Cellular telephone, personal digital assistant, and pager unit with capability of short range radio frequency transmissions

[0002] This application is filed as a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/309,107 filed on May 10, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,094,492.

[0003] 1. Field of the Invention

[0004] The present invention relates generally to the cellular telephone industry, and more particularly to a hands-free cellular telephone system, including a personal digital assistant with pager capabilities.

[0005] 2. Problems in the Art

[0006] Conventional cellular telephones, which have become extremely popular, use high frequency radio waves to transmit and receive data. They also generate extensive electromagnetic fields. Such high frequency waves and electromagnetic fields have been linked to cancer and other serious health problems. There is therefore a need to protect cellular telephone users from such potentially harmful effects.

[0007] Additionally, conventional cellular telephones require a user to hold the telephone and thereby cause the user to lose the use of that hand for driving or other purposes. Users have attempted to solve this problem by holding the cellular telephone in a manner which frees up both of the user's hands. However, this may cause other problems, such as limiting the user's field of view, range of motion, or causing discomfort. This presents potentially hazardous conditions for the user and others. There exists a need to free up both hands of a user for driving and other purposes.

[0008] Further, current systems and methods of operating a cellular telephone in a hands-free fashion have resulted in unsightly attachments which must be worn by the user. Microphones that are worn by a user tend to protrude into the facial area of the user and interfere with the user during times when it is desirable not to use the cellular telephone such as eating, drinking, and other day to day activities. Though such microphones may be adjusted and placed away from the user's facial area or removed during times when the cellular telephone is not in use, such adjustments are unnecessarily burdensome. It is therefore desirable to have a hands-free system capable of being worn by the user at all times without interfering in the day to day activities of the user.

[0009] Other forms of hands-free operation of a cellular telephone have placed the microphone away from the user's facial area. Such placement results in a loss of clarity of the user's voice and tends to interject other surrounding sounds, such as wind, traffic, radio, and other voices into the transmission of the user's voice.

[0010] Currently, cellular phones are beginning to merge with personal digital assistants for convenience purposes. A user can use the personal digital assistant and then use the cellular phone at a separate time. However, the combination typically prevents simultaneous use because the cellular telephone must be held close to the user's head, making the personal digital assistant inaccessible. It is therefore desirable to be able to access the personal digital assistant while using the cellular telephone.

[0011] There is therefore a need for a hands-free cellular telephone system which avoids these and other problems.

[0012] Features of the Invention

[0013] A general feature of the present invention is the provision of an improved cellular telephone system which overcomes the problems found in the prior art.

[0014] A further feature of the present invention is the provision of a cellular telephone system which prevents the user's head from exposure to the potentially harmful emissions of current cellular telephones.

[0015] A further feature of the present invention is the provision of a cellular telephone system capable of hands-free operation.

[0016] Another feature of the present invention is the provision of a cellular telephone system capable of being worn by a user without interfering in a user's day to day activities.

[0017] A still further feature of the present invention is the provision of a cellular telephone capable of transmitting a user's voice while avoiding the transmission of surrounding sounds.

[0018] Another feature of the present invention is the provision of a cellular telephone system capable of providing hands-free use of a cellular telephone while maintaining access to a built-in personal digital assistant.

[0019] A still further feature of the present invention is the provision of one device which can function as a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant, or a pager.

[0020] These, as well as other features and advantages of the present invention, will become apparent from the following specification and claims.

[0021] The present invention generally comprises a cellular telephone transceiver, an ear piece which receives the voice vibrations of a user, and a wireless linkage operatively connected between the two. When worn by a user, the ear piece receives the bone and air conductive voice vibrations transmitted through the user's external auditory canal and converts them into electrical signals. These electrical signals are then converted to short range low frequency radio waves and sent to the cellular transceiver. The cellular transceiver unit then acts like a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant and a pager.

[0022] In a preferred embodiment, the present invention includes a cellular transceiver unit which includes a standard telephone keypad and a display. The display is preferably part of the personal digital assistant and can tell the user when an incoming telephone call, e-mail message, or page arrives. The keypad can be flipped up to reveal the touch screen of the personal digital assistant to allow the user to keep track of appointments, phone numbers, and other personal and business information. The personal digital assistant can also use the cellular connection to access the internet and other sources of information. This allows the user to respond to e-mail messages, check stock prices, book hotels and perform a variety of other tasks.

[0023] FIG. 1 is a pictorial view showing a user wearing the cellular telephone system of the present invention.

[0024] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the ear piece unit of the cellular telephone system of the present invention.

[0025] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the ear piece unit of FIG. 2 taken through the external auditory canal of the user.

[0026] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the transceiver unit of the cellular telephone system of the present invention.

[0027] FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the transceiver unit of FIG. 4.

[0028] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the transceiver unit with the cellular telephone interface flipped up to reveal the personal digital assistant of the present invention.

[0029] The present invention will be described as it applies to its preferred embodiment. It is not intended that the present invention be limited to the described embodiment. It is intended that the invention cover all modifications and alternatives which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention.

[0030] Now, referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates the cellular telephone system 10 as worn by a user. The user wears the ear piece 12 and the cellular transceiver unit 14. The cellular transceiver unit 14 may be worn on the user's belt 16, though it is also possible to store the cellular transceiver unit 14 in a number of other areas which may be convenient for the user, such as a shirt pocket, coat pocket, or vest pocket.

[0031] As seen in FIG. 2, the ear piece 12 includes an external ear canal portion 20 having a bone conduction sensor 22 in contact with the external auditory canal epithelium of the user, an air conduction sensor or microphone 46, and a speaker 24. A casing 26 is also provided, having an ear attachment portion 28 and a fitting portion 30 that connects the ear attachment portion 28 with the bone conduction sensor 22, the air conduction sensor 46, and speaker 24. The ear attachment portion 28 is contoured to comfortably fit into the angle between the ear auricle and the temporal bone of the skull of the user and is preferably made of a lightweight aluminum or plastic material. It can be appreciated that the primary purpose of the ear attachment portion 28 is to secure the ear piece 12 in proper position. The fitting portion 30 is integral with the ear attachment portion 28 and is reinforced with a flexible wire (not shown) so that the ear piece 12 may be adapted to fit the user and maintain the bone conduction sensor 22 and the air conduction sensor 46 in their proper positions with the external auditory canal 34 of the user.

[0032] As is best shown in FIG. 3, the ear piece 12 should be fit so that the bone conduction sensor 22 is in contact with a portion of the external auditory canal 34 near the bony-cartilaginous junction. It is preferred that the bone conduction sensor 22 rest against the posterior superior wall of the external auditory canal 34, with the flexible wire (not shown) of the fitting portion 30 shaped to bias the bone conduction sensor 22 into position. Fitting the device and calibrations may be performed by the user or with the assistance of a physician or an audiologist/audiology technician.

[0033] The bone conduction sensor 22 is a piezoelectric accelerometer of standard construction and may be obtained from Endevco Industries, among others. Other pick-ups that can be used with the present invention include, but are not limited to, those of the magnetic type, electric condenser type, IC type, and semiconductor type. All are well-known in the art.

[0034] The external ear canal portion 20 is formed so that the bone conduction sensor 22 may be inserted into the external auditory canal 34 of the user and nonocclusively contact against the posterior superior wall of the bony canal. The bone conduction sensor 22 is intended to pick up, as the voice signals, the vibrations of the upper wall of the external auditory canal 34 at the time of uttering the voice sounds. When the user utters voice sounds, these sounds reach the mastoid bones. These sound vibrations in the external auditory canal portion in contact with the bone sensor 22 are then processed.

[0035] In addition to the bone conduction sensor 22, the external ear canal portion 20 also includes an air conduction sensor or microphone 46. Like the bone conduction sensor 22, the air conduction sensor 46 is of standard construction and may be obtained from various hearing aid manufacturers, such as ReSound, Siemens AG, and Oticon with numerous small air microphones available which would process sound from air transmission.

[0036] A resilient member 36 is preferably positioned between the air conduction sensor 46 and the bone conduction sensor 22 in such a manner that the external sound collected by the air conduction sensor 46 will not be transmitted to the bone conduction sensor 22.

[0037] Additionally, the ear canal portion 20 also includes a speaker 24. The speaker 24 is of a type well known in the art and common in the hearing aid industry. The speaker 24 is positioned directly in line with the tympanic membrane to facilitate clear transmissions while maintaining a low power output.

[0038] A circuit portion 38 transmits the electrical signals from both the bone conduction sensor 22 and the air conduction sensor 46 to a speech processor 40. The bone conduction sensor 22 and the air conduction sensor 46 are both tuned to receive frequencies within the range of audible human speech, approximately 50 to 8000 Hertz.

[0039] The speech processor 40 is of a conventional construction used in many hearing aids and employs a digital processing scheme to package the voice signal for transmission across a wireless linkage. The speech processor 40 will be programmed to extract similarities from air and bone transmission, comparing the similarities in signal and then transmitting via a wireless linkage to a cellular telephone transceiver or other receiving device. The speech processor 40 also filters out through band pass filters 42 sounds outside the frequency of normal human speech.

[0040] The speech processor 40 samples a portion of the electrical signals of voice sound information from the air conduction sensor 46 and a portion of the electrical signals of voice sound information from the bone conduction sensor 22.

[0041] The speech processor 40 then transmits the selected voice signal to an ear piece transceiver 4. The ear piece transceiver 4 is preferably a wireless radio frequency transceiver well known in the art which includes a multi directional antenna 70.

[0042] The ear piece transceiver 4 sends the voice signal to the cellular transceiver unit 14. The ear piece transceiver 4 also receives incoming signals from the cellular transceiver unit 14 and sends them to the speaker 24.

[0043] As shown in FIG. 4, the cellular transceiver unit 14 appears like the front of a normal cellular telephone and is worn by the user via a clip 72 which is secured to the user's belt. The cellular transceiver unit 14 uses a conventional cellular transceiver to provide cellular communications. The cellular transceiver unit 14 includes a standard twelve key keypad 50, other function buttons 54, and a display 52. The cellular telephone display 52 is preferably an LCD display incorporated as part of a personal digital assistant such as the current Palm Pilot® series of devices using the Palm OS®, Windows CE®, or other operating system, though separate displays may be used for the personal digital assistant and the cellular telephone display 52.

[0044] Further, the cellular transceiver unit 14 includes componentry which is common in the art. As shown in FIG. 5, the cellular transceiver unit 14 receives the relatively low powered radio frequency (RF) signals from the ear piece transceiver 4 via an RF local area network antenna 60, processes the signal and transmits an amplified RF signal through the conventional cellular transceiver. Further, the cellular transceiver unit 14 receives incoming data through a cellular linkage antenna 62 and transmits this to the ear piece transceiver 4 using the low powered RF antenna (60) to transmit signals. The cellular transceiver unit 14 may transmit or receive using analog or digital technology.

[0045] The cellular transceiver unit 14 is also equipped with a personal digital assistant portion 64. To access the personal digital assistant portion 64, a user presses an access button 66 to flip up the keypad 50 or the entire cellular telephone interface. The personal digital assistant portion may also appear on the opposite side of the cellular transceiver unit 14. The keypad 50 flips up via two hinges 56 on top of the cellular transceiver unit 14. With the personal digital assistant portion 64 exposed, a user can enter commands using a traditional stylus or the user's finger. Personal digital assistant buttons 68, which are common in the art, allow the user to access various functions of the personal digital assistant. The personal digital assistant is operatively linked to the cellular transceiver to provide a linkage with which the personal digital assistant may access the internet or other services. The personal digital assistant allows the user to keep track of appointments, phone numbers and other personal and business information. The personal digital assistant also allows the user to receive and send e-mail messages, browse the internet for stock prices, hotel reservations, and a perform a variety of other tasks. Additionally, an access port, 72 is included on the bottom of the cellular transceiver unit 14 to allow the user to connect a keyboard, another cellular phone, another personal digital assistant, or other peripherals.

[0046] Both the cellular transceiver unit 14 and the ear piece 12 require power. This power is supplied by one or more conventional rechargeable batteries 58 for the ear piece (12) and (30) for the cellular transceiver (14) which may include a vibration system to alert the user to an incoming call, page or e-mail. A separate vibration module 72 may be included which would operatively connect to the cellular transceiver unit 14. Further, both the ear piece 12 and the cellular transceiver unit 14 include contacts 74 (not shown on ear piece (12) which allow the user to simply place them in a docking station so as to be electrically connected to the docking station. The docking stations are conventional and are such that they remain connected to a power source such as a typical wall outlet or other power outlet. The docking station may be able to power both the ear piece 12 and the cellular transceiver unit 14 at the same time.

[0047] In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, a conventional cellular transceiver may be adapted to operatively connect the ear piece 12 to an existing cellular telephone, or to the cellular transceiver (14) to an existing cellular phone to permit wireless linkage via the low power RF transmissions to the ear piece (12).

[0048] A general description of the present invention as well as a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been set forth above. Those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains will recognize and be able to practice additional variations in the methods and systems described which fall within the teachings of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications and additions are deemed to be within the scope of the invention which is to be limited only by the claims appended hereto.