Laser ranging module

Abstract

The utility model discloses a laser ranging module, which comprises a substrate assembly, a protective cover and a first filtering element, the substrate assembly comprises a substrate, and a light emitting element and a light receiving element which are connected to one side of the substrate, the light emitting element is provided with an emitting area, and the light receiving element is provided with a first receiving area; the protective cover is connected to the substrate, and the protective cover and the substrate define an inner cavity for accommodating the light emitting element and the light receiving element; the first filtering element is located in the inner cavity, connected to the light receiving element and covers the first receiving area. In a direction from the substrate to the protective cover, a first distance between a surface of the first filter element facing the protective cover and a surface of the protective cover facing the first filter element is 50 [mu] m to 100 [mu] m. According to the utility model, the distance between the light receiving element and the protective cover in the thickness direction and the thickness of the top cover of the protective cover can be reduced, so that the total thickness of the laser ranging module can be reduced, and miniaturization of the laser ranging module is facilitated.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of laser distance measurement, in particular to a laser distance measurement module. Background Art

[0002] Currently, common laser ranging modules mainly consist of a substrate, a protective cover, and a filter. The substrate is equipped with a light emitting chip and a light receiving chip, and the protective cover is connected to the substrate and covers the light emitting chip and the light receiving chip. In related technologies, the filter is connected to the inside of the protective cover. To avoid touching the leads on the substrate, a certain distance needs to be separated from the leads. At the same time, to ensure the strength of the protective cover, the protective cover also needs to be of a certain thickness. These factors have restricted the further miniaturization of laser ranging modules. Utility Model Content

[0003] The present invention aims to solve at least one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. To this end, the present invention proposes a laser ranging module that can reduce the total thickness compared to traditional solutions, thereby facilitating miniaturization of the laser ranging module.

[0004] The laser ranging module according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes:

[0005] A substrate assembly includes a substrate and a light emitting element and a light receiving element connected to one side of the substrate, wherein the light emitting element has an emitting area and the light receiving element has a first receiving area;

[0006] a protective cover connected to the substrate and defining an inner cavity with the substrate for accommodating the light emitting element and the light receiving element, the protective cover having a light emitting hole corresponding to the light emitting element and a light inlet corresponding to the first receiving area;

[0007] a first filter element, located in the inner cavity, connected to the light receiving element and covering the first receiving area;

[0008] Wherein, along the direction from the substrate to the protective cover, a first distance between a surface of the first filter element facing the protective cover and a surface of the protective cover facing the first filter element is 50 μm to 100 μm.

[0009] The laser ranging module according to the first embodiment of the present invention has at least the following beneficial effects:

[0010] In this embodiment, the first filter element is disposed on the light receiving element, and does not contact the leads in the thickness direction. Therefore, the distance between the light receiving element and the protective cover in the thickness direction can be significantly reduced. In addition, since there is no need to consider the impact of the deformation of the protective cover itself on the connection reliability of the first filter element, the thickness of the top cover of the protective cover can also be reduced. In summary, the overall thickness of the laser ranging module can be reduced, which contributes to the miniaturization of the laser ranging module.

[0011] In other embodiments of the present invention, along the direction from the substrate to the protective cover, the total thickness of the laser ranging module is 750 μm to 1000 μm.

[0012] In other embodiments of the present invention, the laser ranging module further includes a light-transmitting first adhesive layer, wherein the first adhesive layer is located between the first filter element and the light receiving element and covers the first receiving area.

[0013] In other embodiments of the present invention, the light receiving element includes a chip body and a microlens, the chip body has the first receiving area, and the microlens is connected to the chip body and covers the first receiving area;

[0014] The laser ranging module further includes a second adhesive layer, which is located between the first filter element and the chip body and surrounds the microlens.

[0015] In other embodiments of the present invention, the second adhesive layer is provided along the circumference of the first filter element.

[0016] In other embodiments of the present invention, the second adhesive layer is configured as a light-shielding adhesive layer.

[0017] In other embodiments of the present invention, the light emitting element further has a second receiving area, the protective cover includes a cover body and a partition wall, the cover body and the substrate define the inner cavity, the partition wall is connected to the cover body and separates the inner cavity into a first cavity and a second cavity, the first receiving area is located in the first cavity, and the second receiving area and the emitting area are located in the second cavity.

[0018] In other embodiments of the present invention, the laser ranging module further includes a second filter element, which is located in the second cavity, connected to the light receiving element and covers the second receiving area.

[0019] In other embodiments of the present invention, a second distance between a surface of the second filter element facing the protective cover and a surface of the protective cover facing the second filter element is 50 μm to 100 μm.

[0020] In other embodiments of the present invention, the first distance is equal to the second distance.

[0021] Additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will be given in part in the following description and will become apparent from the following description or learned through practice of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments, wherein:

[0023] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of a laser ranging module in related technology;

[0024] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a laser ranging module in an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0025] Figure 3 for Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the laser ranging module, showing the distance between the filter element and the protective cover and the total thickness of the laser ranging module;

[0026] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of bonding the filter element and the light receiving element in an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0027] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of bonding the filter element and the light receiving element in another embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] Reference numerals:

[0029] Laser ranging module 10, substrate 11, light receiving element 12, filter 13, protective cover 14, lead 15;

[0030] substrate 100;

[0031] Light emitting element 200, emitting area 210;

[0032] Light receiving element 300, first receiving area 310, second receiving area 320, chip body 330, micro lens 340;

[0033] a first filter element 400;

[0034] a second filter element 500;

[0035] Protective cover 600, light exit hole 610, light entrance hole 620, cover body 630, partition wall 640;

[0036] a first adhesive layer 700;

[0037] The second adhesive layer 800 . DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] The following describes embodiments of the present invention in detail. Examples of the embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals throughout represent the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are intended only to explain the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention.

[0039] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that descriptions involving orientations, such as up, down, front, back, left, right, etc., indicating orientations or positional relationships, are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they cannot be understood as limitations on the present invention.

[0040] In the description of this utility model, "several" means more than one, "plurality" means more than two, "greater than," "less than," and "exceed" are understood to exclude the number itself, while "above," "below," and "within" are understood to include the number itself. The use of the terms "first" and "second" is solely for the purpose of distinguishing technical features and is not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance, implicitly specifying the number of the indicated technical features, or implicitly specifying the order of the indicated technical features.

[0041] In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise clearly defined, terms such as setting, installing, connecting, etc. should be understood in a broad sense, and technicians in the relevant technical field can reasonably determine the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention based on the specific content of the technical solution.

[0042] In the description of the present invention, reference to terms such as "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "illustrative embodiments," "examples," "specific examples," or "some examples" means that the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, the exemplary expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

[0043] Reference Figure 1, shows a schematic diagram of a conventional laser ranging module 10, which includes a substrate 11, a light receiving element 12, a filter 13, a protective cover 14, and leads 15. The light receiving element 12 is connected to one side of the substrate 11, and the leads 15 are connected to the light receiving element 12 and the substrate 11, respectively. The protective cover 14 is connected to the substrate 11 and encloses the light receiving element 12 and the leads 15. The filter 13 is connected to the inner side of the top cover of the protective cover 14 and is positioned corresponding to the light entrance hole on the protective cover 14 and the receiving area on the light receiving element 12. This type of conventional laser ranging module 10 currently has the following requirements: ① Because the filter 13 needs to cover the light entrance hole of the protective cover 14, the filter 13 is relatively large to ensure a sufficient bonding area with the protective cover 14. This may result in the filter 13 extending above the leads 15. To prevent leakage caused by the filter 13 contacting the leads 15, a sufficient safety distance must be maintained between the filter 13 and the leads 15. ② In order to prevent the top cover of the protective cover from being deformed by external forces and causing the filter 13 to fall off, the top cover also needs to have a certain thickness to ensure its own strength. Due to the limitations of the above requirements, it is difficult to further reduce the thickness of the traditional laser ranging module 10.

[0044] In response to the above problems, the present invention proposes a laser ranging module, which can further reduce the thickness by setting a filter element on the light receiving element, thereby helping to achieve a lighter and thinner laser ranging module. Figure 2 The laser ranging module includes a substrate assembly, a first filter element 400 and a protective cover 600.

[0045] The substrate assembly includes a substrate 100, a light emitting element 200 and a light receiving element 300. The light emitting element 200 and the light receiving element 300 are connected to one side of the substrate 100. For example, Figure 2 On the upper side, the light emitting element 200 can emit a laser for detection (for ease of description, referred to as the outgoing light), and the light receiving element 300 has a first receiving area 310. The first receiving area 310 can receive the laser reflected by the object to be measured (for ease of description, referred to as the incident light). In this way, the laser ranging module obtains the distance of the object to be measured based on the relevant parameters between the outgoing light and the incident light (such as time difference, phase difference), etc. In addition, the substrate assembly also includes a lead connecting the light emitting element 200 and the substrate, and a lead connecting the light receiving element 300 and the substrate. Exemplarily, the light emitting element 200 is a laser, such as a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL, Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser). In some embodiments, the first receiving area 310 is arranged on the side of the light receiving element 300 away from the substrate 100, that is, Figure 2 The upper side of the middle.

[0046] The protective cover 600 is connected to the substrate 100 and defines an inner cavity with the substrate 100 to accommodate the light emitting element 200 and the light receiving element 300. For example, the protective cover 600 is a roughly rectangular housing that includes at least a top cover and side covers connected to the bottom cover. The side covers are connected to the substrate 100. To prevent interference from external light, the protective cover 600 is made of an opaque material.

[0047] The protective cover 600 has a light exit hole corresponding to the light emitting element 200 and a light entrance hole corresponding to the first receiving area 310. For example, the light exit hole is correspondingly arranged directly above the light emitting element 200, and the light entrance hole is correspondingly arranged directly above the first receiving area 310, thereby facilitating the emission or injection of the laser, while preventing light from other directions from entering the interior of the laser ranging module.

[0048] The first filter element 400 is located in the inner cavity. In this embodiment, the first filter element 400 is connected to the light receiving element 300 and covers the first receiving area 310. The first filter element 400 is used to filter some wavelengths of light and allow light of specific wavelengths to pass through, such as filtering visible light and allowing infrared light with a wavelength greater than 780nm to pass through. The shape and size of the first filter element 400 are adapted to the first receiving area 310 to ensure that the first filter element 400 can cover the first receiving area 310, that is, the incident light needs to pass through the first filter element 400 before being received by the first receiving area 310. Different from the traditional solution, the first filter element 400 is disposed on the light receiving element 300 in the thickness direction (for example Figure 2 The vertical direction in the vertical direction) will not contact the lead 15, so the distance between the light receiving element 300 and the protective cover 600 in the thickness direction can be significantly reduced, thereby reducing the total thickness of the laser ranging module. Specifically, in this embodiment, referring to Figure 3 Along the thickness direction of the laser ranging module, that is, along the direction from the substrate 100 to the protective cover 600, the first filter element 400 faces the surface of the protective cover 600 (for example Figure 3 the upper surface in the middle) and the surface of the protective cover 600 facing the first filter element 400 (eg Figure 3 The first distance H1 between the lower surface of the middle top cover) is 50 μm to 100 μm, including the two endpoint values ​​of 50 μm and 100 μm, and any value between 50 μm and 100 μm. For example, the first distance is 50 μm, such as Figure 1 In the conventional solution, the distance between the lower surface of the filter 13 and the upper surface of the light receiving element 12 is 135 μm. When the thickness of each component of the laser ranging module remains unchanged, Figure 3 The total thickness of the laser ranging module will be less than Figure 1 The total thickness of the laser ranging module.

[0049] Since there is no need to consider the influence of the deformation of the protective cover 600 on the connection reliability of the first filter element 400, the thickness of the top cover of the protective cover 600 can also be reduced. Based on this, on the basis of the first embodiment, referring to Figure 3 , along the direction from the substrate 100 to the protective cover 600, the total thickness H3 of the laser ranging module is 750μm to 1000μm. It should be noted that when the thickness of each component of the laser ranging module remains unchanged, the minimum thickness limit of such a laser ranging module in traditional solutions is 1000μm. Therefore, the present invention can significantly reduce the total thickness of the laser ranging module.

[0050] On the basis of the first embodiment, the first filter element 400 is connected to the light receiving element 300 by bonding. Figure 4 The laser ranging module further includes a first adhesive layer 700, which is located between the first filter element 400 and the light receiving element 300 and covers the first receiving area 310. This embodiment is applicable when no other structures exist on the surface of the first receiving area 310. In this case, the incident light must first pass through the first adhesive layer 700 before entering the first receiving area 310. Therefore, in this embodiment, the first adhesive layer 700 is configured as a light-transmitting adhesive layer. It should be noted that the first adhesive layer 700 can be made of a known light-transmitting adhesive material.

[0051] On the basis of the first embodiment, the first filter element 400 is connected to the light receiving element 300 by bonding. The difference between this embodiment and the previous embodiment is that the surface of the first receiving area 310 in this embodiment is provided with a micro lens 340. Figure 5 The light receiving element 300 includes a chip body 330 and a microlens 340. The chip body 330 has a first receiving area 310. Exemplarily, the first receiving area 310 is provided on the upper side of the chip body 330. The microlens 340 is connected to the chip body 330 and covers the first receiving area 310. It can converge the incident light so that the incident light can be concentrated on the corresponding first receiving area 310, avoiding the photon loss caused by the incident light irradiating other areas. Exemplarily, the microlens 340 includes a plurality of lens monomers. The lens monomer is provided with an arc-shaped convex surface on the side facing the first filter element 400. The incident light will be concentrated after being incident from the convex surface.

[0052] Based on the above structure, the laser ranging module in this embodiment further includes a second adhesive layer 800. The second adhesive layer 800 is located between the first filter element 400 and the chip body 330 and surrounds the microlens 340. This ensures that the first filter element 400 and the light receiving element 300 are bonded and fixed to each other while avoiding the microlens 340. Exemplarily, the second adhesive layer 800 is configured as an annular adhesive layer, and its thickness is greater than the protrusion height of the microlens 340 from the chip body 330, thereby preventing interference between the first filter element 400 and the microlens 340.

[0053] When the light receiving element 300 includes a chip body 330 and a microlens 340, in some embodiments of the present invention, the second adhesive layer 800 is disposed along the circumference of the first filter element 400. For example, if the first filter element 400 is rectangular, the second adhesive layer 800 is disposed in the form of a rectangular ring. In this embodiment, the second adhesive layer 800 can be pre-attached to the first filter element 400 before bonding the first filter element 400 to the chip body 330. It should be noted that this embodiment does not limit the formation method of the second adhesive layer 800, which can be applied by printing or spraying. At the same time, in this embodiment, the second adhesive layer 800 can be first printed or sprayed on the entire plate of the first filter element 400 and then cut. Alternatively, the entire plate of the first filter element 400 can be cut first and then the second adhesive layer 800 can be applied to the cut first filter element 400. In addition, the second adhesive layer 800 can be formed into a ring shape in one step or in multiple steps. For example, the adhesive layer can be first applied to the entire bottom surface of the first filter element 400 and then the adhesive layer in the middle portion can be removed to form the ring-shaped second adhesive layer 800. For example, a grid-shaped adhesive layer is applied to the entire plate of the first filter element 400 by screen printing. After the adhesive layer is pre-cured, the entire plate is cut to form the first filter element 400 with the second adhesive layer 800 attached thereto, thereby improving production efficiency. The first filter element 400 is then placed on the surface of the chip body 330 and cured at high temperature to achieve fixation between the first filter element 400 and the chip body 330.

[0054] When the light receiving element 300 includes a chip body 330 and a microlens 340, in some embodiments of the present invention, the second adhesive layer 800 is configured as a light-opaque adhesive layer. In other words, the second adhesive layer 800 can serve as a lateral light-shielding structure to prevent incident light from entering the first receiving area 310 through the second adhesive layer 800 without passing through the first filter element 400. It should be noted that the second adhesive layer 800 can be made of a known light-opaque adhesive material.

[0055] Based on the first embodiment, Figure 2 The light receiving element 300 also has a second receiving area 320, which is used to receive the laser emitted by the light emitting element 200. That is, part of the outgoing light emitted by the light emitting element 200 is emitted from the light exit hole, and the other part is received by the second receiving area 320. In this way, the distance of the object to be measured can be obtained by the parameters between the incident light received by the first receiving area 310 and the outgoing light received by the second receiving area 320. Specifically, the outgoing light emitted by the light emitting element 200 is emitted from the light exit hole, and at the same time, the second receiving area 320 starts timing when it receives the light emitted by the light emitting element 200. In this way, the distance of the object to be measured can be obtained by multiplying the time difference between the signal of the light emitted from the light exit hole received by the first receiving area 310 and the light reflected back by the object by the speed of light.

[0056] In this embodiment, the protective cover 600 includes a cover body 630 and a partition wall 640. The cover body 630 and the substrate 100 define an inner cavity. For example, the cover body 630 includes the aforementioned top cover and side covers. The partition wall 640 is connected to the cover body 630 and, together with the chip, separates the inner cavity into a first cavity and a second cavity that are opaque to each other. For example, Figure 2 The cavity on the left is the first cavity, and the cavity on the right is the second cavity. The first receiving area 310 is located in the first cavity, while the second receiving area 320 and the transmitting area 210 are located in the second cavity. This allows the first receiving area 310 and the second receiving area 320 to be spaced apart to avoid mutual interference. In some embodiments, the partition wall 640 and the cover 630 are connected as an integral structure.

[0057] When the light receiving element 300 further has a second receiving area 320, in some embodiments of the present invention, referring to Figure 2 The laser ranging module also includes a second filter element 500 located in the second cavity. The second filter element 500 is connected to the light receiving element 300 and covers the second receiving area 320. The second filter element 500 is used to filter some wavelengths of light and allow light of specific wavelengths to pass through. The shape and size of the second filter element 500 are adapted to the second receiving area 320 to ensure that the second filter element 500 can cover the second receiving area 320. In other words, the outgoing light must pass through the second filter element 500 before being received by the second receiving area 320.

[0058] Similarly, in this embodiment, the second filter element 500 is disposed on the light receiving element 300, which is Figure 2 The vertical direction in the vertical direction) will not contact the lead 15, so the distance between the light receiving element 300 and the protective cover 600 in the thickness direction can be significantly reduced, thereby reducing the total thickness of the laser ranging module. Specifically, in this embodiment, referring to Figure 3In the thickness direction of the laser ranging module, that is, along the direction from the substrate 100 to the protective cover 600, the second filter element 500 faces the surface of the protective cover 600 (eg Figure 3 the upper surface in the middle) and the surface of the protective cover 600 facing the second filter element 500 (eg Figure 3 The second distance H2 between the upper and lower surfaces of the middle top cover is 50 μm to 100 μm, including two endpoint values ​​of 50 μm and 100 μm, and any value between 50 μm and 100 μm.

[0059] In some embodiments, the first distance is equal to the second distance, that is, the thickness of the first filter element 400 is equal to the thickness of the second filter element 500 .

[0060] The embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various modifications can be made within the scope of knowledge possessed by a person skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention. In addition, the embodiments of the present invention and the features of the embodiments can be combined with each other unless there is a conflict.

Claims

1. Laser ranging module, characterized in that: include: A substrate assembly includes a substrate and a light emitting element and a light receiving element connected to one side of the substrate, wherein the light emitting element has an emitting area and the light receiving element has a first receiving area; a protective cover connected to the substrate and defining an inner cavity with the substrate for accommodating the light emitting element and the light receiving element, the protective cover having a light emitting hole corresponding to the light emitting element and a light inlet corresponding to the first receiving area; a first filter element, located in the inner cavity, connected to the light receiving element and covering the first receiving area; Wherein, along the direction from the substrate to the protective cover, a first distance between a surface of the first filter element facing the protective cover and a surface of the protective cover facing the first filter element is 50 μm to 100 μm.

2. The laser ranging module according to claim 1, characterized in that: Along the direction from the substrate to the protective cover, the total thickness of the laser ranging module is 750 μm to 1000 μm.

3. The laser ranging module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The laser ranging module further includes a light-transmissive first adhesive layer, which is located between the first filter element and the light receiving element and covers the first receiving area.

4. The laser ranging module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The light receiving element includes a chip body and a microlens, the chip body has the first receiving area, and the microlens is connected to the chip body and covers the first receiving area; The laser ranging module further includes a second adhesive layer, which is located between the first filter element and the chip body and surrounds the microlens.

5. The laser ranging module according to claim 4, characterized in that: The second adhesive layer is arranged along the circumference of the first filter element.

6. The laser ranging module according to claim 4, characterized in that: The second adhesive layer is configured as a light-shielding adhesive layer.

7. The laser ranging module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The light emitting element also has a second receiving area. The protective cover includes a cover body and a partition wall. The cover body and the substrate define the inner cavity. The partition wall is connected to the cover body and separates the inner cavity into a first cavity and a second cavity. The first receiving area is located in the first cavity, and the second receiving area and the emitting area are located in the second cavity.

8. The laser ranging module according to claim 7, characterized in that: The laser ranging module also includes a second filter element, which is located in the second cavity, connected to the light receiving element and covers the second receiving area.

9. The laser ranging module according to claim 8, characterized in that: A second distance between a surface of the second filter element facing the protective cover and a surface of the protective cover facing the second filter element is 50 μm to 100 μm.

10. The laser ranging module according to claim 9, characterized in that: The first distance is equal to the second distance.

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