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US 5,577,118 AGranted
Telephone-terminal combination with plural keyboards
AssigneeVeriFone, Inc.
InventorsJeffrey K. Sasaki, James S. Arakaki
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A microprocessor-based telephone having a housing, a lower key panel positioned within a top portion of the housing, and an upper key panel hingedly mounted to the housing to swing away and reveal the lower key panel. The lower key panel carries an alphanumeric keyboard thereon to enable a user to perform alphanumeric data entry. The upper key panel carries a telephone keypad to enable a user to dial telephone numbers.
Claims15
A microprocessor-based telephone apparatus comprising:
- a housing, a display screen mounted in said housing, a lower key panel carried in a fixed position within a top portion of said housing separated from said display screen, and an upper key panel overlying said lower key panel while in a first position thereof and being hingedly mounted to said housing in a manner so as to swing away from said first position to a second position thereof and thereby to provide access to said lower key panel without obscuring said display screen;
- said lower key panel carrying an alphanumeric keyboard on a top surface thereof to enable a user to perform alphanumeric data entry after swinging away said upper key panel to said second position thereof;
- and
- said upper key panel carrying a telephone keypad to enable a user to dial telephone numbers when said upper key panel is in said first position overlying said lower key panel,
- whereby only said telephone keypad carried on said upper key panel is accessible for operation by a user when said upper key panel is in said first position thereof and only said alphanumeric keyboard is accessible for operation by a user when said upper key panel is in said second position thereof.
2 more elements
A microprocessor-based telephone apparatus capable of performing transaction terminal functions and comprising
- a housing forming an enclosure, a microprocessor system carried on a circuit board mounted within said enclosure, a display screen carried on said housing and interfaced to said microprocessor system, display screen function keys carried on said housing and interfaced to said microprocessor system, a magnetic stripe card reader carried on said housing and interfaced to said microprocessor system, a telephone keypad interfaced to said microprocessor system, and an alphanumeric keyboard interfaced to said microprocessor system,
- a lower key panel mounted in a fixed position within a top portion of said housing and carrying said alphanumeric keyboard,
- an upper key panel hingedly mounted to said housing and carrying said telephone keypad between a panel closed position in which said telephone keypad overlies and covers said alphanumeric keyboard and a panel open position in which said telephone keypad swings away without obscuring said display screen to reveal said alphanumeric keyboard
- whereby only one of said telephone keypad and said alphanumeric keyboard are accessable to a user at any particular time, depending on the position of said upper key panel, said telephone keypad being accessible to a user only when said said upper key panel is in said panel closed position, said alphanumeric keyboard being accessible to a user only when said upper key panel is in said panel open position.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.