Terminal having camera module

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10389927-B2
Application number	US-201715824490-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 28, 2017
Priority date	Mar 7, 2017
Publication date	Aug 20, 2019
Grant date	Aug 20, 2019

Abstract

A terminal is provided. The terminal includes a main body, a camera module, and a driving structure disposed in the main body. A receiving chamber configured to receive the camera module is defined in the main body. The driving structure is connected to the camera module to drive the camera module to move from the inside of the receiving chamber to the outside of the main body or drive the camera module to move from the outside of the main body into the inside of the receiving chamber.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A terminal comprising a main body, a camera module, and a driving structure disposed in the main body, wherein
a receiving chamber configured to receive the camera module is defined in the main body, wherein the main body comprises a display screen with a display area, the receiving chamber is defined in the main body and position of the receiving chamber corresponds to one portion of the display area; and
the driving structure is connected to the camera module to drive the camera module to move between the inside of the receiving chamber and the outside of the main body;
wherein
the main body comprises a front plate, a back plate opposite the front plate, and a circumferential wall connected to the front plate and the back plate;
the receiving chamber has an aperture allowing the camera module to move into or out of the receiving chamber;
the aperture is defined in the circumferential wall;
the camera module comprises a mounting base connected to the driving structure and a first camera disposed on the mounting base;
the mounting base comprises a rotatable element, a first end surface facing a plane where the front plate is located, a second end surface facing a plane where the back plate is located, and a groove extending through the first end surface and the second end surface; and the rotatable element is located in the groove; and
the first camera is disposed on the rotatable element such that the first camera can be rotated to face the plane where the front plate is located or the plane where the back plate is located.

2. The terminal of claim 1 , wherein when the driving structure drives the camera module to move to the outside of the main body, the first camera faces the plane where the front plate is located.

3. The terminal of claim 1 , wherein the camera module further comprises a second camera disposed on the mounting base.

4. The terminal of claim 3 , wherein when the driving structure drives the camera module to move to the outside of the main body, the first camera faces a plane where the front plate is located, and the second camera faces a plane where the back plate is located.

5. The terminal of claim 1 , wherein a side wall of the camera module has an inner surface and an outer surface; and
when the camera module is received in the receiving chamber, the outer surface of the side wall of the camera module is flush with an outer surface of the circumferential wall.

6. The terminal of claim 1 , wherein a periphery of a side wall of the camera module coincides with a periphery of the aperture.

7. The terminal of claim 1 , wherein the receiving chamber is provided with a restricting element configured to restrict the camera module to move in an orientation of the aperture of the receiving chamber.

8. The terminal of claim 1 , wherein the driving structure is a pair of magnets comprising a first magnet having a first magnetic pole and a second magnet having a second magnetic pole;
the first magnet is connected to the camera module, and the first magnetic pole of the first magnet is opposite the second magnetic pole of the second magnet;
the camera module is driven to move from the inside of the receiving chamber to the outside of the terminal when the first magnetic pole and the second magnetic pole have identical polarities; and
the camera module is driven to move from the outside of the terminal into the inside of the receiving chamber when the first magnetic pole and the second magnetic pole have opposite polarities.

9. The terminal of claim 8 , wherein the first magnet is a permanent magnet and the second magnet is an electromagnet.

10. The terminal of claim 1 , wherein the driving structure is a motor having a rotatable shaft on which an external thread is arranged;
the camera module has a cavity provided with an internal thread;
the rotatable shaft is screwed into the cavity by means of engagement of the external thread and the internal thread; and
when the rotatable shaft is rotated, the camera module is driven to move between the inside of the receiving chamber and the outside of the main body.

11. The terminal of claim 10 , wherein the rotatable shaft is a cylinder, and the cavity is a cylindrical space capable of receiving the cylinder.

12. The terminal of claim 1 , wherein the display screen merely comprises the display area configured to display information.

Assignees

• Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd

Inventors

• Zhang Haiping

Classifications

• H04N23/55

  Optical parts specially adapted for electronic image sensors; Mounting thereof · CPC title

• H04M1/0264 Primary

  for a camera module assembly · CPC title

• H04N23/90

  Arrangement of cameras or camera modules, e.g. multiple cameras in TV studios or sports stadiums · CPC title

• H04N23/57 Primary

  Mechanical or electrical details of cameras or camera modules specially adapted for being embedded in other devices · CPC title

• H04N23/54

  Mounting of pick-up tubes, electronic image sensors, deviation or focusing coils · CPC title