FLASH SHUTTER MECHANISM AND METHOD OF OPERATING SAME

摘要

The invention concerns a flash shutter mechanism (105) and a method (200) of operating same. The mechanism can include a flash (114) that may illuminate when an image is captured and a lens (116) that can cover the flash, including when the flash is illuminated. The lens can have a substantially transparent state and a substantially opaque state. In particular, the lens can be in the substantially transparent state when a camera mode is activated and can be in the substantially opaque state when the camera mode is deactivated. In one arrangement, the shutter mechanism can be positioned in a camera phone (100), and when the lens is in the substantially opaque state, the lens can have a color that may substantially match a portion of a housing (118) of the camera phone. The lens may also cover an image capture device (112).