Cellular phone

#This application is the National Phase of PCT/JP2008/064458, filed Aug. 12, 2008, which claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-227756 filed Sep. 3, 2007, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

#The present invention relates to a cellular phone, and more particularly, to a cellular phone which comprises two or more housings capable of displacement relative to each other.

#Nowadays, cellular phones have become pervasive not only in Japan but also all over the world. Many of currently popularized cellular phones comprise a housing provided with display means and a housing provided with input means, where these housings are coupled such that they are capable of displacement relative to each other. For example, a housing provided with a display device (upper housing) and a housing provided with an input device (lower housing) are coupled through a hinge mechanism such that they can make pivotal movements. More specifically, a liquid crystal display is housed in the upper housing, and a display screen of the display is exposed on a front surface of the upper housing. On the other hand, the input device is incorporated in the lower housing, and input keys, which serve as an interface of the input device, are arranged on a front surface of the lower housing. Then, the upper housing and lower housing are coupled for pivotal movements from a state where the front surfaces thereof oppose each other to a state where both the front surfaces form an angle of approximately 160°. Further, with improvements in functions, some cellular phones which have come on the market comprise two or more housings which can make pivotal movements or sliding movements in various directions.

#FIG. 1 A perspective view showing a closed state of a cellular phone according to Embodiment 1.

#FIG. 2 A perspective view showing a first open state of the cellular phone according to Embodiment 1.

#FIG. 3 A perspective view showing a second open state of the cellular phone according to Embodiment 1.

#A cellular phone according to this embodiment comprises a first housing (hereinafter called “upper housing 10”) provided with a liquid crystal unit as a display device, and a second housing (hereinafter called “lower housing 20”) provided with an input device. Upper housing 10 and lower housing 20 are rotatably coupled by a coupling mechanism.

#Notably, in the following description, a front surface refers to a surface of upper housing 10 on which a display screen 11 of the liquid crystal unit is exposed, and a rear surface refers to the surface opposite to the front surface. Also, the input device provided in lower housing 20 comprises input keys 21a and input pad 21b (hereinafter collectively called “operating portion 21”) as an interface. Accordingly, in the following description, a front surface refers to a surface of lower housing 20 on which operating portion 21 is disposed, and a rear surface refers to the surface opposite to the front surface. For facilitating an understanding, a general description will be given of a coupling state and rotating operation of upper housing 10 and lower housing 20 in accordance with the foregoing definitions with reference to FIGS. 1-3. However, the foregoing definitions are simply made for convenience of description.

#Upper housing 10 and lower housing 20 are coupled by a rotation mechanism such that they can shift among from a closed state, a first open state or a second open state to another state. Here, the closed state refers to a state shown in FIG. 1, where substantially the entirety of the front surface of lower housing 20 (at least the area in which the operating portion is disposed) is covered with upper housing 10, and center line A-A of upper housing 10 matches with center line B-B of lower housing 20 on the same straight line. The first open state, in turn, refers to a state shown in FIG. 2, where the disposed area of the operating portion of lower housing 20 exposes, and center line A-A of upper housing 10 is perpendicular to center line B-B of lower housing 20. Further, the second open state refers to a state shown in FIG. 3, where the disposed area of the operating portion of lower housing 20 exposes, and center line A-A of upper housing 10 matches with center line B-B of lower housing 20 on the same straight line.