OPPO's sliding camera structure enables multi-angle shooting on mobile devices

In mid-2020, OPPO submitted a design patent for an electronic device to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and officially announced it to the outside world on January 28, 2021. It included a front camera technology that can move left and right to support multi-angle selfies.

With the improvement of living standards and the pursuit of higher quality of life, people have higher requirements for smartphones. It is no longer a simple mobile communication tool, and the requirements for its user experience are higher. For example, with regard to the photo function, the shooting pixels are constantly improved, and a variety of shooting modes have been developed.

In the prior art, when users take photos, the front and rear cameras usually take photos at fixed angles, so it is impossible to obtain more pictures at the same angle. For this reason, OPPO applied for an invention patent named "Electronic Device" (application number: 201910654942.4) on July 19, 2019, and the applicant is OPPO Guangdong Mobile Communications Co., Ltd.

Based on the relevant information currently disclosed in the patent, let us take a look at this movable camera solution.

As shown in the figure above, it is a three-dimensional diagram of the partial structure of the electronic device invented in the patent. It can be seen that the camera is located on the right side of the device. The device 100 includes a housing 1, a guide block 2, a camera 3 and a driving mechanism 5. A slide groove 11 is provided on the housing 1 for installing the guide block, and the guide block can slide along the length direction of the slide groove, and the camera is set on the guide block.

As shown in the figure above, it is a three-dimensional diagram of the driving mechanism, camera and guide block, in which the camera 3 is located on the right side, and the inner wall surface of the slide groove and the outer wall surface of the guide block are provided with a guide protrusion 21 and a guide groove 12 matching the protrusion. Through the mutual cooperation of these two structures, the guiding function of the guide block can be realized, thereby improving the reliability of the guide block moving in the slide groove.

This structure is also designed to allow the camera to move with the movement of the guide block. Users can achieve multi-angle shooting by moving the camera without changing the shooting distance and angle, so as to obtain images from more different angles, thus solving the problem of only being able to obtain a single scene in a fixed shooting angle.

In order to facilitate the movement of the guide block, a driving mechanism is also provided in the shell, which is connected to the guide block to drive the guide block to slide along the slide groove, thereby realizing automatic movement of the camera and facilitating the movement of the camera.

In addition, a guide rail bracket 4 is provided inside the mobile device. The bracket is arranged inside the shell and has a recessed portion 41. The inner wall surface of the recessed portion and the inner wall surface of the shell jointly define a slide groove, thereby making the structure inside the shell more compact, facilitating the layout of other components inside the shell, and also helping to reduce the overall volume of the device.

Finally, as shown in the above figure, it is the main view of this electronic device. The camera is located on the left side. It also includes a display assembly 7, and the display assembly is arranged on the shell. The camera 3 is located between the display assembly and the shell. The display assembly also includes a stacked cover plate and a display screen. It can be seen from the figure that a light hole is provided in the area opposite to the display screen and the slide groove, so that the camera can receive light through the light hole, thereby realizing the shooting function.

The above is the patent for the slidable camera structure invented by OPPO. This solution drives the camera to slide along the length of the groove by setting a groove in the housing and a guide block that can slide in the groove. When the distance and angle between the device and the user do not change, multi-angle shooting can be achieved by moving the camera, so as to obtain more pictures from different angles, solving the problem of only being able to obtain a single scene in a fixed shooting angle, and greatly improving the user's photo-taking experience.