Patent Publication Number: US-2011063235-A1

Title: Portable electronic device

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The disclosure generally relates to portable electronic devices, more particularly, to a portable electronic device with game function. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Nowadays, more and more portable electronic devices, such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), have game functions. The electronic games are increasingly complicated to meet the desires of users, thus, a plurality of input devices, such as keys, scroll wheel, joystick, etc, are set on the portable electronic devices to easily and quickly input commands and operate the games. 
     However, despite the input devices being small they still increase the size and the weight of the portable electronic devices, which does not meet the development trend of miniaturization. Moreover, since the input devices are small, they are inconvenient to operate. 
     Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Many aspects of a portable electronic device can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the exemplary portable electronic device. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like elements of an embodiment. 
         FIG. 1  is a block view of a portable electronic device, according to an exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a front view of the portable electronic device, according to the exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a first direction schematic view of an operating section of the portable electronic device shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a second direction schematic view of the operating section shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 5A  is a third direction schematic view of the operating section shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 5B  is a right side schematic view of the operating section shown in  FIG. 5A . 
         FIG. 6A  is a fourth direction schematic view of the operating section shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 6B  is a right side schematic view of the operating section shown in  FIG. 6A . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIGS. 1-2  show an exemplary embodiment of a portable electronic device  100 , such as a mobile phone, a PDA, etc with game functions. The mobile phone is taken here as an exemplary application. The portable electronic device  100  includes a housing  10 , a sensing unit  20 , a signal processing unit  30 , a signal converting unit  40 , a processor  50 , a storage unit  70 , and a display unit  80 . The sensing unit  20 , the signal processing unit  30 , the signal converting unit  40 , the processor  50 , and the display unit  80  are electrically connected in series, and the processor  50  is electrically connected to the storage unit  70 . 
     The housing  10  includes a holding section  12  and an operating section  14  formed at one end of the holding section  12 . The holding section  12  and the operating section  14  can form the housing  10 . The holding section  12  is configured for accommodating the signal processing unit  30 , the signal converting unit  40 , the processor  50 , the storage unit  70 , and the display unit  80 . 
     The operating section  14  can be made from elastic materials, such as rubber, thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU), etc. The operating section  14 , as one part of the housing  10 , should be flexible and capable of being twisted to generate elastic deformation under external force. Similarly, the holding section  12  can also be made from the elastic materials as described above according to the design needs, as long as the portable electronic device  100  can be operated normally. 
     The sensing unit  20  can be an existing acceleration sensing device, mounted in the operating section  14  of the housing  10 . The sensing unit  20  includes an acceleration sensor such as a three-axis acceleration sensor, and is configured for detecting the direction of elastic deformation and relative displacement of the operating section  14  in three-dimensional direction according to the elastic deformation of the operating section  14 , resulting in generating a corresponding command signal. 
     The sensing unit  20  generates a corresponding command signal according to the direction of elastic deformation and the relative displacement of the operating section  14  when operated. For example, in racing games, referring to  FIGS. 5A-5B , when a user forward twists the operating section  14 , that is the side close to the user of the operating section  14  as viewed by the user is above the plane of the holding section  12  and the other side away from the user of the operating section  14  is below the plane of the holding section  12 , the sensing unit  20  generates a corresponding command signal previously associated with this action, according to detecting the direction of the elastic deformation of the operating section  14 . The sensing unit  20  can also determine a velocity of the twisting according to the relative displacement of the operating section  14  due to the twisting action performed on the operating section  14 . 
     Similarly, referring to  FIGS. 6A-6B , when the user back twists the operating section  14 , that is the side close to the user of the operating section  14  as viewed by the user is below the plane of the holding section  12  and the other side away from the user of the operating section  14  is above the plane of the holding section  12 , the sensing unit  20  generates a corresponding command signal previously associated with this action, according to detecting the direction of the elastic deformation of the operating section  14 . The sensing unit  20  can also determine a velocity of the twisting according to the relative displacement of the operating section  14  due to the twisting action performed on the operating section  14 . Referring to  FIGS. 3-4 , when the user bends the operating section  14  below or above the plane of holding section  12 , the sensing unit  20  generates a corresponding command signal associated with this action, according to detecting the direction of the elastic deformation of the operating section  14 . The sensing unit  20  determines a bending velocity according to the relative displacement of the operating section  14  due to the bending action performed on the operating section  14 . 
     The signal processing unit  30  is configured for processing, such as amplifying, buffering, improving signal noise ratio (SNR), the command signal from the sensing unit  20  and transmitting the processed command signal to the signal converting unit  40 . The signal converting unit  40  can be an existing analog to digital converter (ADC), which is configured for transforming the command signal from an analog signal into a digital signal. 
     The processor  50  can be integrated with the central processing unit (CPU) of the portable electronic device  100 . The processor  50  is configured for receiving the digital signal from the signal converting unit  40  and generating a control signal after processing the digital signal. The storage unit  70  can be an existing flash, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), etc. The storage unit  70  is configured for storing varieties of control procedures of the portable electronic device  100 . 
     The display unit  80  includes a touch module  82 , a displaying module  84 , and a display driving module  86 , which are electrically connected with each other. The touch module  82  can be an existing resistive touch panel, a capacitive touch panel, an electromagnetic touch panel, etc. The touch module  82 , as an input interface of the user, is configured for inputting operation information by touching. The displaying module  84  can be an existing liquid crystal display module (LCM), a cathode ray tube (CRT), etc. The displaying module  84 , as an output interface of the user, is configured for displaying various information and operation instructions. The display driving module  86  can use an existing display driver, which is configured for driving the displaying module  84  to display various information and operation instructions. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3-6B , when the portable electronic device  100  with game function is in use to operate a game, a user operates and twists/bends the operating section  14  of the housing  10  in any direction, the operating section  14  generates elastic deformation and produces relative displacement. The sensing unit  20  generates a corresponding command signal associated with the detected elastic deformation and relative displacement of the operating section  14 . The signal processing unit  30  receives and processes the command signal. The signal converting unit  40  receives the command signal form the signal processing unit  30  and transforms the command signal into digital signal. The processor  50  receives, calculates, and processes the digital signal, and reads the control procedures of the storage unit  70  to play the game, so that the display unit  80  displays various information and operation instructions under the control of the processor  50 . Thus, the user can easily operate the portable electronic device  100  and play the game. 
     In the portable electronic device  100  with game function of the exemplary embodiment, the housing  10  defines a flexible operating section  14 , which can produce elastic deformation in different directions. The sensing unit  20  detects the elastic deformation and relative displacement of the operating section  14 , so that the portable electronic device  100  can achieve various operations corresponding to the elastic deformation and relative displacement. Thereby, the operating section  14 , as one part of the housing  10 , can be used as the input devices, such as keys, joysticks and so on, thus contributing to reducing the size and the weight of the portable electronic device  100 , which is convenient to operate the games. 
     It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the exemplary disclosure have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the exemplary disclosure, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of exemplary disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.