Portable electronic device having a rotatable camera

• US 6,922,212 B2
• Filed: 01/06/2003
• Issued: 07/26/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Connected Technologies Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Nakamichi, Kiyoshi, Kawai, Hiroyuki, Nakakubo, Koji, Takada, Katsumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Tuan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Long, Heather R.
• Application Number:
  US10/336,829
• Publication Number:
  US 20040017479A1
• Time in Patent Office: 932 Days
• Field of Search: 348/373, 348/376, 348/552, 348/375, 348/207.1, 348/208.16, 348/333.06, 348/14.01, 348/14.03, 455/556, 455/557, 455/566, 455/66, 396/291, 396/429
• US Class Current: 348/373
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00307 with a mobile telephone apparatus constructional features of portable telephone sets H04M1/0202; mobile radio systems H04W84/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2007/145 Handheld terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2101/00 Still video cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/50 Constructional details

Abstract

A portable electronic device is capable of protecting a camera against impact from outer peripheries of a casing, and clearly indicating the passage of the camera through an image-inversion position. A camera (30) is rotatably installed in a casing (40). Windows (40d, 40e), through which the camera is able to view the outside of the casing and to be operated to rotate by a user, are formed in a front wall (40a) and a rear wall (40b), respectively, of the casing. Each of frames enclosing the windows, respectively, has a part which lies near an outer peripheral side of the casing and which is constituted by a bridge portion (44) connected with the casing. In this construction, all the outer peripheral sides of the camera (30) excepting those corresponding to the front and rear sides of the casing are covered with the casing and the bridge portion (44). As a result, an impact applied to the camera from a peripheral side of the casing adjacent to the bridge portion can be blocked by the bridge portion. In addition, when the camera is rotated to move the shooting or picture-taking plane thereof to the front side or the rear side of the casing, the image on the display becomes dark at a time for example, and hence the user is able to clearly recognize that the camera has passed an image-inversion position. A control part performs prescribed control based on an image of a wall of the casing which is taken by the camera and which lies between the front side and the rear side.

Claims

1. A portable electronic device including a camera rotatably mounted on a casing having a front wall and a rear wall, and a display for displaying thereon an image taken by said camera at the front wall of said casing, wherein

said camera is arranged in said casing at a location between the front side and the rear side thereof;

said casing has a pair of windows which are formed in, and enclosed on their peripheries by, the front and rear walls thereof, respectively, said camera is rotated by the user through respective openings in said pair of windows and allowed to view the outside of said casing so as to ensure its field of view; and

said camera is rotatably supported on said casing through a rotational operation mechanism which is rotated using said pair of windows formed in the front and rear walls, respectively, thereby changing a direction of view of said camera in a range between a direction of said front wall and a direction of said rear wall.

2. A portable electronic device comprising:

a casing having a front wall and a rear wall;

a camera disposed in a space between said front and rear walls of said casing so as to be rotatable in a direction from said front wall to the rear wall or vice versa;

a display provided on said front wall of said casing for displaying thereon an image taken by said camera;

a first window which is formed in said front wall of said casing and through which said camera is able to view the outside of said casing and said camera rotated using said first window;

a second window which is formed in said rear wall of said casing, and through which said camera is able to view the outside of said casing and said camera rotated using said second window; and

a bridge portion disposed in a peripheral portion of said casing connecting between said front and rear walls of said casing for forming a part of each of frames for said first and second windows, wherein the user rotates the camera through an opening in one of the first window and the second window.

3. The portable electronic device as set forth in claim 2, wherein

said casing has an end wall in said peripheral portion of said casing for connecting between corresponding ends of said front wall and said rear wall;

said first window is formed to extend from said front wall to said end wall; and

said second window is also formed to extend from said rear wall to said end wall.

4. The portable electronic device as set forth in claim 3, wherein

said end wall has a thickness equal to a distance between said front wall and said rear wall, and a width in a direction perpendicular to a thicknesswise direction;

and

said bridge portion extends in the widthwise direction of said end wall and has a thickness less than that of said end wall.

5. The portable electronic device as set forth in claim 2, wherein

said bridge portion has such a width that it is able to cover the whole or a part of a prescribed proportion or more of the shooting range of said camera at least at a certain rotational position of said camera during the time when said camera is being rotated to reach the bridge portion.

6. The portable electronic device as set forth in claim 2, wherein

said bridge portion includes a prescribed pattern, a picture of which is to be taken by said camera.

7. The portable electronic device as set forth in claim 2, wherein

said bridge portion is integrally molded to said casing.

8. The portable electronic device as set forth in claim 2, wherein

an image display panel with said display mounted thereon and a switch operation panel with a switch mounted thereon are integrally connected with each other in a foldable manner;

and

said camera is disposed between said display and an outer peripheral portion of said casing of said image display panel.

9. The portable electronic device as set forth in claim 8, wherein

said camera is rotatable about an axis which is parallel to a folding axis about which said image display panel and said switch operation panel are foldable with respect to each other.

10. The portable electronic device as set forth in claim 8, wherein said camera is rotatable about an axis perpendicular to a folding axis about which said image display panel and said switch operation panel are foldable with respect to each other.

11. A portable electronic device comprising:

a casing having a front wall and a rear wall;

a camera disposed in a space between said front and rear walls of said casing so as to be rotatable in a direction from said front wall to the rear wall or vice versa;

a display provided on said front wall of said casing for displaying thereon an image taken by said camera;

a first window which is formed in said front wall and through which said camera is able to view the outside of said casing;

a second window which is formed in said rear wall and through which said camera is able to view the outside of said casing;

a bridge portion disposed in a peripheral portion of said casing connecting between said front and rear walls of said casing for forming a part of each of frames for said first and second windows; and

a control part for performing prescribed control based on an image of said bridge portion taken by said camera.

12. The portable electronic device as set forth in claim 11, wherein said bridge portion includes a prescribed pattern which is to be photographed by said camera, said control part being operable to perform said prescribed control based on an image of said prescribed pattern taken by said camera.

13. The portable electronic device as set forth in claim 11, wherein said control part performs an indication on said display to the effect that a shooting plane of said camera has been changed from said front side to said rear side or vice versa.

14. A portable electronic device as set forth in claim 11, wherein said control part controls said display in such a manner that an inverted image taken by said camera is turned upside down to provide an erect image on said display.

15. A portable electronic device including a camera and a display for displaying an image taken by said camera, said camera and said display being disposed in a casing, wherein

said camera is disposed in, and mounted on, said casing for rotation in a direction from a front side to a rear side of said casing or vice versa;

said casing has a pair of windows formed at its front side and rear side, respectively, through which said camera views the outside of said casing; and

a control part is provided for performing prescribed control based on an image of a wall of said casing which is taken by said camera and which lies between said front side and said rear side.

16. A portable electronic device including a camera and a display for displaying an image taken by said camera, comprising:

a casing having a front wall and a rear wall, said casing having a pair of windows formed in, and enclosed on their peripheries by, the front and rear walls, said pair of windows allowing a user to rotate said camera and

allowing said camera to take images from a front side or a rear side of said casing; and

a control part controlling said display in said portable electronic device such that said image taken by said camera from either said front side or said rear side of said casing is always displayed on said display as an upright image by automatically turning an inverted image upside down.

17. The electronic device as set forth in claim 16, wherein said casing further comprises a bridge portion disposed in a peripheral portion of said casing connecting said front and rear walls of said casing.

18. The electronic device as set forth in claim 17, wherein said bridge portion includes a prescribed pattern that is to be photographed by said rotatable camera or sensed by a photosensor.

19. The electronic device as set forth in claim 18, wherein said control part determines if a direction of said rotatable camera has changed from a front side to a rear side or vice versa based on said prescribed pattern or based on a signal sensed by said photosensor.