peripheral equipment and the short usage range due to the lack of communication ability will be solved. According to the above paragraphs, the present invention has many superior characteristics and also solves the prior arts drawbacks and inconveniences in the field.  
         [0044]    Following the detailed description of the present invention above, those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. For example, the other end of the cellular phone module  30  can form a first connector  15  to connect with the GPS module  20 . Thus, the PDA  10  can use the communication functions of the cellular phone and the GPS at the same time. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.