Mobile telephone handset having a cartridge and pen arrangement
Provided is a mobile telephone handset having a cartridge with a universal pen arrangement, said cartridge for supplying ink to a printhead mounted on a nib of the pen arrangement. The universal pen arrangement includes a holder fast with the cartridge, and a retractable stylus slidably mounted in the holder, so that the stylus is slidable between a retracted position, in which the stylus is stored inside the holder, and an extended position, in which the printhead protrudes from the holder for printing on a substrate. The pen arrangement also includes a flexible data, power and ink conduit linking the cartridge to the stylus, as well as a stylus retaining mechanism to retain the stylus in either the retracted or extended position.
1. A mobile telephone handset which comprises:
a chassis;
a cartridge and pen arrangement mounted on the chassis, said cartridge for supplying ink to a printhead mounted on a nib of the pen arrangement, the pen arrangement comprising:
a holder fast with the cartridge;
a retractable stylus slidably mounted in the holder, so that the stylus is slidable between a retracted position, in which the stylus is stored inside the holder, and an extended position, in which the printhead protrudes from the holder for printing on a substrate;
a flexible conduit linking the cartridge to the stylus, said flexible conduit being configured for carrying data, power and ink; and
a stylus retaining mechanism to retain the stylus in either the retracted or extended position.
2. The mobile telephone handset of claim 1 , wherein the conduit is of flex film which includes copper traces on one side and formed film on the other.
3. The mobile telephone handset of claim 2 , wherein the copper traces include data and power supply traces, the formed film forming three ink channels, said conduit folded back on itself in serpentine fashion to enable extension and retraction of the stylus.
4. The mobile telephone handset of claim 1 , wherein the holder defines an elongate hole through which a nib of the stylus extends and a recess within which a stop of the stylus is positioned, with both the hole and the recess extending along the holder so that the nib and stop is able to slide within the hole and recess, respectively, as the stylus is extended and retracted.
5. The mobile telephone handset of claim 1 , wherein the stylus retaining mechanism is attached to a snap-fit retainer formed on a side of the holder, with a complementary snap-in portion being generally circular in cross-section and snapped into the retainer.
6. The mobile telephone handset of claim 5 , wherein the retainer and snap-in portion are configured such that the stylus retaining mechanism is rotatable between an open position and a closed position.
7. The mobile telephone handset of claim 6 , wherein a first end of the stylus retaining mechanism includes a stop-engaging portion, whilst the other end includes a stylus release button and moulded bias spring that biases the stylus retaining mechanism into the closed position.