CA2227067A1 - Electronic luminescence keyboard system for a portable device - Google Patents

Electronic luminescence keyboard system for a portable device Download PDF

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Publication number
CA2227067A1
CA2227067A1 CA002227067A CA2227067A CA2227067A1 CA 2227067 A1 CA2227067 A1 CA 2227067A1 CA 002227067 A CA002227067 A CA 002227067A CA 2227067 A CA2227067 A CA 2227067A CA 2227067 A1 CA2227067 A1 CA 2227067A1
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
light
keypads
elk
conductor element
portable device
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
CA002227067A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Mark Randall Decker
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Publication of CA2227067A1 publication Critical patent/CA2227067A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F1/00—Details not covered by groups G06F3/00 - G06F13/00 and G06F21/00
    • G06F1/16—Constructional details or arrangements
    • G06F1/1613—Constructional details or arrangements for portable computers
    • G06F1/1615—Constructional details or arrangements for portable computers with several enclosures having relative motions, each enclosure supporting at least one I/O or computing function
    • G06F1/1616—Constructional details or arrangements for portable computers with several enclosures having relative motions, each enclosure supporting at least one I/O or computing function with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F21—LIGHTING
    • F21V—FUNCTIONAL FEATURES OR DETAILS OF LIGHTING DEVICES OR SYSTEMS THEREOF; STRUCTURAL COMBINATIONS OF LIGHTING DEVICES WITH OTHER ARTICLES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F21V33/00—Structural combinations of lighting devices with other articles, not otherwise provided for
    • F21V33/0004—Personal or domestic articles
    • F21V33/0052—Audio or video equipment, e.g. televisions, telephones, cameras or computers; Remote control devices therefor
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F1/00—Details not covered by groups G06F3/00 - G06F13/00 and G06F21/00
    • G06F1/16—Constructional details or arrangements
    • G06F1/1613—Constructional details or arrangements for portable computers
    • G06F1/1633—Constructional details or arrangements of portable computers not specific to the type of enclosures covered by groups G06F1/1615 - G06F1/1626
    • G06F1/1637—Details related to the display arrangement, including those related to the mounting of the display in the housing
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F1/00—Details not covered by groups G06F3/00 - G06F13/00 and G06F21/00
    • G06F1/16—Constructional details or arrangements
    • G06F1/1613—Constructional details or arrangements for portable computers
    • G06F1/1633—Constructional details or arrangements of portable computers not specific to the type of enclosures covered by groups G06F1/1615 - G06F1/1626
    • G06F1/1662—Details related to the integrated keyboard
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
    • G06F3/02—Input arrangements using manually operated switches, e.g. using keyboards or dials
    • G06F3/0202—Constructional details or processes of manufacture of the input device
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H13/00—Switches having rectilinearly-movable operating part or parts adapted for pushing or pulling in one direction only, e.g. push-button switch
    • H01H13/70—Switches having rectilinearly-movable operating part or parts adapted for pushing or pulling in one direction only, e.g. push-button switch having a plurality of operating members associated with different sets of contacts, e.g. keyboard
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H2219/00—Legends
    • H01H2219/002—Legends replaceable; adaptable
    • H01H2219/018—Electroluminescent panel
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H2219/00—Legends
    • H01H2219/054—Optical elements
    • H01H2219/06—Reflector
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H2219/00—Legends
    • H01H2219/054—Optical elements
    • H01H2219/062—Light conductor

Abstract

An electronic luminescence keyboard system (10) in a portable device which includes a plurality of keypads (12) and an illuminated panel (18) which displays information responsive to the pressing of at least one of the plurality of keypads (12) is disclosed. The improvement comprises a conductor element (26) for conducting a portion of the light from the illuminated panel (18) and illuminator element coupled to the conductor element (26) for illuminating the plurality of keypads (12) with the portion of the light from the illuminated panel (18) thereby allowing for observation of keypads (12) on the keyboard (14) when the surrounding area is dimly lit. The ELK system (10) has no effect on the power consumption on the portable device. In an embodiment the ELK system (10) provides for backlighting the keyboard (14). In a second embodiment the ELK system (10) provides light to a top portion of the keypads (12).

Description

wo 97/04437 PCT~US96/11711 ELECTRONIC L~MINESCENCE ~ ~n 8Y8TEN
FOR ~ p~ RT-~ DEVICE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electrical keyboard, and more particularly to a lighted keyboard utilized in a variety of envilo -~ts~

R~Y~-POUND O'F THE INVENTION
A wide ~ariety of keyboards are utilized for data entry tel ;nAls and remote control terminals. More particularly many laptop computers, personal digital assistants, palmtops, color and black-and-white notebooks, sub-notebooks, remote teleprompter presenter screen-keyboards, alpha-numeric pager-organizers with keyboard and numeric keypads for portable c_ _uLers and the like utilize keyboards for inputting of information. One of the issues with portable devices is the use of such devices in environments where there is not sufficient light to see the keys. For e~ample, in an airplane or the like, while using a portable computer, the lights may be turned off or lowered due to the v:iewing of a movie or the like on the airplane.
It would be useful to have an illuminated keyboard which ~25 will allow one to actually see the keys when inputting information. Similarly, in a situation where there are several people in a particular room looking at a TV program or the like, in the evening, in which it is determined that most of the normal lights should be turned off, it would similarly be useful to provide a keyboard which is lighted.

There are many lighting arrangements utilized for keyboards. However, these conventional lighting arrangements have the disadvantage of requiring an additional light source which can consume power for illuminating the keypads as well as requiring relatively complex lighting arrangements for providing such illumination.
Accordingly, what is needed is a lighting arrangement for a portable device that includes a keyboard that is low cost, easy to implement, does not consume additional power and is adaptable to existing portable devices. The present invention addresses such a need.

An electronic luminescence keyboard system in a portable device which includes a plurality of keypads and an illuminated panel which displays information responsive to the pressing of at least one of the plurality of keypads is disclosed. The improvement comprises a conductor element for conducting a portion of the light from the illuminated panel and illuminator element coupled to the conductor element for illuminating the plurality of keypads with the portion of the light from the illuminated panel.
Through the use of a portion of the light from the W O 97/04437 PCTrUS96/11711 display panel is utilized to illuminate the keyboard thereby allowing for observation of the keypads on the keyboard when the surrounding area is dimly lit. The ELK system has no effect on the power consumption on the portable device. In an embodiment the ELK system provides for backlighting the keyboard. In a second : hg~ t the E~R system provides light to a top portion of the keypads.

BRILF nP~C~T~PTION OF T~E DRAWING~
Figure 1 is a perspective view of an electronic lumi~escence keyboard system in accordance with the present invention.
Figure ;2 is a side view of a first embodiment of such a system.
Figure 3 is a view of one key utilized in such a system.
Figure 4 is a second , hoA; ment of an electronic luminescence keyboard system in accordance with the present invention.

nT!'l'~TT.T!n n~QC!PTpTIoN
The present invention relates to a an im~ OVt ~nt in the lighting of a keyboard in a portable device which includes a keyboard. The following description is presented ~25 to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention and is provided in the context of a patent application and its requirements. Various modifications to CA 02227067 l998-0l-l6 WO 97/04437 PCT~US96/11711 the preferred embodiment and the generic principles and features described herein will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Referring now to Figure 1, what is shown is a perspective view of a portable computer 10 including keypads 12 on a keyboard 14. The portable computer 10 also includes display panel 18 which utilizes the electronic luminescence keyboard (ELK) 20 system of the present invention. The keypads when pressed are utilized to provide images on the display panel. The computer 10 is shown for illustrative purposes only. It is well understood that the ELK system 20 could be utilized in conjunction with any type of portable device which includes a plurality of keypads 12 such as a personal digital assistant, a game player, or any other type of device. The critical feature is that the device has some sort of display panel. The ELK
system 20 utilizes the existing light source, i.e., the panel display 18, as the lighting element for the plurality of keypads. Through this cooperation of elements, the plurality of keypads can be illuminated while the device is being utilized in an area where the normal lighting is decreased.
To more specifically describe the present invention, refer now to Figure 2, which is a side cutaway view of one embodiment of the present invention. As is seen in this embodiment, in the ELK system 20, a portion of the light is piped via a light pipe coupler 24 from the display panel 18 to the underside of the plurality of keypads via a light WO 97/04437 PCT~US96/11711 transparent support plane or backlight panel 26. A portion of the light from the display panel 18 is then utilized to illu~inate the back of the plurality of keypads 12 in the backlight panel 26.
Applicant has noted that there are two different scenarios present when utilizing such portable devices. One scenario is where the ambient (surrounding) light is high.
In that environment, the light from the display panel 18 must be at a high level to provide the contrast to allow for reading of the display. The second sc~n~rio is where the ambient light is low. In that environment, the light from the display panel 18 can be re~c~ because the ~ollLlast between the ~isplay panel 18 and the ambient light is high enough that the display panel 18 can be read with a significant reduction of the light produced thereby.
In one e!mbodiment, a gate 25 can be placed in the light pipe coupler 24 which can be moved to various positions to selectively allow or prevent light from entering the backlight panel 26. The gate 25 can be operated either manually or automatically. It should be readily recognized that the gate,25 can be implemented in a variety of ways and those implementations would be within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
To illus,trate clearly how the system 20 shown in Figure ,25 2 is utilizecl on a single keypad 12, refer now to Figure 3 which shows a keypad which includes a hollow portion 122 for receiving the light from backlight panel 26. The light is W O 97/04437 PCT~US96/11711 then reflected as is seen off reflective member 124 up through the hollow portion 122 of the keypad 12. The keypad in turn has a translucent portion 126 to which the light can be observed. Accordingly, the light from the display panel 18 is used advantageously to provide luminescence to each of the plurality of keypads 12. Heretofore most all previously known systems for providing luminescence to a plurality of keypads have utilized an electronic light source for providing the lighting to a keypad. The present invention uses lighting of the display panel 18 to provide the illumination to the plurality of keypads 12.
one of ordinary skill in the art readily recognizes that the ELK system 20 shown in Figures 2 and 3 is but one embodiment of a system which could advantageously utilize the light source of the display panel 18 for illuminating the keypad.
To more particularly show another embodiment, refer now to Figure 4, which is a partially cut away view of a portable computer 10'. In this embodiment rather than piping the light to the backside of the plurality of keypads 12, the ELK system 20' reflects a portion of the light from the display panel 18" to the top of the plurality of keypads 12 through the use of reflecting hl~r 202 in combination with a light coupler 204. Through the combination of the light coupler 204 and the reflecting member 202 the top of the plurality of keypads 12' are illuminated. This system provides light to the keyboard 14 with m; n; ~1 modification to the porta!ble device.
Accordingly, as is seen a simple and inexpensive system for providing lighting to a keyboard is provided by actually utilizing the light generated by a device associated with the keyboard. In so doing, a portable device can be used in a variety of environments in which the surrolln~;ng environment is not well lit without adding undue cost and expense to the device system. In addition since the ELK
system utilizes the existing light source on the device associated with the keypad, the ELK system does not affect the power co~sumption of the device.
Although the present invention has been described in accordance w:Lth the embodiments shown, one of ordinary skill in the art w:ill recognize that there could be variations to the embodiment and those variations would be within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, many modifications may be made by one of ordinary skill without depa:rting from the spirit and scope of the present invention, the scope of which is defined solely by the following claims.

..

Claims (18)

1. In a portable device which includes a plurality of keypads and an illuminated panel with displays information responsive to the pressing of at least one of the plurality of keypads; an electronic luminescence keyboard (ELK) system comprising:
a conductor element for conducting a portion of the light from the illuminated panel; and illuminator element coupled to the conductor element for illuminating the plurality of keypads with the portion of the light from the illuminated panel.
2. The ELK system of claim 1 in which the conductor element comprises a conducting light pipe.
3. The ELK system of claim 1 in which the conductor element includes a gate means for selectively allowing the light to the illuminator element.
4. The ELK system of claim 1 in which the illuminator element comprises a reflective element.
5. In a device which includes a plurality of keypads and an illuminated panel which displays information responsive to the pressing of at least one of the plurality of keypads; an electronic luminescence keyboard (ELK) system comprising:

conductor element coupled to the illuminated panel to conduct a portion of the light therefrom; and a light transparent support plane coupled to the conductor element and located underneath the plurality of keypads for illuminating the keypads with the portion of the light from the illuminated panel.
6. The ELK system of claim 5 in which the conductor element comprises a conducting light pipe.
7. The ELK system of claim 5 in which the conductor element includes a gate means for selectively allowing the light to the illuminator element.
8. The ELK system of claim 5 in which the light transparent support plane comprises a backlight plane.
9. In a portable device which includes a plurality of keypads and an illuminated panel which displays information responsive to the pressing of at least one of the plurality of keypads; an electronic luminescence keyboard (ELK) system comprising:
conductor element coupled to the illuminated panel to conduct a portion of the light therefrom; and a panel member coupled to the illuminated panel for reflecting the portion of the light from the conductor element on a top surface of the keypad.
10. The ELK system of claim 9 in which the conductor element comprises a conducting light pipe.
11. The ELK system of claim g in which the conductor element includes a gate means for selectively allowing the light to the illuminator element.
12. The ELK system of claim 9 in which the panel member comprises a reflective plane member.
13. A portable device comprising:
a plurality of keypads;
an illuminated panel which displays information responsive to the pressing of at least one of the plurality of keypads;
a conductor element for conducting a portion of the light from the illuminated panel; and illuminator element coupled to the conductor element for illuminating the plurality of keypads with the portion of the light from the illuminated panel.
14. The portable device of claim 13 in which the conductor element comprises a conducting light pipe.
15. The portable device of claim 13 in which the illuminated element comprises a reflective element.
16. The ELK system of claim 13 in which the conductor element includes a gate means for selectively allowing the light to the illuminator element.
17. The portable device of claim 13 in which the illuminator element comprises a light transparent support plane.
18. The portable device of claim 17 in which the light transparent support plane is a backlight plane.
CA002227067A 1995-07-17 1996-07-15 Electronic luminescence keyboard system for a portable device Abandoned CA2227067A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US08/502,913 US5684513A (en) 1995-07-17 1995-07-17 Electronic luminescence keyboard system for a portable device
US08/502,913 1995-07-17

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2227067A1 true CA2227067A1 (en) 1997-02-06

Family

ID=23999934

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA002227067A Abandoned CA2227067A1 (en) 1995-07-17 1996-07-15 Electronic luminescence keyboard system for a portable device

Country Status (6)

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US (2) US5684513A (en)
EP (1) EP0839367A1 (en)
JP (1) JPH11509352A (en)
AU (1) AU6546196A (en)
CA (1) CA2227067A1 (en)
WO (1) WO1997004437A1 (en)

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US6040822A (en) 2000-03-21
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