Patent Publication Number: US-2020304614-A1

Title: Mobile phone camera extension-and-retraction device and mobile phone

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present application pertains to the field of electronic devices, more particularly, relates to a mobile phone camera extension-and-retraction device and a mobile phone. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Photographing function has become a hot direction in the development of mobile phones, on one hand, the mobile phones are thinner and the screen occupation ratio is continuously improved, leaving the width and thickness of the space of the mobile phone camera gradually reduced; on the other hand, the size of the mobile phone camera makes it impossible to continue to shrink with the enhancement of photographing and video functions. Especially the emergence of full-screen mobile phones, which have no width space to install the mobile phone camera and need to hide the mobile phone camera on the back of the screen module, when the photographing function is needed, the mobile phone camera will extend and can take photos after the camera is beyond screen blocking section, and when not needed, the mobile phone camera will return back. Existing mobile phone camera extension-and-retraction devices mainly adopt the manner of manual driving, which cannot achieve extending and retracting automatically. 
     Technical Problems 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure aim at: first aspect, providing a mobile phone camera extension-and-retraction device and a mobile phone to solve the technical problem existing in the prior art that the mobile phone camera cannot extend and retract automatically. 
     Second aspect, providing a mobile phone to solve the technical problem existing in the prior art that the mobile phone camera cannot extend and retract automatically when the mobile phone is photographing. 
     Technical Solutions 
     In order to solve above technical problems, the technical solutions adopted by embodiments of the present disclosure are as follows: 
     First aspect, a mobile phone camera extension-and-retraction device is provided, and the mobile phone camera extension-and-retraction device comprises a driving unit, a reversing gear mechanism, a connecting drive mechanism for driving the mobile phone camera to extend or retract, a control module and a shell; 
     the driving unit, the reversing gear mechanism, the connecting drive mechanism and the control module are all arranged in the shell, and the control module is electrically connected with the driving unit and may control the driving unit to rotate forwardly or reversely; 
     the reversing gear mechanism comprises a first drive gear, a first planetary pinion, a second planetary pinion and a planet carrier that are pivotally rotated on the shell, the first drive gear comprises a primary gear and an auxiliary gear, the primary gear is driven to rotate by the driving unit, the auxiliary gear is arranged on the primary gear and rotates coaxially with the primary gear, the planet carrier is pivotally connected to the auxiliary gear through a rotational shaft, the first planetary pinion is pivotally connected to the planet carrier and meshes with the auxiliary gear, the second planetary pinion is pivotally connected to the planet carrier and meshes with the auxiliary gear; 
     the connecting drive mechanism comprises a second drive gear meshing with the first planetary pinion or the second planetary pinion, and a rack member for fixing the mobile phone camera, the second drive gear is pivotally rotated in the shell, the rack member is movably connected in the shell and extends or retracts relative to the shell when it meshes with the second drive gear, and the first planetary pinion engages with the second drive gear and meshes to drive such that the rack member extends relative to the shell when the driving unit drives the primary gear forwardly, the second planetary pinion engages with the second drive gear and meshes to drive such that the rack member retracts relative to the shell when the driving unit drives the primary gear reversely. 
     Second aspect, a mobile phone is provided, and the mobile phone comprises the above mobile phone camera extension-and-retraction device. 
     Beneficial Effects 
     Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the mobile phone camera extension-and-retraction device, provided in embodiments of the present application, lie in that: the mobile phone camera extension-and-retraction device controls an electric motor to drive the gear transmission mechanism through the control module, adopts two planetary pinions to clockwise, counterclockwise output the driving forces respectively, and finally adopts the rack to drive the mobile phone camera move in a straight line, achieving the purposes that the mobile phone camera extension-and-retraction device extends and retracts automatically, and that the extending and retracting rates are uniform. 
     The beneficial effects of the mobile phone, provided in embodiments of the present application, lie in that: through the mobile phone adopting the above mobile phone camera extension-and-retraction device, the camera therefore achieves automatic extension and retraction, enhancing the photographing and video functions of the mobile phone, and making the photographing function of the mobile phone more practical. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In order to explain the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application more clearly, the drawings needing to be used in description of the embodiments or the prior art are briefly introduced below, obviously, the drawings described below are merely some embodiments of the present application, for those skilled in the art, other drawings can also be obtained without creative work according to these drawings. 
         FIG. 1  is a structural schematic view of the mobile phone camera extension-and-retraction device provided in an embodiment of the present application; 
         FIG. 2  is a structural schematic view of the reversing gear mechanism of the mobile phone camera extension-and-retraction device provided in an embodiment of the present application. 
     
    
    
     Wherein, the reference signs in the drawings are as follows: 
       100 —mobile phone camera extension-and-retraction device;  1 —driving unit;  11 —electric motor;  12 —worm;  13 —third drive gear;  131 —first auxiliary gear;  132 —second auxiliary gear;  2 —reversing gear mechanism;  21 —first drive gear;  211 —primary gear;  212 —auxiliary gear;  22 —first planetary pinion;  23 —second planetary pinion;  24 —planet carrier;  25 —torsional spring member;  3 —connecting drive mechanism;  31 —second drive gear;  311 —first sub gear;  312 —second sub gear;  32 —rack member;  321 —rack body;  322 —fixing portion;  33 —guiding shaft;  4 —shell. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     In order to make the technical problems to be solved, the technical solutions and the technical effects of the present application more clearly, the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely for illustrative of the invention, and are not intended to limit the invention. 
     It should be noted that when an element is referred to as “fixed to” or “arranged to” another element, it may be directly on another element or indirectly on the said another element. When an element is referred to as “connected to” another element, it may be directly connected to another element or indirectly connected to said another element. 
     It should be appreciated that the terms, such as “above”, “below”, “front”, “back”, “left”, “right”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “top”, “bottom”, “inside”, “outside” and the like indicating orientation and position relationships based on the orientation and position relationships shown in the drawings, are merely for conveniently describing the invention and simplifying the description, and are not indicated or suggested that the referring device or element must have specific orientations, and be configured and operated in specific orientations, therefore it cannot be understood as limiting of the invention. 
     Otherwise, the terms “first”, “second” are merely for illustrative purpose, and cannot be understood as indicating or suggesting relative importance, or impliedly pointing out the quantities of the referring technical features. Therefore, the feature limited with “first”, “second” may clearly or impliedly comprise one or more said feature. In description of the present application, the meaning of “a plurality of” is two or more, unless there are other clear and specific limitations. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  together, the mobile phone camera extension-and-retraction device  100  provided in an embodiment of the present application is now illustrated. The mobile phone camera extension-and-retraction device  100  comprises a driving unit  1 , a reversing gear mechanism  2 , a connecting drive mechanism  3  for driving the mobile phone camera to extend or retract, a control module and a shell  4 , the driving unit  1 , the reversing gear mechanism  2 , the connecting drive mechanism  3  and the control module are all arranged in the shell  4 , and the control module is electrically connected with the driving unit  1  and may control the driving unit  1  to rotate forwardly or reversely; the reversing gear mechanism  2  comprises a first drive gear  21 , a first planetary pinion  22 , a second planetary pinion  23  and a planet carrier  24  that are pivotally rotated on the shell  4 , the first drive gear  21  comprises a primary gear  211  and an auxiliary gear  212 , the primary gear  211  is driven to rotate by the driving unit  1 , the auxiliary gear  212  is arranged on the primary gear  211  and rotates coaxially with the primary gear, the planet carrier  24  is pivotally connected to the auxiliary gear  212  through a rotational shaft, the first planetary pinion  22  is pivotally connected to the planet carrier  24  and meshes with the auxiliary gear  212 , the second planetary pinion  23  is pivotally connected to the planet carrier  24  and meshes with the auxiliary gear  212 ; the connecting drive mechanism  3  comprises a second drive gear  31  meshing with the first planetary pinion  22  or the second planetary pinion  23 , and a rack member  32  for fixing the mobile phone camera, the second drive gear  31  is pivotally rotated in the shell  4 , the rack member  32  is movably connected in the shell  4  and extends or retracts relative to the shell  4  when it meshes with the second drive gear  31 , and the first planetary pinion  22  engages with the second drive gear  31  and meshes to drive such that the rack member  32  extends relative to the shell  4  when the driving unit  1  drives the primary gear  211  forwardly, the second planetary pinion  23  engages with the second drive gear  31  and meshes to drive such that the rack member  32  retracts relative to the shell  4  when the driving unit  1  drives the primary gear  211  reversely. 
     When the mobile phone camera extension-and-retraction device  100 , provided in the embodiment of the application, controls the driving unit  1  rotating forwardly through the control module, the driving unit  1  drives the primary gear  211  to rotate forwardly, and then the first planetary pinion  22  meshes and rotates with the auxiliary gear  212  rotating axially with the primary gear  211 , at this moment, the first planetary pinion  22  rotates about the central axis of the auxiliary gear  212  until contacts with the second drive gear  31 , The first planetary pinion  22  meshes with the second drive gear  31 , such that the second drive gear  31  rotates circumferentially about the central axis thereof relative to the shell  4  and meshes with the rack member  32 , and the rack member  32  moves up straightly relative to the shell to make the mobile phone camera fixed connected to the rack member  32  extend, when the control module controls the driving unit  1  rotating reversely, the driving unit  1  drives the primary gear  211  to rotate reversely, and then the second planetary pinion  23  meshes and rotates with the auxiliary gear  212  rotating axially with the primary gear  211 , at this moment, the second planetary pinion  23  rotates about the central axis of the auxiliary gear  212  until contacts with the second drive gear  31 , the second planetary pinion  23  meshes with the second drive gear  31 , such that the second drive gear  31  rotates circumferentially about the central axis thereof relative to the shell  4  and meshes with the rack member  32 , and the rack member  32  moves down straightly relative to the shell to make the mobile phone camera fixed connected to the rack member  32  retract, the whole process achieves automatic control by the control module, and makes the mobile phone camera finish automatic extending out or retracting back stably and fast, which is convenient for operation and practical. 
     Further, please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , the planet carrier  24  in the embodiment is triangular planet carrier, the first planetary pinion  22  and the second gear  23  pivot to two opposite angles of the triangular planet carrier respectively. When the first planetary pinion  22  meshes with the second drive gear  31 , the second planetary pinion  23  is detached from the auxiliary gear  212 , and the rack member  32  moves down straightly relative to the shell  4  at the moment. OR, when the second planetary pinion  23  meshes with the second drive gear  31 , the first planetary pinion  22  is detached from the auxiliary gear  212 , and the rack member  32  moves down straightly relative to the shell  4  at the moment. Since the diameters of the first planetary pinion  22  and the second planetary pinion  23  are larger than the gap between the auxiliary gear  212  and the second drive gear  31 , the first planetary pinion  22  or the second planetary pinion  23  occurs axial rotation only and occurs no orbital revolution when meshing with the second drive gear  31 , in this way, the power can be transmitted more stably and uniformly to drive the second drive gear  31 , such that the mobile phone camera stably extends or retracts with the rack member  32 . 
     Further, please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , in the present embodiment, the reversing gear mechanism  2  further includes a torsional spring member  25  for limiting the planet carrier  24  such that both the first planetary pinion  22  and the second planetary pinion  23  are in non-contact state with the second drive gear  31 , one end of the torsional spring member  25  is connected to the planet carrier  24 , and another end of the torsional spring member  25  is connected to the shell  4 , and the torsional spring member  25  has tension after the planet carrier  24  rotates with the first planetary pinion  22  or the second planetary pinion  23 , after stopping work, the planet carrier  24  returns to its original position under the action of the tension of the torsional spring member  25 , and the first planetary pinion  22  or the second planetary pinion  23  also returns to its original position, ensuring that the first planetary pinion  22  and the second planetary pinion  23  are in a state of being separated from the second drive gear  31  in the non-operating state, such that the mobile phone camera may be manually pushed back to the original position when the mobile phone camera is in the state of extending out. 
     Further, please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , in the present embodiment, the second drive gear  31  includes a first sub gear  311  and a second sub gear  312  arranged on the first sub gear  311  and rotates coaxially with the first sub gear  311 , the first sub gear  311  meshes with the first planetary  22  gear or meshes with the second planetary  23  gear, the second sub gear  312  meshes with the rack member  32 , and compared to the first sub gear  311 , the first planetary pinion  22  and the second planetary pinion  23  are smaller in diameter than the first sub gear  311 , when the first sub gear  311  is meshed and driven, the rotational speed of the first sub gear  311  is lowered, such that the speed that the rack member  32  drives the mobile phone camera slows down, thereby the mobile phone camera extending out or retracting back stably. 
     Further, please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , in the present embodiment, the rack member  32  includes a rack body  321  engaged with the second sub gear  312 , the rack body  321  is provided with a fixing portion  322  for fixing the mobile phone camera, and the rack body  321  is engaged with the second sub gear  312 , meanwhile, the fixing portion  322  is fixedly coupled with the mobile phone camera to drive the mobile phone camera to extend or retract, the fixing portion  322  is arranged on the rack member  32  and is fixedly connected to the mobile phone camera, strengthening the connection strength between the rack member  32  and the mobile phone camera, and ensuring that the mobile phone camera successfully achieves the actions of extension or retraction. 
     Further, please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , in the present embodiment, the connecting drive mechanism  3  further includes a plurality of guiding members  33  disposed side by side in the shell  4 , and each guiding member  33  is pivotally connected to the shell  4  and abuts by the rack member  32 , the rack member  32  moves linearly under the drive of the second drive gear  31 , the guiding members  33  is arranged to enable the rack member  32  to drive accurately the mobile phone camera to extend or retract, and to avoid friction and bumping with the shell  4 , moreover, the rack member  32  is in an elongated shape and a certain bending moment is generated during its movement, which causes a certain error when driving the mobile phone camera to extend or retract, the guiding members  33  provided herein also plays a supporting role to ensure accurate movement of the mobile phone camera. 
     Further, please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , in the present embodiment, the driving unit  1  comprises a electric motor  11 , a worm  12  connected to the spindle of the electric motor  11 , and a third drive gear  13  meshing with the worm, the third transmission  13  meshes with the primary gear and the electric motor  11  is used as the power source, the worm  12 , which can achieve large torque transmission, is connected to the spindle of the electric motor  11 , and the transmission is smooth, the configuration is compact as well, the third drive gear  13  transmits power to the primary gear  211 , and reduces the rotation speed, such that the transmission process is more stable, and the transmission is more accurate. 
     Further, please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , in the present embodiment, the third drive gear  13  comprises a first auxiliary gear  131  and a second auxiliary gear  132  arranged on the first auxiliary gear  131  and coaxially rotated with the first auxiliary gear  131 , the first auxiliary gear  131  meshes with the worm  12 , and the second auxiliary gear  132  meshes with the primary gear  211 . The gear diameter of the first auxiliary gear  131  is larger than the gear diameter of the second auxiliary gear  132 . The second auxiliary gear  132  is engaged with the primary gear  211 , and the gear diameter of the primary gear  211  is larger than the gear diameter of the second auxiliary gear  132 , such that the transmission speed of the master  211  is reduced, and then the subsequent transmission mechanisms are transmitted stably to enable the mobile phone camera extend or retract smoothly. 
     Further, please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , in the present embodiment, the first auxiliary gear  131  is a first auxiliary gear with skew gear teeth, the helical gear has high meshing degree, high transmission efficiency and stable transmission, which can effectively reduce noise of the driving unit  1  and enhance practicability of the mobile phone camera extension-and-retraction device  100 , the second sub gear  312  may be selected as a spur gear, and the spur gear is convenient to install and adjust and has high installation precision, which meets the needs of accurate movement of the mobile phone camera. 
     An embodiment of the present application further provides a mobile phone, not shown in the drawings, and the mobile phone comprises the above mobile phone camera extension-and-retraction device  100 . 
     The mobile phone, provided in the embodiment of the present application, adopts the above mobile phone camera extension-and-retraction device  100 , therefore the mobile phone can achieve the functions of automatic extending and retracting of the camera, enhancing practicability of mobile phone and enabling the mobile phone more intelligent. 
     The above are only preferred embodiments of the present application, and not intended to limit the present application. There may be various modifications and variations of the invention for those skilled in the art. Any modifications, equivalents, and improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principle of the invention, are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.