Protection construction for a mobile communication means

The present invention relates to mobile communication means, such as mobile telephones or PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) or palm computers, having a one-piece body with a display and keyboard, or to mobile telephones whose two-piece body comprises a first part, which may hold a display, and a second part, which may hold a keyboard, the parts being slidable with respect to each other. More particularly, the present invention relates to a protection construction for a mobile telephone.

Mobile communication means are most heavily exposed to soiling and/or unintentional activation when they are transported in a pocket or bag, for example.

It is previously known that, in order to prevent unintentional activation, keyboards may be manually or automatically lockable. However, a locking solution cannot prevent the risk of soiling.

Mobile telephones with halves that are slidable or foldable with respect to each other are known, whereby the closed position allows fairly satisfactorily preventing both soiling and unintentional activation. The drawback of such slidable and foldable structures is that the solutions are expensive and, in addition, the moving signal and current paths that are connected to and/or integrated in elements enabling moving, such as hinge or slide guide structures, are sensitive to damage.

One object of the present invention is to provide a new and inventive protection structure that would have low costs and a simple structure and that could effectively prevent soiling and the unintentional activation of a telephone. Another object of the invention is to enable taking into use, by means of the protection structure, a full keyboard, i.e. a QWERTY keyboard, and/or a larger display/display area arranged in a mobile telephone.

These objects can be achieved by means of a protection structure according to the invention for a mobile communication means, such as a mobile telephone or a PDA or a palm computer, having a one-piece body with a display and a keyboard, or whose body comprises a first part, which may hold a display, and a second part, which may hold a keyboard, the parts being slidable with respect to each other, generally for example so that slide guides are arranged in

the body, on and between which a protection structure is fitted that can slide in the slide guides to protect the keyboard and/or the display.

In this case it is recommended that the protection structure be braced against bending and/or twisting with respect to the plane passing through the slide guides. One option for bracing is that the protection structure is equipped with bracing projections. For example, such projections can be fitted so that they are directed inwards, i.e. are parallel with each other and towards the display and/or keyboard in the mobile telephone.

According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the slide guides are formed of guides that are open towards each other and have cross sections in the shape of a U-profile, whereby the protection structure can slide in the slide guides from one side of the mobile telephone to the other and vice versa.

It is possible that the protection structure can be moved in the slide guides manually or without touching the protection structure itself, just by moving the halves of the mobile telephone with respect to each other. When the halves of the mobile telephone are slidably movable with respect to each other, it is preferable that the protection structure is fixed to one of the halves of the mobile telephone that are slidably movable with respect to each other, whereby the protection structure slides in the slide guides when the halves of the two-piece mobile telephone are moved with respect to each other. When the halves of the mobile telephone are pulled to separate them from each other, in one preferred embodiment of the invention a full keyboard, i.e. a QWERTY keyboard, the keyboard halves of which hold a display between them, is revealed from under the protection structure.

With respect to other technical details of the invention, reference is made to the following detailed part of the description, which explains certain preferred embodiments of the invention by referring to the enclosed drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 schematically shows an overview of a mobile telephone equipped with a protection structure according to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross section along the line A-A in Fig. 1 , around which a protection structure according to the invention can bend when it moves in the slide guides, FIG. 3 shows a partial cross section of a protection structure according to an embodiment of the invention along a line B-B of the protection structure, around which the bending and/or twisting of the protection structure is prevented by means of bracing,

FIG.4 shows a partial cross section of a protection structure according to another embodiment of the invention along a line B-B of the protection structure, around which the bending and/or twisting of the protection structure is prevented by means of bracing, and FIG. 5 shows a partial cross section of a protection structure according a third embodiment of the invention along a line B-B of the protection structure, around which the bending and/or twisting of the protection structure is prevented by means of bracing.

Reference is made to FIG. 1, which schematically shows an overview of a mobile telephone equipped with a protection structure 1 according to the invention. The body of the mobile telephone in the figure comprises a first part P 1 , holding a display DP, and a second part P2, holding a keyboard KP, the parts being slidably movable with respect to each other. According to the invention, slide guides 4 are fitted in the body, on and between which the protection structure 1 according to the invention can slide to protect the keyboard and/or the display.

As can be seen from the embodiment in FIG. 1, the display DP and the keyboard KP partially overlap when the mobile telephone is in a closed position, i.e. when the first part Pl and the second part P2 of the mobile telephone have been slid against each other. In this case, the protection structure 1 covers the keyboard of the mobile telephone behind it and, of the display, at most the part rising in view from behind the keyboard may be visible. It should be noted that the dimensioning of the protection structure 1 allows substantially influencing the size of the part of the display remaining visible in the closed position of the mobile telephone.

In this connection it should also be emphasized that when the mobile telephone has a one-piece body, no part of the display DP is hidden behind the keyboard KP but, in this case, the only element covering the display is the protection structure, which in this case preferably is a covering element that can be manually slid in the slide guides.

Reference is made to FIG. 2, which shows a schematic cross section along the line A-A in FIG. 1. The protection structure 1 according to the invention can bend around the line A-A when the protection structure slides in the slide guides 4. As can be seen from FIG. 2, the slide guides 4 are preferably formed of elements that are open towards each other. For example, such elements can be implemented using profile elements that have a cross section in the shape of a U-profile and that can be attached to or embedded in a front or side surface of the body of the mobile telephone.

Reference is made to FIG. 3 and FIG.4. According to the invention, the protection structure 1 has a layered structure and is braced against bending and/or twisting with respect to the plane passing through slide guides 4. The protection structure comprises a number of profile strip elements 13 that are arranged in parallel at a short distance from each other and, at least on one side, are covered by an integral material layer 11, 12 that forms an integral surface between the slide guides. In order for the slide bars 4 to support the protection structure 1, the profile strip elements extend at both their ends 2 into the slide guides 4 in the shape of a U-profile, whereby the ends of the profile strip elements operate as supports for the protection structure when they slide in the slide guides.

According to the invention, it is most preferable that the integral material layer 11, 12 is arranged on both sides of the profile strip elements 13 between the slide guides 4. In order for the profile strip elements 13 in parallel at a short distance from each other to twist around the line A-A in FIG. 1 , it is recommended that each of the integral material layers be of a flexible material, preferably elastomer.

Reference is made to FIG: 3, which shows a partial cross section of a protection structure according to an embodiment of the invention along a line B-B of the protection structure, around which the bending and/or twisting of the protection structure is prevented by means of bracing.

In the protection structure according to the embodiment of FIG. 4 the shape of the profile of each of profile strip elements 13 has three arms. Such a profile is a T-profϊle, for example. Two projections extended in opposite directions form a body profile, which is in the shape of a parallelepiped. A third projection 3 lowers in the lengthwise direction of the profile strip element towards the ends of the profile strip elements so that the ends 2 of the profile strip element in the shape of the body profile fit and extend into the slide guides 4 in the shape of a U-profile.

The profile strip element 13 in the shape of a T-profile is of a rigid material and the third projection 3 of the profile strip element braces the protection structure against bending and/or twisting with respect to the plane passing through the slide guides 4.

Reference is made to the embodiment of FIG. 5. Each profile strip element 13 of the protection

structure is formed in the shape of a parallelepiped. The element is most preferably rigid either by means of a suitable choice of material or by selecting a suitable structural solution. The suitable structural solution for the element may be an I-profile element, for example, forming a body profile whose ends extend into the slide guides 4 in the shape of a U-profile. In this case, it is recommended that there is an integral material layer 11 above the mutually parallel profile strip elements, and similarly it is preferable that there is an integral material layer 12 below them. The integral material layer may be of a flexible material, preferably elastomer.

When the profile strip element 13 in the shape of an I-profile is of a rigid material, then, in order to provide the bracing of the protection structure 1 , mutually parallel proj ections 3 of a rigid material are arranged on the surface of at least one material layer 11. Thus the bending and/or twisting of the protection structure can be prevented.

Reference is made to the embodiment of FIG. 6, where the protection structure 1 has a layered structure and comprises an integral central material layer 13', which may be of a flexible material, such as elastomer. Edges 2' of this central material layer element extend into slide guides 4 in the shape of a U-profile, whereby the protection structure may move in the slide guides.

In order to provide a rigid protection structure 1, the structure further includes a number of strip elements 11 ', 12' of a rigid material. The strip elements are arranged in parallel at a distance from each other so that they are on both the outer surfaces of the central material layer. In the embodiment of FIG: 5, mutually parallel projections 3 of a rigid material are arranged on the surface of one material layer 11. The purpose of these projections is to brace the protection structure 1 against bending and/or twisting.

The invention has above been explained only by means of its certain preferred embodiments. Naturally, this is not intended to limit the invention, as many optional and alternative solutions and modifications and functionally equivalent solutions are possible within the scope defined by the enclosed claims.