KR20110022260A - Camera module - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a camera module, and more particularly, to a camera module in which the fine focusing is possible, the focusing driving is implemented at low power, and the structure thereof is simplified.

The camera module of the present invention has an entrance hole for passing an optical image of a subject on one side thereof, and has a cylindrical lens module having a plurality of lenses therein, an actuator for reciprocating the lens module in one direction, and the lens module and actuator. Includes therein, and includes a case for guiding the reciprocating movement of the lens module, the actuator, the operation electrode for applying power; It characterized in that it comprises an electro wetting body for moving the lens module by the power on / off of the operation electrode.

Description

Camera Module {CAMERA MODULE}

The present invention relates to a camera module, and more particularly, to a camera module in which the fine focusing is possible, the focusing driving is implemented at low power, and the structure thereof is simplified.

Generally The compact camera module is compact and is applied to portable mobile communication devices such as camera phones, PDAs and smart phones and various IT devices.

Such a camera module is manufactured by using an image sensor such as a CCD or a CMOS as a main component, and is manufactured to enable focus adjustment to adjust an image size.

In this case, the camera module includes a plurality of lenses, and the optical focal length is adjusted by installing a driving source to move each lens to change its relative distance.

Specifically, the camera module includes an image sensor for converting an optical signal into an electrical signal, a lens and an IR filter for condensing light with the image sensor, a housing including them therein, and a printed circuit board for processing a signal from the image sensor. The lens is attached to the inside of the lens module coupled to the bobbin is positioned on the image sensor, the voice coil motor (VCM) or piezoelectric drive source is installed as a drive source is adjusted the distance between the lens module and the image sensor. .

An actuator including a voice coil motor that plays a pivotal role in autofocus driving of the compact camera module is reciprocated in one direction to focus on a subject.

Recently, as the camera for a mobile device has developed into a high pixel, the unit pixel size of the image pickup device becomes smaller, and as the pixel size becomes smaller, the depth of depth becomes shallower. Therefore, it becomes difficult to obtain a clear photographed image over a large area, thereby compensating the above disadvantages by adjusting the focus. The focus adjustment as described above is performed by an actuator inside the camera module. As described above, the focus is provided using a VCM motor or a piezoelectric drive source.

The method using the VCM motor has a relatively simple structure, easy to manufacture small, but has a weak impact resistance and high power consumption. In addition, the method using the piezoelectric drive source has an advantage of having a wide range of strokes, but the drive circuit is complicated and expensive.

In addition, the use of the VCM motor or the piezoelectric drive source has a disadvantage in that it is difficult to perform fine focusing.

An object of the present invention for solving the above problems is to provide a camera module having a simple structure and easy fine focusing.

The camera module of the present invention for achieving the above object is formed with an entrance hole for passing the optical image of the subject on one side and a cylindrical lens module accommodated therein a plurality of lenses, and for reciprocating the lens module in one direction It includes an actuator, the lens module and the actuator therein, and includes a case for guiding the reciprocating movement of the lens module, the actuator comprises: an operation electrode for applying power; It characterized in that it comprises an electro wetting body for moving the lens module by the power on / off of the operation electrode.

In addition, in the camera module of the present invention, at least one operation electrode is installed on the inner surface of the case, and the electrowetting body is installed on the outer surface of the lens module corresponding to the position of the operation electrode. It features.

In addition, the camera module of the present invention is characterized in that the outer surface of the lens module is further formed with a groove in which the electrowetting body is seated.

In addition, the camera module of the present invention is characterized in that it further comprises a plurality of elastic means for guiding the movement and the original home position of the lens module between the case and the lens module.

As described above, the present invention performs the focusing adjustment using the electrowetting body, and thus, there is an advantage in that the precise focusing is possible.

In addition, it is possible to drive at a low power by implementing the actuator through the operating electrode and the electrowetting body, there is an advantage that the structure is made simple.

As the inventive concept allows for various changes and numerous embodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the written description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, it should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Terms including ordinal numbers such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the components are not limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the second component may be referred to as the first component, and similarly, the first component may also be referred to as the second component.

When a component is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another component, it may be directly connected to or connected to that other component, but it may be understood that other components may be present in between. Should be. On the other hand, when a component is said to be "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another component, it should be understood that there is no other component in between.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In the present application, the terms "comprises", "having", and the like are used to specify that a feature, a number, a step, an operation, an element, a component, But do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

Now, a camera module according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The same or corresponding components are denoted by the same reference numerals regardless of the reference numerals, and redundant description thereof will be omitted.

1 is a perspective view of a camera module according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a partially cutaway exploded perspective view of the camera module shown in Figure 1, Figures 3 to 5 are views for explaining the movement of the lens module in the camera module to be.

The camera module according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a printed circuit board 60, an image sensor 70 disposed on the printed circuit board 60 to convert an optical signal into an electrical signal, and the printed circuit board ( And a case 10 and a lens module 40 coupled to and installed at 60. The case 10 is combined with the printed circuit board 60 to form a space, and the lens module 40 accommodates a plurality of lenses in the space, and the lens module 40 in one direction, that is, in the drawing And an actuator (30; 31, 32, 50; 51, 52, 80) to be driven up and down.

An IR filter (not shown) for filtering infrared rays may be mounted on an inner lower side of the lens module 40. By the actuators 30; 31 and 32 and 50 and 51 and 52 and 80, the lens module 40 moves up and down on the drawing, and it is possible to perform an auto focus function.

In this case, a plurality of elastic means (51, 52) in the elastic direction in the movement direction of the lens module 40 between the inner surface of the case 10 and the outer surface of the lens module 40 is provided in the case (10) It is installed. The elastic means 51 and 52 guide the movement of the lens module 40 and restore the initial position, which will be described in detail below.

The actuators 30 and 31 and 32 and 50 and 51 and 52 and 80 are provided with operation electrodes 31 and 32 installed on the inner surface of the case 10 so as to face each other. 32 is provided with water repellent layers 31a and 32a. Electro wetting for reciprocating the lens module 40 in one direction according to power applied to the operating electrodes 31 and 32 between the respective operation electrodes 31 and 32 and the outer surface of the lens module 40 facing each other. A plurality of sieves 80 are installed, the outer surface of the lens module 40 is provided with a groove to accommodate a part of the electro-wetting body 80, water repellent on the outer surface of the lens module 40 including the groove Layer 42 is provided.

 The electrowetting body 80 is implemented as a drop oil (Droplet), having a plurality of layers containing water therein, the electrowetting body 80 in the present embodiment is a material for the plurality of layers It is preferable to maintain the spherical or cuboid shape by appropriate selection, and to change the shape of its own in accordance with the application of the power of the operation electrodes 31 and 32 to move to the electrode to which the power is applied.

The operation of the camera module of the present embodiment as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

3 is a view showing the original state, the state in which the position of the lens module 40 is maintained by a plurality of elastic means (51, 52) acting in the direction of movement of the lens module (40) It is showing. At this time, when the power is applied to the top and the top of the operation electrodes 31 and 32 in the drawing on the fourth, as shown in FIG. 4, the electrowetting body 80 moves to the electrode side to which the power is applied. As the electrowetting body 80 moves, the lens module 40 accommodating the electrowetting body 80 on its outer surface also moves to the upper side in the drawing. In this process, that is, by applying power to the operation electrodes (31,32) it is possible to move the lens module 40. At this time, as shown in Figure 5, the upper elastic means 51 has elasticity to push against the direction of movement of the lens module 40, the lower elastic means 52 and the direction of movement of the lens module 40 On the contrary, it attracts elasticity. When the power supply is maintained in the above state, the position is fixed, that is, the focus can be kept fixed.

Subsequently, when the power is released to the operation electrodes 31 and 32, the lens module 40 is returned to the position as shown in FIG. 3 by the respective elastic means 51 and 52, and vice versa. In the drawing, when the lens module 40 is moved to the lower side to focus, it is possible to move the lens module 40 to the lower side by applying power to the lower side.

One embodiment of the present invention described above should not be construed as limiting the technical spirit of the present invention. The protection scope of the present invention is limited only by the matters described in the claims, and those skilled in the art can change and change the technical idea of the present invention in various forms. Therefore, such improvements and modifications will fall within the protection scope of the present invention as long as it will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

1 is a perspective view of a camera module according to an embodiment of the present invention

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway exploded perspective view of the camera module shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

3 to 5 are views for explaining the movement of the lens module in the camera module

Claims (4)

An incident hole for passing an optical image of the subject on one side is formed, and a cylindrical lens module in which a plurality of lenses are accommodated; An actuator for reciprocating the lens module in one direction; Including the lens module and the actuator therein, and includes a case for guiding the reciprocating movement of the lens module, The actuator is An operation electrode for applying power; A camera module comprising an electro wetting body to move the lens module by the power on / off of the operation electrode. The method of claim 1, At least one operation electrode is installed on the inner surface of the case, At least two electrowetting bodies are installed on an outer surface of the lens module corresponding to the position of the operation electrode. The method of claim 2, The outer surface of the lens module, the camera module is further formed with a groove in which the electrowetting body is seated. The method of claim 1, And a plurality of elastic means between the case and the lens module for guiding the movement and initial position of the lens module.

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