TWI723709B - Camera assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

A camera assembly suited for a portable electronic device is provided. The camera assembly includes a housing having a rail and a first opening, a carrier movably disposed at the rail, a carema module disposed at the carrier, and a gasket disposed on the carrier to correspond to the first opening. The carrier has a push button and at least one elastic arm, wherein the push button is exposed out of the housing via the first opening, and the elastic arm is movably disposed on the rail in a deformable manner. A force is applied on the push button to move the carrier in the housing to be switched between an opened position and a closed position, wherein the gasket surrounds the first opening and maintain in a packing state in the opened position or the closed position.

Description

Camera components

The present invention relates to a camera assembly.

Because the notebook computer has the same functions as the general desktop computer, and the size and weight are all designed to be convenient for users to carry, the notebook computer has become an indispensable portable tool for some users. As the price of notebook computers continues to drop, some users even directly replace desktop computers with notebook computers. At the same time, the display of the notebook computer can be equipped with an audio-visual capture device. For example, a webcam and a microphone are used to capture images and sounds through the webcam and microphone, respectively.

Furthermore, with the increasing requirements for information security, the existing exposed webcams are quite risky. As a result, webcams that can be concealed and unfolded as required have been produced. However, the related mobile mechanisms may vary in appearance or The size requirements are still unable to meet the requirements of dust and water resistance, such as the IP53 standard.

Accordingly, how to provide a camera assembly that can meet the needs of use with a simple structure and meet the above-mentioned dust-proof and waterproof specifications is a problem that relevant technicians need to think and solve.

The invention provides a camera assembly whose gasket can maintain a tight state when the camera module is moved and opened or closed, so as to provide a dustproof and waterproof effect.

The camera assembly of the present invention is suitable for portable electronic devices. The camera assembly includes a housing, a carrier, a camera module, and a gasket. The housing has a track and a first opening. The carrier is movably arranged on the track. The carrier has a push button and at least one elastic arm, the push button is exposed to the housing through the first opening, and the elastic arm is deformable and movably abuts against the rail. The camera module is arranged on the carrier. The gasket is arranged on the bearing and pressed between the shell and the bearing. The push button is suitable for receiving an external force to move the carrier in the housing to switch between an open position and a closed position. In the open position or in the closed position, the gasket surrounds the periphery of the first opening and maintains a tight state.

Based on the above, the camera module is arranged in a carrier that can move in the housing, and the elastic arm of the carrier abuts against the track of the housing, so that the push button of the carrier passes through the first The opening exposes the shell, and the gasket is disposed on the carrier and corresponds to the first opening. In this way, when an external force is applied to the push button, the carrier can be moved, so that the carrier can be switched between an open position and a closed position to open or close the camera module. At the same time, in the open position or the closed position, the gasket still maintains a tight state of being pressed between the carrier and the housing and surrounds the first opening.

Accordingly, the gasket does not change its tight state due to the movement of the carrier, and can maintain its waterproof and dust-proof effects, and foreign matter or water will not flow into the housing through the first opening.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a portable electronic device according to an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the camera assembly of Fig. 1. Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 at the same time. In this embodiment, the camera assembly 100 is suitable for a portable electronic device 10. Here, the portable electronic device 10 is a notebook computer as an example, but not limited thereto. The camera assembly 100 is disposed on the screen frame of the portable electronic device 10 and is substantially on the same plane as the display surface of the screen.

At the same time, right-angle coordinates X-Y-Z are provided to facilitate component description. The camera assembly 100 includes a housing 110, a carrier 120, a camera module 130 and a gasket 140. The housing 110 is formed by assembling the front frame 112 and the rear cover 114 of the above-mentioned screen along the X-axis. The housing 110 has a rail 118 and a first opening 116, wherein the first opening 116 faces the positive Z-axis direction. The carrier 120 is movably disposed on the rail 118. The carrier 120 has a push button 122 and at least one elastic arm. Here, two elastic arms 124 are taken as an example. The push button 122 is exposed to the housing 110 through the first opening 116, and the elastic arm 124 is deformable and movably abuts against In the orbit 118. The camera module 130 is disposed on the carrier 120. The gasket 140 is disposed in the first accommodating groove 123 of the carrier 120 and is pressed between the housing 110 and the carrier 120. The push button 122 is adapted to receive an external force to move the carrier 120 in the housing 110 to switch between the open position and the closed position, and when the carrier 120 moves to the open position or the closed position, the gasket 140 surrounds the first The periphery of an opening 116 is kept tight.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, the carrier 120 further has a second accommodating groove 121, the camera module 130 is disposed in the second accommodating groove 121, and the push button 122 and the elastic arm 124 are located in the second accommodating groove 121 On opposite sides. In this embodiment, the rail 118 is formed by the rib structure in the housing 110 and has at least one abutting surface, and the elastic arm 124 is in contact with the abutting surfaces 118a and 118b. Here, the two abutting surfaces 118 a and 118 b are taken as an example to facilitate the correspondence with the two elastic arms 124. In other words, the supporting member 120 is substantially floatingly supported on the abutting surfaces 118a and 118b by the elastic arm 124. Furthermore, along the Z-axis direction, the abutting surfaces 118 a and 118 b and the first opening 116 are located on opposite sides of the carrier 120. The housing 110 also has at least one limiting protrusion (here, two limiting protrusions 115 are taken as an example), opposite to the abutting surface 118b, and the top surface S1 of the carrier 120 abuts against the limiting protrusion 115, wherein The top surface S1 can be regarded as the outer top surface of the carrier 120 to be opposite to the inner top surface S2 of the back cover 114. In other words, for the carrier 120, the top surface S1 is in point contact with the two limiting protrusions 115, and the two elastic arms 124 are in point contact with the abutting surfaces 118a, 118b, respectively. Maintain a stroke that allows it to move back and forth along the Y axis smoothly and stably.

In addition, the carrier 120 also has a stop protrusion 125 on the top surface S1, and the housing 110 also has a pair of positioning recesses 111, 113, which are located on the inner top surface S2 of the back cover 114 together with the aforementioned limit protrusion 115 , The stop protrusion 125 moves into one of the pair of positioning recesses 111 and 113 with the movement of the carrier 120, so that the carrier 120 moves to the aforementioned open position or closed position. Furthermore, the push button 122, the first accommodating groove 123, and the stopping protrusion 125 are located on the top surface S1 to face the inner top surface S2 of the housing 110 and the limiting protrusion 115 and the first opening. 116 and positioning recesses 111 and 113.

In detail, please refer to FIG. 2 again. The portable electronic device 10 has a second opening 112a on the front frame 112 and a light-permeable protective member 150. When in the open position, the camera hole 132 of the camera module 130 It is facing the second opening 112a. At this time, the protector 150 provides a protective effect on the camera hole 132. When in the closed position, the camera hole 132 of the camera module 130 moves away from the second opening 112a and is hidden in the housing 110. within. There will be further descriptions later.

3A to 3D show schematic diagrams of the camera assembly in different states. The aforementioned front frame 112 is omitted here to facilitate the identification of related components in the housing 110, and at the same time, the second opening 112a shown in FIG. 2 is drawn with a dashed line. Shown in Figure 3A to Figure 3D for reference. Please refer to FIG. 3A first. The carrier 120 is shown in the aforementioned closed position. At this time, the camera hole 132 is moved away from the second opening 112a and hidden in the housing 110, and the camera module 130 is closed accordingly. Function. In other words, when the user does not want to use the camera assembly 100, the carrier 120 can be driven to the closed position of FIG. 3A. In this state, the stop protrusion 125 is located in the positioning recess 113 so that the carrier 120 interferes with the housing 110 along the Y axis, thereby blocking the ability of the carrier 120 to move along the Y axis.

Next, please refer to FIGS. 3B to 3D at the same time. When the user wants to use the camera assembly 100, an external force F1 is provided on the button 122. Here, the external force F1 is a force applied along the longitudinal direction of the Z axis to push the carrier 120 Press down and thus deform the elastic arm 124, and more importantly, it can also move the stop protrusion 125 away from the positioning recess 113 at this time. Accordingly, the carrier 120 can release the interference with the housing 110 along the Y axis.

Then, as shown in FIG. 3C, while maintaining the state of providing the external force F1, the user further provides the external force F2 to the button 122. Here, the external force F2 is the force applied in the lateral direction along the Y axis, so that the bearing member 120 can be applied along the Y axis. The Y axis moves until the camera hole 132 is aligned with the second opening 112a, that is, the button 122 is moved from the left side to the right side of the first opening 116, which is the aforementioned open position. Finally, as shown in FIG. 3D, the user releases the aforementioned external forces F1, F2 and releases the carrier 120. At this time, the elastic arm 124 can move toward the positive Z-axis to rise by its elastic restoring force, and thereby stop the The convex portion 125 moves into the positioning recess 111, so that the carrier 120 and the housing 110 are again restored to the state of mutual interference along the Y axis. Accordingly, by applying external forces F1, F2 or not, the carrier 120 can move along the Z axis and the Y axis, and it also means that the deformation axis (Z axis) of the elastic arm 124 is substantially orthogonal. In the moving axis (Y axis) of the carrier 120.

Accordingly, the process from FIG. 3A to FIG. 3D is a process in which the user switches the camera assembly 100 from off to on. Once the user no longer uses the camera assembly 100 and wants to turn it off, the reverse operation The process can reset the carrier 120 to the closed position shown in FIG. 3A. The reset process will not be repeated here. It should be mentioned that, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3D, when the carrier 120 is in the closed position or the open position, the gasket 140 surrounds the periphery of the first opening 116 and is pressed against the carrier 120 and the shell. Between the inner top surface S2 of the body 110, the tight state can be maintained. This means that the carrier 120 and the camera module 130 inside can be isolated from the external environment at the first opening 116, which is equivalent to effective This ground prevents foreign matter or water from entering the housing 110 through the first opening 116 from the external environment.

To sum up, in the above-mentioned embodiments of the present invention, the camera assembly is configured by arranging the camera module in a carrier that can move in the housing, and abutting against the track of the housing by the elastic arm of the carrier. , And the push button of the carrier is exposed to the shell through the first opening, and the gasket is disposed on the carrier and corresponds to the first opening. In this way, when an external force is applied to the push button, the carrier can be moved, so that the carrier can be switched between an open position and a closed position to open or close the camera module. At the same time, in the open position or the closed position, the gasket still maintains its tight state pressed between the carrier and the housing and surrounds the first opening, so that the camera assembly can be kept waterproof and waterproof at the first opening. Dustproof effect.

10: Portable electronic devices 100: Camera component 110: shell 111, 113: positioning depression 112: front frame 112a: second opening 114: back cover 115: limit convex 116: The first opening 118: Orbit 118a, 118b: abutment surface 120: Carrier 121: second holding tank 122: push button 123: The first holding tank 124: Spring Arm 125: Stop convex 130: camera module 132: camera hole 140: Washer 150: Protector F1, F2: external force S1: Top surface S2: inner top surface X-Y-Z: Right-angle coordinates

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a portable electronic device according to an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the camera assembly of Fig. 1. 3A to 3D show schematic diagrams of the camera assembly in different states.

100: Camera component

110: shell

111, 113: positioning depression

112: front frame

112a: second opening

114: back cover

115: limit convex

116: The first opening

118: Orbit

118a, 118b: abutment surface

120: Carrier

121: second holding tank

122: push button

123: The first holding tank

124: Spring Arm

125: Stop convex

130: camera module

132: camera hole

140: Washer

150: Protector

S1: Top surface

S2: inner top surface

X-Y-Z: Right-angle coordinates

Claims (9)

A camera assembly suitable for a portable electronic device. The camera assembly includes: a housing with a track and a first opening; a carrier movably arranged on the track, the carrier with a push button And at least one elastic arm, the push button is exposed to the housing through the first opening, the elastic arm is deformable and movably abuts the track; a camera module is disposed on the carrier; and a gasket , Disposed on the carrier and corresponding to the first opening, wherein the push button is adapted to receive an external force to move the carrier in the housing to switch between an open position and a closed position, and in the open Position or in the closed position, the gasket surrounds the periphery of the first opening and maintains a tight state, wherein the supporting member further has a first receiving groove located on a top surface of the supporting member, and the gasket is provided In the first accommodating groove, it is located on the top surface with the push button. The camera assembly according to claim 1, wherein the track is formed by a rib structure in the housing and has at least one abutting surface, and the abutting surface and the first opening are located opposite to the carrier On both sides, the elastic arm contacts the abutting surface. According to the camera assembly described in item 2 of the scope of patent application, the housing further has at least one limiting protrusion, and with respect to the abutting surface, the top surface of the carrier abuts the limiting protrusion. The camera assembly as described in item 3 of the scope of patent application, wherein the supporting member further has a stop convex portion on the top surface, and the housing further has a pair of positioning recesses When the supporting member moves, the stop convex portion moves into one of the pair of positioning recesses, so that the supporting member moves to the open position or the closed position. According to the camera assembly described in item 4 of the scope of patent application, the external force drives the stop convex portion to move away from one of the pair of positioning recesses. According to the first item of the scope of patent application, the deformation axis of the elastic arm is orthogonal to the movement axis of the carrier. The camera assembly described in item 1 of the scope of patent application, wherein the carrier has a second accommodating slot, the push button and the elastic arm are located on opposite sides of the second accommodating slot, and the camera module is located in the In the second accommodating groove. As described in the first item of the scope of patent application, the portable electronic device has a second opening. When in the open position, the camera hole of the camera module faces the second opening, and in the closed position At this time, the camera hole of the camera module moves away from the second opening and is hidden in the housing. In the camera assembly described in item 8 of the scope of patent application, the second opening and the display surface of the portable electronic device are located on the same plane.

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