Abstract:
A wireless apparatus having a foldable structure allowing improved antenna condition when opened with improved convenience is disclosed. A first housing and a second housing coupled by a hinge are freely opened and closed around the hinge. An antenna section for use in wireless communication is coupled to the first and second housings by the hinge such that the antenna section is situated at back of the second housing and is freely opened and closed around the hinge with respect to the second housing. A spring force is applied to the antenna section to rotate it in an opening direction. The antenna section is latched by an antenna latch member to be kept in a closed state. When the first housing and the second housing are opened to a predetermined angle, the latch is released to open the antenna section away from the second housing.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a portable wireless terminal, and in particular to a wireless terminal that is designed to open and close a first housing and a second housing of its components by a hinge mechanism.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    Among portable wireless terminals typified by a mobile telephone such as PHS (Personal Handy phone System), many of them focusing on portability are designed to realize miniaturization such that a handset is removed and receiving and transmitting portions (a speaker and a microphone) thereof are mounted directly on a main body of the terminal. Also, there are such many requirements that various information such as text information or visual imagery can be displayed in an easily readable size and various data can be smoothly input. To meet these requirements, many wireless terminals employ a fordable structure having two housings composing the main body thereof to be opened when used.  
           [0005]    In the case of a wireless telephone employing such a fordable structure, the main body having the receiving portion and the transmitting portion therein is closely contacted with the head of a user. At this time, since the antenna is positioned extremely close to the head of a user, there is developed such a problem that the efficiency of antenna decreases duo to the absorption of radio wave sent from antenna in a human body.  
           [0006]    For example, in the wireless terminal disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 11-136015, the first housing and the second housing are allowed to be freely opened and closed by the hinge mechanism and an antenna is mounted in one of these housings. When a user has this wireless terminal by hand in such a manner that it is pressed against the user&#39;s head, the efficiency decreases and its power is consumed in vain because the antenna is arranged extremely close to a human body. Therefore, there have been proposed some wireless terminals that are designed to allow the antenna to be arranged apart from a human body as far as possible when used.  
           [0007]    [0007]FIG. 1 shows a conventional portable wireless terminal disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2689881. in this portable wireless terminal  100 , a first housing  101  and a second housing  102  composing the main body thereof are freely opened and closed by a hinge mechanism  103 . In FIG. 1, the closed state of the case  101  and the case  102  is shown by a phantom line, and the open state is shown by a solid line. At the side of the case  102 , an antenna  104  is provided parallel to the case  102 . The antenna  104  is independently and rotatably attached to the hinge mechanism  103 . Therefore, as shown by an arrow  105 , when the antenna  104  is rotated forming a more obtuse angle with respect to the first housing  101  on telephone conversation, the efficiency of radio wave sent from the antenna  104  becomes improved.  
           [0008]    However, in the wireless terminal  100  as shown in FIG. 1, at the side of the case  102 , the antenna  104  is provided parallel to the case  102 . Therefore, in the case where the antenna  104  is designed not to protrude from the main body when the second housing  102  is closed to the first housing  101 , the total widths including both second housing  102  and antenna  104  (the length in an axial direction of the hinge mechanism  103 ) is required to be approximately same as the width of first housing  101 . Therefore, the width of the second housing  102  gets narrower than that of first housing  101  only by the width of antenna  104 . On the second housing  102 , a liquid crystal display or the like is usually arranged. Accordingly, there is such a disadvantage that the size of the display is relatively reduced.  
           [0009]    [0009]FIG. 2 shows another conventional wireless terminal that is designed to solve the above-described disadvantage. In a wireless terminal  110  disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2658906, a first housing  111  and a second housing  112  composing the main body thereof are freely opened and closed by a hinge mechanism  113 . In this conventional wireless terminal, differing from the wireless terminal  100  as shown in FIG. 1, the length of first housing  111  is longer than that of second housing  112 . At the end portion of a protrusion  114  attaching a hinge mechanism  113  therewith, an antenna  116  is installed to be rotated 90 degrees through an antenna hinge portion  115 . This antenna  116  is accommodated parallel to a shaft  118  of the hinge mechanism  113  when the terminal is not used. On the other hand, on wireless communication, it is rotated in the direction of an arrow  119  to form a right angle with respect to the shaft  118 , and then an end portion  116 A is pulled out.  
           [0010]    In this conventional wireless terminal  110 , since the width of the second housing  112  is equal to that of the first housing  111 , it can secure the larger display size than that in the first example of FIG. 1. In the conventional wireless terminal  110  as shown in FIG. 2, a spring mechanism (not shown) is employed so that the first housing  111  and the second housing  112  are opened to form a predetermined angle when the terminal  110  is used. When no used, the first housing  111  and the second housing  112  are closed and held by means of a first magnet (not shown). Similarly, the opening mechanism of the antenna  116  is realized by means of a spring (not shown). When the terminal is not used, the antenna  116  is accommodated and held parallel to the shaft  118  by means of a second magnet (not shown).  
           [0011]    The wireless terminal  110  of FIG. 2 is further provided with a sliding button, which is used to release the holding force of the first and second magnets to open the first housing  111  and the second housing  112  to form the predetermined angle and to rotate the antenna  116  to a maximum right angle with respect to the shaft  118 . In this state, a user pulls out the top  116 A of the antenna  116  for radio communication.  
           [0012]    In the wireless terminal  110  as shown in FIG. 2, the antenna  116  is designed to be accommodated across the width of the first housing  111  and the second housing  112 . Therefore, the length of the antenna  116  when accommodated is rather shorter than that when used. Therefore, when the terminal  110  is used, it is necessary to extend the antenna  116  with inconvenience.  
           [0013]    Thus, although the mobile telephone is mainly described, the same problem remains in the other wireless terminals such as a compact computer mounted with a microphone and speaker in the main body thereof.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0014]    An object of the present invention is to provide a wireless apparatus having a foldable structure allowing improved antenna condition when the terminal is opened.  
           [0015]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a wireless apparatus having an automatic opening structure allowing an antenna to be automatically opened with improved antenna condition.  
           [0016]    According to the present invention, a portable wireless apparatus includes: a first housing; a second housing coupled to the first housing by a hinge, wherein the first housing and the second housing are freely opened and closed around the hinge within a first predetermined range having a maximum of a first angle, an antenna section for use in wireless communication, coupled to the first and second housings by the hinge such that the antenna section is situated at back of the second housing, wherein the antenna section is freely opened and closed around the hinge within a second predetermined range having a maximum of a second angle with respect to the second housing; an antenna energizing member for applying a force to the antenna section in an opening direction; an antenna latch member for latching the antenna section to the second housing to keep the antenna section in a closed state; and an antenna latch releasing mechanism for releasing a latch of the antenna latch member when an angle formed between the first housing and the second housing reaches a third angle within the first predetermined range.  
           [0017]    Since the antenna section is situated at the back of the second housing, the length of the antenna section can be set to at least the longitudinal length of the first and second housings, ensuring the minimum length necessary for communication.  
           [0018]    Further, since the antenna section can be rotated around the hinge when the latch is released, the antenna section can be further rotated by the second angle with respect to the second housing, allowing the antenna to be arranged apart from a human body and resulting in improved efficiency of antenna.  
           [0019]    Furthermore, when the first and second housings are opened at the first angle, the antenna section is automatically opened, resulting in improved convenience. When no communication is made, the first and second housings as well as the antenna section can be closed to make the apparatus compact.  
           [0020]    Preferably, the portable wireless apparatus further includes: a housing energizing member for applying a force to the first and second housings in an opening direction; a housing latch member for latching the first and second housings to each other to keep tho first and second housings in a closed state; and a housing latch releasing mechanism for manually releasing a latch of the housing latch member.  
           [0021]    Since the first and second housings can be opened by releasing the latch of the housing latch member, only one operation of the housing latch releasing mechanism causes the first and second housings as well as the antenna section to be automatically opened.  
           [0022]    According to another aspect of the present invention, a portable wireless apparatus includes: a first housing; a second housing coupled to the first housing by a hinge, wherein the first housing and the second housing are freely opened and closed around the hinge within a first predetermined range having a maximum of a first angle; an antenna section for use in wireless communication, coupled to the first and second housings by the hinge such that the antenna section is placed outside the second housing, wherein the antenna section is freely opened and closed around the hinge within a second predetermined range having a maximum of a second angle with respect to the second housing; an antenna driver for rotating the antenna section in an opening direction; and an antenna driver controller for starting the antenna driver rotating the antenna section in the opening direction when an angle formed between the first housing and the second housing reaches a third angle within the first predetermined range.  
           [0023]    Preferably, the portable wireless apparatus may further include; a housing driver for rotating the first and second housings in an opening direction; a release detector for detecting that the first and second housings are going to be opened from a closed state to produce a detection signal; and a housing driver controller for starting the housing driver rotating the first and second housings in the opening direction in response to the detection signal.  
           [0024]    The housing driver controller may start the antenna driver controller when the angle formed between the first housing and the second housing reaches the third angle, so that the antenna driver starts rotating the antenna section in the opening direction.  
           [0025]    The release detector may include: a predetermined button of a plurality of operation buttons provided on a first inner surface of the first housing; and a protrusion provided at a predetermined position on a second inner surface of the second housing, the predetermined position corresponding to the predetermined button on the first inner surface, wherein the second inner surface faces the first inner surface of the first housing when closed, wherein, when the first housing and the second housing are opened, the protrusion releases the predetermined button to produce a detection signal.  
           [0026]    Since the movement of opening the first and second housings can be detected by releasing the predetermined button, a special key is not needed, resulting in reduced amount of hardware and reduced cost.  
           [0027]    According to further another aspect of the present invention, a portable wireless apparatus includes: a first housing; a second housing coupled to the first housing by a hinge, wherein the first housing and the second housing are freely opened and closed around the hinge within a first predetermined range having a maximum of a first angle; an antenna section for use in wireless communication, coupled to the first and second housings by the hinge such that the antenna section is placed outside the second housing, wherein the antenna section is freely opened and closed around the hinge within a second predetermined range having a maximum of a second angle with respect to the second housing; an antenna driver for rotating the antenna section to make any angle formed between the first housing and tho second housing within the second predetermined range; a received signal strength detector for detecting a strength of a signal received by the antenna section; and an antenna driver controller for controlling the antenna driver to adjust an antenna angular of the antenna section so as to maximize the strength of a received signal.  
           [0028]    Since an antenna angular of the antenna section is adjusted so as to maximize the strength of a received signal, best communication condition can be automatically obtained. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0029]    [0029]FIG. 1 is a side view showing a first example of a conventional wireless terminal;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a second example of a conventional wireless terminal;  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the front side of a wireless terminal in the opened stage of two housings according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 4 is perspective view showing the back side of the wireless terminal according to the embodiment;  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an antenna section composed of an antenna and a hinge mechanism thereof in the embodiment;  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 6 is a side view showing the wireless terminal in the folded state according to the present embodiment;  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the hinge mechanism sectioned in the orthogonal direction of the center axis in order to describe the mechanism of rotation control;  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 8 is a side view showing an opened state of the wireless terminal at a moment just before a first housing and a second housing are rotated just a first angleθ 1  by the hinge mechanism;  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 9 is a side view showing an opened state after the antenna are rotated just a second angleθ 2  with respect to the second housing;  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a wireless terminal according to a modified embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a main part of the internal circuit of the wireless terminal according to the modified embodiment. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0040]    Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below.  
         [0041]    Referring to FIG. 3, a wireless terminal  200  according to an embodiment of the present invention is composed of a first housing  201 , a second housing  202  and an antenna section  203  placed at the back of the second housing  202 . The first and second housings  201  and  202  and the antenna section  203  are arranged to be each rotated predetermined ranges of angle by a hinge mechanism  204 .  
         [0042]    The first housing  201  is provided with a button operating portion  211  and a transmitting portion  212 . The button operating portion  211  has a plurality of button switches on an inner surface of the first housing  201 , which faces an inner surface of the second housing  202  when closed. The transmitting portion  212  is composed of a microphone (not shown) provided at the position corresponding to a speaker&#39;s mouth (not shown) in the case where the first housing  201  and the second housing  202  are opened to form a first angleθ 1  as shown in FIG. 3.  
         [0043]    The second housing  202  is provided will a liquid crystal display (LCD)  214  at the approximately center position of the inner surface of the second housing  202 . Also, a receiving portion  215  composed of a speaker (not shown) is provided at the position corresponding to a user&#39;s ear when the first housing  201 , and the second housing  202  are opened at the first angleθ 1  as shown in FIG. 3. The antenna section  203  is arranged to form a second angleθ, with respect to the outer surface (not shown in FIG. 3) opposing to the inner surface of the second housing  202 .  
         [0044]    On the inner surface of the first housing  201 , a protrusion  216  is provided near the transmitting portion  212 . Also, the inner surface of the second housing  202  has a latch hole  217  formed at the position corresponding to the protrusion  216  so that the protrusion  216  is inserted into the latch hole  217  to be latched. On the side surface near this latch hole  217  on the second housing  202 , a slidable latch release portion  218  is provided. When the first housing  201  and the second housing  202  are closed, the protrusion  216  is engaged with the latch hole  217  to be latched, and the first housing  201  and the second housing  202  are held in the closed state. When the slidable latch release portion  218  is slid in an axial direction of the antenna section  203 , the latch is released by a well-known mechanism and the first housing  201  and the second housing  202  are opened as shown in FIG. 3. Such a mechanism will be described in detail later.  
         [0045]    Referring to FIG. 4, the antenna section  203  is composed of a head portion  221  having the end portion of an antenna device embedded therein and an antenna main body  222  widening toward the bottom end thereof near the hinge mechanism  204 . At the relatively upper position of antenna main body  222 , an incoming call indicator  223  is provided, which is composed of a lamp that indicates an incoming call by lightening or blinking. The antenna device, which is accommodated in the antenna section  203  along the longitude direction from the head portion  221  towards the antenna main body  222  thereof, extends to near the bottom end thereof. Since the length of the antenna device is slightly longer than that of the first housing  201  or the second housing  202  by an amount of the protruding head portion  221 , the antenna device can provide sufficient performance as an antenna.  
         [0046]    Referring to FIG. 5, the antenna device  231  extends from the head portion  221  of the antenna section  203  to the bottom of the antenna main body  222 , from which an antenna device cable  233  coated with resin is extended outwardly through the inside of a ring shaft portion  232  of the hinge mechanism  204 . In the incoming call indicator  223 , a light-emitting diode  235  and a control line  236  for control the light-emitting diode  235  are mounted in the antenna main body  222 , and a light-emitting control cable  237  coated with resin connected to the control line  236  is extended outwardly through the inside of the other ring shaft portion  232   2  of the hinge mechanism  204 . These antenna device cable  233  and light-emitting control cable  237  are connected to connectors (not shown) providing an electrical connection to the inside of the first housing  201  through a clearance (not shown) in the hinge mechanism  204  as shown in FIG. 3. Through the connectors, the antenna device cable  233  and light-emitting control cable  237  are electrically connected to an antenna terminal of a printed board and a light-emitting control terminal, respectively.  
         [0047]    The antenna section  203  in the present embodiment is formed by integrally molding with resin the head portion  221 , the antenna main body  222 , and two ring shaft portion  232   1  and  232   2  as well as the light-emitting diode  235  and the control line  236 . Therefore, the whole antenna section  203  can be made thin and compact while keeping the strength of antenna section  203  in itself.  
         [0048]    As shown in FIG. 6, when the wireless terminal  200  is closed, the first housing  201  is overlaid with the second housing  202  on which the antenna section  203  is overlaid. Therefore, in a non-communication state (a waiting state) of the wireless terminal  200 , the wireless terminal  200  can be compact in the entirely same manner of a conventional portable telephone. A spring force exerted by an opening spring  241  is applied to the first housing  201  and the second housing  202  so as to be opened to form the first angleθ 1  as shown in FIG. 1. Also, in order not to rotate the second housing  202  and the antenna section  203  in excess of the first angleθ 1  and the second angleθ 2  respectively, a well-known technique for regulating the rotatation direction may be employed. For example, steps are formed on the slicing contact surface of the rotatable shaft of the hinge mechanism  204 . Therefore, when the slidable latch release portion  218  is slid to release the latch of protrusion  216 , the first housing  201  and the second housing  202  is allowed to rotate to form the maximum first angleθ 1  by the hinge mechanism  204 .  
         [0049]    In addition, an N-pole magnet  251  is embedded at a predetermined position facing to the second housing  202  in the antenna section  203 , add an S-pole magnet  252  is embedded at the position facing to the N-pole magnet  251  in the second housing  202 . The S-pole magnet  252  has a coil  253  winded around it and the coil  253  is connected to an energizing circuit  254  for energizing the coil  253  to generate a magnetic field providing the opposite polarity (N pole) to be applied to the S-pole magnet  252 . The magnitude of magnetic attraction force between the magnets  251  and  252  is set to the extent that the attraction force is greater than the opposite force to open the antenna section  203  generated by the opening spring  242 .  
         [0050]    When an energizing current flows through the coil  253  by the energizing circuit  254 , even if it takes relatively short time, the magnet  252  works to cancel the magnetic attraction force or to weaken it in such an extent that the antenna opening force generated by the spring  242  becomes stronger than the magnetic attraction force. Therefore, when the energizing circuit  254  is activated, the antenna section  203  is released from the closed state by the antenna opening spring  242  to be rotated the maximum second angleθ 2  as shown in FIG. 4.  
         [0051]    Referring to FIG. 7, the hinge mechanism  204  has a first ring shaft portion  261  fixed to a center shaft  262  thereof arranged at the one end of the first housing  201 . A protrusion  264  made of conductor is provided at a predetermined position of outer surface of the first ring shaft portion  261 , and its top portion is slidably in contact with the internal surface of a second ring shaft portion  266 , which is rotatably arranged with a predetermined spacing outside the first ring shaft portion  261 . Two protrusions  267  and  268  protrude inwardly from the internal surface of the second ring shaft portion  266  towards the center axis thereof. The second ring shaft portion  266  is arranged at one end of the second housing  202 , and is one part composing the hinge mechanism  204 .  
         [0052]    Assuming that the first housing  201  is fixed, the second ring shaft portion  266  is rotatable in a direction of an arrow  269  within the range where the rotating direction of protrusion  264  is regulated by the two protrusion  267  and  268 . In this case, the rotatable angle range is the first angleθ 1 .  
         [0053]    As shown in FIG. 7, the second ring shaft portion  266  has a conductor  271  formed at a position relatively near to the protrusion  267  on the internal surface thereof. The protrusion  264  and the conductor  271  are electrically connected to electric wires  272  and  273 , respectively. Therefore, when the protrusion  216  (see FIG. 3) is released from the latch by sliding the slidable latch release portion  218  as shown in FIG. 3 to open the first housing  201  and the second housing  202 , the protrusion  264  and the conductor  271  are electrically connected to each other in a relatively short interval just before the contact of protrusion  264  with protrusion  267  to stop the rotation. During this short interval the energizing circuit  254  is activated, and thereby the coil  254  is energized.  
         [0054]    As shown in FIG. 8, when an angleθ formed between the first housing  201  and the second housing  202  is smaller than the predetermined first angleθ 1 , the protrusion  264  and the conductor  271  are not connected as described above. Therefore the N-pole magnet  251  and the S-pole magnet  252  attract each other and thereby the antenna section  203  is in contact with the second housing  202 .  
         [0055]    When the protrusion  264  and the conductor  271  are electrically connected to each other just before the contact of protrusion  264  with protrusion  267  as shown in FIG. 7, the energizing circuit  254  is activated to rotate the antenna section  203  the second angleθ 2 .  
         [0056]    As shown in FIG. 9, in this way, the second housing  202  and the antenna section  203  are held at the second angleθ 2  and the first housing  201  and the second housing  202  are supposed to held at the first angleθ 1 .  
         [0057]    As described above, only by sliding the slidable latch release portion  218  as shown in FIG. 3, the first and second housings  201  and  202  are opened and further the antenna section  203  is also unlatched from the second housing  202 , so that a user can operate the button operating portion  211  (see FIG. 3) right now, and respond to the arrival of a call or start a dialing operation. Then, since the energizing circuit  254  in the present embodiment is activated just in the extremely short interval, a very small amount of electric power is consumed even if the wireless terminal is frequently opened and closed.  
         [0058]    Modified embodiment  
         [0059]    In FIG. 10, members of a wireless terminal  200 A according to the modified embodiment similar to those previously described with reference to FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals and descriptions thereof will be omitted.  
         [0060]    As shown in FIG. 10, the wireless terminal  200 A is composed of a first housing  201 A, a second housing  202   a , an antenna section  203   a , and a hinge mechanism  204 A for rotatably coupling the first and second housings  201 A and  202 A. A protrusion  302  is provided on the inner surface of the second housing  202 A at a position facing to a specific button  301  on the button operating portion  211  of the first housing  201 A. Also, a first motor  304  and a second motor  305  each having speed reducing mechanism are provided in a space within the hinge mechanism  204 A. The first motor  304  performs the open/close operation of the first housing  201 A and the second housing  202 A. The second motor  305  performs the open/close operation of the second housing  202 A and the antenna section  203 A.  
         [0061]    Referring to FIG. 11, a received signal level detector  311  detects the level of a signal received through the antenna section  203 A. In the case where a best angle detection mode is selected, an antenna rotation angle controller  312  controls rotation of the second motor  5  through a second motor rotation controller  313  so as to detect the best angle of the antenna section  203 A by rotating it in steps of a slight angle in a positive direction or a reverse direction, and continues to perform such a best angle detection control around the detected angle.  
         [0062]    When the specific button  301  (see FIG. 10) is released from a long-time pressed state, a specific button pressed state release detector  314  detects the pressed state release and instructs the first motor rotation controller  315  to start the rotation of the first motor  304 . Accordingly, when a user tries to open the first housing  201 A and the second housing  202 A, this movement is detected by the specific button pressed state release detector  314  and the first motor rotation controller  315  rotates the first motor  204  to open the first housing  201 A and the second housing  202 A at the first angleθ 1 . When opening the first housing  201 A and the second housing  202 A, the control of the motor rotation controller  313  is started at a predetermined timing to form the second angleθ 2 . In this manner, the opening control of the second housing  202 A and the antenna section  203 A is coupled with that of the first housing  201 A and the second housing  202 A.  
         [0063]    On the other hand, the reverse operation of the above-described opening operation can be performed by a user performing a predetermined operation of the button operating portion  211  to control the first and second motor rotation controllers  315  and  313 . Therefore, an accommodating operation between the first housing  201 A and the second housing  202 A, then between the second housing  202 A and the antenna section  203 A, is performed to close them.  
         [0064]    Alternatively, it is possible to use a single motor to selectively drive the first housing  201   a , the second housing  202 A, and the antenna section  203 A. In this case, both open/close operation between the first housing  201 A and the second housing  202 A and the open/close operation between the second housing  202 A and the antenna section  203 A can be carried out by the single motor. Then, the open/close operation only between the second housing  202 A and the antenna section  203 A may be automatically performed by only second motor  305 . In this case, the second motor  305  may be driven when the first angleθ 1  or the predetermined angle to be close to this angleθ 1  is formed between the first housing  201 A and the second housing  202 A.  
         [0065]    Furthermore, although the antenna section  203 A controls the rotation angle only in the open/close direction of the first housing  201 A and the second housing  202 A to adjust the receiving sensitivity of the antenna, of course, it may control the rotation angle in a direction orthogonal to the open/close direction.  
         [0066]    In the embodiment, although the first housing  201  has the N-pole magnet  251  therein and the second housing  202  has the S-pole magnet  252  therein, it is natural that the respective polarities may be interchanged.  
         [0067]    In the embodiment and the modified embodiment, the activating timing of the energizing circuit  254  is determined by contact positions of the protrusion  264  and the conductor  271 . However, the activating timing of the energizing circuit  254  may be determined by on/off output of an optical sensor under the same principle.  
         [0068]    In the embodiment, the first housing  201  and the second housing  202 A are opened and closed by a mechanically opened latch. However, if the position of magnet is controlled to change its force of attraction, then the same function can be realized as described as the conventional proposal.  
         [0069]    Further, in the above embodiments, although the antenna having a fixed length is described, it is possible that such a configuration that the length is changeable as necessary may be employed.  
         [0070]    Furthermore, in the modified embodiment, although the motors  304  and  305  are installed within the hinge mechanism  204 A, the motors may be accommodated in either of the housings. Instead of motors, other components such as a solenoid may be also employed.  
         [0071]    In the above embodiments, although a mobile telephone is described as a wireless terminal, it is apparent that the present invention can be applied to other wireless terminals having a wireless function and a voice input/output function in a same manner.