Abstract:
The present invention relates to a portable terminal apparatus with a telephone function such as a portable telephone, and devises mounting of a camera module so as to combine multifunctionality and miniaturization in a high level. It includes a chassis, a camera module including a lens and an image pickup device, a circuit board placed and fixed on the chassis and a camera holder supporting the camera module and fixed on the circuit board to be on the chassis together with the circuit board, where the camera holder has an opening for the camera module to look in and a wall section surrounding the opening and surrounding a side face of the camera module to support the camera module.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a portable terminal apparatus with a telephone function, such as a portable telephone.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     In recent years, portable terminal apparatus such as portable telephones are remarkably developing, and it is demanded that they become further multifunctional, miniaturized and lightweight.  
         [0005]     As for multifunction, it is almost becoming a matter of course that the portable telephone has a high-pixel digital camera mounted thereon in recent years. For instance, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-64575 discloses a technique for mounting two cameras facing mutually opposed directions on the portable terminal apparatus.  
         [0006]     Here, the portable terminal apparatus such as a portable telephone is demanded to become further miniaturized and lightweight. For this reason, miniaturization and high-density mounting of its parts are underway. In that case, there is a problem of how to mount a camera on such a portable telephone of which miniaturization and high-density mounting are advanced.  
         [0007]     The camera mounted on the portable telephone is in a form called a camera module (or a camera unit) having a lens and an image pickup device built therein. The camera module is a precision part which requires relative positions of the lens and image pickup device to be kept with high precision. Therefore, to mount the camera module inside the portable telephone, the camera has a structure in which the camera module is supported by a dedicated frame to securely fix it formed on a plate-like member called a chassis (or a frame) typically metallic, die-cast and strong enough to be hardly deformable. The foregoing patent document also indicates the structure in which the camera module is fixed on the chassis.  
         [0008]     However, multifunctionality has advanced, and the chassis has various parts built into it, such as having two liquid crystal display screens mounted and a flexible board fixed thereon, for instance. For this reason, if the frame for mounting the camera module is provided on the chassis, it becomes an obstacle to wiring of the flexible board for instance. Thus, it is becoming difficult to fix the camera module on the chassis. It is impossible to render the chassis larger-size in spite of the demands for miniaturization, and so there is a trend that the chassis itself is miniaturized.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances and is intended to provide the portable terminal apparatus such as the portable telephone on which the camera module is resourcefully mounted.  
         [0010]     The portable terminal apparatus according to the present invention is the one with a telephone function, including: 
        a chassis;     a camera module including a lens and an image pickup device;     a circuit board placed and fixed on the chassis; and     a camera holder supporting the camera module and fixed on the chassis together with the circuit board.        
 
         [0015]     The portable terminal apparatus according to the present invention includes a camera holder supporting the camera module and fixed on the chassis together with the circuit board. Therefore, the camera module does not need the frame to be provided on the chassis when directly fixing the camera module on the chassis, and so it can be precisely fixed even if the flexible board is extended on the chassis.  
         [0016]     Here, the portable terminal apparatus according to the present invention may be the one wherein: the circuit board has a window section for placement of the camera module formed thereon; and the camera holder supports and places the camera module at a place allowing the camera module to look in through an opening of the circuit board and is fixed on the chassis together with the circuit board.  
         [0017]     Here, the window section may be the opening or a notch provided on the circuit board.  
         [0018]     It is possible to easily secure a field of vision at the front of the lens by providing the window section to the circuit board.  
         [0019]     As for the portable terminal apparatus according to the present invention, it is desirable that the chassis support a back face of the camera module supported by the camera holder with the circuit board placed on the chassis.  
         [0020]     It is possible, by having the structure in which the chassis supports the back face of the camera module, to have the camera module supported by the camera holder and have its back face supported by the chassis so as to be fixed more securely.  
         [0021]     As for the portable terminal apparatus according to the present invention, it is desirable that the camera holder has an opening for the camera module to look in and a wall section surrounding a side face of the camera module to support the camera module and mounted surrounding the opening.  
         [0022]     It is possible, by providing the wall section, to securely fix the camera module on the camera holder and improve robustness for protecting the camera from an impact.  
         [0023]     As for the portable terminal apparatus according to the present invention, the chassis may support a flexible board extended on a back face of the camera module in a state in which the circuit board is placed on the chassis, or the chassis may have a display screen which displays an image and a contact which is turned on and off by an operation button mounted on a surface of a backside to a side having the circuit board placed thereon.  
         [0024]     As the portable terminal apparatus according to the present invention fixes the camera module on the chassis via the camera holder instead of directly fixing it thereon, it is possible to place the flexible board, contact and the like on the chassis.  
         [0025]     As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate necessity to directly fix the camera module on the chassis so as to combine the multifunctionality and miniaturization in a high level. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0026]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing an appearance of a portable telephone as an embodiment of a portable terminal apparatus according to the present invention;  
         [0027]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view showing the appearance of the portable telephone as an embodiment of the portable terminal apparatus according to the present invention;  
         [0028]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view showing the appearance of the portable telephone as an embodiment of the portable terminal apparatus according to the present invention;  
         [0029]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing the appearance of the portable telephone as an embodiment of the portable terminal apparatus according to the present invention;  
         [0030]      FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view of an upside housing of the portable telephone shown in FIGS.  1  to  4 ;  
         [0031]      FIG. 6  is an exploded perspective view of the upside housing of the portable telephone shown in FIGS.  1  to  4 ;  
         [0032]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view showing an out-camera and an out-camera holder;  
         [0033]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view showing a camera assembly consisting of an out-camera and an out-camera holder and a circuit board;  
         [0034]      FIG. 9  is a plan view showing the camera assembly placed on the circuit board;  
         [0035]      FIG. 10  is a sectional view along an arrow B to B shown in  FIG. 9 ;  
         [0036]      FIG. 11  is a diagram showing the circuit board having the camera assembly mounted thereon and a chassis on which the circuit board is to be fixed;  
         [0037]      FIG. 12  is a perspective view of the assembly having the circuit board mounted on the chassis;  
         [0038]      FIG. 13  is a plan view showing the face of the assembly shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6  facing an inside cover side;  
         [0039]      FIG. 14  is an enlarged plan view of the inside of a circle A shown in  FIG. 3 ;  
         [0040]      FIG. 15  is an exploded perspective view of the downside housing of the portable telephone shown in FIGS.  1  to  4 ;  
         [0041]      FIG. 16  is an exploded perspective view of the downside housing of the portable telephone shown in FIGS.  1  to  4 ;  
         [0042]      FIG. 17  is a plan view showing the inner face of an outside cover constituting the downside housing;  
         [0043]      FIG. 18  is a plan view showing the downside housing;  
         [0044]      FIG. 19  is a sectional view along the arrow A to A shown in  FIG. 18 ;  
         [0045]      FIG. 20  is a sectional view along the arrow B to B shown in  FIG. 18 ;  
         [0046]      FIG. 21  is a further exploded view showing the inside cover constituting the downside housing;  
         [0047]      FIG. 22  is a diagram showing the inside cover in a state of placing a push button sheet on a frame;  
         [0048]      FIG. 23  is a plan view showing the downside housing;  
         [0049]      FIG. 24  is a sectional view along the arrow A to A shown in  FIG. 23 ;  
         [0050]      FIG. 25  is a partially enlarged view enlarging and showing the inside of a circle R 1  shown in  FIG. 24 ;  
         [0051]      FIG. 26  is a sectional view along the arrow B to B shown in  FIG. 23 ; and  
         [0052]      FIG. 27  is a partially enlarged view enlarging and showing the inside of a circle R 2  shown in  FIG. 26 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0053]     Hereafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described.  
         [0054]     FIGS.  1  to  4  are perspective views showing an appearance of a portable telephone which is an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0055]     The portable telephone shown here is a folding type.  FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing an inside in an open state,  FIG. 2  is a perspective view showing an outside in the open state,  FIG. 3  is a perspective view showing an upside housing in a closed state, and  FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing a downside housing in the closed state.  
         [0056]     A portable telephone  10  is consisting of an upside housing  100  and a downside housing  200  mutually supported on an axis to be pivotable.  
         [0057]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , on an inner face of the upside housing  100 , there is a large display window  101  for viewing a liquid crystal display screen placed therein extended in the middle. The display window  101  has three push buttons  102  arranged on its downside. On the upside of the display window  101 , there are also an ear piece  103  for putting one&#39;s ear thereto to catch voice and a shooting window  104  for a digital camera facing the inside (the digital camera is called an “in-camera” here because it faces the inside) to look in provided beside it.  
         [0058]     As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the upside housing  100  has a display window  105  for viewing another liquid crystal display screen placed therein provided in the middle of an outer face thereof. On a hinge side linked to the downside housing  200  further from the display window  105 , there are provided a shooting window  106  for another digital camera (the digital camera is called an “out-camera” here because it faces the outside) to look in and a lighting section  107  for lighting up by having an LED inside it emit light to give notice of an incoming call and so on.  
         [0059]     On an inner side face of the downside housing  200 , there are a number of arranged push buttons  201  and a mouthpiece  202  having a microphone for receiving a user&#39;s voice and converting it to an electrical signal provided therein on the downside of the push buttons  201  as shown in  FIG. 1 . Furthermore, a sound outlet  203  for emitting the voice from a speaker provided inside is provided in the proximity of the hinge section of the downside housing  200  linked to the upside housing  100 . As will be described later, the speaker provided at a depth of the sound outlet  203  faces the outside of the downside housing  200 . Therefore, the sound outlet  203  is placed on a backside of the speaker.  
         [0060]     As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 4 , the downside housing  200  has another sound outlet  204  for emitting the voice from the speaker front and a battery accommodating section  205  having a battery accommodated therein provided on the outer face thereof.  
         [0061]      FIGS. 5 and 6  are exploded perspective views of the upside housing of the portable telephone shown in FIGS.  1  to  4 .  
         [0062]     The upside housing  100  is consisting of an inside cover  110 , an assembly  120  and an outside cover  130 , and has a structure for sandwiching the assembly  120  having a number of parts built therein between the inside cover  110  and outside cover  130 .  
         [0063]     As shown in  FIG. 5 , the assembly  120  has a liquid crystal display screen  121  provided at a position inside the display window  101  of the inside cover  110 . And it has a receiver  123  for receiving a sound signal and producing a sound provided at a position equivalent to the inside of the ear piece  103  of the inside cover  110 , and also has an in-camera  124  provided at a position equivalent to the inside of the shooting window  104  of the inside cover  110 . Furthermore, the assembly  120  has contacts  122  for being turned on and off by pushing the push buttons  102 , which are provided at positions equivalent to the insides of the three push buttons  102  provided on the inside cover  110 .  
         [0064]     As shown in  FIG. 6 , the assembly  120  also has a liquid crystal display screen  125 , an out-camera  126  and an LED  127  that are provided at positions equivalent to the insides of the display window  105 , shooting window  106  and lighting section  107  of the outside cover  130  respectively.  
         [0065]     The assembly  120  has a number of electronic circuit modules and so on other than the parts provided therein.  
         [0066]     Next, the structure of the assembly  120  constituting the upside housing  100  will be described by centering on a mounting structure of the out-camera  126 .  
         [0067]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view showing the out-camera and an out-camera holder. Here, Part (A) of  FIG. 7  is a perspective view separately showing the out-camera and out-camera holder, and Part (B) of  FIG. 7  is a perspective view showing a state of accommodating the out-camera in the out-camera holder.  
         [0068]     The out-camera  126  has a lens and an image pickup device that is not shown built therein. The out-camera  126  is connected to a flexible board  141  having wiring for conveying an image signal obtained by that image pickup device, and the flexible board  141  further has a connector  142  mounted thereon. The out-camera  126  faces downward in  FIG. 7 .  
         [0069]     An out-camera holder  150  has an opening  151  for the out-camera  126  to look in provided in the middle thereof, and a wall section  152  is mounted surrounding the opening  151 . As shown in Part (B) of  FIG. 7 , the out-camera  126  is accommodated in a portion surrounded by the wall section  152 , and the wall section  152  supports the out-camera  126  by surrounding it. The out-camera holder  150  has two arm sections  153  extended on both sides, and mounting holes  154  are provided at ends of the two arm sections  153 .  
         [0070]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view showing a camera assembly consisting of the out-camera and out-camera holder and a circuit board. Part (A) of  FIG. 8  is a perspective view separately showing the camera assembly consisting of the out-camera and out-camera holder and the circuit board. Part (B) of  FIG. 8  is a perspective view showing a state of mounting the camera assembly on the circuit board.  
         [0071]     A circuit board  160  has an opening  161  for placing the out-camera, mounting holes  162 ,  163  and  164  and a positioning hole  165  provided thereon.  
         [0072]     Instead of the opening  161 , the circuit board  160  may have a notch formed by extending the opening  161  to one side of the circuit board  160 . However, a description will be continued here by assuming that the circuit board  160  has the opening  161  formed thereon.  
         [0073]     Here, the mounting hole  162  is provided at a position to overlap the mounting hole  154  of the out-camera holder  150  when a camera assembly  140  is placed to have the out-camera  126  look out of the opening  161 .  
         [0074]     When placing the camera assembly  140  on the circuit board  160 , the flexible board  141  goes down through the opening  161  and is placed through the backside of the circuit board  160  as shown by an arrow x in Part (A) of  FIG. 8 .  
         [0075]      FIG. 9  is a plan view showing the camera assembly placed on the circuit board.  FIG. 10  is a sectional view along an arrow B-B shown in  FIG. 9 .  
         [0076]      FIG. 10  shows how the flexible board  141  extended from the out-camera  126  goes down through the opening  161  of the circuit board  160  and runs through the backside of the circuit board  160 .  
         [0077]      FIG. 11  is a diagram showing the circuit board having the camera assembly mounted thereon and the chassis on which the circuit board is to be fixed. Part (A) of  FIG. 11  is a diagram separately showing the circuit board and chassis. Part (B) of  FIG. 11  is a diagram showing the assembly having the circuit board mounted on the chassis.  
         [0078]      FIG. 12  is a perspective view of the assembly having the circuit board mounted on the chassis.  
         [0079]     A chassis  170  is made by die-casting a magnesium alloy. The chassis  170  has walls  171  standing thereon and also has screw holes  172 , mounting holes  173 , a screw hole  181  and a positioning projection  182  provided thereon. The chassis  170  also has a long and thin slit  174  penetrating a front face and a rear face provided thereon.  
         [0080]     As shown in  FIG. 5 , the chassis  170  has three contacts  122  provided on a rear face to the face shown in Part (A) of  FIG. 11 , and a flexible board  175  connected to the three contacts  122  goes through the slit  174  and is extended to the face of the chassis  170  shown in  FIG. 11 . The flexible board  175  is also extended to the circuit board  160  side without going through the slit  174 .  
         [0081]     Furthermore, the chassis  170  has a receiver fixing section  176  for fixing the receiver  123  (refer to  FIG. 5 ), an in-camera placement section  177  for placing the in-camera  124  (refer to  FIG. 5 ), and a canopy section  178  projecting from a body section of the chassis  170  described later provided thereon.  
         [0082]     As shown by the arrow in Part (A) of  FIG. 11 , the circuit board  160  has the face on the side shown in Part (A) of  FIG. 11  placed on the chassis  170  in a direction to contact the face on the side shown in Part (A) of  FIG. 11 . The two screw holes  172  provided on the chassis  170  are provided on positions overlapping the two mounting holes  162  provided on the circuit board  160  and the two mounting holes  154  provided on the out-camera holder  150 . The mounting holes  173 , screw hole  181  and positioning projection  182  provided on the chassis  170  are corresponding to the mounting holes  163 ,  164  and positioning hole  165  provided on the circuit board  160  respectively. If the circuit board is placed on the chassis  170 , the positioning projection  182  of the chassis  170  gets into the positioning hole  165  of the circuit board  160  so that the circuit board  160  is screwed on the chassis  170  with screws  183  and  184  shown in Part (B) of  FIG. 11 . In this case, the out-camera holder  150  and the circuit board  160  are screwed together on the chassis  170 . The out-camera  126  set in the out-camera holder  150  has its backside supported by the chassis  170  via the flexible board  175 . Thus, the out-camera  126  is supported by the out-camera holder  150  and also directly supported by the chassis  170  so as to be fixed as securely as directly fixing the out-camera  126  on the chassis  170 . Here, it is also feasible to render size of the mounting holes  154  of the out-camera holder  150  a little larger so as to fine-tune a mounting position and a posture (angle) of the out-camera  126 .  
         [0083]     After the circuit board  160  is placed on the chassis  170 , the mounting holes  163  other than the mounting holes  162  and  164  of the circuit board  160  screwed on the chassis  170  and the mounting holes  173  out of the mounting holes  173  and  179  on the chassis  170  are screwed at a screw hole  109  (refer to  FIG. 6 ) on the inside cover  110 . And the mounting hole  179  on the chassis  170  is screwed at a screw hole  139  on the outside cover  130  with a screw inserted from a mounting hole  108  (refer to  FIG. 5 ) on the inside cover  110 .  
         [0084]      FIGS. 11 and 12  do not show the receiver  123  and in-camera  124  (refer to  FIG. 5 ). However, the receiver  123  is fixed on the receiver fixing section  176  of the chassis  170 , and the in-camera  124  is placed on the in-camera placement section  177  of the chassis  170 . The in-camera placement section  177  has an opening  177   a  for the in-camera to look in provided in the middle, and also has a wall  177   b  formed in surroundings thereof. And the in-camera  124  is placed in the in-camera placement section  177  of the chassis  170  so as to be directly and strongly held by the chassis  170 .  
         [0085]     Though it is not shown in  FIGS. 11 and 12 , the liquid crystal display screen (refer to  FIG. 6 ) facing the outside cover  130  from the top of the circuit board  160  placed on the chassis  170  is placed in an area surrounded by the walls  171  of the chassis  170 .  
         [0086]     Thus, the circuit board  160  is placed on the chassis  170  and necessary parts are further mounted to constitute the assembly  120  shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 .  
         [0087]     The assembly  120  is assembled in a state of being sandwiched between the inside cover  110  and the outside cover  130  as previously described so as to constitute the upside housing  100  of the portable telephone.  
         [0088]      FIG. 13  is a plan view showing the face of the assembly  120  shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6  facing the inside cover  110  side.  FIG. 14  is an enlarged plan view of the inside of a circle A shown in  FIG. 13 .  
         [0089]      FIG. 13  shows the liquid crystal display screen  121 , three contacts  122 , receiver  123 , in-camera  124  and so on fixed on the chassis  170 .  
         [0090]     A lead  189  for conveying the sound signal to the receiver  123  is extended from the receiver  123 , and a connector  188  is connected to the end of the lead  189 . The connector  188  is connected to a connector  169  on the circuit board  160 . Here, the lead  189  is reasonably long to facilitate assembly work for fitting the connector  188  at its end to the connector  169  on the circuit board  160 . If the assembly work thereafter is performed with the lead  189  remaining as-is on the liquid crystal display screen  121 , the assembly becomes incomplete. Thus, the projecting canopy section  178  for regulating a wiring position of the lead  189  is provided on the chassis  170  for fixing the receiver  123  so as to hold down the lead  189  with the canopy section  178 . It is possible, by providing such a canopy section  178 , to wire the lead  189  at a proper position not interfering with the assembly.  
         [0091]     Next, a description will be given as to the structure of the downside housing  200  (refer to  FIGS. 1 and 2 ) of the portable telephone  10  described here.  
         [0092]      FIGS. 15 and 16  are exploded perspective views of the downside housing of the portable telephone shown in FIGS.  1  to  4 .  
         [0093]     As with the upside housing  100  (refer to  FIGS. 5 and 6 ) described so far, the downside housing  200  is also consisting of an inside cover  210 , an assembly  220  and an outside cover  230 , and has a structure for sandwiching the assembly  220  having a number of parts built therein with the inside cover  210  and outside cover  230 .  
         [0094]     The assembly  220  is plate-like as a whole, and contacts  221  to be turned on by pushing the push buttons are placed at positions corresponding to multiple push buttons  201  provided on the inside cover  210  respectively. And multiple LEDs  222  for lighting up the push buttons  201  are dispersedly placed. One LED  222   a  of the multiple LEDs  222  lights up a call button  201   a  out of the multiple push buttons  201 , which is equivalent to picking up a receiver of a conventional telephone. Another LED  222   b  lights up a call button  201   b  out of the multiple push buttons  201 . The multiple LEDs  222  which are dispersedly placed emit light all together and thereby light up the multiple push buttons  201  all together.  
         [0095]     According to this embodiment, placement of the LEDs  222  is determined so that, on lighting up the multiple push buttons  201  all together, the multiple push buttons  201  including the call buttons  201   a  and  201   b  will light up all together without having the LEDs  222   a  and  222   b  for lighting up only the call buttons  201   a  and  201   b  emit light. And according to this embodiment, the LEDs  222  except the LEDs  222   a  and  222   b  emit light on lighting up the multiple push buttons  201  all together. However, it is also feasible, as the placement of the LEDs, to have the call buttons  201   a  and  201   b  lighted up by the LEDs  222   a  and  222   b  on lighting up the multiple push buttons  201  all together so as to have the LEDs  222  including the LEDs  222   a  and  222   b  emit light on lighting up the multiple push buttons  201  all together.  
         [0096]     Here, the call button  201   a  as one of the two call buttons  201   a  and  201   b  is the push button to be pushed when making an ordinary call only with voice. The other call button  201   b  is the push button to be pushed when making a video-phone call accompanied by image communication. In  FIG. 15 , a light shielding member  223  is provided as if surrounding the portion corresponding to the call button  201   b  for video-phone of the assembly  220 . This is intended to light up the call button  201   b  when the LED  222   b  emits light and prevent the other push buttons from lighting up due to the light leaked from the LED  222   b.  Details will be described later.  
         [0097]     The assembly  220  has an opening  225  formed thereon for the sake of emitting the voice from the backside of the speaker (refer to  FIG. 16 ) from the assembly  220 . The voice emitted from the opening  225  is outputted to the outside of the portable telephone from the sound outlet  203  provided on the inside cover  210 .  
         [0098]     The outside cover  230  shown in  FIG. 15  has an opening  233  for accommodating the battery formed thereon, and a mesh  231  is adhered to the inside of the sound outlet  204  (refer to  FIGS. 2, 4  and  16 ) for emitting the voice from the front of the speaker (refer to  FIG. 16 ) to the outside of the housing. The mesh  231  plays a role of emitting the voice from the speaker to the outside from the sound outlet  204  and preventing dust of the outside from entering into the housing.  
         [0099]     A gasket  232  is adhered as if surrounding the sound outlet  204  (refer to  FIGS. 2, 4  and  16 ) having the mesh  231  adhered thereto. The gasket  232  is intended to prevent a sound leak from around the speaker. Details of the gasket  232  will also be described later.  
         [0100]     As shown in  FIG. 16 , on the inner face of the inside cover  210 , there are a mesh  211  adhered to the inside of the sound outlet  203  (refer to  FIGS. 1 and 15 ) and a gasket  212  adhered thereto by surrounding the mesh  211  provided. The gasket  212  clogs up the surroundings of the opening  225  of the assembly  220  shown in  FIG. 15  to prevent the voice emitted from the opening  225  to leak to any portion other than the sound outlet  203 . The inside cover  210  also has screw holes  213  for screw cramps provided thereon.  
         [0101]     As shown in  FIG. 16 , the assembly  220  has a speaker  224  mounted thereon with its front exposed, and also has a battery accommodating section  205  for accommodating the battery (not shown). Furthermore, the assembly  220  has mounting holes  226  provided thereon.  
         [0102]     Here, the speaker  224  mounted on the assembly  220  has a sound producing section  224   a  which is almost circular and a connecting section  224   b  to which a lead  224   c  for conveying the sound signal to the sound producing section  224   a  is connected. And a speaker accommodating section  227  for accommodating the speaker  224  of the assembly  220  has a form matching with the form of the speaker  224 , wherein a circular section  227   a  for accommodating the circular sound producing section  224   a  of the speaker  224  is connected to a rectangular section  227   b  for connecting the connecting section  224   b  of the speaker  224 .  
         [0103]     Furthermore, as shown in  FIG. 16 , the outside cover  230  has the sound outlet  204  and the opening  233  for accommodating the battery described so far provided thereon, and further has mounting holes  234  and battery charging electrodes  235  provided thereon. To assemble the inside cover  210 , assembly  220  and outside cover  230 , the assembly  220  is sandwiched between the inside cover  210  and outside cover  230 , and screws are inserted into the mounting holes  234  of the outside cover  230  and mounting holes  226  of the assembly  220  from the mounting holes  234  side so as to be screwed in the screw holes  213  of the inside cover  210 .  
         [0104]      FIG. 17  is a plan view showing the inner face of the outside cover  230  (refer to  FIGS. 5 and 6 ) constituting the downside housing  200  (refer to  FIGS. 1 and 2 ).  
         [0105]     Here, the mesh  231  is adhered to the portion to which the front face of the sound producing section  224   a  of the speaker  224  (refer to  FIG. 16 ) is applied as previously described, and the gasket  232  is adhered to the surroundings of the mesh  231 . The gasket  232  has a circular portion  232   a  and a rectangular portion  232   b  projecting from the circular portion. The circular portion  232   a  of the gasket  232  covers the surroundings of the sound producing section  224   a  (refer to  FIG. 16 ) of the speaker  224 , and is intended to prevent occurrence of unpleasant noise due to reduction in sound pressure and resonance caused by the voice emitted from the sound producing section  224   a  leaking to any portion other than the sound outlet  204  (refer to  FIG. 16 ) having the mesh  231  adhered thereto.  
         [0106]     The rectangular portion  232   b  of the gasket  232  plays a role of clogging up the rectangular section  227   b  having the connecting section  224   b  of the speaker  224  placed thereon of the speaker accommodating section  227  shown in  FIG. 16  and acoustically separating a space formed on the backside of the speaker  224  (described later) from the front face of the sound producing section  224   a  in collaboration with the circular portion  232   a.  Details will be described later.  
         [0107]      FIG. 17  shows the opening  233  for accommodating the battery and the mounting holes  234  for screw cramps as previously described.  
         [0108]      FIG. 18  is a plan view showing the downside housing.  FIG. 19  is a sectional view along an arrow A to A shown in  FIG. 18 .  FIG. 20  is a sectional view along an arrow B to B shown in  FIG. 18 .  
         [0109]      FIG. 18  is a diagram for showing lines of sections in  FIGS. 19 and 20 , and a repeated description of the inner face of the downside housing will be omitted. The structure related to the sound outlet  203  will be described below.  
         [0110]     As shown in  FIGS. 19 and 20 , the sound producing section  224   a  of the speaker  224  is facing the sound outlet  204  side, and the gasket  232  consisting of the circular portion  232   a  and rectangular portion  232   b  shown in  FIG. 17  is sandwiched between the sound outlet  204  and the speaker  224 . And some spaces  228  are formed on the backside of the speaker  224  and lead to the opening  225  (refer to  FIG. 15 ) of the assembly  220 , where the opening  225  leads to another sound outlet  203 . Here, the gasket  232  is intended to prevent the reduction in sound pressure of the voice emitted from the sound outlet  204  and occurrence of the unpleasant noise due to the sound emitted from the sound producing section  224   a  of the speaker  224  leaking to the surroundings. The gasket  232  plays another role, that is, the role of preventing the sound emitted from the sound producing section  224   a  of the speaker  224  from running round to the spaces  228  on the backside of the speaker  224 .  
         [0111]     In the case of a structure for emitting the sound from the speaker  224  only to the front face of the sound producing section  224   a,  there is no problem even if the sound runs round to the spaces  228 . In this case, it is sufficient only if the gasket  232  exists in the circular portion  232   a  surrounding the sound producing section  224   a  of the speaker  224 . As opposed to this, in the case of the structure shown here, the sound emitted forward from the sound producing section  224   a  of the speaker  224  is emitted from the sound outlet  204 , and the sound emitted on the backside of the speaker  224  is emitted from another sound outlet  203  via the spaces  228 . Here, the voice emitted forward from the sound producing section  224   a  of the speaker  224  and the voice emitted from the backside of the speaker  224  to the spaces  228  are mutually in opposite phases, and so they are mutually canceled if the voice emitted from the sound producing section  224   a  runs round to the spaces  228 . The sound pressure of the voice emitted from the backside of the speaker  224  into the spaces  228  is not so high from the beginning. Therefore, if this voice is further canceled, only the voice of insufficient sound pressure can be obtained consequently from the sound outlet  203 . Here, not only the circular portion  232   a  but also the rectangular portion  232   b  is provided to the gasket  232 , and the voice emitted from the sound producing section  224   a  of the speaker  224  is thereby prevented from running round to the spaces  228  on the backside of the speaker  224  so as to emit the voice of sufficient sound pressure also from the sound outlet  203  on the backside of the speaker  224 .  
         [0112]      FIG. 21  is a further exploded view showing the inside cover  210  (refer to  FIGS. 5 and 6 ) constituting the downside housing  200  (refer to  FIGS. 1 and 2 ).  
         [0113]     The inside cover  210  is consisting of a frame  210 A having holes  219  provided to the portions equivalent to the push buttons and a push button sheet  210 B having the push buttons made of a hard material of which locations corresponding to the holes  219  are formed like projections with the push buttons linked by a flexible sheet. The flexible sheet is made of a half-transparent material, and a material for dispersedly transmitting light is used for the push buttons. As shown by the arrow in  FIG. 21 , the push button sheet  210 B has the face shown in  FIG. 21  placed on the frame  210 A in a direction of the frame  210 A contacting the face shown in  FIG. 21 , and the push buttons  201  of the push button sheet  210 B are fitted in the holes  219  of the frame  210 A.  
         [0114]     The frame  210 A has a small microphone  214  provided at a position on the backside of the mouthpiece  202  shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0115]     The frame  210 A has light shielding walls  217  and  218  adhered to the inner face thereof.  
         [0116]     The push button sheet  210 B has a long hole  215  and a slit  216  formed at the locations corresponding to the light shielding wall  218 .  
         [0117]      FIG. 22  is a diagram showing the inner face of the inside cover  210  in a state of placing the push button sheet  210 B on the frame  210 A.  
         [0118]     The light shielding wall  218  is provided at a position surrounding the call button  201   a  of the multiple push buttons  102 . The light shielding wall  217  is provided at a position surrounding another call button  201   b  in collaboration with the light shielding wall  223  provided on the assembly  220  (refer to  FIG. 15 ).  
         [0119]     The light shielding wall  218  is intended to prevent the push buttons other than the call button  201   a  from lighting up due to a leak of the light from the LED  222   a  as one of the multiple LEDs  222  on the assembly  220  shown in  FIG. 15  when the LED  222   a  emits light and lights up only the call button  201   a.    
         [0120]     The light shielding wall  217  surrounds the call button  201   b  in collaboration with the light shielding wall  223  provided on the assembly  220  (refer to  FIG. 5 ), and is intended to prevent the leak of the light to the push buttons other than the call button  201   b  when only the two LEDs  222   b  of the multiple LEDs  222  on the assembly  220  shown in  FIG. 5  emit light and light up only the call button  201   b.    
         [0121]     As previously described, if the multiple LEDs  222  except the LEDs  222   a  and  222   b  on the assembly  220  emit light all together, the multiple push buttons including the two call buttons  201   a  and  201   b  lined up on the push button sheet  210 B light up all together.  
         [0122]      FIG. 23  is a plan view showing the downside housing.  FIG. 24  is a sectional view along an arrow A to A shown in  FIG. 23 .  FIG. 25  is a partially enlarged view enlarging and showing the inside of a circle R 1  shown in  FIG. 24 .  FIG. 26  is a sectional view along an arrow B to B shown in  FIG. 23 .  FIG. 27  is a partially enlarged view enlarging and showing the inside of a circle R 2  shown in  FIG. 26 .  
         [0123]     If only the LED  222   a  shown in  FIG. 25  emits light, the call button  201   a  lights up, and the light of the LED  222   a  is shut out by the light shielding wall  218  and is not conveyed to the other push buttons so that the push buttons other than the call button  201   a  remain unlit.  
         [0124]     The call button  201   a  has been described here. However, it also applies to the other call button  201   b.    
         [0125]     Here, the call button  201   a  is the push button which lights up on receiving the ordinary call only with voice and is pushed to start the call. The other call button  201   b  is the push button which lights up on receiving the video-phone call and is pushed to start the video-phone call and image communication. On receiving a call, the user of this portable telephone can see whether it is the ordinary call only with voice or the video-phone call and which call button should be pushed by checking which of the two call buttons  201   a  and  201   b  is lighted up. In addition, all the push buttons light up if a folded portable telephone is opened in timing other than receiving a call so as to facilitate use in a dark place.  
         [0126]     The portable telephone has been described above as an example of the portable terminal apparatus according to the present invention. However, any specification of communication for implementing a telephone function of the portable telephone is applicable to the present invention, such as PHS (Personal Handy Phone System).  
         [0127]     Also, the folding type portable telephone has been described above as an example. However, the present invention is not only applicable to the folding type portable telephone but also to any form of the portable telephone.  
         [0128]     Furthermore, the present invention is not only applicable to those in the form of the portable telephone but also to any form of the portable terminal apparatus with the telephone function, such as the portable terminal apparatus in a form similar to a PDA (Personal digital Assistance) or a wrist watch.