Imaging module and electronic device

Abstract

An imaging module and an electronic device including the imaging module are provided. The imaging module includes an imaging lens system, an imaging element, a first circuit board, at least three passive components, and a second circuit board. The imaging element is on the image side of the imaging lens system and has a photosensitive area corresponding to the imaging lens system. The imaging element and the passive components are disposed on the first circuit board. Each passive component has a first lead and a second lead. The second circuit board corresponds to the first circuit board and includes a connector and a plurality of circuits electrically connected to the connector. The first lead and the imaging element are electrically connected and disposed on the first circuit board. The second lead forms a contact on the first circuit board. The number of contacts is less than the number of passive components. The contact is electrically connected to at least one circuit.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an imaging module and an electronic device, and more particularly to an imaging module applicable to an electronic device. [Background technology]

[0002] With the development of semiconductor manufacturing technology, the performance of image sensors has improved and their pixel size has decreased. Therefore, high image quality has become one of the essential features of today's optical systems. In addition, with the rapid change in technology, electronic devices installed in optical systems are becoming more and more multifunctional for various applications, and the functional requirements for optical systems are also increasing.

[0003] Typically, the imaging element of an optical system is placed on one circuit board, while other components such as capacitors, resistors, inductors, transformers, and various passive and active electronic components are placed on another circuit board. These components are electrically connected through multiple contacts on both circuit boards. However, this configuration increases the number of contacts on the two circuit boards, complicates the integration of the two circuit boards, hinders the improvement of manufacturing defect rates, and results in a decrease in production efficiency. In addition, since the imaging element and other electronic components are placed on separate circuit boards, this separation tends to increase the noise level between them. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] An object of the present disclosure is to provide an imaging module and an electronic device including the imaging module. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, an imaging module includes an imaging lens system, an imaging element, a first circuit board, and a second circuit board. Preferably, the imaging module further includes at least three passive components. The imaging element is disposed on the image side of the imaging lens system and has a photosensitive region disposed corresponding to the imaging lens system. The imaging element is disposed on the first circuit board. Preferably, the passive components are disposed on the first circuit board, and each of the passive components has a first lead and a second lead. The second circuit board is disposed corresponding to the first circuit board, and includes a connector and a plurality of circuits electrically connected to the connector. Preferably, the first lead of the passive component and the imaging element are electrically connected and disposed on the first circuit board. Preferably, the second lead of the passive component forms at least one contact on the first circuit board. The number of the at least one contact is less than the number of the at least three passive components, and the contact is electrically connected to at least one of the circuits of the second circuit board.

[0006] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an imaging module includes an imaging lens system, an imaging element, a first circuit board, and a second circuit board. Preferably, the imaging module further includes at least three electronic components. The imaging element is disposed on the image side of the imaging lens system and has a photosensitive region disposed corresponding to the imaging lens system. The imaging element is disposed on the first circuit board. Preferably, the electronic components are disposed on the first circuit board, each of the electronic components having a first lead and a second lead. The second circuit board is disposed corresponding to the first circuit board and includes a connector and a plurality of circuits electrically connected to the connector. Preferably, the first lead of the electronic component and the imaging element are electrically connected and disposed on the first circuit board. Preferably, the second lead of the electronic component forms at least one contact on the first circuit board. The number of the at least one contact is less than the number of the at least three electronic components, and the contact is electrically connected to at least one of the circuits of the second circuit board.

[0007] According to another aspect of the disclosure, an electronic device includes one of the imaging modules described above. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] The present disclosure can be better understood by reading the following detailed description of the embodiments, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of an imaging module according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the imaging module of FIG. 1 without a molding material. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the imaging module of FIG. 1 without the molding material. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a partial exploded view of the imaging module of FIG. 1 without the molding material. [Diagram 5] 2 is another partial exploded view of the imaging module of FIG. 1 without the molding material. [Figure 6] 1A-1C are schematic diagrams illustrating various connection configurations between contacts of a first circuit board and contacts of a second circuit board according to the present disclosure. [Figure 7] 1A-1C are schematic diagrams illustrating various connection configurations between contacts of a first circuit board and contacts of a second circuit board according to the present disclosure. [Figure 8] 1A-1C are schematic diagrams illustrating various connection configurations between contacts of a first circuit board and contacts of a second circuit board according to the present disclosure. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a perspective view of one side of an electronic device according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] 10 is a perspective view of the other side of the electronic device of FIG. 9. [Figure 11] 4 is an example of an image captured by the super-wide-angle imaging module. [Figure 12] 1 is an example of an image captured by a high-pixel imaging module. [Figure 13] 4 is an example of an image captured by the telephoto imaging module. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. However, it will be apparent that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures or devices are shown in schematic form to simplify the drawings.

[0011] The present disclosure provides an imaging module, which includes an imaging lens system, an imaging element, a first circuit, at least three electronic components, and a second circuit board.

[0012] The imaging element is located on the image side of the imaging lens system and has a photosensitive area disposed corresponding to the imaging lens system, and the imaging element can be disposed on the first circuit board and located at an image plane of the imaging lens system.

[0013] The electronic components are disposed on a first circuit board, and each of the electronic components has a first lead and a second lead. The electronic components may be, for example, passive components or active components, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The passive components may be, for example, resistors, capacitors, inductors, or transformers, and the active components may be, for example, transistors, diodes, or integrated circuits (ICs). When the number of electronic components is N, 3≦N≦600 may be satisfied. The electronic components may be, for example, pin-through-hole components or surface-mount components. When the electronic components are pin-through-hole components, the first and second leads of the electronic components may be pin-type leads. When the electronic components are surface-mount components, the first and second leads of the electronic components may be terminal electrodes, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0014] The second circuit board is disposed corresponding to the first circuit board and includes a connector and a plurality of circuits electrically connected to the connector. The first circuit board and the second circuit board may be, for example, an integrated circuit (IC) board, a printed circuit board (PCB), or a flexible printed circuit board (FPC), but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0015] The first lead of the electronic component and the imaging element are electrically connected and disposed on the first circuit board. The second lead of the electronic component forms at least one contact on the first circuit board, and the at least one contact on the first circuit board is electrically connected to at least one of the circuits on the second circuit board. The first lead of the electronic device is electrically connected to the imaging element, for example, via some circuits printed on the first circuit board, and the second lead of the electronic component forms at least one contact on the first circuit board, for example, via one or more of the other circuits printed on the first circuit board. The number of the at least one contact on the first circuit board is less than the number of the electronic components. In one exemplary configuration, the number of electronic components is N, and the number of contacts formed by the second lead of the first circuit board is N-1, where N is 3 or more. In this arrangement, the N-1 contacts are each electrically connected to the N-1 circuits of the second circuit board. In another exemplary configuration, the second lead of the electronic component forms one contact on the first circuit board, i.e., the number of contacts formed by the second lead on the first circuit board is one. In this configuration, the one contact is electrically connected to one of the circuits on the second circuit board.

[0016] According to the present disclosure, by arranging electronic components (e.g., passive or active components) on a first circuit board and simplifying the circuit wiring of the first circuit board for electrical connection with a second circuit board, the number of contacts between the first circuit board and the second circuit board can be minimized, reducing the complexity of pairing the first circuit board and the second circuit board, lowering the manufacturing defect rate, and thereby improving production efficiency. Also, by arranging both the electronic components and the imaging element on the first circuit board, the electronic components and the imaging element can be closer to each other, which helps reduce noise.

[0017] At least one of the circuits of the second circuit board can have at least one contact, and the contact of the first circuit board formed by the second lead of the electronic component can be electrically connected with at least one contact of at least one of the circuits of the second circuit board. Also, the at least one contact of the first circuit board can be connected with the at least one contact of the second circuit board via a method such as, for example, pin grid array (PGA), land grid array (LGA), or ball grid array (BGA) packaging, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Please refer to FIG. 6 to FIG. 8, which are schematic diagrams illustrating various connection configurations between the contacts of the first circuit board and the contacts of the second circuit board according to the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6, the contact A1 of the first circuit board P1 is connected with the contact A2 of the second circuit board P2 via PGA packaging. As shown in FIG. 7, the contact A1 of the first circuit board P1 is connected with the contact A2 of the second circuit board P2 via LGA packaging. As shown in Fig. 8, the contacts of the first circuit board P1 are connected to the contacts A2 of the second circuit board P2 via BGA packaging. Note that in Figs. 6 to 8, the first circuit board has a plurality of contacts A1 and the second circuit board P2 has a plurality of contacts A2, but this is merely an example and the present disclosure does not limit the number of contacts. For example, in some exemplary configurations, the number of contacts of the first circuit board may be one, and the number of contacts of the second circuit board may be one.

[0018] The second lead of the electronic component can be grounded to the first circuit board. Therefore, by grounding a plurality of electronic components to the first circuit board collectively, the number of contacts between the first circuit board and the second circuit board can be reduced, which is advantageous for efficient wiring.

[0019] The second circuit board may further include a stiffener. The stiffener and the connector are disposed on opposite sides of the second circuit board, and the connector is disposed on a side of the second circuit board corresponding to the first circuit board. Thus, the stiffener can increase the rigidity of the second circuit board to support the connector. Also, the stiffener may be a metal part, thereby providing an electromagnetic interference (EMI) shield, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0020] In some example configurations, one or more electronic components may also be disposed on a second circuit board, although this disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0021] In one exemplary configuration, the imaging module can further include a molding compound that can be used to encapsulate the module, and the gold wires, solder points, and other components, as well as the module, can be packaged together on the first circuit board to prevent exposure of these components, thereby avoiding subsequent complications in the manufacturing process due to exposure of the components. Thus, by using the molding compound to encapsulate the imaging lens system and the imaging element on the first circuit board, the first circuit board can be quickly mated with a corresponding second circuit board, thereby speeding up the manufacturing process.

[0022] According to the present disclosure, there is provided an electronic device, the electronic device including the imaging module described above.

[0023] According to the present disclosure, the above features and conditions can be utilized in numerous combinations to achieve corresponding effects.

[0024] In accordance with the above description of the present disclosure, the following specific embodiments are provided for further illustration.

[0025] First Embodiment Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an imaging module according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the imaging module of Fig. 1 without a molding material. Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the imaging module of Fig. 1 without a molding material. Fig. 4 is a partial exploded view of the imaging module of Fig. 1 without a molding material. Fig. 5 is another partial exploded view of the imaging module of Fig. 1 without a molding material.

[0026] The imaging module 1 includes an imaging lens system 10, an imaging element 11, a first circuit board 12, a molding material 13, a plurality of electronic components 14, and a second circuit board 15.

[0027] The imaging element 11 is disposed on the image side of the imaging lens system 10, and has a photosensitive area 110 disposed corresponding to the imaging lens system 10. The imaging element 11 is also disposed on a first circuit board 12.

[0028] The molding material 13 is molded onto the first circuit board 12 and is in physical contact with the imaging lens system 10 , thereby stabilizing the relative position of the first circuit board 12 and the imaging lens system 10 .

[0029] The electronic components 14 are disposed on the first circuit board 12, and each of the electronic components has a first lead and a second lead (these leads are not designated by reference numerals). The electronic components 14 are either passive or active components.

[0030] The second circuit board 15 is disposed corresponding to the first circuit board 12, and includes a connector 150, a plurality of circuits 151 and 152 electrically connected to the connector 150, and a stiffener 153. The connector 150 and the stiffener 153 are disposed on opposing surfaces S1 and S2 of the second circuit board 15, and the connector 150 is disposed on the surface S1 of the second circuit board 15 corresponding to the first circuit board 12.

[0031] A first lead of the electronic component 14 is electrically connected to the imaging element 11 via a circuit 121 of the first circuit board 12, and both are disposed on the first circuit board 12. A second lead of the electronic component 14 is electrically connected to a circuit 122 of the first circuit board 12, and the second lead forms one contact point A1 on the first circuit board 12 via the circuit 122. The second lead is also grounded to the first circuit board 12.

[0032] One of the circuits 151 of the second circuit board 15 has a contact A 2 , which is electrically connected to the contact A 1 of the first circuit board 12 .

[0033] <Second embodiment> Please refer to Figures 9 and 10. Figure 9 is a perspective view of one side of an electronic device according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 10 is a perspective view of the other side of the electronic device of Figure 9.

[0034] In this embodiment, the electronic device 200 is a smartphone that includes multiple imaging modules, a flash module 201, a focus assist module 202, an image signal processor 203, a display module (user interface) 204, and an image software processor (not shown).

[0035] These imaging modules include an ultra-wide-angle imaging module 100a, a high pixel imaging module 100b, a telephoto imaging module 100c, and a telephoto imaging module 100d. The telephoto imaging module 100d may be, for example, the imaging module 1 described in the first embodiment of the present disclosure. The ultra-wide-angle imaging module 100a, the high pixel imaging module 100b, and the telephoto imaging module 100c are also imaging modules of the present disclosure, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0036] An image captured by the super wide-angle imaging module 100a has a feature that a plurality of objects are captured in the image. Fig. 11 shows an example of an image captured by the super wide-angle imaging module 100a.

[0037] An image captured by the high pixel imaging module 100b has the characteristics of high resolution and little distortion, and the high pixel imaging module 100b can capture a part of the image in Fig. 11. Fig. 12 is an example of an image captured by the high pixel imaging module 100b.

[0038] The image captured by the telephoto imaging module 100c or 100d has a feature of high optical magnification, and the telephoto imaging module 100c or 100d can capture a part of the image in Fig. 12. Fig. 13 is an example of an image captured by the telephoto imaging module 100c or 100d. The maximum field of view of the imaging module corresponds to the field of view in Fig. 13.

[0039] When a user photographs an object, light beams converge on the ultra-wide-angle imaging module 100a, the high pixel imaging module 100b, the telephoto imaging module 100c, or the telephoto imaging module 100d to generate an image, and the flash module 201 is activated for light replenishment. The focus assist module 202 detects the object distance of the photographed object to realize fast autofocus. The image signal processor 203 is configured to optimize the captured image to improve image quality and provides a zoom function. The light beams emitted from the focus assist module 202 are either conventional infrared or laser. The display module 204 can include a touch screen, and the user can adjust the viewing angle and switch between different imaging modules by interacting with the display module 204, and the image software processor has multiple functions for capturing images and performing image processing. Alternatively, the user may take a photograph via a physical button. The image processed by the image software processor can be displayed on the display module 204.

[0040] The smartphone of the embodiment is merely an example of an electronic device equipped with the imaging module of the present disclosure, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The imaging module can be arbitrarily applied to an optical system having a movable focus. In addition, the imaging module has excellent aberration correction function and high image quality, and can be applied to 3D (three-dimensional) imaging applications in products such as digital cameras, mobile devices, digital tablets, smart TVs, network monitoring equipment, multi-camera devices, image recognition systems, panoramic view car cameras, dashboard cameras, vehicle backup cameras, motion sensing input devices, wearable devices, and other electronic imaging devices.

[0041] The above description is described with reference to specific embodiments for the purpose of explanation. However, it should be noted that the present disclosure shows different data for different embodiments, and the data for different embodiments are obtained from experiments. The embodiments have been selected and described to best explain the principles of the present disclosure and its practical application, so that those skilled in the art can best utilize the present disclosure and various embodiments with various modifications suited to the specific application envisioned. The above-described embodiments and accompanying drawings are chronological and are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the present disclosure to the precise form. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings.

Claims

1. An imaging lens system; an image sensor disposed on an image side of the imaging lens system and having a photosensitive region disposed corresponding to the imaging lens system; a first circuit board on which the imaging element is disposed; at least three passive components disposed on the first circuit board, each having a first lead and a second lead; a second circuit board that is disposed corresponding to the first circuit board and includes a connector and a plurality of circuits that are electrically connected to the connector; the first leads of the at least three passive components and the imaging element are electrically connected to each other and disposed on the first circuit board; the second leads of the at least three passive components form at least one contact with the first circuit board; the number of the at least one contact is less than the number of the at least three passive components; The at least one contact is electrically connected to at least one of the plurality of circuits of the second circuit board.

2. The imaging module according to claim 1 , wherein the number of the at least one contact is one.

3. The imaging module according to claim 1 , wherein the second leads of the at least three passive components are grounded to the first circuit board.

4. the second circuit board further includes a stiffener; the stiffener and the connector are disposed on opposing surfaces of the second circuit board; The imaging module according to claim 3 , wherein the connector is disposed on a surface of the second circuit board corresponding to the first circuit board.

5. An electronic device comprising the imaging module according to claim 1.

6. An imaging lens system; an image sensor disposed on an image side of the imaging lens system and having a photosensitive region disposed corresponding to the imaging lens system; a first circuit board on which the imaging element is disposed; at least three electronic components disposed on the first circuit board, each electronic component having a first lead and a second lead; a second circuit board that is disposed corresponding to the first circuit board and includes a connector and a plurality of circuits that are electrically connected to the connector; the first leads of the at least three electronic components and the imaging element are electrically connected to each other and disposed on the first circuit board; the second leads of the at least three electronic components form at least one contact with the first circuit board; the number of the at least one contact is less than the number of the at least three electronic components; The at least one contact is electrically connected to at least one of the plurality of circuits of the second circuit board.

7. The imaging module according to claim 6 , wherein the number of the at least one contact is one.

8. The imaging module according to claim 6 , wherein the second leads of the at least three electronic components are grounded to the first circuit board.

9. the second circuit board further includes a stiffener; the stiffener and the connector are disposed on opposing surfaces of the second circuit board; The imaging module according to claim 8 , wherein the connector is disposed on a surface of the second circuit board corresponding to the first circuit board.

10. An electronic device comprising the imaging module according to claim 6.

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