SMA Actuating Mechanism, Anti-Shake Actuator and Camera Module

Abstract

The present invention discloses a SMA actuating mechanism, an anti-shake actuator and a camera module; the SMA actuating mechanism includes: an SMA wire that can be electrically contracted; two actuators that are symmetrically arranged, the actuator includes an elastic part and a connecting rod; one end of the elastic part is connected to the connecting rod, and the other end is used for fixing; one end of the two connecting rods is connected to the elastic part, and the other ends of the two connecting rods are respectively connected to both ends of the SMA wire; the two elastic parts are arranged adjacent to each other, and an included angle A is formed between the two connecting rods. The SMA actuating mechanism of the present invention has a large stroke, can avoid mutual influence between actuating mechanisms, and can also drive the driven part to move smoothly.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of electronics, and particularly to an SMA actuating mechanism, an anti-shake actuator, and a camera module. Background Art

[0002] An actuating device is a commonly used driving mechanism in the field of electronics and can be used to drive a camera module to achieve anti-shake or focusing. SMA refers to shape memory alloy, which is a driving element in the actuating device. SMA is a material composed of more than two metal elements that has a shape memory effect (SME) through thermoelasticity and martensitic phase transformation and its reverse transformation. SMA can be deformed at a lower temperature, shrink and deform after being heated by electricity, and return to the shape before deformation after cooling, thereby achieving electrically controllable contraction.

[0003] Currently, there is an SMA actuating mechanism, which includes two support parts, two connecting rods, two elastic arms, and an SMA wire. One end of each connecting rod is connected to a support part through an elastic arm, and the two ends of the SMA wire are respectively connected to the two connecting rods. When in use, the two support parts need to be fixed, and then the other ends of the connecting rods are connected to the driven part. Thus, the connecting rods can be swung by the contraction of the SMA wire, and further the driven part can be moved in a direction perpendicular to the SMA wire; the stroke of this SMA actuating mechanism for driving the driven part can exceed the length of the contraction of the SMA wire, so it has a large stroke, which is beneficial to the miniaturization of the SMA actuating mechanism; however, since the two connecting rods and the SMA wire of this SMA actuating mechanism need to form a structure approximately in the shape of a triangle, the ends of the two connecting rods connected to the driven part need to be fixedly connected to the same position or adjacent positions of the driven part in order to drive the driven part to move in a set direction; when it is necessary to drive the driven part to move in different directions through multiple actuating mechanisms, since the connecting rods are connected to the driven part, the SMA actuating mechanism in one direction will affect the movement of the driven part in another direction; and since the connection driving points of this SMA actuating mechanism and the driven part are at the same position or adjacent positions, it is not stable to drive the driven part to move through this SMA actuating mechanism. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present invention aims to at least solve one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. For this purpose, the present invention provides an SMA actuating mechanism with a large stroke, capable of avoiding mutual influence between actuating mechanisms, and capable of driving the driven part to move smoothly.

[0005] The present invention also provides an anti-shake actuator having the above SMA mechanism, and a camera module having the above anti-shake actuator.

[0006] According to the first aspect of the present invention, the SMA actuation mechanism includes: an SMA wire that can be contracted by electricity; two actuating bodies are provided and are symmetrically arranged, and the actuating bodies include an elastic part and a connecting rod; one end of the elastic part is connected to the connecting rod, and the other end is used for fixing; one end of the two connecting rods is connected to the elastic part, and the other ends of the two connecting rods are respectively connected to the two ends of the SMA wire; the two elastic parts are arranged adjacent to each other, and an angle A is formed between the two connecting rods.

[0007] The SMA mechanism according to the embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention has at least the following advantageous effects: the SMA actuating mechanism of the present invention can drive the driven member by abutting the connecting rod against the driven member, thereby effectively avoiding the impact caused by using multiple SMA actuating mechanisms to drive the driven member in different directions; when driving the driven member by the above-mentioned SMA actuating mechanism, one end of the elastic portion is first fixed, and then the sides of the two connecting rods facing away from the elastic portion are connected to the driven member or abut the driven member, and then the SMA wire is energized to contract it. At this time, the elastic portion will deform, allowing the SMA wire to drive the connecting rod to swing, thereby driving the driven member to move, and the displacement of the driven member can be greater than the contraction of the SMA wire; and because the above-mentioned SMA actuating mechanism pushes the driven member by the two ends of the two connecting rods that are far away from each other, the process of driving the driven member to move is smoother than driving the driven member from the same position or two adjacent positions.

[0008] According to some specific embodiments of the present invention, a first protrusion is provided at one end of the connecting rod connected to the SMA wire, and the end of the SMA wire is connected to the first protrusion.

[0009] According to some embodiments of the present invention, a bending portion is provided at one end of the connecting rod connected to the SMA wire, and the bending portion forms an angle B with the plane where the connecting rod body is located.

[0010] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the elastic portion includes an elastic curved surface, which is arranged perpendicular to the plane where the connecting rod body is located, and one end of the elastic curved surface is connected to the connecting rod.

[0011] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the elastic portion includes a fixing surface, which forms an angle C with the elastic curved surface and is disposed at one end of the elastic curved surface for fixing the elastic portion.

[0012] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the elastic part includes a connecting surface, which forms an angle D with the elastic bending surface. The elastic part is connected to the connecting rod through the connecting surface. A second protrusion is provided at one end of the connecting rod connected to the elastic part, and the connecting surface is fitted and connected to the second protrusion.

[0013] An anti-shake actuator according to an embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention includes the SMA actuating mechanism according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention.

[0014] The anti-shake actuator according to the second aspect embodiment of the present invention has at least the following beneficial effects: Since the anti-shake actuator needs to drive the lens assembly and the like at least along two different directions perpendicular to the optical axis of the lens assembly, multiple actuating mechanisms are usually required. By using the above-mentioned SMA actuating mechanism, the SMA actuating mechanism can be installed only in a manner of abutting against the lens assembly, thereby preventing the SMA actuating mechanism in one direction from affecting the driving of the lens assembly by the SMA actuating mechanism in the other direction.

[0015] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the anti-shake actuator includes a bottom plate, the SMA actuating mechanism is arranged on the bottom plate, and the elastic part is fixedly connected to the bottom plate.

[0016] According to some embodiments of the present invention, two SMA actuating mechanisms are set as a group. The two SMA actuating mechanisms in the same group are respectively arranged corresponding to two adjacent sides of the bottom plate, and one or two groups of SMA actuating mechanisms are arranged on the bottom plate.

[0017] The camera module according to the third aspect embodiment of the present invention includes the anti-shake actuator according to the second aspect embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] The camera module according to the third aspect embodiment of the present invention has at least the following beneficial effects: When the camera module performs anti-shake operation, it can prevent the SMA actuating mechanism in one direction in the camera module from affecting the driving of the lens assembly by the SMA actuating mechanism in the other direction, thereby improving the anti-shake effect of the camera module. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0019] The above and / or additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will become obvious and easy to understand from the description of the embodiments in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

[0020] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of the SMA actuating mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 2 is a schematic structural diagram of the elastic part according to the embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 3 is a schematic structural diagram of the anti-shake actuator according to the embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 4 is a schematic structural diagram of the camera module according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Reference Signs:

[0025] SMA actuating mechanism 100, bottom plate 200, lens body frame 300;

[0026] SMA wire 110, elastic part 120, elastic bending surface 121, fixing surface 122, connecting surface 123, connecting rod 130, first protrusion 131, bending part 132, second protrusion 133. Detailed implementation mode

[0027] The embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below. The examples of the embodiments are shown in the drawings, where the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements with the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below by referring to the drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain the present invention and should not be construed as a limitation of the present invention.

[0028] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by terms such as up, down, front, back, left, right, etc. is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings. It is only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and thus should not be construed as a limitation of the present invention.

[0029] In the description of the present invention, the meaning of several is one or more, the meaning of multiple is more than two, and understandings such as greater than, less than, exceeding, etc. do not include the present number, and understandings such as above, below, within, etc. include the present number. If there is a description of first and second, it is only for the purpose of distinguishing technical features and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the quantity of the indicated technical features or implicitly indicating the sequence relationship of the indicated technical features.

[0030] In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise clearly defined, words such as setting, installation, connection, etc. should be understood in a broad sense, and those skilled in the art can reasonably determine the specific meanings of the above words in the present invention in combination with the specific content of the technical solution.

[0031] Refer to Figure 1 , according to the SMA actuating mechanism 100 of the first aspect embodiment of the present invention, it includes an SMA wire 110 and an actuating body; the SMA wire 110 can be electrically contracted; there are two actuating bodies and they are symmetrically arranged. The actuating body includes an elastic part 120 and a connecting rod 130; one end of the elastic part 120 is connected to the connecting rod 130, and the other end is for fixing; one ends of the two connecting rods 130 are both connected to the elastic part 120, and the other ends of the two connecting rods 130 are respectively connected to the two ends of the SMA wire 110; the two elastic parts 120 are arranged adjacent to each other, and an included angle A is formed between the two connecting rods 130. Specifically, the range of the included angle A can be set as an obtuse angle greater than 90 degrees.

[0032] In this embodiment, it is fixed by two elastic parts 120. After the two elastic parts 120 are fixed, the entire SMA actuating mechanism 100 will present a generally triangular structure. At this time, when the SMA wire 110 is energized to contract, the elastic parts 120 will undergo elastic deformation to allow the SMA wire 110 to drive the connecting rod 130 to rotate. As a result, a movement component perpendicular to the SMA wire 110 will be generated at the end of the connecting rod 130 far from the elastic part 120. Therefore, even if the end of the connecting rod 130 far from the elastic part 120 is directly abutted against the driven part, the driven part can be pushed to move; the abutting state allows relative movement in another direction (parallel to the direction of the SMA wire 110) between the driven part and the connecting rod 130. Thus, when multiple SMA actuating mechanisms 100 are required to drive the driven part from different directions, it can be avoided that one SMA actuating mechanism 100 in one direction affects the driving of the driven part by the SMA actuating mechanism 100 in another direction; moreover, by virtue of the generally triangular structure formed among the connecting rod 130, the SMA wire 110, and the elastic part 120, the displacement of the driven part can be made greater than the contraction amount of the SMA wire 110; and, since the above SMA actuating mechanism 100 pushes the driven part through the two ends of the two connecting rods 130 that are far from each other, compared with driving the driven part from the same position or two adjacent positions, the process of driving the driven part to move will be smoother.

[0033] Reference Figure 1 , according to some specific embodiments of the present invention, in order to facilitate the connection of the SMA wire 110, a first protrusion 131 is provided at one end of the connecting rod 130 for connecting the SMA wire 110, and the end of the SMA wire 110 is connected to the first protrusion 131. Specifically, the first protrusion 131 protrudes from the connecting rod 130 toward the side away from the elastic part 120, and the first protrusions 131 on the two connecting rods 130 are symmetrically arranged.

[0034] Reference Figure 1 , according to some embodiments of the present invention, a bent portion 132 is provided at one end of the connecting rod 130 for connecting the SMA wire 110, and the bent portion 132 forms an angle B with the plane where the main body of the connecting rod 130 is located. By providing the bent portion, the SMA actuating mechanism 100 can drive a driven part that is not in the same plane as the main bodies of the two connecting rods 130, such as driving a lens assembly located above the main bodies of the two connecting rods 130. Specifically, the bent portions 132 on the two connecting rods 130 are bent toward the same side and are symmetrically arranged, and the angle B is 90 degrees. Of course, according to the actual situation, in some other embodiments, the bent portions 132 on the two connecting rods 130 can also be bent in opposite directions, and the value of the angle B can also be other angle values such as 15 degrees, 30 degrees, 60 degrees, 120 degrees, 150 degrees, etc.

[0035] Reference Figure 2, according to some embodiments of the present invention, the elastic part 120 includes an elastic bending surface 121 which is arranged perpendicular to the plane where the main body of the connecting rod 130 is located, and one end of the elastic bending surface 121 is connected to the connecting rod 130. By providing the elastic bending surface 121 and making it perpendicular to the plane where the main body of the connecting rod 130 is located, the elastic deformation direction of the elastic part 120 can be made suitable for the swing of the connecting rod 130, facilitating the SMA wire 110 to more easily drive the connecting rod 130.

[0036] Reference Figure 2 , according to some embodiments of the present invention, in order to facilitate the fixation of the elastic part 120, the elastic part 120 includes a fixing surface 122 which forms an angle C with the elastic bending surface 121 and is arranged at one end of the elastic bending surface 121 for fixing the elastic part 120. Specifically, the angle C is set to 90 degrees so as to fix the elastic part 120 on the plane parallel to the main bodies of the two connecting rods 130, thereby facilitating the driving of the driven part to move on the plane parallel to the main bodies of the two connecting rods 130.

[0037] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 , according to some embodiments of the present invention, in order to facilitate the connection between the elastic part 120 and the connecting rod 130, the elastic part 120 includes a connecting surface 123 which forms an angle D with the elastic bending surface 121. The elastic part 120 is connected to the connecting rod 130 through the connecting surface 123, and a second protrusion 133 is provided at one end of the connecting rod 130 where it connects to the elastic part 120, and the connecting surface 123 is adhesively connected to the second protrusion 133. Specifically, the connection between the connecting surface 123 and the second protrusion 133 can be achieved by welding, or alternatively, adhesive bonding can also be selected.

[0038] Reference Figure 3 , the following describes the anti - shake actuator according to the embodiments of the second aspect of the present invention. The anti - shake actuator includes the SMA actuating mechanism 100 according to the embodiments of the first aspect of the present invention.

[0039] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the anti - shake actuator further includes a bottom plate 200. The SMA actuating mechanism 100 is arranged on the bottom plate 200, and the elastic part 120 is fixedly connected to the bottom plate 200. Specifically, the elastic part 120 is adhesively connected to the bottom plate 200 through the fixing surface 122.

[0040] According to some embodiments of the present invention, at least two SMA actuating mechanisms 100 are provided in the anti-shake actuator, so that the anti-shake actuator can at least drive the lens assembly to move above the bottom plate 200 along two mutually perpendicular directions; the outer contour of the bottom plate 200 is set to be square, and two SMA actuating mechanisms 100 are set as a group, and the two SMA actuating mechanisms 100 in the same group are respectively arranged corresponding to two adjacent sides of the bottom plate 200; specifically, the SMA wires 110 in the SMA actuating mechanism 100 are arranged along the direction parallel to the edge of the bottom plate 200, so that each SMA actuating mechanism 100 can drive the lens assembly to move along the direction perpendicular to the corresponding edge of the bottom plate 200.

[0041] The anti-shake actuator can choose to set a group of SMA actuating mechanisms 100, or can choose to set two groups of SMA actuating mechanisms 100. When only one group of SMA actuating mechanisms 100 is set, two elastic reset structures can be set, so that the lens assembly can automatically reset along two directions, and these two directions are respectively set in the opposite direction to the actuating directions of the two SMA actuating mechanisms 100. When two groups of SMA actuating mechanisms 100 are set, the actuating directions of the SMA actuating mechanisms 100 in different groups are set in opposite directions in pairs, that is, the four SMA actuating mechanisms 100 are respectively arranged corresponding to the four sides of the bottom plate 200, and the actuating directions of the two opposite SMA actuating mechanisms 100 are opposite.

[0042] Since the anti-shake actuator needs to drive the lens assembly and the like along at least two different directions perpendicular to the optical axis of the lens assembly to drive the lens assembly, therefore, by adopting the above-mentioned SMA actuating mechanism 100, the SMA actuating mechanism 100 can be installed only in a manner of abutting against the lens assembly, so as to avoid the SMA actuating mechanism 100 in one direction affecting the driving of the lens assembly by the SMA actuating mechanism 100 in the other direction.

[0043] Reference Figure 4 , the following describes the imaging module of the third aspect embodiment of the present invention, and the imaging module includes the anti-shake actuator of the second aspect embodiment of the present invention.

[0044] The imaging module further includes a lens assembly, and the lens assembly includes a lens body frame 300, and the lens body frame 300 is provided with a lens hole for installing a lens; the lens assembly is arranged above the bottom plate 200 and the SMA actuating mechanism 100, and the SMA actuating mechanism 100 abuts against the lens assembly; both ends of the two connecting rods 130 in the SMA actuating mechanism 100 far away from the elastic part 120 abut against the lens assembly, specifically, abut through the bent part 132 bent upward.

[0045] When the camera module performs anti-shake operations, it can prevent the SMA actuating mechanism 100 in one direction within the camera module from affecting the driving of the lens module by the SMA actuating mechanism 100 in another direction, thereby improving the anti-shake effect of the camera module.

[0046] The following refers to Figures 1 to 4 , and a specific embodiment is used to describe in detail the SMA actuating mechanism 100, the anti-shake actuator, and the camera module according to the embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood that the following description is only an exemplary illustration and not a specific limitation of the invention.

[0047] The camera module of this embodiment includes the anti-shake actuator of this embodiment, and the anti-shake actuator of this embodiment includes the SMA actuating mechanism 100 of this embodiment.

[0048] The SMA actuating mechanism 100 includes an SMA wire 110 and an actuating body; the SMA wire 110 can be electrically contracted; there are two actuating bodies which are symmetrically arranged, and the actuating body includes an elastic part 120 and a connecting rod 130; one end of the elastic part 120 is connected to the connecting rod 130, and the other end is for fixing; one ends of the two connecting rods 130 are both connected to the elastic part 120, and the other ends of the two connecting rods 130 are respectively connected to both ends of the SMA wire 110; the two elastic parts 120 are arranged adjacent to each other, and an obtuse angle A is formed between the two connecting rods 130.

[0049] The elastic part 120 includes an elastic bending surface 121, a fixing surface 122, and a connecting surface 123; the elastic bending surface 121 is arranged perpendicular to the plane where the main body of the connecting rod 130 is located; the fixing surface 122 forms an angle C with the elastic bending surface 121, and is arranged at one end of the elastic bending surface 121, and the angle value of the angle C is 90 degrees; the connecting surface 123 forms an angle D with the elastic bending surface 121, the connecting surface 123 is arranged at the other end of the elastic bending surface 121, and the angle value of the angle D is 90 degrees.

[0050] One end of the connecting rod 130 is provided with a second protrusion 133, the other end is provided with a first protrusion 131 and an upwardly bent bending part 132; the connecting surface 123 is adhesively connected to the second protrusion 133, and both ends of the SMA wire 110 are respectively connected to the two first protrusions 131. The bending part 132 forms an angle B with the plane where the connecting rod 130 is located, and the angle B is 90 degrees.

[0051] The anti-shake actuator further includes a bottom plate 200. The outer contour of the bottom plate 200 is set to be square, and four SMA actuator mechanisms 100 are provided on the bottom plate 200. The four SMA actuator mechanisms 100 are respectively arranged corresponding to the four sides of the bottom plate 200. The SMA wires 110 of the SMA actuator mechanisms 100 are respectively arranged parallel to the four sides of the bottom plate 200, and the actuation directions of two opposite SMA actuator mechanisms 100 are opposite; the elastic parts 120 in the SMA actuator mechanisms 100 are all fixedly attached to the bottom plate 200 through the fixing surfaces 122.

[0052] The camera module further includes a lens assembly. The lens assembly includes a lens body frame 300, and the lens body frame 300 is provided with a lens hole for installing a lens; the lens assembly is arranged above the bottom plate 200 and the SMA actuator mechanisms 100, and the SMA actuator mechanisms 100 are in contact with the lens assembly. Specifically, they are in contact with the bottom of the lens body frame 300 through the bending parts 132.

[0053] According to the SMA actuator mechanism 100, the anti-shake actuator and the camera module of the embodiments of the present invention, through such settings, at least the following technical effects can be achieved:

[0054] When the two elastic parts 120 are fixed, the entire SMA actuator mechanism 100 will present a generally triangular structure. At this time, when the SMA wire 110 is energized to contract, the elastic part 120 will generate elastic deformation to allow the SMA wire 110 to drive the connecting rod 130 to rotate. As a result, a movement component perpendicular to the SMA wire 110 will be generated at the end of the connecting rod 130 away from the elastic part 120. Therefore, even if the end of the connecting rod 130 away from the elastic part 120 is directly in contact with the lens assembly, the lens assembly can be pushed to move; the contact state allows relative movement in another direction (the direction parallel to the SMA wire 110) between the lens assembly and the connecting rod 130. Thus, when multiple SMA actuator mechanisms 100 drive the lens assembly from different directions, it can be avoided that one SMA actuator mechanism 100 in one direction affects the driving of the lens assembly by another SMA actuator mechanism 100 in another direction; and, since the above-mentioned SMA actuator mechanism 100 pushes the lens assembly through the two ends of the two connecting rods 130 that are away from each other, compared with driving the lens assembly from the same position or adjacent positions, the driving process will be more stable.

[0055] The above has described the embodiments of the present invention in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Within the knowledge scope of those of ordinary skill in the technical field, various changes can also be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

Claims

1. SMA actuation mechanism, characterized in that, include: An SMA wire, wherein the SMA wire is electrically contractible; The actuator body is provided with two and is symmetrically arranged, and the actuator body includes an elastic part and a connecting rod; one end of the elastic part is connected to the connecting rod, and the other end is used for fixing; one end of each of the two connecting rods is connected to the elastic part, and the other end of the two connecting rods is respectively connected to the two ends of the SMA wire; the two elastic parts are arranged adjacent to each other, and an angle A is formed between the two connecting rods; the elastic part is fixedly connected to the bottom plate of the anti-shake actuator, and when the SMA wire is energized to contract, the elastic part is elastically deformed so that the SMA drives the connecting rod to rotate, and the motion component perpendicular to the SMA generated by the end of the connecting rod away from the elastic part directly abuts the end of the connecting rod away from the elastic part against the driven member; the end of the connecting rod connected to the SMA wire is provided with a bent part, and the bent part forms an angle B with the plane where the connecting rod body is located; the end of the connecting rod connected to the SMA wire is provided with a first protrusion, and the end of the SMA wire is connected to the first protrusion.

2. The SMA actuation mechanism according to claim 1, wherein: The elastic portion includes an elastic curved surface, and the elastic curved surface is arranged perpendicular to the plane where the connecting rod body is located.

3. The SMA actuation mechanism according to claim 2, wherein: The elastic portion includes a fixing surface, which forms an angle C with the elastic curved surface and is disposed at one end of the elastic curved surface for fixing the elastic portion.

4. The SMA actuation mechanism according to claim 2, wherein: The elastic part includes a connecting surface, which forms an angle D with the elastic curved surface. The elastic part is connected to the connecting rod through the connecting surface. A second protrusion is provided at one end of the connecting rod connected to the elastic part, and the connecting surface is fitted and connected to the second protrusion.

5. An anti-shake actuator, characterized in that: The invention comprises the SMA actuation mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. The anti-shake actuator according to claim 5, characterized in that A bottom plate is included, the SMA actuating mechanism is arranged on the bottom plate, and the elastic part is fixedly connected to the bottom plate.

7. The anti-shake actuator according to claim 6, wherein: The two SMA actuating mechanisms are arranged as a group. The two SMA actuating mechanisms in the same group are respectively arranged corresponding to two adjacent sides of the bottom plate. One or two groups of SMA actuating mechanisms are arranged on the bottom plate.

8. A camera module, characterized in that: The anti-shake actuator comprises the anti-shake actuator according to any one of claims 5 to 7.

Images