Patent Description:
At present, a camera module of an electronic device such as a smartphone is disposed in an inner cavity of the electronic device, and a camera lens can be exposed through a camera module decorative part (which is also referred to as a camera bump) for easy shooting.

Because a change of a relative position of the camera lens in the camera module requires support by a complex structure and sufficient movement space, when the electronic device is designed, it also needs to design a camera module decorative part with a large volume and size. As a result, a height dimension of the camera module decorative part is large, affecting expressiveness of an appearance of a product.

<CIT> discloses a camera module and an electronic equipment. The camera module comprises a housing which is internally provided with an accommodation cavity; a lens assembly which is movably arranged in the accommodating cavity; a circuit board which is connected with the lens assembly; a holder assembly which comprises a supporting plate, at least one part of the supporting plate is movably arranged in the accommodating cavity, wherein the lens assembly and the circuit board are arranged on the supporting plate; and a driving assembly which is arranged on the shell, and at least one part of the driving assembly is connected with the supporting plate so as to drive the supporting plate to move.

An embodiment of this application provides an electronic device, and the electronic device is defined by the appended claim <NUM>.

The foregoing and/or additional aspects and advantages of this application will become apparent and readily understandable from the descriptions of the embodiments with reference to the following accompanying drawings.

Reference signs are described as follows:.

The following describes in detail embodiments of this application. Examples of the embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Reference signs which are the same or similar throughout the accompanying drawings represent the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and only used to explain this application, and cannot be understood as a limitation on this application.

Features of terms "first" and "second" in the specification and claims of this application may explicitly or implicitly include one or more such features. In the descriptions of this application, unless otherwise specified, "a plurality of" means two or more. In addition, in the specification and claims, "and/or" indicates at least one of connected objects, and the character "/" generally indicates an "or" relationship between associated objects.

In the descriptions of this application, it should be understood that an orientation or positional relationship indicated by the term "center", "longitudinal", "transverse", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "perpendicular", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", or the like is based on an orientation or a positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and is merely for ease of describing this application and simplifying the descriptions rather than indicating or implying that an apparatus or an element referred to must have a specific orientation or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on this application.

In the descriptions of this application, it should be noted that unless otherwise specified and defined explicitly, the terms "mount", "connect", and "join" should be understood in their general senses. For example, they may refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection, may refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection, and may refer to a direct connection, an indirect connection via an intermediate medium, or an internal communication between two elements. A person of ordinary skill in the art can understand specific meanings of these terms in this application as appropriate to specific situations.

The following describes an electronic device provided in the embodiments of this application with reference to <FIG>.

The electronic device may be, for example, a mobile terminal such as a smartphone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, and a smart wearable device. The electronic device may also be a digital camera or another portable mobile photo-taking product, a camera product with photo-taking and video-recording functions, or the like, which is not limited in this application.

Refer to <FIG>. An embodiment of this application provides an electronic device. The electronic device includes a device body <NUM>, a camera module decorative part <NUM>, and a pan-tilt camera apparatus. The device body <NUM> has an inner cavity and an opening communicating with the inner cavity. The camera module decorative part <NUM> is disposed in the opening, and the camera module decorative part <NUM> has a through hole <NUM>. The pan-tilt camera apparatus is disposed in the inner cavity, the pan-tilt camera apparatus faces toward the through hole <NUM>, the pan-tilt camera apparatus includes a base <NUM> and a camera module <NUM>, the camera module <NUM> is movably disposed on the base <NUM>, and a surface of the camera module <NUM> facing away from the inner cavity and a surface of the camera module decorative part <NUM> facing away from the opening are located on a same plane.

In this embodiment of this application, an exposed pan-tilt camera apparatus is provided for the electronic device. The through hole is disposed on the camera module decorative part <NUM>, so that the camera module <NUM> may be in an exposed state. The surface of the camera module <NUM> facing away from the inner cavity of the device body <NUM> and the surface of the camera module decorative part <NUM> facing away from the opening are located on the same plane, so that the camera module decorative part <NUM> can be around the camera module <NUM> for protecting the camera module <NUM>. The design in this application helps to reduce a height dimension of the camera module decorative part <NUM>, thereby improving an appearance quality of the electronic device.

In an optional example of this application, refer to <FIG>. The camera module decorative part <NUM> includes a camera module decorative ring <NUM>, a camera lens decorative ring <NUM> and a cover plate <NUM> that are disposed on the camera module decorative ring <NUM>. The camera module decorative ring <NUM> protrudes into the inner cavity through the opening and is connected to the inner cavity. The cover plate <NUM> is arranged around an outer edge of the camera lens decorative ring <NUM>, and the through hole <NUM> is disposed on the camera lens decorative ring <NUM>.

In other words, the camera lens decorative ring <NUM> and the cover plate <NUM> both are disposed on the camera module decorative ring <NUM> to form the camera module decorative part <NUM>.

The camera module decorative part <NUM> is connected to the device body <NUM> through the camera module decorative ring <NUM>, so that the camera module decorative part <NUM> is fixedly disposed on the device body <NUM>. The camera module decorative part <NUM> may be configured to protect the camera module <NUM>.

The camera lens decorative ring <NUM> is, for example, of an annular structure, on which the through hole <NUM> is formed. The through hole <NUM> may be configured to expose part of the camera module <NUM>, that is, the camera module <NUM> is in the exposed state, which helps to reduce the height dimension of the camera module decorative part <NUM>. In this embodiment of this application, the camera module decorative part <NUM> is actually arranged around the camera module <NUM> for protecting the camera module <NUM>. This design is different from a traditional design of which the entire camera module is closed under the camera lens decorative ring <NUM>.

For example, the camera lens decorative ring <NUM> may be of an annular structure. Certainly, the camera lens decorative ring <NUM> may alternatively be of a racetrack-shaped annular structure. A person skilled in the art can flexibly adjust as appropriate to specific situations. This is not limited in this application.

In an optional example of this application, the camera lens decorative ring <NUM> and the cover plate <NUM> both are disposed on the camera module decorative ring <NUM>, and the camera lens decorative ring <NUM> and the cover plate <NUM> are an integrally formed structure, such that the entire camera module decorative part has a good appearance and good firmness.

Specifically, the camera lens decorative ring <NUM> and the cover plate <NUM> may form an integrated structure by using, for example, an injection molding process. The camera lens decorative ring <NUM> and the cover plate <NUM> may be fixedly disposed on the top of the camera module decorative ring <NUM> by gluing.

The camera lens decorative ring <NUM> and the cover plate <NUM> are connected together by injection molding, such a design does not leave a gap between the camera lens decorative ring <NUM> and the cover plate <NUM> due to assembly, thereby resolving a problem of glue overflow occurring between the camera lens decorative ring <NUM> and the cover plate <NUM>, and improving appearance aesthetics of the electronic device.

A material of the camera lens decorative ring <NUM> may be, for example, a plastic material. A hardness of the plastic material is lower than that of a metal material, but the plastic material can provide well buffering for protecting the camera module <NUM>.

A material of the cover plate <NUM> may be, for example, a light-transmitting material.

Specifically, the cover plate <NUM> is, for example, a glass cover plate that does not affect light of the camera module <NUM>.

In an optional example of this application, refer to <FIG> and <FIG>. The camera module <NUM> includes a camera module housing <NUM> and a camera lens assembly <NUM> disposed in the camera module housing <NUM>, and the camera lens assembly <NUM> includes a camera lens <NUM>. The camera lens <NUM> is disposed in the through hole <NUM>, and a surface of the camera lens <NUM> and a surface of the camera lens decorative ring <NUM> are located on a same plane.

In other words, the camera lens <NUM> of the camera module <NUM> is exposed outside from the through hole <NUM> of the camera lens decorative ring <NUM> instead of being closed. In this way, space can be left for a movement of the camera lens <NUM>, that is, the movement of the camera lens <NUM> is not affected.

The camera module housing <NUM> is configured to accommodate the camera lens assembly <NUM>, so that a structure of the entire camera module <NUM> is more integrated, helping assemble the camera module <NUM> in the device body.

In an optional example of this application, refer to <FIG>. A section of the camera module housing <NUM> in a radial direction is circular.

In the embodiments of this application, the pan-tilt camera apparatus is configured to enable the electronic device to have functions such as shooting an image and a video, which can make the electronic device more functional. To make the camera module <NUM> have a good anti-shake performance when shooting a video or a picture, the camera module <NUM> is further equipped with a drive assembly <NUM> in this application.

In an optional example of this application, refer to <FIG>. The pan-tilt camera apparatus further includes the drive assembly <NUM>, and the camera module <NUM> is in transmission connection with the base <NUM> through the drive assembly <NUM>. In a case that the drive assembly <NUM> is powered on, the drive assembly <NUM> is able to deform and drive the camera module <NUM> to move relative to the base <NUM>.

In the embodiments of this application, the camera module <NUM>, being directly driven by the drive assembly <NUM>, can implement a multi-angle movement and/or rotation on a plane. In this way, when the electronic device is used to take a photo or shoot a video, once shaking occurs, the camera module <NUM> of the pan-tilt camera apparatus can automatically adjust a shooting angle in a timely manner, thereby achieving an effect of multi-angle anti-shake. That is to say, the driving of the drive assembly <NUM> may enable the camera module <NUM> to maintain a same movement trend as the device body <NUM>, to achieve a good effect of anti-shake and avoid image distortion of an image or a video that is shot, thereby implementing high restoration of a real shooting state.

In addition, in the embodiments of this application, there is no need to set a special motor and transmission component for the pan-tilt camera apparatus. The camera module <NUM> is directly driven by deformation of the drive assembly <NUM> to perform a movement relative to the base <NUM>. The deformation of the drive assembly <NUM> may be completed in a power-on state, and a manner of driving is very simple.

In an optional example of this application, refer to <FIG>. The drive assembly <NUM> includes a first telescopic member <NUM>, a second telescopic member <NUM>, a third telescopic member <NUM>, and a fourth telescopic member <NUM>. The first telescopic member <NUM>, the second telescopic member <NUM>, the third telescopic member <NUM>, and the fourth telescopic member <NUM> are uniformly distributed around the camera module <NUM>, and the four telescopic members are disposed opposite each other. Two adjacent telescopic members of the first telescopic member <NUM>, the second telescopic member <NUM>, the third telescopic member <NUM>, and the fourth telescopic member <NUM> are able to bend and deform in a case of being powered on, for driving the camera module <NUM> to perform translation on a plane on which the base <NUM> is located.

The first telescopic member <NUM>, the second telescopic member <NUM>, the third telescopic member <NUM>, and the fourth telescopic member <NUM> are made of electro-deformable materials.

In an optional example of this application, the first telescopic member <NUM>, the second telescopic member <NUM>, the third telescopic member <NUM>, and the fourth telescopic member <NUM> are made of ionic polymer metal composite materials. The ionic polymer metal composite material may include a polymer film substrate and metal particles deposited on a surface of the polymer film substrate.

Specifically, the ionic polymer metal composite material is a new type of electro-deformable polymer material. The polymer material uses a polymer film as a substrate, and metal particles are infiltrated and deposited on a surface of the substrate by electroless plating. The metal particles may be conventional metals such as iron and copper, and more preferably noble metal particles. The noble metal particles may increase a deformation rate of the ionic polymer metal composite material. When two sides of the ionic polymer metal composite material are respectively connected to positive and negative electrodes of a power supply, anode molecules in the ionic polymer metal composite material move to the side of the ionic polymer metal composite material that is connected to the negative electrode, and polar molecules are driven to move together to the side of the ionic polymer metal composite material that is connected to the negative electrode. As a result, the side of the ionic polymer metal composite material that is connected to the negative electrode gradually expands and becomes longer, and the ionic polymer metal composite material bends to the side of the ionic polymer metal composite material that is connected to the positive electrode. A direction and size of the power supply correspond to a deflection direction and bending degree of the ionic polymer metal composite material. In addition, the ionic polymer metal composite material may also contract and extend in a case of being applied with a voltage. Based on this deformation feature, the ionic polymer metal composite material may be used as a good drive assembly, and has characteristics of light weight, no noise, good flexibility, and the like.

Refer to <FIG>. In a case that the first telescopic member <NUM> and the second telescopic member <NUM> are powered on, the first telescopic member <NUM> and the second telescopic member <NUM> bend and deform to pull the camera module <NUM> downwards. At the same time, the third telescopic member <NUM> and the fourth telescopic member <NUM> are in an extended state. Similarly, refer to <FIG>. In a case that the third telescopic member <NUM> and the fourth telescopic member <NUM> are powered on, the third telescopic member <NUM> and the fourth telescopic member <NUM> bend and deform to pull the camera module <NUM> downwards. At the same time, the first telescopic member <NUM> and the second telescopic member <NUM> are in an extended state.

In any one of the foregoing manners, the drive assembly <NUM> drives the camera module <NUM> to move back and forth (for example, to swing left and right) along a first direction on the plane on which the base <NUM> is located. The first direction is, for example, an X-axis direction.

Refer to <FIG>. In a case that the second telescopic member <NUM> and the third telescopic member <NUM> are powered on, the second telescopic member <NUM> and the third telescopic member <NUM> bend and deform to pull the camera module <NUM> downwards. At the same time, the first telescopic member <NUM> and the fourth telescopic member <NUM> are in an extended state. Refer to <FIG>. In a case that the first telescopic member <NUM> and the fourth telescopic member <NUM> are powered on, the first telescopic member <NUM> and the fourth telescopic member <NUM> bend and deform to pull the camera module <NUM> downwards. At the same time, the second telescopic member <NUM> and the third telescopic member <NUM> are in an extended state. In this way, the drive assembly <NUM> drives the camera module <NUM> to move back and forth along a second direction on the plane on which the base <NUM> is located. The second direction is, for example, a Y-axis direction.

It should be noted that one of the first direction and the second direction is the X-axis direction in the plane, and the other of the first direction and the second direction is the Y-axis direction.

In an optional example of this application, refer to <FIG>. The drive assembly <NUM> includes the first telescopic member <NUM>, the second telescopic member <NUM>, the third telescopic member <NUM>, and the fourth telescopic member <NUM>. In addition, the drive assembly <NUM> further includes a fifth telescopic member <NUM> and a sixth telescopic member <NUM>. The fifth telescopic member <NUM> and the sixth telescopic member <NUM> are respectively arranged on two sides of the camera module <NUM> and opposite each other. One of the fifth telescopic member <NUM> and the sixth telescopic member <NUM> is able to bend and deform in a case of being powered on, for driving the camera module <NUM> to rotate on the plane on which the base <NUM> is located.

The fifth telescopic member <NUM> and the sixth telescopic member <NUM> are made of electro-deformable materials.

In an optional example of this application, the fifth telescopic member <NUM> and the sixth telescopic member <NUM> are made of ionic polymer metal composite materials. The ionic polymer metal composite material may include a polymer film substrate and metal particles deposited on a surface of the polymer film substrate.

For example, refer to <FIG>. In a case that the fifth telescopic member <NUM> is powered on, the fifth telescopic member <NUM> bend and deform to pull the camera module <NUM> upwards. At the same time, the sixth telescopic member <NUM> is in an extended state. In this way, the camera module <NUM> is driven to rotate.

For example, in a case that the sixth telescopic member <NUM> is powered on, the sixth telescopic member <NUM> bend and deform to pull the camera module <NUM> downwards. At the same time, the fifth telescopic member <NUM> is in an extended state. In this way, the camera module <NUM> is driven to rotate.

In other words, the first telescopic member <NUM>, the second telescopic member <NUM>, the third telescopic member <NUM>, and the fourth telescopic member <NUM> in the drive assembly <NUM> cooperate with each other to implement translation of the camera module <NUM> relative to the base <NUM>. The fifth telescopic member <NUM> or the sixth telescopic member <NUM> in the drive assembly <NUM> may be configured to control rotation of the camera module <NUM> relative to the base <NUM>. Based on this, a shooting angle of the camera module <NUM> may be adjusted to achieve a purpose of anti-shake.

In an optional example of this application, refer to <FIG>. An end of each of the first telescopic member <NUM>, the second telescopic member <NUM>, the third telescopic member <NUM>, the fourth telescopic member <NUM>, the fifth telescopic member <NUM>, and the sixth telescopic member <NUM> is connected to the camera module housing <NUM>. Another end of each of the first telescopic member <NUM>, the second telescopic member <NUM>, the third telescopic member <NUM>, the fourth telescopic member <NUM>, the fifth telescopic member <NUM>, and the sixth telescopic member <NUM> is connected to the base <NUM>. In other words, the camera module housing <NUM> is directly connected to the drive assembly <NUM>, and no transmission structure is involved between the camera module housing <NUM> and the drive assembly <NUM>.

The section of the camera module housing <NUM> in the radial direction is circular. Therefore, when any one of the fifth telescopic member <NUM> and the sixth telescopic member <NUM> is powered on, and bends and deforms to pull the camera module housing <NUM>, the camera module <NUM> may rotate to adjust the camera module <NUM> in a Z-axis direction.

It can be learned that the pan-tilt camera apparatus in the embodiments of this application can implement multi-angle anti-shake, and has a good effect of anti-shake.

In an optional example of this application, refer to <FIG>. An accommodating hole is disposed on the base <NUM>, and the camera module <NUM> is partially accommodated in the accommodating hole. The accommodating hole is configured to allow the camera module to have specific movement space on the base <NUM>.

In an optional example of this application, the electronic device further includes a main board. The drive assembly <NUM> is electrically connected to the main board.

The main board may be, for example, a hard circuit board or a flexible circuit board, which may be flexibly set by a person skilled in the art based on needs and is not limited in this application.

The main board may supply power to the drive assembly <NUM>, and may further control the drive assembly <NUM>, and then control a movement form of the camera lens <NUM>, to achieve the purpose of anti-shake.

The electronic device in the embodiments of this application may be a terminal or another device other than the terminal. For example, the electronic device may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a palmtop computer, an in-vehicle electronic device, a mobile Internet device (Mobile Internet Device, MID), an augmented reality (augmented reality, AR)/virtual reality (virtual reality, VR) device, a robot, a wearable device, an ultra-mobile personal computer (ultra-mobile personal computer, UMPC), a netbook, a personal digital assistant (personal digital assistant, PDA), or the like. The electronic device may alternatively be a server, a network attached storage (Network Attached Storage, NAS), a personal computer (personal computer, PC), a television (television, TV), a teller machine, a self-service machine, or the like. This is not specifically limited in the embodiments of this application.

Claim 1:
An electronic device, comprising:
a device body (<NUM>), wherein the device body (<NUM>) has an inner cavity and an opening communicating with the inner cavity;
a camera module decorative part (<NUM>), wherein the camera module decorative part (<NUM>) is disposed in the opening, and the camera module decorative part (<NUM>) has a through hole (<NUM>); and
a pan-tilt camera apparatus, wherein the pan-tilt camera apparatus is disposed in the inner cavity, the pan-tilt camera apparatus faces toward the through hole (<NUM>), the pan-tilt camera apparatus comprises a base (<NUM>) and a camera module (<NUM>), the camera module (<NUM>) is movably disposed on the base (<NUM>), and a surface of the camera module (<NUM>) facing away from the inner cavity and a surface of the camera module decorative part (<NUM>) facing away from the opening are located on a same plane;
characterized in that
the pan-tilt camera apparatus further comprises a drive assembly (<NUM>), and the camera module (<NUM>) is in transmission connection with the base (<NUM>) through the drive assembly (<NUM>); wherein
in a case that the drive assembly (<NUM>) is powered on, the drive assembly (<NUM>) is able to deform and drive the camera module (<NUM>) to move relative to the base (<NUM>);
wherein the drive assembly (<NUM>) comprises: a first telescopic member (<NUM>), a second telescopic member (<NUM>), a third telescopic member (<NUM>), and a fourth telescopic member (<NUM>), wherein the first telescopic member (<NUM>), the second telescopic member (<NUM>), the third telescopic member (<NUM>), and the fourth telescopic member (<NUM>) are uniformly distributed around the camera module (<NUM>) and disposed opposite each other; and
two adjacent telescopic members of the first telescopic member (<NUM>), the second telescopic member (<NUM>), the third telescopic member (<NUM>), and the fourth telescopic member (<NUM>) are able to bend and deform in a case of being powered on to pull the camera module (<NUM>) downwards, and another two adjacent telescopic members of the first telescopic member (<NUM>), the second telescopic member (<NUM>), the third telescopic member (<NUM>), and the fourth telescopic member (<NUM>) are in an extended state at the same time, so as to drive the camera module (<NUM>) to perform a translation movement on a plane on which the base (<NUM>) is located.