Patent Publication Number: US-2005126320-A1

Title: Rotating mechanism

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates in general to a rotating mechanism, and more particularly, to a rotating mechanism of a camera to facilitate positioning of a lens assembly.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      Conventional cameras may have a rotatable lens assembly for users to take a picture using different optical effects. Referring to  FIG. 1 , the conventional camera has a lens assembly  1  rotatably connected to a housing  16  via a shaft  2  with rotation of the lens assembly  1  in the direction of the arrow. The lens assembly  1 , however, has to be manually rotated to a specific position. This may be not convenient for users.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a rotating mechanism to facilitate a spring-out lens assembly design and positioning of a lens assembly. The rotating mechanism comprises a fixed member, a first rotating member, a second rotating member, a restricting member and a first resilient element. The second rotating member has an abutting portion, and the restricting member movably connects to the first rotating member and contacts the abutting portion. The first resilient element connects the fixed member and the first rotating member. Moreover, the first resilient element provides a spring force to rotate the first rotating member, wherein the restricting member rotates along with the first rotating member and pushes the abutting portion to rotate the second rotating member. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings, given by way of illustration only and thus not intended, to be limitative of the present invention.  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective diagram of a conventional camera.  
       FIGS. 2   a  and  2   b  are perspective diagrams of the camera in accordance with the invention.  
       FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b  are exploded diagrams of the rotating mechanism in accordance with the invention.  
       FIG. 3   c  is a perspective diagram of  FIG. 3   b.    
       FIG. 4   a  is a perspective diagram illustrating the release member in the initial position.  
       FIG. 4   b  is a perspective diagram showing the release member engaged downward.  
       FIG. 4   c  is a perspective diagram illustrating the inclined angle a between the slanted surface and the moving direction of the slider.  
       FIG. 4   d  is a perspective diagram showing the lens assembly rotated to an angle of 90°.  
       FIG. 5  is a perspective diagram showing the protrusion located in the recess.  
       FIG. 6   a  is a perspective diagram showing the lens assembly rotating beyond 90°.  
       FIG. 6   b  is a perspective diagram showing the lens assembly rotating to the maximum angle of 270°. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      Referring to  FIGS. 2   a  and  2   b,  the rotating mechanism for a camera lens assembly  1  automatically positions itself perpendicular to the housing  16  when the release member  18  is engaged. As shown in  FIG. 3   a,  the rotating mechanism comprises a shaft  2 , a bushing  3 , a restricting member  4 , a first resilient element  5 , a first rotating member  6 , a fixed member  7 , a second rotating member  8  and a screw  9 , wherein the shaft  2  is fixed to the lens assembly  1  and sequentially passes through the bushing  3 , the third opening  60  of the first rotating member  6 , and the second opening  70  of the fixed member  7 . The shaft  2  is joined in the fourth opening  80  on the second rotating member  8  and secured by the screw  9 . That is, the second rotating member  8 , the shaft  2  and the lens assembly  1  are fixed. Moreover, the fixed member  7  is fixed to the housing  16 , and the first rotating member  6  is rotatable on the shaft  2 .  
      As shown in  FIG. 3   a,  the first resilient element  5  is a torsion spring connecting the first rotating member  6  and the fixed member  7 . Thus, the first resilient element  5  provides a spring force to the first rotating member  6  to push the lens assembly  1  into position. In  FIG. 3   a,  the first rotating member  6  has a restraining portion  62 , and the second rotating member  8  has a abutting portion  81  and a protrusion  83  disposed thereon. The restricting member  4  movably connects the first rotating member  6  and has a protruding end  41  passing through the second opening  70  and contacting the abutting portion  81 . In X direction, when the release member  18  is engaged downward, the first rotating member  6  is rotated clockwise by the first resilient element  5 , as the arrow shows. With the protruding end  41  contacting the abutting portion  81 , the restricting member  4  rotates along with the first rotating member  6  and rotates the second rotating member  8  and the lens assembly  1 .  
      Referring to  FIGS. 3   b  and  3   c,  the rotating mechanism of the present invention further comprises a restraining member  10 , a positioning member  12 , a slider  14 , a second resilient element  15 , a release member  18  and a bolt  17 . Before the lens assembly  1  is positioned, the lens assembly  1  is held in an initial position where the blocking portion  103  of the restraining member  10  abuts the restraining portion  62  of the first rotating member  6 . The positioning member  12  is fixed to the housing  16  by the bolt  17  and a screw  11 . The positioning member  12  has at least one metallic disc  121  with at least one recess  120  disposed thereon.  
      As shown in  FIG. 3   b,  the release member  18  has a hook  181  passing through a first opening  160  on the housing  16 . The hook  181  catches and moves the slider  14  sliding on the housing  16 . The restraining member  10  has a pivot  102  connected to the housing  16 , and the second resilient element  15  is a tension spring connecting the slider  14  and the restraining member  10 . The slider  14  has a slot  140 , and the restraining member  10  further has a post  101  movably disposed in the slot  140 . When the release member  18  is engaged downward as the arrow indicates in  FIG. 3   b,  the post  101  slides on the inner slanted surface  1401  of the slot  140 , and the restraining member  10  is rotated on the pivot  102 .  
      Referring to  FIGS. 4   a  and  4   b,  when the release member  18  is engaged downward, the second resilient element  15  is extended and exerts a recovery spring force on the release member  18 , which returns to the initial position. As shown in  FIG. 4   c,  as the slanted surface  1401  and the moving direction F of slider  14  have an inclined angle a, the restraining member  10  always has less displacement than the slider  14  when the restraining member  10  is driven. It is therefore easier to engage the release member  18 .  
      When the release member  18  is engaged downward, the slider  14  rotates the restraining member  10  on the pivot  102  such that the blocking portion  103  separates from the restraining portion  62 . As shown in  FIG. 4   d,  the first resilient element  5  applies spring force to rotate the first rotating member  6 ; meanwhile, the restricting member  4  rotates along with the first rotating member  6 . Subsequently, with the protruding end  41  contacting the abutting portion  81 , the second rotating member  8  and the lens assembly  1  are rotated to an angular displacement of 90°. Specifically, the protrusion  83  of the second rotating member  8  tightly contacts the metallic disc  121 . The protrusion  83  slides on the metallic disc  121  when the lens assembly  1  rotates, wherein the metallic disc  121  is resilient and exert a recovery force on the second rotating member  8 . The recesses  120  are disposed in some predetermined positions as shown in  FIG. 5  such that the protrusion  83  is positioned in the recess  120  when the lens assembly  1  rotates to an angle of 90°.  
      The first rotating member  6 , however, can only rotate between the initial position and a first position of 90°. As mentioned above, the restricting member  4  rotates along with the first rotating member  6 . When the restricting member  4  abuts the restraining surface  71 , the first rotating member  6  is held in the first position. As shown in  FIG. 3   a,  the restraining surface  71  is on the inner surface of the second opening  70 . When the first rotating member  6  rotates, the blocking portion  103  is propped and abutted by the fringe thereof.  
      The lens assembly  1  and the second rotating member  8  are manually rotatable from 90° to 270° according to this embodiment. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the positioning member  12  has several recesses  120  into which the protrusion  83  enters such that the lens assembly  1  arrives at a predetermined position.  
      As shown in  FIG. 4   d,  when the torsion spring  5  rotates the first rotating member  6  to 90°, the second rotating member  8  is in the first position. However, the second rotating member  8  can be further rotated manually to a maximum position of 270°. Referring to  FIGS. 6   a  and  6   b,  when the lens assembly  1  rotates from 90° to 270°, the restricting member  4  separates from the abutting portion  81 . When the lens assembly  1  rotates to the maximum position of 270°, the protruding end  41  is abutted by the restraining surface  71  on the fixed member  7  such that the contacting portion  82  of the second rotating member  8  is restricted by the protruding end  41 . As a result, the second rotating member  8  is limited at the maximum position of 270° without further rotation.  
      In X direction as shown in  FIG. 3   a,  the lens assembly  1  is returned to its initial position by manual counterclockwise rotation thereof. Thereby, the second rotating member  8  pushes the restricting member  4  by the abutting portion  81  and rotates the first rotating member  6  counterclockwise. Moreover, as the first rotating member  6  returns to the initial position, the blocking portion  103  of the restraining member  10  spontaneously returns and abuts the restraining portion  62  due to the spring force of the second resilient element  15 . Thus, the lens assembly  1  is returned to its original position. In summary, the present invention provides a rotating mechanism to facilitate positioning of the lens assembly in a predetermined position.  
      While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.