Patent ID: 8154521

Claim:
A mobile terminal comprising: a terminal body; and a keypad located on the terminal body, the keypad including: a circuitry supporting substrate having a plurality of through holes; a plurality of keys, each of the keys configured to cover a first opening of a corresponding through hole; a touch sensing part disposed at an upper portion of the circuitry supporting substrate; a plurality of light emitting units having at least one lighting unit disposed at a lower portion of the circuitry supporting substrate and configured to cover a second opening of a corresponding through hole, each light emitting unit being associated with a corresponding key of the plurality of keys to separately illuminate the corresponding key; a shielding member configured to prevent leakage of light from an activated light emitting unit to adjacent keys; and a control unit configured to detect when one of the plurality of keys is operated and to activate at least the light emitting unit associated with the operated key, wherein the shielding member is arranged to divide the plurality of keys, and the shielding member is configured to cover at least an upper portion of the plurality of keys, and wherein the first opening of the through hole for passing light therethrough is formed toward a central region of the corresponding key.