PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-10651879-B2
Application Number: US-201715712476-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Handheld electronic touch screen communication device

Abstract:
A handheld electronic device may be provided that contains a conductive housing and other conductive elements. Transceiver circuitry, such as radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry configured to transmit and receive RF signals, may be connected to the resonating elements by transmission lines such as coaxial cables. The electronic device may have an integrated touch screen display in which a user can control the device by interacting directly with the display.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A wireless communications device comprising:
 wireless communications circuitry configured to handle wireless signals; 
 a touch screen display system that includes a glass element; 
 a plurality of touch sensors, wherein the glass element extends past an edge of at least one of the plurality of touch sensors; and 
 a button integrated into the glass element and configured to accept input commands. 
 
     
     
       2. The wireless communications device of  claim 1 , wherein the glass element includes an opening. 
     
     
       3. The wireless communications device of  claim 2 , wherein the button is a mechanical button that is positioned within the opening. 
     
     
       4. The wireless communications device of  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of touch screen sensors. 
     
     
       5. The wireless communications device of  claim 4 , wherein a first touch screen sensor of the plurality of touch screen sensors implements a first touch sensing technology, and wherein a second touch screen sensor of the plurality of touch screen sensors implements a second touch sensing technology. 
     
     
       6. The wireless communications device of  claim 5 , wherein the plurality of touch screen sensors includes at least one touch screen sensor integrated into the touch screen display and at least one touch screen sensor separate from the touch screen display.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/226,086, filed Aug. 2, 2016, which is a Continuation-in-Part of patent application Ser. No. 14/266,570, filed Apr. 30, 2014 which is a Continuation of patent application Ser. No. 14/158,403, filed Jan. 17, 2014, which is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/021,689, filed Feb. 4, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,681,056, granted Mar. 25, 2014, which is a Continuation of patent application Ser. No. 11/821,329, filed Jun. 21, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,889,139, granted Feb. 15, 2011, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     Embodiments of the invention relate generally to wireless communications, and more particularly, to wireless communications circuitry for handheld electronic devices. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Handheld electronic devices are becoming increasingly popular. Examples of handheld devices include handheld computers, cellular telephones, media players, and hybrid devices that include the functionality of multiple devices of this type. 
     Due in part to their mobile nature, handheld electronic devices are often provided with wireless communications capabilities. Handheld electronic devices may use wireless communications to communicate with wireless base stations. For example, cellular telephones may communicate using cellular telephone bands at 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 1900 MHz (e.g., the main Global System for Mobile Communications or GSM cellular telephone bands). Handheld electronic devices may also use other types of communications links. For example, handheld electronic devices may communicate using the WiFi® (IEEE 802.11) band at 2.4 GHz and the Bluetooth® band at 2.4 GHz. Communications are also possible in data service bands such as the 3G data communications band at 2170 MHz band (commonly referred to as UMTS or Universal Mobile Telecommunications System). 
     To satisfy consumer demand for small form factor wireless devices, manufacturers are continually striving to reduce the size of components that are used in these devices. It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved handheld electronic devices. 
     SUMMARY 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a handheld electronic device with wireless communications circuitry is provided. The handheld electronic device may have cellular telephone, music player, or handheld computer functionality. The wireless communications circuitry may have one or more transceivers. The transceivers may be used to support wireless communications over data communications bands and cellular telephone communications bands. 
     The handheld electronic device may have a housing. The front face of the housing may have a display. The display may be a liquid crystal diode (LCD) display or other suitable display. The display may define the front of the handheld electronic device and be planar with the front of the handheld electronic device. A touch sensor may be integrated into the display to make the display touch sensitive. 
     A bezel may be used to attach the display to the housing. The bezel may surround the periphery of the front face of the housing and may hold the display against the housing. The bezel may be planar with the front of the handheld electronic device. 
     The bezel and at least a portion of the housing may be formed from metal or other conductive materials. Electrical components, such as the display, printed circuit boards, integrated circuits, and a housing frame may be grounded together to form a ground plane. 
     The handheld electronic device may have transceiver circuitry for handling wireless communications signals. With one illustrative arrangement, the handheld electronic device may have first and second radio-frequency transceivers and first and second corresponding resonating elements. The first resonating element may be used with the ground plane to perform cellular telephone functionality. The second resonating element may be used with the ground plane to form a data band functionality (e.g., at 2.4 GHz). The resonating elements may be located over the slot in the ground plane. 
     Electrical components such as a menu button or other user interface control, a speaker module, and a microphone module, may be placed in an overlapping relationship with a transceiver slot and one or more resonating elements. To prevent interference between the transceivers and these overlapping electrical components, the overlapping electrical components may be isolated using isolation elements. Inductors or resistors may be used for the isolation elements. 
     Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantages will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative handheld electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of an illustrative handheld electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of an illustrative handheld electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a somewhat simplified interior perspective view of an illustrative handheld electronic device with a conductive bezel in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded top perspective view of an illustrative handheld electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded bottom perspective view of an illustrative handheld electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective interior view of an illustrative rear housing portion in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a portion of the interior of an illustrative handheld electronic device showing how a flex circuit may be used to route connector signals around the edge of the handheld electronic device and showing the location of components such as a microphone, menu button, and speaker module in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  is a partially sectional perspective view of a portion of the interior of an illustrative handheld electronic device showing the location of a grounding bracket that may be used to make contact between flex circuit traces and a bezel on the handheld electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view of an end portion of an illustrative handheld electronic device showing the location of components such as a dock connector and menu button in the handheld electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective view of a portion of the interior of an illustrative handheld electronic device showing an illustrative flex circuit configuration in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIGS. 12 and 13  are perspective bottom views of the interior of an illustrative handheld electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 14  is a rear view of an upper interior portion of an illustrative handheld electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 15  is a cross-sectional view of an interior portion of an illustrative handheld electronic device showing how a spring may be used to help electrically connect a housing frame to a housing in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 16  is a rear view of a middle interior portion of an illustrative handheld electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 17  is a perspective view of an end portion of an illustrative handheld electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 18  is a cross-sectional view of an interior portion of an illustrative handheld electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 19  is a partially cross-sectional perspective view of a middle interior portion of an illustrative handheld electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 20  is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a housing and a bezel in an illustrative handheld electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 21  is a top view of a slot with overlapping electrical components in an illustrative handheld electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 22  is a circuit diagram showing how isolation elements may be used to interconnect a menu button with control circuitry in an illustrative handheld electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 23  is a top view of an illustrative handheld electronic device showing overlap between an electronic component and resonating elements in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 24  is a perspective view of a section of coaxial cable with exposed segments and insulated segments in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly, to wireless electronic touch screen communication devices. 
     The wireless electronic devices may be portable electronic devices such as laptop computers or small portable computers of the type that are sometimes referred to as ultraportables. Portable electronic devices may also be somewhat smaller devices. Examples of smaller portable electronic devices include wrist-watch devices, pendant devices, headphone and earpiece devices, and other wearable and miniature devices. With one suitable arrangement, which is sometimes described herein as an example, the portable electronic devices are handheld electronic devices. 
     The handheld devices may be, for example, cellular telephones, media players with wireless communications capabilities, handheld computers (also sometimes called personal digital assistants), remote controllers, global positioning system (GPS) devices, and handheld gaming devices. The handheld devices may also be hybrid devices that combine the functionality of multiple conventional devices. Examples of hybrid handheld devices include a cellular telephone that includes media player functionality, a gaming device that includes a wireless communications capability, a cellular telephone that includes game and email functions, and a handheld device that receives email, supports mobile telephone calls, and supports web browsing. These are merely illustrative examples. 
     An illustrative handheld electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 1 . Device  10  may be any suitable portable or handheld electronic device. 
     Device  10  may have housing  12 . Device  10  may include one or more transceivers for handling wireless communications. The transceivers may comprise or may function separately from one or more antennas. 
     Device  10  may handle communications over one or more communications bands. For example, in a device  10  with two transceivers, a first of the two transceivers may be used to handle cellular telephone communications in one or more frequency bands, whereas a second of the two transceivers may be used to handle data communications in a separate communications band. With one suitable arrangement, which is sometimes described herein as an example, the second transceiver is configured to handle data communications in a communications band centered at 2.4 GHz (e.g., WiFi and/or Bluetooth frequencies). In configurations with multiple transceivers, the transceivers may be designed to reduce interference so as to allow the two transceivers to operate in relatively close proximity to each other. 
     Housing  12 , which is sometimes referred to as a case, may be formed of any suitable materials including, plastic, glass, ceramics, metal, or other suitable materials, or a combination of these materials. In some situations, housing  12  or portions of housing  12  may be formed from a dielectric or other low-conductivity material, so that the operation of conductive transceiver elements that are located in proximity to housing  12  is not disrupted. Housing  12  or portions of housing  12  may also be formed from conductive materials such as metal. An illustrative housing material that may be used is anodized aluminum. Aluminum is relatively light in weight and, when anodized, has an attractive insulating and scratch-resistant surface. If desired, other metals can be used for the housing of device  10 , such as stainless steel, magnesium, titanium, alloys of these metals and other metals, etc. In scenarios in which housing  12  is formed from metal elements, one or more of the metal elements may be used as part of the transceivers in device  10 . For example, metal portions of housing  12  may be shorted to an internal ground plane in device  10  to create a larger ground plane element for that device  10 . To facilitate electrical contact between an anodized aluminum housing and other metal components in device  10 , portions of the anodized surface layer of the anodized aluminum housing may be selectively removed during the manufacturing process (e.g., by laser etching). 
     Housing  12  may have a bezel  14 . The bezel  14  may be formed from a conductive material. The conductive material may be a metal (e.g., an elemental metal or an alloy) or other suitable conductive materials. With one suitable arrangement, which is sometimes described herein as an example, bezel  14  may be formed from stainless steel. Stainless steel can be manufactured so that it has an attractive shiny appearance, is structurally strong, and does not corrode easily. If desired, other structures may be used to form bezel  14 . For example, bezel  14  may be formed from plastic that is coated with a shiny coating of metal or other suitable substances. Arrangements in which bezel  14  is formed from a conductive metal such as stainless steel are often described herein as an example. 
     Bezel  14  may serve to hold a display or other device with a planar surface in place on device  10 . Bezel  14  may also form a planar surface on the front of device  10 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , for example, bezel  14  may be used to hold display  16  in place by attaching display  16  to housing  12 . Device  10  may have front and rear planar surfaces. In the example of  FIG. 1 , display  16  is shown as being formed as part of the planar front surface of device  10 . The periphery of the front surface may be surrounded by a bezel, such as bezel  14 . If desired, the periphery of the rear surface may be surrounded by a bezel (e.g., in a device with both front and rear displays). 
     Display  16  may be a liquid crystal diode (LCD) display, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, or any other suitable display. The outermost surface of display  16  may be formed from one or more plastic or glass layers. If desired, touch screen functionality may be integrated into display  16  or may be provided using a separate touch pad device. An advantage of integrating a touch screen into display  16  to make display  16  touch sensitive is that this type of arrangement can save space and reduce visual clutter. 
     In use, when display  16  is a touch screen, the touch screen may display one or more graphics within a user interface. In this embodiment, as well as others described below, a user may select one or more of the graphics by making contact or touching the graphics, for example, with one or more fingers. In some embodiments, selection of one or more graphics occurs when the user breaks contact with the one or more graphics. In some embodiments, the contact may include a gesture, such as one or more taps, one or more swipes (from left to right, right to left, upward and/or downward) and/or a rolling of a finger (from right to left, left to right, upward and/or downward) that has made contact with the device  10 . In some embodiments, inadvertent contact with a graphic may not select the graphic. For example, a swipe gesture that sweeps over an application icon may not select the corresponding application when the gesture corresponding to selection is a tap. 
     In a typical arrangement, bezel  14  may have prongs that are used to secure bezel  14  to housing  12  and that are used to electrically connect bezel  14  to housing  12  and other conductive elements in device  10 . The housing and other conductive elements form a ground plane for the transceiver(s) in the handheld electronic device. A gasket (e.g., an o-ring formed from silicone or other compliant material, a polyester film gasket, etc.) may be placed between the underside of bezel  14  and the outermost surface of display  16 . The gasket may help to relieve pressure from localized pressure points that might otherwise place stress on the glass or plastic cover of display  16 . The gasket may also help to visually hide portions of the interior of device  10  and may help to prevent debris from entering device  10 . 
     In addition to serving as a retaining structure for display  16 , bezel  14  may serve as a rigid frame for device  10 . In this capacity, bezel  14  may enhance the structural integrity of device  10 . For example, bezel  14  may make device  10  more rigid along its length than would be possible if no bezel were used. Bezel  14  may also be used to improve the appearance of device  10 . In configurations such as the one shown in  FIG. 1  in which bezel  14  is formed around the periphery of a surface of device  10  (e.g., the periphery of the front face of device  10 ), bezel  14  may help to prevent damage to display  16  (e.g., by shielding display  16  from impact in the event that device  10  is dropped, etc.). 
     Display screen  16  (e.g., a touch screen) is merely one example of an input-output device that may be used with handheld electronic device  10 . If desired, handheld electronic device  10  may have other input-output devices. For example, handheld electronic device  10  may have user input control devices such as button  19 , and input-output components such as port  20  and one or more input-output jacks (e.g., for audio and/or video). Button  19  may be, for example, a menu button. Port  20  may contain a 30-pin data connector (as an example). Openings  24  and  22  may, if desired, form microphone and speaker ports. Display screen  16  may be, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, a plasma display, or multiple displays that use one or more different display technologies. In the example of  FIG. 1 , display screen  16  is shown as being mounted on the front face of handheld electronic device  10 , but display screen  16  may, if desired, be mounted on the rear face of handheld electronic device  10 , on a side of device  10 , on a flip-up portion of device  10  that is attached to a main body portion of device  10  by a hinge (for example), or using any other suitable mounting arrangement. Bezels such as bezel  14  of  FIG. 1  may be used to mount display  16  or any other device with a planar surface to housing  12  in any of these locations. 
     A user of handheld device  10  may supply input commands using user input interface devices such as button  19  and touch screen  16 . Suitable user input interface devices for handheld electronic device  10  include buttons (e.g., alphanumeric keys, power on-off, power-on, power-off, and other specialized buttons, etc.), a touch pad, pointing stick, or other cursor control device, a microphone for supplying voice commands, or any other suitable interface for controlling device  10 . Although shown schematically as being formed on the top face of handheld electronic device  10  in the example of  FIG. 1 , buttons such as button  19  and other user input interface devices may generally be formed on any suitable portion of handheld electronic device  10 . For example, a button such as button  19  or other user interface control may be formed on the side of handheld electronic device  10  or integrated into the exposed surface of the glass element of the display. Buttons and other user interface controls can also be located on the top face, rear face, or other portion of device  10 . If desired, device  10  can be controlled remotely (e.g., using an infrared remote control, a radio-frequency remote control such as a Bluetooth remote control, etc.). 
     In some embodiments, the device  10  is a device where operation of a predefined set of functions on the device is performed exclusively through display screen  16  and/or button  19 . By using a touch screen and/or a button as the primary input/control device for operation of the device  10 , the number of physical input/control devices on the device  10  may be reduced. 
     The predefined set of functions that may be performed exclusively through display screen  16  and/or button  19  include navigation between user interfaces. In some embodiments, the display screen  16  and/or button  19 , when touched by the user, navigates the device to a main, home, or root menu from any user interface that may be displayed on the device  10 . In such embodiments, the display screen  16  and/or button  19  may be referred to as a “menu button”. 
     Handheld device  10  may have ports such as port  20 . Port  20 , which may sometimes be referred to as a dock connector, 30-pin data port connector, input-output port, or bus connector, may be used as an input-output port (e.g., when connecting device  10  to a mating dock connected to a computer or other electronic device. Device  10  may also have audio and video jacks that allow device  10  to interface with external components. Typical ports include power jacks to recharge a battery within device  10  or to operate device  10  from a direct current (DC) power supply, data ports to exchange data with external components such as a personal computer or peripheral, audio-visual jacks to drive headphones, a monitor, or other external audio-video equipment, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card port to authorize cellular telephone service, a memory card slot, etc. The functions of some or all of these devices and the internal circuitry of handheld electronic device  10  can be controlled using input interface devices such as touch screen display  16 . 
     Components such as display  16  and other user input interface devices may cover most of the available surface area on the front face of device  10  (as shown in the example of  FIG. 1 ) or may occupy only a small portion of the front face of device  10 . Because electronic components such as display  16  often contain large amounts of metal (e.g., as radio-frequency shielding), the location of these components relative to the transceiver elements in device  10  should generally be taken into consideration. Suitably chosen locations for the transceiver elements and electronic components of the device will allow the transceivers of handheld electronic device  10  to function properly without being disrupted by the electronic components. 
     A schematic diagram of an embodiment of an illustrative handheld electronic device is shown in  FIG. 2 . Handheld device  10  may be a mobile telephone, a mobile telephone with media player capabilities, a handheld computer, a remote control, a game player, a global positioning system (GPS) device, a combination of such devices, or any other suitable portable electronic device. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , handheld device  10  may include storage  34 . Storage  34  may include one or more different types of storage such as hard disk drive storage, nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash memory or other electrically-programmable-read-only memory), volatile memory (e.g., battery-based static or dynamic random-access-memory), etc. 
     Processing circuitry  36  may be used to control the operation of device  10 . Processing circuitry  36  may be based on a processor such as a microprocessor and other suitable integrated circuits. With one suitable arrangement, processing circuitry  36  and storage  34  are used to run software on device  10 , such as internet browsing applications, telephone applications, voice-over-internet-protocol (VOIP) telephone call applications, email applications, media playback applications, operating system functions, video conferencing applications, instant messaging applications, blogging applications, photo management applications, digital camera applications, digital video camera applications, word processing applications, JAVA-enabled applications, encryption, digital rights management, voice recognition applications, voice replication applications, etc. 
     The various applications that may be executed on the device may use at least one common physical user-interface device, such as the touch screen (i.e., the touch sensitive display). One or more functions of the touch screen as well as corresponding information displayed on the device may be adjusted and/or varied from one application to the next and/or within a respective application. In this way, a common physical architecture (such as the touch screen) of the device may support the variety of applications with user interfaces that are intuitive and transparent. 
     The user interfaces may include one or more soft keyboard embodiments. The soft keyboard embodiments may include standard (QWERTY) and/or non-standard configurations of symbols on the displayed icons of the keyboard. The keyboard embodiments may include a reduced number of icons (or soft keys) relative to the number of keys in existing physical keyboards, such as that for a typewriter. This may make it easier for users to select one or more icons in the keyboard, and thus, one or more corresponding symbols. The keyboard embodiments may be adaptive. For example, displayed icons may be modified in accordance with user actions, such as selecting one or more icons and/or one or more corresponding symbols. One or more applications on the device may utilize common and/or different keyboard embodiments. Thus, the keyboard embodiment used may be tailored to at least some of the applications. In some embodiments, one or more keyboard embodiments may be tailored to a respective user. For example, one or more keyboard embodiments may be tailored to a respective user based on a word usage history (lexicography, slang, individual usage) of the respective user. Some of the keyboard embodiments may be adjusted to reduce a probability of a user error when selecting one or more icons, and thus one or more symbols, when using the soft keyboard embodiments. 
     Processing circuitry  36  and storage  34  may be used in implementing suitable communications protocols. Communications protocols that may be implemented using processing circuitry  36  and storage  34  include internet protocols, wireless local area network protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11 protocols—sometimes referred to as WiFi®, protocols for other short-range wireless communications links such as the Bluetooth® protocol, etc.). 
     Input-output devices  38  may be used to allow data to be supplied to device  10  and to allow data to be provided from device  10  to external devices. Display screen  16 , button  19 , microphone port  24 , speaker port  22 , and dock connector port  20  are examples of input-output devices  38 . 
     Input-output devices  38  can include user input-output devices  40  such as buttons, touch screens, joysticks, click wheels, scrolling wheels, touch pads, key pads, keyboards, microphones, cameras, etc. A user can control the operation of device  10  by supplying commands through user input devices  40 . Display and audio devices  42  may include liquid-crystal display (LCD) screens or other screens, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and other components that present visual information and status data. Display and audio devices  42  may also include audio equipment such as speakers and other devices for creating sound. Display and audio devices  42  may contain audio-video interface equipment such as jacks and other connectors for external headphones and monitors. 
     Display of display and audio devices  42  (e.g., display screen  16  of  FIG. 1 ) may be a touch-sensitive display. The touch-sensitive display has a graphical user interface (GUI) and is in communication with processing circuitry  36  and storage  34  containing one or more modules, programs or sets of instructions for performing multiple functions. In some embodiments, the functions may include telephoning, video conferencing, e-mailing, instant messaging, blogging, digital photographing, digital videoing, web browsing, digital music playing, and/or digital video playing. Instructions for performing these functions may be included in storage  34  for execution by processing circuitry  36 . 
     In some embodiments, a user may interact with the GUI primarily through finger contacts and gestures on the touch-sensitive display. In those embodiments, the portable device  10  may be configured to detect one or more finger contacts with the touch screen display, apply one or more heuristics to the one or more finger contacts to determine a command for the portable device  10 , and process the command. The one or more heuristics may comprise: a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts correspond to a one-dimensional vertical screen scrolling command, a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts corresponds to a two-dimensional screen translation command, and a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts correspond to a command to transition from displaying a first item in a set of items to displaying a next item in the set of items. 
     The touch-sensitive display provides an input interface and an output interface between the device  10  and a user. A display controller receives and/or sends electrical signals to/from the touch screen. The touch screen displays visual output to the user. The visual output may include graphics, text, icons, video, and any combination thereof (collectively termed “graphics”). In some embodiments, some or all of the visual output may correspond to user-interface objects. 
     The touch-sensitive display (i.e., touch screen) has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor or set of sensors that accepts input from the user based on haptic and/or tactile contact. The touch screen and the display controller (along with any associated modules and/or sets of instructions in storage  34 ) detect contact (and any movement or breaking of the contact) on the touch screen and converts the detected contact into interaction with user-interface objects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages or images) that re displayed on the touch screen. In an exemplary embodiment, a point of contact between the touch screen and the user corresponds to a finger of the user, as described herein. However, the user may make contact with the touch screen using any suitable object or appendage, such as a stylus, a finger, and so forth. In some embodiments, the user interface is designed to work primarily with finger-based contacts and gestures, which are much less precise than stylus-based input due to the larger area of contact of a finger on the touch screen. In some embodiments, the device  10  translates the rough finger-based input into a precise pointer/cursor position or command for performing the actions desired by the user. 
     The touch-sensitive display may use LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, or LPD (light emitting polymer display) technology, although other display technologies may be used in other embodiments. The touch screen and the display controller may detect contact and any movement or breaking thereof using any of a plurality of touch sensing technologies, including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximity sensor arrays or other elements for determining one or more points of contact with a touch screen. 
     Wireless communications devices  44  may include communications circuitry such as radio-frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry formed from one or more integrated circuits, power amplifier circuitry, passive RF components, one or more antennas, and other circuitry for handling RF wireless signals. Wireless signals can also be sent using light (e.g., using infrared communications). 
     The RF (radio frequency) transceiver circuitry receives and sends RF signals, also called electromagnetic signals. The RF circuitry converts electrical signals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates with communications networks and other communications devices via the electromagnetic signals. The RF circuitry may include circuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited to an antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner, one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. The RF circuitry may communicate with networks, such as the Internet, also referred to as the World Wide Web (WWW), an intranet and/or a wireless network, such as a cellular telephone network, a wireless local area network (LAN) and/or a metropolitan area network (MAN), and other devices by wireless communication. The wireless communication may use any of a plurality of communications standards, protocols and technologies. 
     Device  10  can communicate with external devices such as accessories  46  and computing equipment  48 , as shown by paths  50 . Paths  50  may include wired and wireless paths. Accessories  46  may include headphones (e.g., a wireless cellular headset or audio headphones) and audio-video equipment (e.g., wireless speakers, a game controller, or other equipment that receives and plays audio and video content). 
     Computing equipment  48  may be any suitable computer. With one suitable arrangement, computing equipment  48  is a computer that has an associated wireless access point (router) or an internal or external wireless card that establishes a wireless connection with device  10 . The computer may be a server (e.g., an internet server), a local area network computer with or without internet access, a user&#39;s own personal computer, a peer device (e.g., another handheld electronic device  10 ), or any other suitable computing equipment. 
     The transceivers and wireless communications devices of device  10  may support communications over any suitable wireless communications bands. For example, wireless communications devices  44  may be used to cover communications frequency bands such as the cellular telephone bands at 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 1900 MHz, data service bands such as the 3G data communications band at 2170 MHz band (commonly referred to as UMTS or Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), the WiFi® (IEEE 802.11) bands at 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz, the Bluetooth® band at 2.4 GHz, and the global positioning system (GPS) band at 1550 MHz. These are merely illustrative communications bands over which devices  44  may operate. Additional local and remote communications bands are expected to be deployed in the future as new wireless services are made available. Wireless devices  44  may be configured to operate over any suitable band or bands to cover any existing or new services of interest. Device  10  may use one or multiple transceivers or transceiver components to provide wireless coverage over all communications bands of interest. 
     A somewhat schematic cross-sectional view of an illustrative handheld electronic device  10  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 3 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , ground plane  54 - 2  may include bezel  14 , display  16 , housing  12 , and other conductive components  52  in region  170  of device  10 . Housing  12  in region  18  may be made up of a plastic cosmetic cap, which allows resonating elements to be placed in region  171 . Bezel  14  may be used to mount display  16  to housing  12 . Electrical components  52  such as printed circuit boards, flex circuits, integrated circuits, batteries, and other devices may be mounted within portion  170  of device  10 . The conductive structures within portion  170  can be electrically connected to one another so that they serve as ground for the transceiver(s) in device  10 . Bezel  14  can also be electrically connected to portion  170  (e.g., through welds, metal screws, metal clips, press-fit contact between adjacent metal parts, wires, etc.). 
     As a result of these electrical connections, bezel  14  and conductive portions of device  10  in region  170  form conductive ground plane  54 - 2 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . The conductive portions of device  10  in region  170  may lie on one side of dotted line  23 , whereas at least some of the conductive portions of bezel  14  may extend outwards from portions  170  and may lie on the other side of dotted line  23 , thereby defining slot  70 . 
     With one suitable configuration, slot  70  may have an area equal to the opening between bezel  14  and the conductive portions of device  10  that lie on the opposite side of dotted line  23 . With other suitable configurations, one or more electrical components may overlap with the otherwise rectangular opening formed between bezel  14  and region  170  to form slot with smaller dimensions (rectangular or non-rectangular). 
     An exploded perspective view of an illustrative handheld electronic device  10  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 5 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , handheld electronic device  10  may have a conductive bezel such as conductive bezel  14  for securing display  16  or other such planar components to lower housing portion  12 . A gasket such as gasket  150  may be interposed between bezel  14  and the exposed surface of display  16 . Gasket  150  may be formed of silicone, polyester film, or other soft plastic (as an example). Gasket  150  may have any suitable cross-sectional shape. For example, gasket  150  may have a circular cross section (i.e., gasket  150  may be an o-ring having, for example, a 0.6 mm diameter), gasket  150  may have a rectangular cross-section, etc. Gasket  150  may help to seal the surface of display  16  to prevent debris from entering device  10 , may help to center the display within bezel  14 , and may help to hide potentially unsightly portions of display  16  from view. Display  16  may have one or more holes or cut-away portions. For example, display  16  may have hole  152  to accommodate button  19  and hole  182  to accommodate sound from a speaker. 
     If desired, display  16  may be touch sensitive. In touch sensitive arrangements, display  16  may have a touch sensor such as touch sensor  154  that is mounted below the uppermost surface of display screen  16  just above the liquid crystal display (LCD) element. Frame subassembly  180  may receive the display and touch sensor components associated with display  16 . Transceiver structures may be housed behind cosmetic plastic cap  212 . Cosmetic plastic cap  212  may also cover components such as a microphone and speaker. Additional components (e.g., an additional speaker, audio jacks, a SIM card tray, buttons such as a hold button, volume button, ringer select button, and camera module, etc.) may be housed in region  158  at the opposite end of device  10 . 
     Bezel  14  may be secured using any suitable technique (e.g., with prongs that mate with holes in a spring fastened to housing  12 , with fasteners, with snaps, with adhesive, using welding techniques, using a combination of these approaches, etc.). As shown in  FIG. 5 , bezel  14  may have portions  160  that extend downwards. Portions  160  may take the form of prongs, rails, and other protruding features. Portions  160  may be configured so that the outer perimeter of portions  160  mates with structures along the inner perimeter of housing  12  when frame subassembly  180  is mounted in housing  12  and when bezel  14  is used to attach display  16  to device  10 . 
     Portions  160  may have screw holes  162  through which screws may mate with corresponding threaded standoffs when attaching bezel  14  to housing subassembly  180 . The screws and other conductive structures (e.g., welds, wires, springs, brackets, etc.) may be used to electrically connect bezel  14  to grounded elements within device  10 . For ease of assembly, frame subassembly  180  may have tabs, snaps, or other attachment structures. For example, frame subassembly  180  may have holes  164  that receive mating fingers on display  16 . Prongs (ears)  186  may receive screws that are used in securing and grounding bezel  14  to dock connector  20 . 
     Frame subassembly  180  may include a frame that is based on a thin (e.g., 0.3 mm) stainless steel layer onto which plastic features have been overmolded and attached (e.g., with a heat staking process) or other suitable structural components. Frame top  156  may be recessed within frame subassembly  180  to accommodate the touch sensor and other portions  154  of display  16 . Sensors such as an ambient light sensor and a proximity sensor may be mounted in region  184 . 
     An exploded perspective rear view of the illustrative device of  FIG. 5  is shown in  FIG. 6 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , housing  12  may have ground tab  190 . Tab  190  may be used to help ground resonating element  54 - 1 A to conductive housing  12 . To ensure that tab  190  makes good electrical contact to housing  12 , anodized portions of housing  12  may be removed using laser etching. 
     Logo  192  may be formed of a metal such as stainless steel (as an example). Logo  192  may be attached to housing  12  using adhesive or other suitable attachment mechanisms. Buttons such as a volume button, hold button, and ringer mode select button may be located in region  194 . 
     Camera module  196  may be attached to frame subassembly  180 . Transceivers may also be attached to frame subassembly  180 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , transceiver  52 B may be housed in conductive can  198  and transceiver  52 A may be housed in conductive can  200 . Cans such as cans  198  and  200  serve as radio-frequency shielding enclosures that reduce electromagnetic interference (EMI). SIM tray  202  on frame subassembly  180  may be used to receive SIM cards. 
     Cosmetic cap  212  may have a recess such as recess  203  that accommodates dock connector  20  when cap  212  is attached to device  10 . Cap  212  may have inwardly protruding snap keys (plastic beams) that are guided through holes in the frame during assembly and that snap into bezel  14 , thereby preventing cap  212  from becoming detached from device  10  during use. Bezel  14  may have rails  208  that guide cosmetic cap  212  during assembly and that help to retain cap  212  on device  10 . 
     Resonating elements such as resonating elements  54 - 1 A and  54 - 1 B may be formed from conductive traces on flex circuit  210 . Flex circuit  210  may be mounted on a plastic cap (as an example). 
     An interior perspective view of a conductive housing portion  12  is shown in  FIG. 7 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , ground tab  190  may be part of a ground bracket  228 . Ground bracket  228  may have a tab under region  230  that slides into a mating channel in housing  12 . The anodized surface of housing  12  in this region may be stripped using laser etching, thereby allowing the tab in region  230  to make good electrical contact between bracket  228  (and its tab  190 ) and housing  12 . 
     Metal strips such as housing bracket  234 , which are sometimes referred to as rails, may be formed of cast magnesium and may be attached to housing  12  using adhesive (as an example). For example, a rubbery glue may be used to attached strips such as housing bracket  234  to housing  12 . Metal strips such as housing bracket  234  may be spaced apart from the sidewalls of housing  12  to form channels such as channel  232 . A spring in each channel may have holes that engage mating hooks on bezel  14 . 
     Bracket  242  may be used to hold an audio jack, vibrator, and a button wire flex circuit. Bracket  242  may be formed from a metal such as cast magnesium. 
     Top ground bracket  240  may have fingers that engage housing  12 . The anodized surface of housing  12  may be removed by laser etching in the finger contact region to ensure that ground bracket  240  makes good electrical contact to housing  12 . Ground plane components in device  10  that are placed on top of ground bracket  240  may make contact to housing  12  through ground bracket  240 . 
     Logo  192  may be shorted to housing  12  to ensure that logo  192  does not electrically float relative to housing  12 . Laser etching may be used to remove a portion of the anodized surface of housing  12  under region  236  to ensure a good electrical contact between logo  192  and housing  12 . Logo  192  may be adhesively bonded to housing  12 . In one embodiment, logo  192  may be bonded to housing  12  using a thermal bonding agent and an epoxy resin bonding agent. 
     Pin  238  may serve as a pivot for a SIM card ejection tray arm. 
     A perspective top view of device  10  with internal structures (such as display  16 ) removed is shown in  FIG. 8 . As shown in  FIG. 8 , flex circuit  288  may be used to form a bus that conveys signals from dock connector  20  to processing circuitry located towards end  326  of device  10 . The overall shape of slot  70  is formed by the boundaries of bezel  14  and frame  290  (which lies along dotted line  23 ). This overall shape can be influenced by electrical components that lie within its boundaries. Certain components, such as microphone  244  and speaker  316  may be isolated from the transceiver using inductors (as an example). Other components (e.g., button  320 ) may be isolated from the transceiver using inductors or resistors (as an example). Isolating components in this way can eliminate or substantially reduce any impact these components might have on the effective area of slot  70 . 
     Dock connector  20  may contain metal that overlaps the otherwise rectangular shape of slot  70 . Moreover, flex circuit  288  contains signal traces and ground traces. The conductive material in these traces acts as a portion of the ground plane of device  10  and therefore can alter the effective shape of slot  70 . As shown in the illustrative arrangement of  FIG. 8 , flex circuit  288  may be routed around the edge of slot  70  immediately adjacent to bezel  14 . 
     Speaker flex circuit  312  may be used to route signals from flex circuit  288  to speaker module  316 . Speaker flex circuit  312  may be connected to flex circuit bus  288  by soldering (as an example). Components  314  may include isolation inductors and other electrical components for supporting the operation of speaker module  316 . Electrical components  318  may be used to support the operation of dock connector  20 . 
     Stiffener  322  may be used to support flex circuit  288  as flex circuit  288  passes towards microphone  244  and button  320 . A flex circuit extension (i.e., a tail of flex circuit  288 ) in the vicinity of region  324  may be used to connect the leads of menu button  320  to flex circuit  288 . Menu button  320  may be a dome switch or any other suitable user interface control. Components  330  may be formed using inductors (e.g., traditional wire-wrapped inductors or ferrite chip inductors) or resistors. Components  330  may be used to help isolate button  320  from the transceivers of device  10  (e.g., to prevent button  320  from significantly influencing the shape of slot  70 ). Electrical components  328  may include inductors for isolating microphone  244  from the transceivers of device  10 . 
     Pressure sensitive adhesive  332  may be used to mount battery  204 . Foam  334  may help to prevent damage to display  16 . Alignment posts  336  on dock connector  20  may be used to help align flex circuit  288 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 9 , extension  338  of flex circuit  288  may be used to make electrical connections between flex circuit  288  and button  320 . Ground bracket  248  may have an indentation such as indentation  340  that mates with a rib on frame  290 . 
       FIG. 10  shows how dock connector  20  may have  30  pins  342  (as an example). A flange formed from metal mounting tabs  344  may be welded to the main body of dock connector  20 . Screws  220  and  346  may be screwed into threads on metal mounting tabs  344  through holes in tabs  186  ( FIG. 5 ) of bezel  14 . Screw  348  may be screwed into frame  290  to secure grounding bracket  248  to the frame. Screws such as screw  348  may be screwed into portions of frame  290  that are added to frame  290  after the plastic overmolded portion of frame  290  has been formed. These added portions of frame  290  may, for example, be added using a heat staking process. 
     As shown in  FIG. 11 , speaker  316  may have an associated port  350 , through which sound may emanate during device operation. In the rear view of  FIG. 11 , speaker port  350  is located on the right side of housing  12  and microphone port  260  is located on the left size of housing  12 . This is merely illustrative. Speaker port  350  and microphone port  260  may be located on any suitable portion of housing  12  (e.g., front face, rear face, top side, bottom side, left side, or right side). As shown in  FIG. 11 , screws  254  may hold housing brackets  250  to the frame. The view of  FIG. 11  does not include cap  102 , so components such as speaker module  316  are visible beneath flex circuit  210 . 
     A perspective view of the interior of device  10  is shown in  FIG. 12 . Battery leads  352  may be used to convey power from battery  204  to the electronics of device  10 . Leads  352  may be soldered to printed circuit boards such as printed circuit board  292 . There may be any suitable number of leads  352  (e.g., ground, positive, and negative). Screws  354  may be used to screw circuit boards such as circuit board  292  to the frame of device  10 . 
     Radio-frequency shielding (sometimes called EMI shielding) may be provided in the form of conductive cans  200  and  198 . Shielding cans  200  and  198  (which are sometimes referred to as EMI enclosures, radio-frequency enclosures, or shielding housings) may be constructed from metal or other suitable conductive materials. Can  200  may be used to shield one transceiver, whereas can  198  may be used to shield another transceiver. 
     Coaxial cable  56 B may be connected to the transceiver in can  198  using coaxial cable connector  376 . Coaxial cable  56 A may be connected to the transceiver in can  200  using coaxial cable connector  296 . 
     A conductive foam pad such as pad  358  may be affixed to the top of can  200  to help ground can  200 . When the cover of the housing of device  10  is installed, conductive foam  358  may rub against an exposed portion of the interior of the housing, thereby electrically shorting can  200  to the housing. Can  200  may also have bent up fingers  356  that rub against the housing to short can  200  to the housing. Bent up fingers  370  on can  198  may be used to short can  198  to the housing. 
     To ensure that fingers such as fingers  370  and  356  make good electrical contact with the housing, the portions of the housing that contact the fingers may be processed to remove any nonconductive coatings. For example, if the housing is an anodized aluminum housing that has a nonconductive anodized coating, the anodized layer may be removed by laser etching in the regions of the housing that contact fingers  370  and  356  and the regions of the housing that contact other shorting structures such as conductive foam  358 . Cans  198  and  200  may be used to shield one or more layers of printed circuit board (e.g., multiple stacked printed circuit boards). These circuit boards may be used to mount integrated circuits and/or discrete components. 
     Camera module  196  may have a lens  372 . Lens  372  may be a fixed focal length lens (as an example). Camera module  196  may be used to acquire still images and video images (e.g., video containing audio). Camera flex circuit  377  may be used to electrically connect camera module  196  to the printed circuit boards of device  10 . 
     Recess  360  may be configured to receive components such as an audio jack and other input-output components. Holes  374  may be formed in the touch screen module of display  16  to reduce weight. 
     As shown in  FIG. 13 , device  10  may use a connector such as connector  378  to receive a flex circuit plug. The flex circuit plug and its associated flex circuit may be used to convey electrical signals to the circuitry of device  10  from components such as an audio jack, volume button, hold button, and ringer select button. 
     As shown in  FIG. 14 , SIM card tray  202  may have a spring  380 . Spring  380  may have a bent portion  382 . When compressed, bent portion  382  can press upwards (in the orientation of  FIG. 14 ) against a SIM card to hold the SIM card in place in tray  202 . 
     A cross-sectional view of housing  12  is shown in  FIG. 15 . As shown in  FIG. 15 , a conductive member such as J-clip  384  may be used to secure coaxial cables  56 A and  56 B. J-clip  384  may be electrically connected to conductive portions of frame  290  (e.g., exposed metal portions), thereby shorting ferrules  226  (and thus the outer braid conductor of coaxial cables  56 A and  56 B) to frame  290  and the other portions of ground plane  54 - 2 . Adhesive  284  may be used to mount battery  204  to frame  290 . 
     J-clip  384  may have a generally horizontal planar base member such as base member  390  and a generally vertical planar member such as vertical planar member  388 . J-clip base  390  may be welded to the metal of frame  290  or may otherwise be electrically and mechanically connected to frame  290 . Base  390  may have alignment holes  400 . During assembly, an assembly tool with mating protrusions may engage holes  400  and hold J-clip  384  in place for welding. 
     J-clip  384  may have bendable extensions such as clip extensions  386 . Extensions  386  may be manually crimped in place over coaxial cables  56 A and  56 B during assembly. If desired, extensions  386  may, at a later time, be bent backwards to release coaxial cables  56 A and  56 B. This releasable fastening arrangement allows for rework. For example, cables  56 A and  56 B can be replaced. The ability to remove cables  56 A and  56 B from device  10  may also be advantageous when disassembling device  10  (e.g., when recycling all or part of device  10 ). Extensions  386  may have any suitable shape. For example, extensions  386  may be provided in the form of relatively narrow fingers that are easy to crimp and uncrimp. Alternatively, extensions  386  may be provided in the form of relatively wider tabs. Wide tab shapes may make good electrical contact with ferrules  226 , but may be harder to crimp and uncrimp than narrower extension structures. 
     Spring  392  may be formed from metal or other suitable springy conductive material. Spring  392  may be glued or otherwise mounted in a channel between the side wall of housing  12  and housing bracket  234 . During assembly, fingers on bezel  14  engage holes on spring clip  392 , thereby securing bezel  14  to housing  12 . 
     Housing bracket  234  may be glued or otherwise affixed to housing  12 . Allowable excess glue  594  is shown above bracket  234 . The housing bracket that is shown in  FIG. 15  is sometimes referred to as the left housing bracket of device  10 . Device  10  may also have a corresponding right housing bracket. 
     Display  16  may be mounted to housing  12  using bezel  14  and gasket  150 . Display  16  may have a planar glass element such as glass element  404  and a touch sensitive element such as touch sensitive element  402 . Frame  290  may have a conductive element such as sheet metal plate  396 . Sheet metal plate  396  may be electrically and mechanically connected to sheet metal plate  397  (e.g., by welding, by gluing, by using fasteners, etc.). Foam  398  may be used to help protect display  16  from shock (e.g., in the event that device  10  is dropped). 
     A top view of device  10  in the vicinity of J-clip  384  is shown in  FIG. 16 . As shown in the  FIG. 16  example, extensions  386  may be used to crimp coaxial cables  56 A and  56 B at various segments along their lengths. In the example of  FIG. 16 , there are four sets of extensions  386  of substantially equal size that are spaced equally along edge  406  of device  12 . If desired, the segments of cables that are electrically connected to extensions  386  may be of different sizes or there may be a different number of extensions  386 . For example, there may be more than four extensions  386 , there may be two larger extensions  386  and two smaller extensions  386 , etc. There may also be only a single extension  386  along edge  406 , although arrangements with more than one extension are generally easier to uncrimp when desired for rework or recycling and are therefore generally preferred. 
     As shown in  FIG. 17 , grounding bracket  248  may be used to short the ground connector portion of coaxial cable connector  110  to bezel  14 . 
       FIG. 18  shows a partially cross-sectional interior view of device  10 . As shown in  FIG. 18 , bracket  234  may have a long, relatively uninterrupted rail portion such as rail  412  and, at intervals, may have extending fingers  410 . Spring  392  may have a relatively uninterrupted rail portion  416  (mostly hidden from view in  FIG. 18 ) and, at intervals, may have extending fingers  418 . Fingers  410  of bracket  234  and fingers  418  of spring  392  may be interleaved as shown in  FIG. 18 . Bracket  234  may have holes  414  in rail  412 . During manufacturing, an assembly tool may hold bracket  234  by engaging holes  414  with mating prongs. Spring  392  may have holes such as rectangular holes  420 . Bezel  14  may have mating prongs. During assembly, the mating prongs from bezel  14  may slide into rectangular holes  420  to secure bezel  14  in place relative to housing  12  of device  10 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 19 , rail  416  of spring  394  may have alignment holes  422 . During manufacturing, an assembly tool may hold spring  394  using prongs that mate with holes  422 . 
     A bracket such as top bracket  440  (e.g., a bracket formed of a conductive material such as magnesium or aluminum) may be attached to housing  12  at the top of device  10  (e.g., using screws, glue, etc.). A bracket such as sheet metal bracket  424  may be attached to top bracket  440  using screws such as screws  426 . A flex circuit for a hold button or other suitable button may be attached to bracket  424 . A protective film such as polyester protective film may cover the flex circuit to prevent damage. Flex circuit  434  may be used to route signals to circuitry  432  from a hold button mounted to bracket  428  (as an example). Circuitry  432  to which flex circuit  434  is routed may include jack  378  ( FIG. 13 ). 
     SIM card ejector arm  436  may swing about pivot  238 . Spring  438  may bias SIM card ejector arm  436 , so that arm  436  may be used to eject a SIM card from device  10 . Flex circuit  434  may make contact with overlapping printed circuit boards (not shown in  FIG. 19 ). 
     A detailed cross-sectional view of bezel  14  in the vicinity of spring  392  is shown in  FIG. 20 . As shown in  FIG. 20 , bezel  14  may have extended members such as prongs  442  that mate with corresponding rectangular holes  420  in fingers  418  of spring  392 . Spring  392  may be mounted between housing  12  and bracket  234 , so when bezel prongs  442  protrude into spring  392 , bezel  14  is held into place. 
     As described in connection with  FIG. 4 , a handheld electronic device with a conductive bezel may define a slot  70  that is roughly rectangular in shape (as an example). In a device such as the illustrative handheld electronic device described in connection with the figures, components that contain conductive elements may overlap with the rectangular slot that is formed by bezel  14  and the conductive portion of housing  12  and frame  290 . These overlapping components may alter the shape of slot  70 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 21 , for example, in region  18  of device  10 , slot  70  may have a roughly rectangular shape arising from the rectangular opening defined by bezel  14  (to the left of dotted line  23  in  FIG. 21 ) and housing/frame  12 / 290  (to the right of dotted line  23 ). Dock connector  20 , which may be formed of a conductive material such as metal (e.g., stainless steel), may be grounded to bezel  14 . As a result, dock connector  20  may form part of the ground plane  54 - 2  for device  10 . In the example of  FIG. 21 , dock connector  20  protrudes into the otherwise rectangular opening of slot  70 , thereby altering its rectangular shape. In particular, dock connector  20  adds a length of 2LA to the interior perimeter of slot  70 . Flex bus connector  288  also contains conductive elements (e.g., copper ground and signal traces). Flex connector  288  therefore also alters the shape of slot  70 , resulting in a shortening of the length of perimeter P of 2LB. 
     There may be a peak resonance associated with slot  70 . The position of the peak resonance may be determined by the length of perimeter P. In general, the peak resonance of the slot portion of the transceiver of device  10  is located where the radio-frequency signal wavelength is equal to the length of perimeter P. In device  10 , the perimeter P of slot  70  may be determined by the size of the rectangular opening formed by bezel  14  and frame/housing  12 / 290  and by the modifications to this rectangular opening that arise from the presence of connector  20  and flex circuit  288 . If desired, the locations and shapes of dock connector  20  and flex circuit  288  may be selected so that the perimeter length reduction (2LB) that arises from the presence of flex circuit  288  cancels out the perimeter length addition (2LA) that arises from the presence of dock connector  20  (i.e., lengths LA and LB may be substantially equal). 
     As shown in  FIG. 9 , components such as microphone  244 , button  320 , and speaker  316  may also overlap with slot  70 . These components may be prevented from significantly altering the value of slot perimeter P by using isolation circuitry. For example, inductors may be placed on the leads of microphone  244  (e.g., in circuitry  328 ). Similarly, inductors may be placed on the leads of speaker  316  (e.g., in circuitry  314 ). Inductors may also be placed on the leads of button  320  (see, e.g., components  330 ). At low frequencies, such as at frequencies in the kilohertz range and below, which includes the audio frequencies handled by microphone  328  and speaker  316 , the inductors allow current to pass freely (i.e., the inductors act as short circuits). At radio frequencies (i.e., at 300 MHz or more, and particularly at frequencies of 850 MHz to 2.4 MHz or greater), the inductors have a large impedance and act as open circuits, thereby isolating microphone  244 , speaker  316 , and button  320 . When microphone  244 , speaker  316 , and button  320  are isolated from the radio-frequency signals, microphone  244 , speaker  316 , and button  320  do not affect the value of perimeter P for slot  70  and do not load the resonating elements  54 - 1 A and  54 - 1 B. 
     The isolating inductors that are used to isolate electrical components such as microphone  244 , speaker  316 , and button  320  may be conventional wire-wrapped inductors or may be somewhat smaller inductors of the type that are sometimes referred to as ferrite chip inductors. An advantage of using ferrite chip inductors is that they have a small size. An advantage of using conventional wire-wrapped inductors is that they tend not to create the types of losses that might arise when using ferrite chip inductors in close proximity to resonating elements. 
     If desired, components such as microphone  244 , speaker  316 , and button  320  can be isolated using isolation elements other than inductors, such as resistors. As shown in  FIG. 22 , button  320  may, as an example, be isolated using isolation elements  330  (e.g., resistors). Resistors  330  may be placed on the leads of button  320  between button  320  and control circuitry  36  (e.g., where shown by components  330  in  FIG. 9 ). In a fully assembled handheld electronic device, button  320  may overlap resonating elements. 
     The close proximity of button  320  and the resonating elements can create losses. Moreover, the overlap between button  320  and slot  70  can affect the shape of slot  70  and its perimeter P, potentially affecting the location of the resonant peak of the handheld device transceiver. By selecting resistors  330  of sufficient size, the impact of button  320  on perimeter P can be eliminated or substantially reduced and the possibility of losses due to the close proximity of button  320  and the resonating elements can be eliminated or substantially reduced. 
     With one suitable arrangement, the values of resistors  330  may be about 3000 ohms. This value is sufficiently high to at least partially isolate button  320 , while allowing direct current (DC) control signals (e.g., relatively low frequency button press signals in the kilohertz range or lower) to pass from button  320  to control circuitry  36 . Although described primarily in the context of isolating menu button  320  from radio-frequency signals, resistors may be used to isolate any suitable type of electrical component that is potentially subject to radio-frequency interference (e.g., any other electrical component that overlaps slot  70  and/or resonating elements). 
       FIG. 23  shows how an electronic component such as menu button  320  may overlap resonating elements  54 - 1 A and  54 - 1 B (i.e., in a top view from the front face or rear face of device  10 ). 
       FIG. 24  shows an illustrative coaxial cable of the type that may be used for coaxial cables  56 A and  56 B in handheld electronic device  10 . As shown in  FIG. 24 , cable  56  may have a center conductor  444 . Dielectric layer  446  may surround center conductor  444 . Ground conductor  448  may surround dielectric layer  446 . Segments of insulator  450  may surround ground conductor  448  at one or more locations along the length of coaxial cable  56 . Cable  56  may have one or more exposed (bare) segments of ground conductor  448  at one or more locations  452  along the length of cable  56 . At least some of locations  452  may be spaced so that they are equidistant from each other. If desired, some of locations  452  may be spaced at locations that are not equidistant with respect to each other. There may be any suitable number of locations  452  (e.g., one, two, three, more than three, etc.). There may also be any suitable number of insulating segments  450  (e.g., no segments, one segment, two segments, three segments, more than three segments, etc.). Ferrules  226  or other suitable conductive fasteners may be crimped or otherwise mechanically and electrically attached to ground conductor  448  of cable  56  in locations  452 . If desired, additional layers of material (e.g., insulating and conductive material) may be included in cable  56 . The layers of insulator and conductor that are shown in  FIG. 24  are merely illustrative. 
     Cables such as cable  56  of  FIG. 24  with alternating exposed ground conductor and insulated segments may be formed using any suitable technique (e.g., by selectively covering a bare cable with insulating segments, by selectively stripping an insulated cable, or by using a combination of these techniques). Insulating materials that may be used in cable  56  include polytetrafluoroethylene, polyvinylchloride, etc. Conductive materials that may be used in cable  56  include copper, aluminum, metallized polyester tape, etc. 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative of the principles of this invention and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20170922
Publication Date: 20200512
Grant Date: 20200512
Priority Date: 20070621
Inventors: HOBSON, PHILLIP MICHAEL
WANG, ERIK L.
JENKS, KENNETH A.
HILL, ROBERT J.
SCHLUB, ROBERT W.
DINH, RICHARD HUNG MINH
TAN, TANG YEW
MITTLEMAN, ADAM D.
ANDRE, BARTLEY K.
COSTER, DANIEL J.
DE IULIIS, DANIELE
HOWARTH, RICHARD P.
IVE, JONATHAN P.
JOBS, STEVEN P.
KERR, DUNCAN ROBERT
NISHIBORI, SHIN
ROHRBACH, MATTHEW DEAN
SATZGER, DOUGLAS B.
SEID, CALVIN Q.
STRINGER, CHRISTOPHER J.
WHANG, EUGENE ANTONY
ZÖRKENDÖRFER, Rico L.
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04B1/3833", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M2250/22", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/0266", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M2250/22", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M2250/74", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/3833", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M2250/74", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/0266", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M2250/22", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/0266", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 59020917