Abstract:
An electronic device includes a camera module and a shielding assembly. The shielding assembly includes at least one window glass and a smart film mounted to the window glass. The shielding assembly covers the camera module by turning opaque. If the camera module is in use, the shielding assembly is provided with electricity, and changes transparent. If the shielding assembly is not being provided with electricity, the shielding module becomes opaque to blind the camera module. A shielding assembly is also provided.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates to a shielding assembly for protecting a camera module of an electronic device, especially to a shielding assembly and an electronic device employing same. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Electronic devices such as mobile phones have camera modules. A housing of the electronic device defines a camera hole for the camera module. A transparent piece (e.g., glass) is mounted in the camera hole for allowing access for light and to protect the camera parts from contamination by dust and water. The camera module can be clearly observed by a user of the electronic device through the glass piece. However, the glass piece affects an appearance of the electronic device to some extent. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Many aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following figures. The components in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded view of an exemplary embodiment of an electronic device employing a shielding assembly. 
         FIG. 2  is an isometric view of a first housing of the electronic device shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is an assembled view of the electronic device and the shielding assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectioned view of the electronic device taken along an IV-IV line shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic functional diagram of the smart film of the shielding assembly shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded view of another exemplary embodiment of the electronic device and the shielding assembly. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is a shielding assembly  40  according to an exemplary embodiment. The shielding assembly  40  is applied to an electronic device  100 , such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, or a notebook computer, having a camera module  15 . The electronic device  100  includes a main body  10 , a first housing  20 , a second housing  30 , and the shielding assembly  40 . The first housing  20  and the second housing  30  are both mounted on the main body  10 , and the first housing  20  is located between the second housing  30  and the main body  10 . In the present embodiment, the shielding assembly  40  is mounted in the electronic device  100  for covering the camera module  15 . 
     The main body  10  includes a panel  11 , a circuit board  12  mounted on the panel  11 , a camera module  15  mounted on the circuit board  12 , and two metal pieces  16 . The camera module  15  is electrically connected to the circuit board  12 . The camera module  15  includes a camera lens  151 . The two metal pieces  16  are arranged on the circuit board  12  adjacent to the camera module  15 . The panel  11  includes several latches  111  on a peripheral edge. 
       FIG. 2  shows that the first housing  20  includes a first board  21  and a hole  22 . The first board  21  includes a front surface  211 , a back surface  212 , and several slots  213  on a peripheral edge corresponding to the latches  111  for latching the first housing  20  to the main body  10 . The hole  22  is defined in the first board  21 , corresponding to the camera module  15 . A clasp portion  221  is protruding from a peripheral edge surrounding the hole  22  towards a center of the hole  22 , on the back surface  212 . The clasp portion  221  defines an opening  222  by cutting out a part of the clasp portion  221 , the opening  222  faces a central portion of the first board  21 . The back surface  212  defines a receiving groove  223  communicating with the opening  222 . The back surface  212  further includes a protruding blocking board  225 , beside the hole  22  and the receiving groove  223  for securing the camera module  15 . 
     The second housing  30  may be a housing or a battery cover for the electronic device. The second housing  30  includes a second board  31  and a window  32 . The second board  31  includes an outer surface  311 . The window  32  aligns with the hole  22  and has a smaller diameter than that of the hole  22 . Another surface of the second housing  30 , opposite to the outer surface  311 , is assembled together with the front surface  211  of the first housing  20 . 
     The shielding assembly  40  includes a window glass  41 , an adhesive  42 , and a smart film  43 . The window glass  41  is a piece of circular stepped-shaped glass, and includes an external surface  411  and an internal surface  412 . The window glass  41  is secured in the window  32 , with the external surface  411  disposed on the outer surface  311 . The adhesive  42  is an annular double-side adhesive tape, which is adhered between the internal surface  412  of the window glass  41  and the smart film  43 . The smart film  43  includes a liquid crystal unit  434  (shown in  FIG. 5 ) and a flexible printed circuit unit  436  (shown in  FIG. 5 ). The smart film  43  includes an arcuate end and a connecting end  432 . The arcuate end is aligned with and is connected to the internal surface  412  of the window glass  41  by adhesive  42 . The flexible printed circuit unit  436  of the connecting end  432  is electrically connected to the metal piece  16  on the circuit board  12  to electrically connect the smart film  43  and the circuit board  12 . 
       FIG. 4  shows that in assembly, the shielding assembly  40  is mounted to the first housing  20 , with the arcuate end of the smart film  43  being inserted into the hole  22  via the receiving groove  223  and the opening  222  to assemble the window glass  41  into the hole  22 . At this time, the arcuate end of the smart film  43  resists the clasp portion  221  and is adhered to the clasp portion  221  by a double-side adhesive between the smart film  43  and the clasp portion  221 . The connecting end  432  is inserted into the receiving groove  223 . After that, the first housing  20  is mounted to the main body  10 , wherein the connecting end  432  resists the metal piece  16  and is secured by the metal piece  16 , therefore, the shielding assembly  40  is secured between the first housing  20  and the main body  10 . The camera lens  151  aligns with the hole  22 , the smart film  43 , and the window glass  41 . Finally, the second housing  30  is mounted to the front surface  211  of the first housing  20 , the window glass  41  is received in the window  31 , and the external surface  411  is coplanar with the outer surface  311 . 
     When the camera module  15  is not in use, the smart film  43  receives no electricity, and light axes of liquid crystals of the liquid crystal unit  434  are arranged non-directionally. Thus, light is scattered by the liquid crystals after entering the smart film  43 , which makes the smart film  43  opaque. When seen from outside of the window glass  41 , it looks like a black glass, and the camera lens  151  cannot be seen. Therefore, the appearance of window glass  41  is similar to the appearance of the second housing  30 , which is black, which makes the appearance of the electronic device  100  appealing. 
     When the camera module  15  is in use, the smart film  43  receives electricity from the circuit board  12  via the metal piece  16  and the connecting end  432 . The light axes rotates with a direction of electric field, which allows light to pass through and makes the smart film  43  become transparent. The camera lens  151  can be seen from outside and can capture images. 
       FIG. 6  shows a second embodiment of the electronic device  100   a , which has a similar structure to the first embodiment, and differs from the first embodiment primarily in structure of the shielding assembly  40   a . The shielding assembly  40   a  includes window glasses  41   a ,  44 , adhesives  42   a ,  45 , and a smart film  43   a . The window glass  41   a  includes an internal surface  412   a , the window glass  44  includes a mounting surface  441 . The opposite surfaces of the smart film  43   a  are adhered to the internal surface  412   a  of the window glass  41   a  and the mounting surface  441  of the window lens  44  by the adhesive  42   a ,  45  respectively. Thus, the smart film  43   a  is secured between the window glass  41   a  and  44 . 
     In another embodiment, the first housing  20  is the housing of the electronic device  100 , the window glass  41  is directly secured in the hole  22 . 
     The structure of the shielding assembly  40  is simple, which will not add any extra structure to the housing. When smart film  43  receives no electricity, it is opaque, which is appealing with the housing of the electronic device  100 . 
     It is believed that the exemplary embodiment and its advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure or sacrificing all of its advantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being preferred or exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.