CN107241537B

CN107241537B - Sealing element, camera subassembly and mobile terminal

Info

Publication number: CN107241537B
Application number: CN201710458406.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 熊国访; 李勇
Original assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Current assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2017-06-16
Filing date: 2017-06-16
Publication date: 2023-06-30
Anticipated expiration: 2037-06-16
Also published as: CN107241537A

Abstract

The invention provides a camera sealing element, a camera assembly and a mobile terminal. The camera sealing piece comprises a silica gel sleeve and a reinforcing piece, wherein the silica gel sleeve is of an integrated structure and is used for being sleeved on the periphery of a camera to play a role in sealing; the silica gel cover includes the lateral wall, and the reinforcement sets up in the inside of lateral wall to strengthen the hardness of silica gel cover. The camera assembly comprises a camera and the camera sealing piece, wherein the camera sealing piece is sleeved on the periphery of the camera. The mobile terminal comprises a shell and the camera assembly, wherein the shell is provided with a mounting hole, the camera assembly is arranged in the mounting hole, and the camera sealing piece seals a gap between the outer wall of the camera and the inner wall of the mounting hole. The invention can improve the sealing effect and the image effect of the camera sealing element and improve the user experience.

Description

Sealing element, camera subassembly and mobile terminal

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of camera sealing, in particular to a camera sealing element, a camera assembly comprising the same and a mobile terminal.

Background

At present, two sealing dustproof structures of a rear camera of a mobile phone are mainly adopted, one is in a silica gel sleeve form, and the other is in a foam form. The dustproof effect of silica gel cover form is more stable, but because the silica gel cover is softer, often appear dropping, distortion condition such as not in place in the assembly process, after this kind of condition appears, the sealed effect of camera often is not good, leads to the dust to get into the camera and influences the image effect to influence user experience.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a camera sealing element, which comprises a silica gel sleeve and a reinforcing element, wherein the silica gel sleeve is of an integrated structure and is used for being sleeved on the periphery of a camera to play a sealing role; the silica gel cover includes the lateral wall, the reinforcement sets up the inside of lateral wall is in order to strengthen the hardness of silica gel cover.

The invention also provides a camera assembly, which comprises a camera and the camera sealing piece, wherein the camera sealing piece is sleeved on the periphery of the camera.

The invention also provides a mobile terminal, which comprises a shell and the camera assembly, wherein the shell is provided with a mounting hole, the camera assembly is arranged in the mounting hole, and the camera sealing piece seals a gap between the outer wall of the camera and the inner wall of the mounting hole.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings required for the description of the embodiments will be briefly described below, and it is apparent that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a camera seal provided by the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a camera seal provided by the present invention at a stiffener;

fig. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional structure of a camera area in an embodiment of a mobile terminal according to the present invention;

fig. 4 is an exploded structure schematic diagram of an area where a camera of an embodiment of a mobile terminal provided by the present invention is located;

fig. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of another embodiment of a camera seal provided by the present invention at a stiffener.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. It should be further noted that, for convenience of description, only some, but not all of the structures related to the present invention are shown in the drawings. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the invention without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the invention.

The mobile terminal provided by the embodiment of the invention comprises electronic equipment such as a smart phone, a tablet personal computer, intelligent wearable equipment, a digital audio/video player, an electronic reader, a handheld game machine, vehicle-mounted electronic equipment and the like.

In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "plurality" means at least two, for example, two, three, etc., unless specifically defined otherwise. All directional indications (such as up, down, left, right, front, back … …) in embodiments of the present invention are merely used to explain the relative positional relationship, movement, etc. between the components in a particular gesture (as shown in the drawings), and if the particular gesture changes, the directional indication changes accordingly. Furthermore, the terms "comprise" and "have," as well as any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. Such as a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to only those listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus but may optionally include other steps or elements not listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

Reference herein to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of such phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Those of skill in the art will explicitly and implicitly appreciate that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a camera sealing member according to an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a camera seal provided by the invention at a stiffener.

The camera sealing element 10 shown in fig. 1 and 2 may include a silicone sleeve 12 and a reinforcing element 14, wherein the silicone sleeve 12 is an integral structure, the silicone sleeve 12 is used for being sleeved on the periphery of the camera to play a sealing role, the silicone sleeve 12 includes a side wall 120, and the reinforcing element 14 is disposed inside the side wall 120 to enhance the hardness of the silicone sleeve 12.

The reinforcement member 14 may be made of stainless steel, or other materials with high rigidity, so that the rigidity of the silica gel sleeve 12 is enhanced by supporting the silica gel sleeve 12 by the reinforcement member 14, and the whole sealing member 10 is not easy to deform. Because this sealing member 10 is difficult to take place to warp, in the installation, sealing member 10 can firmly overlap and establish at the camera periphery, be difficult to drop from the camera to, still reduced because the sealing member 10 takes place to warp, distortion in the installation and the condition that leads to not good sealed effect takes place, therefore improved sealed effect, avoided dust, water etc. to get into the camera and influence the image effect, improved user experience. Meanwhile, the situation that the sealing element 10 is required to be reinstalled or the shape of the sealing element 10 is required to be repeatedly adjusted in the installation process is avoided, so that the sealing element 10 and the camera can be more conveniently installed.

The silicone sleeve 12 of the present invention is a unitary structure, rather than a layered structure of two layers of silicone bonded to both sides of the stiffener 14. Compared with the layered structure of the silica gel cover 12, in the direction of entering the camera in the sealing direction, such as dust, water and the like, micropores are easily generated on the bonding surface in the layered structure in a bonding mode, dust, water and the like can easily enter the camera through the micropores, and after long-term dust and water are immersed, the bonding surface is easily cracked to form gaps, dust, water and the like can enter the camera through the gaps, so that the sealing effect of the silica gel cover 12 is invalid, and the service life is shortened. The silicone sleeve 12 with the integrated structure of the invention has no problems, better sealing effect and longer service life.

Fig. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional structure of a camera in an embodiment of a mobile terminal according to the present invention, and fig. 4 is an exploded structure of a camera in an embodiment of a mobile terminal according to the present invention. Fig. 3 shows the camera seal 10 being fitted over the camera 20 to form a camera assembly, the camera assembly being mounted on a device, the device on which the camera 20 is mounted being a mobile terminal 30, it being understood that in other embodiments the device on which the camera 20 is mounted may be other electronic devices. The camera 20 of the present embodiment is mounted on the housing 32 of the mobile terminal 30, wherein a mounting hole 320 is provided on the housing 32, the sealing member 10 is sleeved on the periphery of the camera 20, and the camera 20 and the sealing member 10 are mounted in the mounting hole 320.

In some embodiments, a gap exists between the inner wall 322 of the mounting hole 320 and the outer wall 200 of the camera 20, and even if the gap is a small gap, dust, water, etc. may still enter the camera 20 from the gap, thereby affecting the image effect. The thickness of the silicone sleeve 12 of the sealing member 10 is greater than the width of the gap, and after the sealing member 10 is sleeved on the periphery of the camera 20, the silicone sleeve 12 can be compressed, so that the sealing member 10 and the camera 20 are not prevented from being installed in the installation hole 320 together, and the silicone sleeve 12 completely fills the gap due to the thickness of the silicone sleeve 12 being greater than the width of the gap, so that dust, water and the like can be prevented from entering the camera 20.

Specifically, the cross-sectional shape of the silica gel sleeve can be kept uniform with the cross-sectional shape of the camera, for example, the cross-sectional shape of the camera is circular, the cross-sectional shape of the silica gel sleeve can be circular, and the whole silica gel sleeve can be circular.

For another example, the cross-sectional shape of the camera 20 in this embodiment is square, the cross-sectional shape of the silicone sleeve 12 is square ring, and the overall silicone sleeve 12 may be square. The square-tube-shaped silicone sleeve 12 includes a side wall 120 and a top wall 122, the top wall 122 is formed by extending the top ring of the side wall 120 to the inner side, and the top wall 122 can cover the edge part area of the top of the camera 20. In this embodiment, the top wall 122 is further provided with a rib 124, and when the camera 20 is mounted on the mobile terminal 30, the middle frame 34 of the mobile terminal 30 and other components press the camera component towards the housing 32, so that the rib 124 presses the housing 32 of the mobile terminal 30 tightly, thereby playing a sealing role. It will be appreciated that in some embodiments camera 20 may be sealed only by rib 124 of top wall 122 and side wall 120 may not be sealed, or rib 124 and side wall 120 may cooperate to be sealed.

In this embodiment, the side wall 120 of the silicone sleeve 12 completely encloses the reinforcing member 14, and the reinforcing member 14 and the silicone sleeve 12 are fixed together by in-mold injection.

In other embodiments, as shown in fig. 5, fig. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional structure of another embodiment of a camera sealing member provided in the present invention. A receiving groove 126 for receiving the reinforcing member 14 may be provided in the sidewall 120, and an opening of the receiving groove 126 is provided at the bottom end of the silica gel cover 12. The accommodating groove 126 may be formed in various ways, for example, may be formed directly during injection molding of the silicone jacket 12, or may be formed by digging, cutting, or the like on the surface of the silicone jacket 12 after molding the silicone jacket 12.

Specifically, the reinforcing member 14 is inserted into the accommodating groove 126 from the opening of the accommodating groove 126. In order to improve the connection tightness between the reinforcing member 14 and the silicone sleeve 12, the reinforcing member 14 may be inserted into the receiving groove 126 after the outer surface of the reinforcing member 14 is coated with adhesive, so that the reinforcing member 14 and the silicone sleeve 12 are adhesively fixed together.

Optionally, the thickness of the stiffener 14 is less than or equal to 1/3 of the thickness of the sidewall 120. For example, the thickness of the stiffener 14 may be 1/4,1/5, 1/6, etc. of the thickness of the sidewall 120. On the premise of ensuring that the reinforcing member 14 has larger hardness, the reinforcing member 14 can be selected to have smaller thickness, so that the thickness of the silica gel on both sides of the reinforcing member 14 can be correspondingly larger, and the larger thickness of the silica gel can ensure that the silica gel sleeve 12 can have larger elastic deformation space in the direction from inside to outside, so that the silica gel sleeve 12 is sleeved on the periphery of the camera 20, the camera assembly is also convenient to be mounted in the mounting hole 320, the tight contact between the silica gel sleeve 12 and the inner wall 322 of the mounting hole 320 is not influenced, and the sealing effect of the sealing member 10 is ensured.

In the present embodiment, the height of the reinforcing member 14 is smaller than the height of the silicone jacket 12 in the axial direction of the silicone jacket 12, so that there is a region in the axial direction of the silicone jacket 12 where the reinforcing member 14 is not provided, which can normally be in close contact with the inner wall 322 of the mounting hole 320, thereby ensuring the waterproof and dustproof effects. Specifically, the reinforcing member 14 of the present embodiment is provided only in the middle region in the axial direction of the silicone jacket 12, and both the upper and lower portions of the silicone jacket 12 can be brought into close contact with the inner wall 322 of the mounting hole 320.

In some embodiments, the number of stiffeners 14 is multiple, and the multiple stiffeners 14 may be evenly distributed around the circumference of the silicone jacket 12. For example, in the seal member 10 of the present embodiment, the silicone sleeve 12 is square, the number of the reinforcing members 14 is 4, and the reinforcing members are respectively fixed on four planes of the outer surface of the silicone sleeve 12. It will be appreciated that in other embodiments, a plurality of stiffeners 14 may be uniformly spaced on each planar surface of the outer surface of the silicone sleeve 12.

In another embodiment, the number of the reinforcing members 14 may be two, and the two reinforcing members 14 may be fixed on two opposite planes of the outer surface of the silicone jacket 12, and of course, the two reinforcing members 14 may be fixed on two adjacent planes of the outer surface of the silicone jacket 12.

In other embodiments, the number of stiffeners 14 may also be one. The one reinforcing member 14 may be a planar surface secured to a planar surface of the outer surface of the silicone sleeve 12.

In order to enable the silicone cover 12 to have a large elastic deformation space in the inside-out direction, so as to facilitate the cover of the silicone cover 12 around the periphery of the camera 20 and the mounting of the camera module into the mounting hole 320, the reinforcing member 14 is discontinuous at the same height of the silicone cover 12 in the axial direction of the silicone cover 12, i.e., the reinforcing member 14 is discontinuously looped around the periphery of the silicone cover 12 at the same height, regardless of the number of the reinforcing members 14. For example, in the case of a single stiffener 14, the stiffener 14 is not a closed loop; in the case where the plurality of reinforcing members 14 are disposed at the same height, there is a break between the plurality of reinforcing members 14, not end to end.

Specifically, the outer surface of the side wall of the silica gel sleeve 12 in this embodiment is further provided with the protruding ribs 128, the protruding ribs 128 can play a guiding role in the process of installing the camera 20 and the sealing member 10 into the installation hole 320, and meanwhile, the connection tightness between the area around the reinforcing member 14 and the inner wall 322 of the installation hole 320 of the silica gel sleeve 12 can be enhanced, so that the dustproof and waterproof effects are further enhanced.

The invention also provides a camera assembly, as shown in fig. 3, in which fig. 3 shows a camera assembly in a mobile terminal, the camera assembly includes a camera 20 and the camera sealing member 10 of any of the above embodiments, and the camera sealing member 10 is sleeved on the periphery of the camera 20. The camera 20 may be a zoom camera or other cameras.

The present invention further provides a mobile terminal, and with continued reference to fig. 3 and 4, specifically, the mobile terminal 30 includes a housing 32, a center 34, and a motherboard (not shown) and camera assembly. Wherein, mainboard and center 34 all set up in casing 32, and the bottom of camera 20 is fixed on center 34, and camera 20 is connected with the mainboard. The housing 32 may be provided with a mounting hole 320, and the camera assembly is mounted in the mounting hole 320, wherein the camera assembly includes a camera 20 and a camera sealing member 10, and the camera sealing member 10 is sleeved on the periphery of the camera 20 and is used for sealing a gap between the outer wall 200 of the camera 20 and the inner wall 322 of the mounting hole 320, so as to prevent dust, water and the like from entering the camera 20 from the gap. The camera sealing member 10 may be the camera sealing member 10 of any of the above embodiments.

The method for installing the camera of the mobile terminal can comprise the following steps:

s101, providing a sealing element, wherein the sealing element comprises a silica gel sleeve and a reinforcing element, and the silica gel sleeve is of an integrated structure and is used for being sleeved on the periphery of a camera to play a role in sealing; the silica gel cover includes the lateral wall, and the reinforcement sets up in the inside of lateral wall to strengthen the hardness of silica gel cover.

It will be appreciated that the seal may be any of the embodiments described above.

S102, sleeving the sealing piece on the periphery of the camera to form the camera assembly.

In step S102, as shown in fig. 3, after the sealing member 10 is sleeved on the outer periphery of the camera 20, the inner surface of the sealing member 10, that is, the inner surface of the silicone sleeve 12 is tightly connected with the outer wall 200 of the camera 20.

S103, providing a mobile terminal shell provided with a mounting hole.

And S104, installing the camera assembly into the installation hole, and enabling the sealing piece to seal a gap between the outer wall of the camera and the inner wall of the installation hole.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 3, in step S104, the bottom of the camera 20 may be fixed to the middle frame 34 after the camera assembly is mounted in the mounting hole 320. Of course, the bottom of the camera 20 may be fixed to the middle frame 34, and then the camera module may be mounted in the mounting hole 320 of the housing 32, which is not limited in the mounting sequence according to the present invention.

After the camera assembly is mounted in the mounting hole 320, the outer surface of the sealing member 10 is tightly connected with the inner wall 322 of the mounting hole 320, so that the sealing member 10 completely seals the gap between the outer wall 200 of the camera 20 and the inner wall 322 of the mounting hole 320, thereby achieving better dustproof and waterproof effects.

In summary, the reinforcing piece is arranged in the side wall of the silica gel sleeve, so that the hardness of the silica gel sleeve is increased, the silica gel sleeve is not easy to deform, the problems of poor sealing effect and poor image effect caused by deformation of the silica gel sleeve are solved, the sealing effect is improved, and the image effect and the user experience are improved.

The foregoing description is only of embodiments of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, and all equivalent structures or equivalent processes using the descriptions and the drawings of the present invention or directly or indirectly applied to other related technical fields are included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. The camera sealing piece is characterized by comprising a silica gel sleeve and a reinforcing piece, wherein the silica gel sleeve is of an integrated structure and is used for being sleeved on the periphery of a camera to play a role in sealing; the silica gel sleeve comprises a side wall and a top wall, the reinforcing piece is arranged in the side wall to strengthen the hardness of the silica gel sleeve, the top wall is formed by extending the top ring of the side wall to the inner side in the circumferential direction, a convex rib is arranged on the top wall, and a convex rib is arranged on the outer surface of the side wall; the thickness of the silica gel sleeve is larger than the width of a gap between the inner wall of the mounting hole and the outer wall of the camera;

wherein, along the axial direction of the silica gel sleeve, a discontinuous area exists on the reinforcement piece at the same height of the silica gel sleeve; the thickness of the stiffener is less than or equal to 1/3 of the thickness of the sidewall; the reinforcement is disposed in an intermediate region in the axial direction of the silicone jacket.

2. The seal of claim 1, wherein the number of stiffeners is one or more.

3. The seal of claim 1, wherein the number of stiffeners is a plurality, the plurality of stiffeners being evenly distributed within the sidewall of the silicone sleeve.

4. The seal of claim 1 wherein said sidewall completely encloses said stiffener and said silicone sleeve are secured together by in-mold injection.

5. The sealing member according to claim 1, wherein a receiving groove for receiving the reinforcing member is provided in the side wall, and an opening of the receiving groove is provided at a bottom end of the silicone sleeve.

6. The seal of claim 5, wherein the reinforcement and the silicone sleeve are adhesively secured together.

7. A camera assembly comprising a camera and the camera seal of any one of claims 1 to 6, the camera seal being disposed around the periphery of the camera.

8. A mobile terminal comprising a housing and the camera assembly of claim 7, the housing having a mounting hole, the camera assembly being mounted in the mounting hole, the camera seal sealing a gap between an outer wall of the camera and an inner wall of the mounting hole.