PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-8369702-B2
Application Number: US-83569510-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Electronic devices with component mounting structures

Abstract:
Electronic devices are provided that have components. Outer and inner component mounting members may engage each other with threads. Openings in the outer and inner members may be configured to engage component sidewalls and alignment tools.

Claims:
1. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing having a housing wall with an opening; 
 an electrical component; and 
 component mounting structures that mount the electrical component at the opening in the housing wall, wherein the component mounting structures comprise an outer member that is located on an outside surface of the housing wall and an inner member that is connected to the outer member and that has portions located on an inside surface of the housing wall, wherein the inner member has an opening with alignment features that mate with the electrical component, wherein the electronic device is an electronic device selected from the group consisting of: a media player, a cellular telephone, and a computer, and wherein the electrical component comprises a camera module. 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the electrical component has a rectangular outline and wherein the alignment features of the inner member have a rectangular inner periphery that mates with the rectangular outline. 
     
     
       3. The electronic device defined in  claim 2  wherein the outer member and the inner member have threads and wherein the outer member and the inner member are screwed together. 
     
     
       4. The electronic device defined in  claim 3  wherein the outer member has an opening with at least one straight side. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device defined in  claim 4  wherein the opening of the outer member has a hexagonal shape. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device defined in  claim 2  further comprising a planar member with a hole that is aligned with the component mounting structures so that the camera module receives light through the hole. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device defined in  claim 6  wherein the housing wall separates an interior region of the electronic device from an exterior region of the electronic device and wherein the planar member is located within the exterior region. 
     
     
       8. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  further comprising a planar member with a hole that is aligned with the component mounting structures. 
     
     
       9. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing having a housing wall with an opening; 
 a camera module; and 
 camera module mounting structures that mount the camera module at the opening in the housing wall, wherein the camera module mounting structures comprise an outer member that is located on an outside surface of the housing wall and an inner member that is connected to the outer member and that has portions located on an inside surface of the housing wall and wherein the inner member has a notch that is aligned with a groove in the housing wall. 
 
     
     
       10. The electronic device defined in  claim 9  wherein the inner member has an opening with alignment features that mate with the camera module. 
     
     
       11. The electronic device defined in  claim 9  wherein the outer member and the inner member have threads and wherein the outer member and the inner member are screwed together. 
     
     
       12. The electronic device defined in  claim 11  wherein the outer member has an opening with at least one straight side. 
     
     
       13. The electronic device defined in  claim 11  further comprising a planar member with a hole that is aligned with the component mounting structures so that the camera module receives light through the hole. 
     
     
       14. Apparatus comprising:
 a housing structure with an opening; 
 an electrical component; 
 component mounting structures that mount the electrical component at the opening in the housing structure, wherein the component mounting structures comprise an outer member that is located on an outside surface of the housing structure and an inner member that is connected to the outer member and that has portions located on an inside surface of the housing structure and wherein the inner member has an opening with alignment features that mate with the electrical component; and 
 a flex circuit connected to the electrical component, wherein the housing structure has portions that define a recessed groove in the inside surface and wherein the recessed groove receives the flex circuit. 
 
     
     
       15. The apparatus defined in  claim 14  wherein the inner member has portions that extend from the inside surface to the outside surface through the opening in the housing structure. 
     
     
       16. The apparatus defined in  claim 15  wherein the opening of the housing structure has a diameter, wherein the inner member has portions that define a retaining flange that prevents the inner member from moving through the opening towards the outside surface, and wherein the retaining flange extends over portions of the inside surface. 
     
     
       17. The apparatus defined in  claim 14  wherein the retaining flange has a notch that is aligned with the groove and wherein the flex circuit passes through the notch to the groove.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     This relates generally to electronic devices, and, more particularly, to electronic device component mounting features that enhance the performance of electronic devices. 
     Electronic devices include components such as cameras. These components are typically mounted to housing structures. 
     Electronic devices with features such as these may have shortcomings. For example, component mounting structures in existing devices may not be robust or compact enough. 
     It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved electronic device structures. 
     SUMMARY 
     Electronic devices may be provided that have electrical components such as camera modules. A component support structure may be formed for supporting an electrical component. The component support structure may have threaded outer and inner members. The outer member may lie on one side of a housing wall and the inner member may lie on the other side of the housing wall. The outer and inner members may be screwed together through an opening in the housing wall. Openings in the outer and inner members may be configured to engage component sidewalls and alignment tools. The opening in the outer member may be hexagonal. The opening in the inner member may be rectangular to engage a component such as a camera module having a rectangular outline. 
     Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantages will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device of the type that may be provided with component mounting structures such as low profile camera mounting structures in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of an illustrative component mounting structure and an associated portion of an electronic device housing body in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of an illustrative outer member in a component mounting structure of the type shown in  FIG. 2  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a top view of an illustrative inner member in a component mounting structure of the type shown in  FIG. 2  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded cross-sectional side view of a portion of an electronic device in which a component such as a camera module is mounted in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of an electronic device showing how a tool may be used to assemble a component mounting structure having outer and inner members in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective interior view of component mounting structures attached to a portion of a device housing in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A perspective view of an illustrative device that may be provided with component mounting structures is shown in  FIG. 1 . Device  10  may be a media player, a cellular telephone, a computer, or other suitable electronic device. Device  10  may have a main housing body such as body  12 . Main housing body  12  may have housing structures formed from material such as plastic, metal, carbon fiber or other composites, ceramic, glass, other suitable materials, or combination of these materials. The housing for device  10  may be formed from multiple structures or may be formed using a unibody configuration in which the housing is formed from a single piece of machined or cast metal or other suitable material. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , device  10  may include structure  14 . Structure  14  may be a clip, a cover, a transparent member that serves as a cover for a display, or other suitable structure. Structure  14  may be attached to main body  12  of device  10  using a hinge such as a spring-loaded hinge, magnets, or other suitable attachment mechanisms. During operation of device  10 , structures  14  may move relative to main body  12  (e.g., on a hinge). 
     Structure  14  may be formed from a planar member that has an opening such as opening  18 . Opening  18  may be a circular hole that passes through structure  14  or may have other shapes. Component mounting structure  16  may protrude from the surface of housing body  12 . With one suitable arrangement, component mounting structure  16  may have a cylindrical shape with a longitudinal axis that runs through the center of circular opening  18  (i.e., component mounting structure  16  may be aligned with opening  18 ). Component mounting structure  16  may be flush with structure  14  or may be shorter or taller than structure  14  if desired. 
     Component mounting structure  16  may be formed using outer and inner members. As shown in the exploded perspective view of  FIG. 2 , component mounting structure  16  may include outer member  16 A and inner member  16 B. Outer member  16 A and inner member  16 B may be aligned along axis  28  with opening  20  in the wall of body  12 . Inner member  16 B may have threads  22  that mate with corresponding threads in outer member  16 A. Retainer flange portion  26  on inner member  16 B may bear against the inner surface of the upper wall of body  12  when members  16 A and  16 B are screwed together. In this configuration, outer member  16 A lies above the surface of housing  12 , whereas at least some of member  15 B (i.e., flange  26 ) lies below the surface of housing  12  and at least some of member  15 B (i.e., threads  22 ) lies above the surface of housing  12 . Notch  27  may be provided in retainer flange  26  to accommodate a flex circuit that is attached to a component mounted in hole  24 . 
     As shown in the top view of outer member  16 A in  FIG. 3 , opening  22  may have a shape that allows the rotational position of member  16 A about axis  28  ( FIG. 2 ) to be controlled during assembly. In the  FIG. 3  example, opening  22  has a hexagonal inner periphery (inner periphery  30 ). This allows a hexagonal tool to engage member  16 A. Other shapes that allow tools to engage member  16 A may be used if desired (e.g., polygons, shapes with curved and straight sides, etc.). 
     As shown in the top view of inner member  16 B in  FIG. 4 , opening  24  in inner member  16 B may a square shape such as square inner periphery  32 . Square openings such opening  24  may accommodate components with rectangular (e.g., square) outlines. As an example, square opening  24  may be used to receive a rectangular camera module. When the camera module is received within square opening  24 , the straight sides of opening  24  serve as alignment features that can help hold the camera module in a desired position and can prevent unintended rotational movement of the camera module. The mounting of a camera module using this type of arrangement is merely illustrative. Other types of components may be mounted in member  16 B if desired. Moreover, opening  24  may have non-rectangular shapes (e.g., other polygonal shapes, shapes with curved and straight sides, circles with alignment notches, other types of shapes such as shapes with other alignment features, etc.). 
     An exploded cross-sectional side view of a portion of device  10  showing how a component such as electrical component  36  may be mounted within square opening  24  of inner member  16 B is shown in  FIG. 5 . Component  36  may be a camera module having a flex circuit pigtail such as flex circuit  38 . Camera module  36  may have a rectangular (cube-shaped) housing with a rectangular (e.g., square) outline when viewed along axis  28 . The square outline of camera module  36  may mate with the square opening shape of opening  24 , thereby preventing camera module  36  from rotating relative to member  16 B. 
     During assembly, threads  22  of member  16 B may engage threads  34  of member  16 A. Lower member  16 B may be held in a desired rotational alignment with respect to housing  12  to prevent undesired tilt. While holding lower member  16 B in its desired position, member  16 A may be rotated to screw members  16 A and  16 B together. This compresses members  16 A and  16 B towards each other along axis  28  (i.e., the longitudinal axis of members  16 A and  16 B). When compressed towards each other, flange  26  on member  16 B may bear against housing  12  within recessed housing portions  40 . Threads  22  may be coated with a thread-locking glue to facilitate permanent attachment of members  16 B and  16 A. To ensure that there is sufficient room to adjust the position of component mounting structure  16  on housing  12 , a gap G may be provided between flange  26  and adjacent portions of housing  12 . 
       FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of device  10  showing how tool  42  may be used to screw outer member  16 A and inner member  16 B together. Tool  42  may have a shaft such as hexagonal shaft  44  that engages the hexagonal opening in outer member  16 A. Tool  42  may use X-Y-Z positioning stages and a rotating positioner to position members  16 A and  16 B in desired locations and to rotate outer member  16 A when screwing members  16 A and  16 B together. When attaching members  16 A and  16 B in this way to housing  12 , the angular (tilt) alignment of opening  24  in inner member  16 B can be controlled (e.g., with a tool that engages opening  24 ). This may help ensure that camera module  36  is not tilted relative to housing  12 A when assembly is complete so that images that are acquired with the image sensor within camera module  36  are not tilted. 
     A perspective view of component mounting structure  16  as viewed from the interior of housing  12  is shown in  FIG. 7 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , housing  12  may have a recessed portion such as groove  46  and retainer flange portion  26  of inner member  16 B may have a notch such as notch  27  to accommodate flex circuit  38  ( FIG. 5 ). As shown in  FIG. 7 , flex circuit  38  may pass through notch  27  to groove  46 . 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative of the principles of this invention and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20100713
Publication Date: 20130205
Grant Date: 20130205
Priority Date: 20100713
Inventors: SANFORD EMERY
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "G03B17/12", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B17/12", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B17/02", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B17/02", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 45467076