Abstract:
A handheld device having a movable keyboard is described. The handheld device comprises: a body, wherein a surface of the body includes a first region and a second region; a display module disposed in the body, and comprising a display screen exposed in the first region of the body; a handwriting input module disposed in the body, and comprising a handwriting screen located in the second region of the surface of the body; and a movable keyboard module slidably disposed over the surface of the body.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number 97219086, filed Oct. 24, 2008, which is herein incorporated by reference. 
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to a handheld device, and more particularly to a handheld device having a movable keyboard. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    As handheld devices become increasingly smaller, the front space of the handheld device decreases. Most of the front of each handheld device is used as a display region, so that in order to reserve more space for the display region, most of the handheld devices are not equipped with QWERTY standard keyboards. Although some handheld devices are equipped with QWERTY standard keyboards, the QWERTY standard keyboards cannot be disposed in the front spaces of the handheld devices due to the limitation of the sizes of the handheld devices. 
         [0004]    However, as handheld devices become more popular, more consumers perform input operations through keyboards when using the handheld devices, so there is a need for handheld devices equipped with keyboards, especially QWERTY standard keyboards. 
         [0005]    According with the aforementioned description, a handheld device that can give consideration to the equipment of a keyboard input device and the keeping of the front display space is need. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    Therefore, one aspect of the present invention is to provide a handheld device having a movable keyboard, in which the keyboard can slide on a display screen of the handheld device, so that the keyboard will not occupy the critical display area on the handheld device. 
         [0007]    Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a handheld device having a movable keyboard, in which the handheld device is set with a location capacitance sensor that can detect the displacement of the movable keyboard, so that the location of the movable keyboard on a display screen can be detected, and a selective item on the display screen corresponding to the location of the movable keyboard can be selected. In addition, by cooperating with the energy-conservation function of an e-ink display module, the refresh frequency of the display module can be greatly decreased, so that the power-consumption of the handheld device can be lowered to conserve energy and protect the environment. 
         [0008]    According to the aforementioned aspects, the present invention provides a handheld device having a movable keyboard, comprising: a body, wherein a surface of the body includes a first region and a second region; a display module disposed in the body, and comprising a display screen exposed in the first region of the body; a handwriting input module disposed in the body, and comprising a handwriting screen located in the second region of the surface of the body; and a movable keyboard module slidably disposed over the surface of the body. 
         [0009]    According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the body comprises at least one track disposed on a first side of the body, and the movable keyboard module comprises at least one sliding portion suitable to sliding along the track. 
         [0010]    According to the aforementioned aspects, the present invention provides a handheld device having a movable keyboard, comprising: a body; a display module disposed in the body, and comprising a display screen exposed in a surface of the body; a movable keyboard module slidably disposed over the surface of the body; and a location capacitance sensor disposed between the body and the display module to sense the location of the movable keyboard module relative to the surface of the body. 
         [0011]    According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the movable keyboard module is a QWERTY standard keyboard. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  illustrates a top view of a handheld device having a movable keyboard in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  illustrates a top view of a handheld device having a movable keyboard in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a three-dimensional diagram of a handheld device having a movable keyboard in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  illustrates an assembly diagram of a handheld device having a movable keyboard in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram showing the operation of a handheld device having a movable keyboard in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0017]    The present invention discloses a handheld device having a movable keyboard. In order to make the illustration of the present invention more explicit, the following description is stated with reference to  FIG. 1  through  FIG. 5 . 
         [0018]    Refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  illustrate top views of a handheld device having a movable keyboard in two states in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. A handheld device  100  may be a common portable electronic device, such as a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA) and an electronic book. In an exemplary embodiment, the handheld device  100  is an electronic book, and the handheld device  100  mainly comprises a body  102 , a display module  108 , a handwriting input module  124  and a movable keyboard module  110 . The display module  108  and the handwriting input module  124  are disposed in the body  102 , and the movable keyboard module  110  is slidably disposed over a surface  104  of the body  102 , wherein the surface  104  of the body  102  is located on the front side of the handheld device  100 . Such as shown in  FIG. 2 , the surface  104  of the body may divided into at least two regions  106  and  112 , wherein the upper region  106  may be used as a display region of the handheld device  100 , and the lower region  112  may be used as a handwriting input region. 
         [0019]    Refer to  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 3  is a three-dimensional diagram of a handheld device having a movable keyboard in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In an embodiment, at least one of two opposite sides  138  and  140  of the body  102  may be set with a track  114 , and the movable keyboard module  110  correspondingly comprises at least one sliding portion  142  (referring to  FIG. 4 ), wherein the sliding portion  142  of the movable keyboard module  110  is correspondingly disposed on the track  114  of the body  102 , and the movable keyboard module  110  can slide above the surface  104  of the body  102  while the sliding portion  142  slides along the track  114 . In another embodiment, the body comprises two tracks  114  respectively disposed on the two opposite sides  138  and  140 , and the movable keyboard module  110  comprises two corresponding sliding portions  142 , wherein the two sliding portions  142  of the movable keyboard module  110  are respectively disposed on the two tracks  114  of the body  102 , so that the movable keyboard module  110  can slide more steadily above the surface  104  of the body  102  along the tracks  114 . 
         [0020]    Refer to  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 4  illustrates an assembly diagram of a handheld device having a movable keyboard in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Simultaneously refer to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 . In an embodiment, the body  102  may comprise an upper case  116  and a lower case  118 , wherein the upper case  116  and the lower case  118  can be combined with each other to form a hollow housing to contain the internal elements of the handheld device  100 . After the upper case  116  and the lower case  118  are combined, the track  114  is located on the side of the combined structure of the upper case  116  and the lower case  118 . The upper case  116  and the lower case  118  may be composed of a plastic material. The handwriting input module  124  mainly comprises a handwriting screen  120  and a sensor  122 , wherein the sensor  122  is disposed under the handwriting screen  120  to receive the input data transferred from the handwriting screen  120 . Such as shown in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 4 , the handwriting screen  120  of the handwriting input module  124  is located in the lower region  112  of the surface  104  of the body  102 . 
         [0021]    Such as shown in  FIG. 4 , the display module  108  is disposed between the upper case  116  and the lower case  118  of the body  102 . In an exemplary embodiment, the sensor  122  of the handwriting input module  124  may be disposed between the upper case  116  of the body  102  and the display module  108 . The display module  108  may mainly comprise a display screen  132  and a circuit board  134 , wherein the display screen  132  of the display module  108  is exposed in the upper region  106  of the surface  104  of the body  102 , such as shown in  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 . In a preferred embodiment, the display module  108  may be manufactured by an e-ink technique to save the energy consumption of the handheld device  100 . 
         [0022]    Such as shown in  FIG. 4 , the movable keyboard module  110  may mainly comprise a keyboard body  126 , a circuit board and a shell  130 , wherein the circuit board  128  and the shell  130  both are disposed under the keyboard body  126 , and the circuit board  128  is placed in between the keyboard body  126  and the shell  130 . In one embodiment, the circuit board  128  is a flexible circuit board, for example. In the movable keyboard module  110 , the sliding portions  142  corresponding to the track  114  of the body  102  may be disposed on the shell  130  of the movable keyboard module  110  to facilitate the combination of the movable keyboard module  110  and the body  102 . In one embodiment, the movable keyboard module  110  may be a QWERTY standard keyboard. 
         [0023]    In a preferred embodiment, the handheld device  100  may selectively comprise a location capacitance sensor  136  according to the use requirement, wherein the location capacitance sensor  136  may be disposed between the upper case  116  of the body  102  and the display module  108  to facilitate detecting the movable keyboard module  110 . The location capacitance sensor  136  can sense the displacement of the movable keyboard module  110  relative to the surface  104  of the body  102 , and thereby can detect the location of the movable keyboard module  110  on the display screen  132 . Refer to  FIG. 5 . When the display screen  132  of the display module  108  displays a plurality of selective items  146  for the user, the movable keyboard module  110  is moved on the display screen  132 , and the upper edge of the movable keyboard module  110  is stopped closely next to the lower edge of the desired selective item  144 , the location of the movable keyboard module  110  on the display screen  132  now can be sensed by the location capacitance sensor  136 , and the user can select the corresponding selective item  144  on the display screen  132  by pushing down a predetermined button, such as an input button  148 , of the movable keyboard module  110 . In cooperating with the display module  108  formed by an e-ink technique, when the movable keyboard module  110  is slid to select the corresponding selective item  144  on the display screen  132 , the display screen  132  of the display module  108  can be maintained in the same display frame without refreshing the display frame, so that the refresh frequency of the display module  108  can be greatly decreased to lower the power-consumption of the handheld device  100  to achieve the purpose of energy-conservation and environmental protection. 
         [0024]    In another exemplary embodiment, the handheld device  100  having a movable keyboard may be selectively set with only one input device, i.e. the handheld device  100  is only set with the foregoing movable keyboard module  110  and is not set with the handwriting input module  124 . As a result, the display screen  132  can be disposed on the overwhelming majority of the front space of the handheld device  100 , i.e. the surface  104  of the body  102 , to obtain larger display area. 
         [0025]    According to the aforementioned embodiments of the present invention, one advantage of the present invention is that a keyboard of a handheld device having a movable keyboard can slide on a display screen of the handheld device, so that the convenience of the data inputting can be enhanced without occupying the rare display area on the handheld device. 
         [0026]    According to the aforementioned embodiments of the present invention, another advantage of the present invention is that a handheld device having a movable keyboard is set with a location capacitance sensor, so that the displacement of the movable keyboard can be detected, the location of the movable keyboard on a display screen can be detected to select a selective item on the display screen corresponding to the location of the movable keyboard. In addition, by cooperating with the energy-conservation function of an e-ink display module, the refresh frequency of the display module can be greatly decreased, so that the power-consumption of the handheld device can be lowered to achieve the purpose of energy-conservation and environmental protection. 
         [0027]    As is understood by a person skilled in the art, the foregoing preferred embodiments of the present invention are illustrated of the present invention rather than limiting of the present invention. It is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, the scope of which should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structure.