Patent ID: 8310466

Claim:
A handheld electronic device comprising: a housing having a front face; and components supported by the housing comprising: a thumbwheel switch having a body and a thumbwheel, the body having a top face, a recess formed in the top face, and the thumbwheel seated in the recess of the top face, the thumbwheel rotatably mounted on the top face of the body; a printed circuit board having a planar substrate and electronic components mounted on the planar substrate and electrically connected by electrical traces, the planar substrate being mounted in the housing generally parallel to the front face and having an edge cutout formed in the planar substrate, the planar substrate having a first face and a second face, the top face of the body of the thumbwheel switch being both mechanically and electrically connected essentially by solder to the first face of the planar substrate such that the body is positioned on the planar substrate with the top face of the body seated on the first face of the planar substrate, the top face of the body abutting the first face of the planar substrate, and the electrical traces with the thumbwheel seated in and rotatable within the edge cutout; and a display mounted in the front face of the housing, the printed circuit board being mounted in the housing with the planar substrate generally parallel to the front face, the thumbwheel switch located substantially behind the display and with the thumbwheel accessible through a side opening in the housing.