Abstract:
A camera housing positionably coupled to an electronic appliance is disclosed. Preferably, the camera housing is positionable in two discrete positions such that the camera can be positioned to face towards or away from the user. The appliance includes a recess sized to receive the camera housing. A cellular telephone includes a camera housing which is positionable in two discrete positions. In the first position, the camera faces the user. In the second position, the camera faces away from the user. The camera housing is coupled to the cellular telephone by a hinge mechanism that latches the camera into one of the two positions.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims priority of Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/841,879 filed Aug. 31, 2006 and entitled: MECHANISM OF CAMERA ROTATION AT MOBILE HANDSET. The Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/841,879 filed Aug. 31, 2006 and entitled: MECHANISM OF CAMERA ROTATION AT MOBILE HANDSET is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     This invention is in the field of cameras. More specifically, it is in the field of cameras that are positionably coupled to an electronic appliance.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     Many handheld or otherwise portable electronic appliances are equipped with cameras. The most popular of such appliances is the cellular telephone. The cellular telephone has become a ubiquitous tool necessary in daily life for communication and entertainment. With the advent of camera phones, users are now able to send and receive pictures via their cellular phones. However, most camera phones in current practice have cameras in a fixed position, usually facing opposite the display screen. This causes the user difficulty in taking self portraits, or using the camera phone for video conferencing.  
         [0004]     One attempt to solve this problem has been to place a small mirror close to the camera so the user can see their reflection to have an estimate of the photo the camera will take. However, such small mirrors provide an image that is not identical to the image received by the camera lens, are easily tarnished, scratched, and often become unuseable shortly into the life of the device.  
         [0005]     Another attempt at a solution is a camera that is rotatably mounted on the hinge of a flip style cellular phone. However, this approach is necessarily constrained to a flip style camera phone.  
         [0006]     Another attempt in current practice is a barrel rolling mechanism integrated in the phone or appliance to house the camera. While this proposal can be applied to any type of phone or other electronic appliance, it uses valuable space for the barrel rotation mechanism. Space comes at a greater premium as cellular telephones increase in complexity and function while consumers demand smaller form factors. Furthermore, both these attempts discussed provide a wide range of lens angles in which the camera housing can be positioned. This is not necessary. This is also unnecessarily complex. The wide range of angles at which the current solutions can be positioned is burdensome since often times the user must adjust both the camera position and the direction in which the camera is being pointed. What is needed is a camera housing that is adaptable to an electronic appliance such as a cellular phone, PDA, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a multimedia center, a portable music player, or any other suitable device, that is positionable in two discrete positions: one that faces substantially towards the user and one that faces substantially away from the user.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     A camera with a housing is positionably coupled to an electronic appliance. Preferably, there are two discrete positions for the camera. The camera housing is positionable in discrete positions such that the camera faces towards the user or away from the user is disclosed. The camera housing is coupled to the appliance by a hinge mechanism. By way of example, the appliance can be a cellular phone, laptop computer, desktop computer, digital cameras, PDA, multimedia device, or portable music player. Other appliances are possible.  
         [0008]     In the preferred embodiment, a cellular phone has a casing. A positionable camera housing is coupled to the casing. The camera housing is positionable in two discrete positions: a first position wherein the camera faces substantially toward the user and a second position wherein the camera faces substantially away from the user. In some embodiments, the casing has a recessed cavity which has a top surface and a bottom surface. The recessed cavity is configured to be of a shape and size to receive the camera housing in its second position. Also, it is preferable that the casing further comprises a depression along the recessed cavity such that the users can manipulate the camera housing between positions with their fingers.  
         [0009]     The cellular telephone comprises a hinge mechanism to couple the camera housing to the casing. The hinge mechanism comprises a first pivot on the top surface of the camera housing and a second pivot on the bottom surface of the camera housing. The pivots can be configured to couple with a first socket on the top surface of the recessed cavity and a second socket on the bottom surface of the recessed cavity. In some embodiments, the first socket further comprises two indentations along its inside surface. Alternatively, the second socket can comprise two indentations along its inside surface. The hinge mechanism further comprises a latching sleeve configured to couple between the first pivot and the first socket. Alternatively, it can be configured to couple between the second pivot and the second socket. The latching sleeve comprises a latching protrusion configured to latch into one of the two indentations along the inside surface of the first or second socket, causing the camera housing to lock in one of the two desired positions. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]      FIG. 1  shows a prior art camera phone.  
         [0011]      FIGS. 2A-2C  show a prior art camera phone wherein the camera is positionable.  
         [0012]      FIGS. 3A-3B  show a camera phone having a positionable camera housing in the current disclosure.  
         [0013]      FIGS. 4A-4D  show details of a simple hinge mechanism in the current disclosure. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0014]     Embodiments of the present invention are directed to positionable camera housing and a cellular telephone having a such a camera housing. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following detailed description of the present invention is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other embodiments of the present invention will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure.  
         [0015]     Reference will now be made in detail to implementations of the present invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The drawings may not be to scale. The same reference indicators will be used throughout the drawings and the following detailed description to refer to the same or like parts. In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein are shown and described. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer&#39;s specific goals, such as compliance with application and business related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.  
         [0016]      FIG. 1  shows a prior art cellular phone. The cellular phone  10  comprises a display screen  11 , speaker  12 , keypad  13  and microphone  14  in the front view. In the back view, the camera phone  10  has a retractable antenna  15  and camera  16 . In common usage a user uses the screen  11  as a view finder for the camera  16 . However, the camera  16  faces the opposite direction from the screen  11 . While this can be useful to take photographs, it is not useful for self portraits or video conferencing, since users must point the camera  16  toward themselves, and the display screen  11  showing the captured image will necessarily face away from the user.  
         [0017]     A simple prior art solution is to place a small mirror  17  adjacent to the camera  16 . The user can see themselves in the mirror  17  but only view an approximation of the image that will be captured. Further, since most cell phones and similar appliances are carried in pockets and backpacks, such a mirror can easily be scratched or tarnished, thus severely limiting its usefulness.  
         [0018]      FIG. 2A  shows front and back views of a prior art camera phone  20  having a positionable camera  21  rotatably coupled to the camera phone  20  by a barrel rotation mechanism  22 . This allows the camera  21  to point toward the user or away from the user depending on the application.  FIG. 2B  shows a close up of the camera phone  20  bisected along the line A-B and above the line C. It is apparent from this view that the barrel rotation mechanism  22  which houses the camera  21  is an inefficient use of space. Because the barrel rotation mechanism  22  is round, there can be wasted space  23  (shaded area). No matter how small current technology allows the camera  21  to be designed, the rotation mechanism will require an area sufficient to rotate the camera housing. By way of example, if the thickness of the cellular phone or other appliance is 1 centimeter, and the length and width of the camera  21  are each 1 centimeter and the thickness of the camera is 0.5 centimeter, the total volume consumed is 1.58 cubic centimeters. Furthermore, the barrel rotation mechanism  22  adds unnecessary complexity, parts, and cost. Other dimensions and consumed volumes are possible.  
         [0019]      FIG. 2C  shows a prior art flip style camera phone  24  having a first casing  25  coupled to a second casing  26  by a hinge  27 . The camera  28  is rotatably housed within the hinge  27  so that the camera  28  can point to the user or away from the user. However, it is apparent that this solution is limited to flip style camera phones. Also, the same problem of wasted space as shown in  FIG. 2B  applies. The hinge must be made larger than necessary to house a camera. Such a larger hinge adds unnecessary complexity, parts and cost.  
         [0020]      FIG. 3A  shows the preferred embodiment of the current invention in the front and back view. A camera phone  30  has a casing  39 , display screen  31 , a speaker  32 , a microphone  33  and a tactile interface  34  in the front view. Alternatively, the display screen  31  can comprise a tactile interface. In the back view, a camera housing  35  having a camera  36  is shown. The camera housing  35  is positionably coupled to the camera phone  30  by a simple hinge mechanism (not shown). In this position, the camera housing  35  comes to rest in a recessed cavity (not shown). A depression  38  along the recessed cavity is provided to allow the user to alter the position of the camera housing  35 . In this position, the camera  36  points substantially away from the user, so that the user can take photos or video while still able to see the captured images the display screen  31 .  
         [0021]     In  FIG. 3B , the camera phone  30  is shown in its alternate position. The camera housing  35  is positioned so that the camera  36  points substantially toward the user leaving the recessed cavity  38  empty. In this position, the user can take self portraits or engage in video conferencing while maintaining view of the captured image on the display screen  31 . It is apparent from this view that the minimum size of the camera housing is not limited. As technology allows for smaller cameras, the camera housing can be made smaller to accommodate them. By way of example, if the camera  36  is 0.5 centimeters thick, and the length and width are 1 centimeter each, the total volume consumed is 0.5 cubic centimeters. Those of common skill in the art can appreciate that such a camera is not limited to a cellular phone, but rather can be applied to any appropriate electrical appliance such as a PDA, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a multimedia device or a portable music player.  
         [0022]      FIG. 4A  shows a view of the preferred embodiment of the simple hinge mechanism  40  coupling the camera housing  35  to the camera phone  30 . Camera housing  35  has a first pivot  41  on its top surface  42  and a second pivot (not shown) on its bottom surface (not shown). The first pivot  41  is configured to couple with a first socket (not shown) on the top surface of the recessed cavity (not shown). A latching sleeve  43  having a latching protrusion  44  and flanges  46  is used to couple the first pivot  41  to the first socket. The first pivot  41  has a notch  45  configured to receive the flanges  46  so that the latching sleeve  43  will not slip when coupled to the first pivot  41 . A detailed view of the latching sleeve  43  is shown in  FIG. 4B .  
         [0023]      FIG. 4C  shows another view of the simple hinge mechanism  40 . The camera housing  35  is not shown for clarity. The recessed cavity  38  has a first socket  48  on its top surface  47  comprising two indentations  49  along the inner surface of the first socket  48 . The indentations  49  are configured such that the latching protrusion  44  of the latching sleeve  41  can lock into either one of them, causing the camera housing  35  to be locked in either the first or the second positions shown in  FIGS. 3A-3B .  
         [0024]      FIG. 4D  shows another view of the simple hinge mechanism  40 . By way of example, the camera phone  30  is shown in its first position. The camera housing  35  preferably further comprises a second pivot  49  configured to couple with a second socket  50  on the bottom surface  51  of the recessed cavity  38 . The first  41  and second  49  pivots are configured to form an axis of rotation  53  around which camera housing  35  can rotate to one of its two positions. Furthermore, the camera housing  35  has a rounded end  52  to enable such rotation.  
         [0025]     The present application has been described in terms of specific embodiments incorporating details to facilitate the understanding of the principles of construction and operation of the discreetly positionable camera housing. Many of the components shown and described in the various figures can be interchanged to achieve the results necessary, and this description should be read to encompass such interchange as well. As such, references herein to specific embodiments and details thereof are not intended to limit the scope of the claims appended hereto. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications can be made to the embodiments chosen for illustration without departing from the spirit and scope of the application.