Mobile terminal

#This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2006-0079336, filed on Aug. 22, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference as is fully set forth herein.

#1. Field of the Invention

#The present invention relates to a mobile terminal, and more particularly, to a mobile terminal that can enhance user usage convenience with a slimmer terminal.

#The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings:

#FIGS. 1 and 2 are side sectional views illustrating a state where a conventional mobile terminal slides up and slides down, respectively;

#FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views illustrating a state where a mobile terminal of the present invention slides up and slides down, respectively;

#Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

#As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the mobile terminal of the present invention includes a main unit (M) and a slide unit (S) slidable on a rear part 120 of the main unit (M). The main unit includes a front part 110 in which a display window 111 is provided to display predetermined information, an upper end part 130 defining an upper end of the mobile terminal and the rear part 120 defining a rear surface of the mobile terminal. The front part 110 may also include an input device 112, such as a touch pad, a navigation key, a jog wheel, or other similar input devices. The slide unit (S) includes a slide body 310, a keypad 311 provided in front of the slide body 310 and a battery (not shown) detachable from a rear surface of the slide body 310.

#The rear part 120 of the main unit (M) extends a predetermined distance from the upper end part 130 and includes a holding portion 121, a sliding part 123 and a stepped part 122. The holding portion 121 has a predetermined space to hold predetermined sub assemblies therein. The sliding part 123 is stepped toward a front portion from the holding portion 121 so that the slide unit (S) is slidable on the slide part 123 and detailed description of the sliding part 123 will be described in reference with other drawings later. The stepped part 122 is stepped a predetermined distance to connect the holding portion 121 with the sliding part 123. A cover portion 320 is formed on the slide unit (S) to cover the holding portion 121 when the slide unit (S) slides up, and to cover a rear space formed by the stepped part 122 and the slide unit (S) on the sliding part 123 when the slide unit (S) slides down.