Siemens Information & Communication Networks, Inc.

Larry W Coons

David C Iglehart

Leland A Lester

Michael Duncan

A telephone utilizes a grid of light beams to generate signals that are unique to particular key regions of the telephone in response to interruptions of light beams that intersect at the particular key regions. The key regions of the telephone are arranged in a matrix of rows and columns and the light grid includes horizontally and vertically oriented pairs of light sources and photo detectors that have respective light beam paths passing through rows and columns of key regions. The intersection points of one of the horizontal and vertical light beam paths correspond to particular key regions. In one embodiment, the light sources and photo detectors are raised from a surface of the support structure such that the light beam paths cross the matrix of key regions at the exterior of the support structure. In another embodiment, the telephone generates DTMF signals in response to interruptions of the intersecting light beams, and the telephone has holes formed completely through the support structure at the key regions where the light beam paths intersect.

Durable telephone with no moving parts

An improved mousepad (100) includes a telephone integrated therewith. A keypad (108) for the telephone is disposed beneath a mylar layer (130). The keypad (108) includes a plurality of capacitive switches (108a, 108b) disposed just beneath the mylar layer. In a mousepad mode, a mouse may be moved around the surface of the mylar in the standard fashion. In a telephone mode, the user may activate the keypad (108) by pressing the buttons which are viewable beneath the mylar.

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Cedar Park, TX, United States of America

Larry W Coons