Camera Assembly with Retractable Lens Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Camera assemblies in electronic devices, particularly those on the back side, tend to experience wear and tear due to frequent contact with surfaces, leading to lens damage.
Innovation Solution
A camera assembly design featuring a housing with a press-type PUSH-PUSH component and sliding groove, allowing the camera component to switch between protruding and retracting states, utilizing a hook element, elastic component, and heart-shaped sliding groove to mitigate wear and tear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the camera assembly is provided on the back side of the electronic device, then the device structure is compact and integrated, but the lens tends to be worn and torn due to frequent contact with surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The camera assembly is designed to dynamically switch between a retracted state (inside the housing) and a protruding state (extending outward). The sliding groove enables the camera component to move along a predetermined path, allowing it to retract when not in use to avoid contact with surfaces and protrude when needed for photography, thus resolving the contradiction between integration and lens protection
Solution Approach 2:
The camera assembly is segmented into movable and stationary components. The camera component can independently slide within the housing along the sliding groove, separating the lens protection function from the overall device structure. This segmentation allows the lens to be protected by retracting while maintaining the compact integrated design
2Reliability
If a sapphire lens is provided to reduce wear and tear, then lens durability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of relying solely on material durability (sapphire lens), the invention introduces a dynamic structural solution where the entire camera assembly can retract. This approach protects the lens through motion control rather than material substitution, avoiding the increased complexity that would result from integrating sapphire materials while maintaining lens durability
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the camera component can retract inside the housing, then lens protection is improved, but the device complexity increases due to additional mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The camera assembly utilizes the pressing force from the user's finger (or a simple actuator) to drive the camera component along the sliding groove. The elastic component provides automatic return force to push the camera back to its initial position after retraction. This self-service mechanism achieves lens protection through simple, intuitive user interaction rather than complex automated systems
Solution Approach 2:
The sliding groove acts as an intermediary structure that guides and constrains the camera component's motion. By providing a predetermined sliding path, the groove simplifies the retraction mechanism while ensuring the camera moves along a controlled trajectory, reducing the complexity of the overall protection mechanism
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design effectively reduces lens wear and tear by allowing the camera to retract inside the housing, maintaining functionality and preventing damage from external contact.
Implementation Method 1
an elastic component, configured to store energy when the camera component is in the first state and release the energy to push the camera component to the second state
Implementation Method 2
a pressure-sensitive component provided inside the housing and configured to detect when the camera component receives the pressing operation
Data Source
Figure 1~1A
Figure 2~2A
Figure 2B~2C
AI summary
Disclosed are a camera assembly and an electronic device, which pertain to the field of mechanical design. The camera assembly (10) includes a housing (110), a camera component (120) provided inside the housing and a PUSH-PUSH component (130); one end of the PUSH-PUSH component is connected to the housing and the other end thereof is connected to the camera component; a sliding groove is formed inside the housing for the camera component to slide therealong; and the camera component is configured to, when receiving a press operation, switch between a first state of protruding from the housing and a second state of retracting inside the housing under the guidance of the PUSH-PUSH component. This solves the problem in the related art that the camera assembly is provided on the back side of an electronic device and the lens thereof tends to be worn since the back side of the electronic device often contacts a table, and achieves the effect that the lens of the camera assembly is switchable between protruding from the housing and retracting inside the housing and thus the wear and tear of the lens is reduced.