Patent Application
20160127620
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera module, particularly to a camera module comprising a pivot and a lens barrel, so that the pivot serves as an axis for the lens barrel to rotate. The present invention also provides an electronic device having said camera module, and using said camera module to shoot images rotatably.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
Most mobile phones or tablets have built-in cameras. In earlier times, the image sensor is equipped with one hundred thousand pixels, leading to vague images. Nowadays, the image sensor has twenty million pixels, and the image quality can compare to the general level of a digital camera. The mobile phone or the tablet having the camera module is one of the most important developments in the electronic device recently.
The zoom ways can be generally divided into two ways, one is digital zoom, and the other is optical zoom. In the past, many mobile phone manufacturers have invented optical zoom mobile phones. However, the optical zoom needs many sets of lens to achieve the zoom, so the mobile phone is thick. Now, the mobile phone and the tablet are expected to be thin and light, so that most of the mobile phone manufacturers disregard the optical zoom and adopt digital zoom for setting a front camera lens and a rear camera lens, and most of the image sensors are CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor). However, the image quality is bad after digital zoom, and although most of the electronic devices are equipped with ten million pixels image sensor, it is still hard to achieve high magnification and high resolution image by the optical zoom.
Therefore, the market begins to provide a connectorized camera lens having optical zoom, which can be connected to the mobile phone or tablet by a supporter, to achieve high magnification and high resolution image. However, the connectorized camera lens having optical zoom needs to be carried as an additional peripheral product. It is inconvenient to install and remove the connectorized camera lens before and after photographing, and the instant timing of pressing the shutter release is easily lost. Besides, the connectorized camera lens having optical zoom is connected onto the built-in camera lens of the mobile phone or tablet, and the disadvantages are loose contact, light leakage, or difficulty with focusing by the built-in camera. Therefore, the disadvantages in prior art should be solved.
According to the above description, the present invention provides a camera module comprising a pivot and a lens barrel, so that the pivot serves as an axis for the lens barrel to rotate. The present invention also provides an electronic device having said camera module and using said camera module to shoot images rotatably.
The objective of the invention is to provide a camera module, comprising a pivot and a lens barrel. The pivot comprises a first end portion and a second end portion opposite to the first end portion. The lens barrel is connected to the pivot and comprises a camera lens, a focusing structure located on the lens barrel, and a pivoting portion opposite to the camera lens. The pivoting portion can rotatably pivot on the first end portion of the pivot.
Preferably, the second end portion of the pivot further comprises a USB plug.
Preferably, the focusing structure is a rotatable focusing structure.
Preferably, the camera lens further comprises lens elements opposite to the pivoting portion.
Preferably, the lens barrel further comprises a motor in the lens barrel.
More preferably, the focusing structure is an electrical focusing structure having a pushrod.
The camera module further comprises a body, the body comprising an engaging end and an abutment surface adjacent to the engaging end; wherein the engaging end is connected to the second end portion of the pivot of the camera module.
Preferably, the engaging end of the body is removably connected to the second end portion of the pivot.
More preferably, the engaging end of the body further comprises a USB slot, and the USB plug of the second end portion of the pivot is fitted in the USB slot of the engaging end.
Preferably, the second end portion is mounted in the engaging end of the body.
Preferably, the body is a mobile phone, a tablet, a laptop, a screen or a media player.
The advantages of the present invention are:
1. The camera module of the present invention has small volume and a pivot, and the camera module can be telescopically rotated when an electronic device is equipped with the camera module, so that the camera module can shoot images from multi-faceted perspectives.
2. The electronic device having the camera module of the present invention can be immediately launched for shooting without additional assembling and disassembling, due to the combination design of the camera module and the electronic device. And the camera module comprises the optical lens barrel that is telescopic, so that the camera module can shoot high magnification and high resolution images.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
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The lens barrel 20 is connected to the pivot 10 and comprises a camera lens 21, a focusing structure 22 located on the lens barrel 20, and a pivoting portion 23 opposite to the camera lens 21. The camera lens 21 further comprises lens elements 211 opposite to the pivoting portion 23, shooting images via optical zoom mode. The focusing structure 22 is a rotatable focusing structure. The pivoting portion 23 can rotatably pivot on the first end portion 11 of the pivot 10. In another preferred embodiment, the lens barrel 20 further comprises a motor 24 in the lens barrel 20, and the focusing structure 22 is an electrical focusing structure having a pushrod.
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The present invention of the cameral module can be added to the electronic device that already has both front and rear camera lenses. The image sensor of the camera module can be charge coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS).
Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and features of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
