Portable electronic device

A portable electronic device comprises a main body, a lens module and a solar panel. The main body comprises a battery pack and a photosensitive element. The lens module is connected with the main body. The solar panel is disposed between the photosensitive element and the lens module, and the solar panel is electrically connected with the battery pack. The solar panel is able to receive the light focused by the lens module and convert the light into electricity to supply to the battery pack.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a portable electronic device and, more particularly, to a portable electronic device capable of being charged by solar power and being applied to any electronic device having a lens module.

2. Description of the Related Art

With technologies development, various portable electronic devices have been introduced into our daily life and work, such as digital cameras, mobile phones or PDAs . . . etc. These portable electronic devices mainly use its own battery module for power supply; therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to remain battery power. However, if the battery power is low in an emergency occasion or long time usage period, and there is no extra battery module available, this portable electronic device will shut down and cause inconvenience.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, some portable electronic devices capable of using solar power are developed. In Taiwan patent publish No. M241861, title “power supply device for a digital image information apparatus” disclosures a digital image information apparatus capable of being charged by solar power, which has a solar battery element on the surface of the digital image information apparatus. However, most technologies of prior arts place the solar panel on the surface of the electronic device or externally connect the solar panel to the portable electronic device. Since the solar panel requires large area, which increases the volume of the portable electronic device, and the electronic device might not be portable anymore.

It is therefore desirable to provide a portable electronic device capable of being charged by solar power to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A main objective of the present invention is to provide to a portable electronic device capable of being charged by solar power and being applied to any electronic device having a lens module.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned objective, a portable electronic device of the present invention comprises a main body, a lens module and a solar panel. The main body comprises a battery pack and a photosensitive element. The lens module is connected with the main body. The solar panel is disposed between the photosensitive element and the lens module, and the solar panel is electrically connected with the battery pack. The solar panel is able to receive the light focused by the lens module and convert the light into electricity to supply to the battery pack. Therefore, the user can charge the portable electronic device with solar light while the portable electronic device is not in-use, to prevent power shortage.

The solar panel of the portable electronic device is moveable. By changing the position of the solar panel, the light collected by the lens module can be controlled to inject to the solar panel or the photosensitive element, for the solar power charging process or the image capturing process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Please refer toFIG. 1.FIG. 1is a schematic drawing of a portable electronic device of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 1, the portable electronic device1of the present invention comprises a main body10, a lens module20and a solar panel30. The main body10comprises a battery pack11and a photosensitive element12. The lens module20is connected to the main body10. The solar panel30is disposed between the photosensitive element12and the lens module20, and the solar panel30is electrically connected to the battery pack11. The solar panel30receives the light collected by the lens module20and converts the light into electricity to supply to the battery pack11. Furthermore, a distance between the lens module20and the solar panel30is about equal to a focal length of the lens module20. With the above-mentioned design, a user can place the lens module20of the portable electronic device1under sunlight so the sunlight can be collected by the lens module20injects onto the solar panel30. The lens module20can focus more light, it can increase the light energy received by the solar panel30to improve the energy conversion efficiency of the solar panel30to generate more electric power for the battery pack11. Moreover, since the energy conversion efficiency of the solar panel30is improved, the size of the solar panel30of the portable electronic device1can be reduced. Furthermore, since the solar panel30is disposed in the main body10not on the portable electronic device1, the volume of the portable electronic device1can also be reduced. In this embodiment, the portable electronic device1is a digital camera but it can also be other electronic devices with the lens module20, such as mobile phones or PDAs.

Please refer toFIG. 2.FIG. 2is a movement schematic drawing of a solar panel of the portable electronic device according to the present invention. As shown inFIG. 2, the solar panel30of the portable electronic device1is moveable. In this embodiment, the main body10comprises a switch13for adjusting the position of the solar panel30. For the initial status, the solar panel30is overlapped in front of the photosensitive element12. When the portable electronic device1is used for capturing images, by turning on the switch13, the solar panel30is moved so the photosensitive element12can directly receives the light collected by the lens module20, and the solar panel30is not blocking the light. Similarly, in order to perform the solar power charging process to the portable electronic device1, the switch13is turning on again so the solar panel30moves back to the original position and receives lights for the charging process.

As shown inFIG. 1andFIG. 2, the lens module20of the portable electronic device1comprises a cover21, the cover21is used for protecting the lens in the lens module20from dusts or damage while the portable electronic device1is not in-use. In this embodiment, the lens module20comprises a control button22, for controlling the movement of the cover21. In general, the cover21can be design as a manual operation (for a digital single-lens reflex camera) or for an automatic operation (for an automatic digital camera) base on different types of the portable electronic device1. The power of the portable electronic device1having the automatic operated cover21needs to be turned on to automatically open the cover21. With the present invention design, when the power of the portable electronic device1is turned off, the control button22is pressed to open the cover21, to perform the solar power charging process to the portable electronic device1; and when the charging process is finished, the control button22is pressed again to close the cover21. Furthermore, the cover21can be designed as being controlled by the switch13of the main body10, so the switch13and the cover21can be activated at the same time. With the present invention design, when the user wants to perform the solar power charging process to the portable electronic device1, he or she needs to active the switch13to move the solar panel30to a position for receiving the solar light, and the cover21is also opened to let the solar light to be collected by the lens module20and injected onto the solar panel30. When the solar power charging process is finished, the switch13needs to be activated again to move the solar panel30from the original position and close the cover21. Moreover, the switch13and the control button22are not limited with the actual buttons shown inFIG. 1andFIG. 2, the portable electronic device1can also be an electronic device with a LCD display, and the switch13and the control button22are virtual buttons shown on the display.

Furthermore, the photosensitive element12of the portable electronic device1may be combined with the solar panel30. With semiconductor process technology, the photosensitive element12and the solar panel30may be integrated as one element which is photosensitive and capable of converting light into electric energy. Therefore, the total volume of the portable electronic device1can be reduced, and the manufacture cost can be reduced, too.