Sliding Shutter with Interlocking Plate for Optical Sensor Vibration Damping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional camera covers for electronic devices, such as webcams, are either inexpensive but aesthetically visible and prone to aging, or complex and expensive to produce, and do not effectively mitigate vibrations that can interfere with sensitive equipment like set-top boxes.
Innovation Solution
A simplified shutter system comprising a plate and a cover with a protection and handling strip, featuring male and female member pairs for engagement, allowing the cover to slide between active and inactive positions, which is aesthetically superior, vibration-reducing, and cost-effective to produce.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If an adhesive cover is used to conceal the camera, then the cost is low and the structure is simple, but the cover becomes visible over time and deteriorates the appearance of the product
Solution Approach 1:
The shutter is divided into two separate components: a plate that is fixed to the device housing and a cover that slides over it. This segmentation allows the cover to be easily manufactured and replaced while maintaining a clean, integrated appearance when assembled, resolving the contradiction between low manufacturing cost and aesthetic stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover is designed to slide over the plate, with the plate serving as a base structure and the cover as an outer protective element. This nested arrangement provides a sleek, unified appearance that maintains aesthetic quality over time while keeping individual components simple and inexpensive to manufacture.
2Stability of the object's composition
If a sliding cover is used to conceal the camera, then the aesthetic appearance is improved, but the structure becomes complex and expensive to produce
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the shutter into a fixed plate and a sliding cover, the design achieves a clean aesthetic appearance without requiring a complex integrated mechanism. Each component is simple in structure, reducing manufacturing complexity and cost while maintaining visual appeal.
Solution Approach 2:
The sliding mechanism is extracted as a simple linear motion between two flat components (plate and cover), removing unnecessary complexity. This extraction of the essential sliding function into its simplest form maintains aesthetic appearance while minimizing structural complexity.
3Device complexity
If a conventional cover is used to conceal the camera, then the structure is simple, but vibrations are not mitigated which can interfere with sensitive equipment
Solution Approach 1:
The engagement between the plate and cover creates a buffered connection that absorbs and dampens vibrations before they can reach the optical sensor. This prior cushioning effect is built into the structure through the interlocking design of the two components, providing vibration mitigation without adding complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The shutter assembly combines two distinct components (plate and cover) that work together to provide both structural simplicity and vibration damping. The composite structure of engaged parts creates beneficial mechanical properties that reduce harmful vibrations while maintaining overall structural simplicity.
Data Source
AI summary
A shutter includes a plate, a cover having a protection and a strip for handling the protection, the cover being capable of being moved relative to the plate between an active position and an inactive position, at least one male member/female member pair arranged, one on the plate and the other on the cover, such that the engagement of the male member and of the female member temporarily blocks in position the cover in at least one of its two positions. Electronic equipment includes the shutter.