/Patent Tracker
SamsungPatent applicationPhones & computersInterest 4/10

Samsung patents camera cover that lets sound reach microphone

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

Samsung describes a phone design where a protective cover over the camera has a small hole that aligns with a hole in the phone's back. This setup allows sound to pass through the cover and into the device's microphone without blocking the camera lens.

Why it mattersIt offers a potential way to keep microphones working when a phone is covered by a case or protective film.

In the filing’s own words

An electronic device includes a housing. The housing includes a rear cover defining an opening and a first hole. The electronic device includes a camera. The camera is disposed in the housing such that a lens of the camera is positioned within the opening when the lens of the camera is viewed from a rear side of the housing. The electronic device includes a camera cover defining a second hole acoustically coupled to the first hole and disposed on the rear cover to cover the opening and the first hole. The camera cover includes a light transmitting portion aligned to the lens of the camera. The electronic device includes a microphone configured to receive sound waves from an outside of the electronic device passing through the second hole of the camera cover and subsequently passing through the first hole of the rear cover.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. An electronic device comprising: a housing including a rear cover defining an opening and a first hole, a camera disposed in the housing such that a lens of the camera is positioned within the opening when the lens of the camera is viewed from a rear side of the housing, a camera cover defining a second hole acoustically coupled to the first hole and disposed on the rear cover to cover the opening and the first hole, the camera cover including a light transmitting portion aligned with the lens of the camera, and a microphone configured to receive sound waves from an outside of the electronic device passing through the second hole of the camera cover and subsequently passing through the first hole of the rear cover.

Facts

Company
Samsung (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)
Official title
ELECTRONIC DEVICE INCLUDING STRUCTURE FOR RECEIVING SOUND SIGNAL
Publication number
US20260303719A1
Application number
19459203
Filed
Jan 26, 2026
Published
Oct 1, 2026
Inventors
5
Claims
20

Classified under

H04M 1/035 Electricity & electronicsH04M 1/0264 Electricity & electronicsH04M 1/18 Electricity & electronicsH04N 23/51 Electricity & electronicsH05K 5/03 Electricity & electronicsH05K 7/1427 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

More from Samsung in Phones & computers

Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.