Terminal device having rotatable camera assembly and rotatable camera assembly of terminal device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11196848-B2
Application number	US-202016889755-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 1, 2020
Priority date	Dec 28, 2017
Publication date	Dec 7, 2021
Grant date	Dec 7, 2021

Abstract

Provided are a terminal device and a camera assembly thereof. The camera assembly comprises a fixing support, a camera module, a driving mechanism and an operating mechanism, wherein the camera module is connected to the fixing support in a rotatable manner, the driving mechanism is provided between the camera module and the fixing support and is used for producing a rotation driving force for the camera module relative to the fixing support so as to drive the camera module to rotate, with a side of the camera module as the axis, in such a manner that the opposite side of the camera module rotates away from the fixing support; and the operating mechanism is fixed on the fixing support and is used for limiting a reset state position of the camera module.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A camera assembly for a terminal device, comprising:
a fixing bracket defining an engaging groove;
a camera module, rotatably connected to the fixing bracket and having a reset state in which the camera module is received in the fixing bracket, wherein the camera module comprises a body and an engaging protrusion, wherein the engaging protrusion is disposed at an outer side of the body and is capable of being received in the engaging groove, and wherein when the camera module in the reset state, the engaging protrusion is received in the engaging groove;
a driving mechanism, disposed between the camera module and the fixing bracket and configured to drive the camera module to rotate relative to the fixing bracket to drive the camera module to rotate about a side edge of the camera module, such that an opposite side edge of the camera module is capable of rotating away from the fixing bracket and the camera module is ejected out of the fixing bracket; and
an operating mechanism, arranged on the fixing bracket and configured to control a position of the camera module, wherein the operating mechanism comprises:
an operating key;
an operating link, wherein one end of the operating key protrudes out of an outer surface of the fixing bracket and the other end of the operating key is connected to the operating link, and wherein the operating link is movable relative to the fixing bracket; and
an operating protrusion, disposed on a side surface of an end portion of the operating link, wherein the operating link is capable of abutting against the engaging protrusion through the operating protrusion when the engaging protrusion is received in the engaging groove, such that the engaging protrusion is capable of being released out of the engaging groove and the camera module is driven to rotate and being ejected when driven by the driving mechanism.

2. The camera assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the camera module further comprises a body and a camera unit disposed inside the body, and the body is hinged to the fixing bracket through a rotating shaft.

3. The camera assembly as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the driving mechanism is a torsion spring, and the torsion spring is sleeved on the rotating shaft, and one end of a torsion force generated by the torsion spring abuts against the body and the other end of the torsion force abuts against the fixing bracket, and the torsion spring is configured to continuously drive the camera module to rotate relative to the fixing bracket.

4. The camera assembly as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the fixing bracket defines a receiving groove; and when the camera module is in the reset state, the camera module is completely received in the receiving groove without protruding out of the outer surface of the fixing bracket.

5. The camera assembly as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the engaging groove is defined on a side wall adjacent to the receiving groove.

6. The camera assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a movement direction of the operating link is substantially perpendicular to a direction of a force applied by the operating link to abut against the engaging protrusion.

7. The camera assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the operating link comprises a first connecting rod and a second connecting rod;
wherein one end of the first connecting rod is connected to the operating key, the other end of the first connecting rod is hinged to one end of the second connecting rod, and a middle portion of the second connecting rod is hinged to the fixing bracket via a hinge point; and
the second connecting rod is rotatable about the hinge point, and the other end of the second connecting rod is capable of rotating into the engaging groove and further abutting against the engaging protrusion located in the engaging groove.

8. A terminal device, comprising:
a display screen;
a processor; and
a camera assembly, comprising:
a fixing bracket defining an engaging groove;
a camera module, rotatably connected to the fixing bracket and having a reset state in which the camera module is received in the fixing bracket and an ejecting state in which the camera module is located out of the fixing bracket, wherein the camera module comprises a body and an engaging protrusion, wherein the engaging protrusion is disposed at an outer side of the body and is capable of being received in the engaging groove, and wherein when the camera module in the reset state, the engaging protrusion is received in the engaging groove;
a driving mechanism, disposed between the camera module and the fixing bracket and configured to drive the camera module to rotate relative to the fixing bracket and further drive the camera module to rotate about a side edge of the camera module, such that an opposite side edge of the camera module is capable of rotating away from or close to the fixing bracket and that the camera module is switchable between the ejecting state and the reset state; and

an operating mechanism, arranged on the fixing bracket and configured to control a position of the camera module, wherein the operating mechanism comprises:
an operating key;
an operating link, wherein one end of the operating key protrudes out of an outer surface of the fixing bracket and the other end of the operating key is connected to the operating link, and wherein the operating link is movable relative to the fixing bracket; and
an operating protrusion, disposed on a side surface of an end portion of the operating link, wherein the operating link is capable of abutting against the engaging protrusion through the operating protrusion when the engaging protrusion is received in the engaging groove, such that the engaging protrusion is capable of being released out of the engaging groove and the camera module is driven to rotate and being ejected when driven by the driving mechanism;

wherein the processor is configured to receive a control instruction of the display screen and control the camera module in the camera assembly to shoot according to the control instruction.

9. The terminal device as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the control instruction of the display screen comprises at least one of sliding, clicking, and long-pressing.

10. The terminal device as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the terminal device comprises a controlling button, and the control instruction further comprises a trigger instruction of the controlling button.

11. The terminal device as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the control instruction comprises at least one of an image acquisition requirement, a flash activation requirement, and a speaker activation requirement.

12. A terminal device, comprising:
a housing defining an engaging groove;
a camera module, rotatably connected to the housing and having a first position in which the camera module is in the housing and a second position in which the camera module is out of the housing, wherein the camera module comprises a body and an engaging protrusion, wherein the engaging protrusion is disposed at an outer side of the body and is capable of being received in the engaging groove, and wherein when the camera module in the reset state, the engaging protrusion is received in the engaging groove;
a driving mechanism, disposed between the camera module and the housing and configured to drive the camera module to rotate relative to the housing and further drive the camera module to rotate about a side edge of the camera module, such that an opposite side edge of the camera module is capable of rotating away from or close to the housing and that the camera module is movable between the first position and the second position; and
an operating mecha

Assignees

• Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
• Shenzhen Heytap Tech Corp Ltd

Inventors

• Zeng Zanjian
• Gao Kai
• Zeng Wuchun
• Zhang Xiang

Classifications

• H04N23/57

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

• H04N23/55

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

• H04N23/51

  Housings · CPC title

• H04N23/54

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

• H04M1/0264 Primary

  for a camera module assembly · CPC title