Camera Modules and Electronics

Abstract

The present application discloses a camera module and electronic device, the camera module including: a case having an accommodating cavity; a lens assembly movably disposed within the accommodating cavity; a first drive assembly, the first drive assembly being connected to the lens assembly and driving the lens assembly to move, and at least a portion of the first drive assembly being disposed on an inner wall of the case; a circuit board connected to the lens assembly; and a second drive assembly disposed in the case, the second drive assembly being connected to the circuit board and driving the circuit board to move.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] (CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS) This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202011541995.4, filed on December 23, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The present application belongs to the field of camera technology, and specifically relates to camera modules and electronic devices. [Background technology]

[0002] With the rapid development of information network technology, video has become the primary means for people to communicate and share their daily lives, and the requirements for image quality in the video shooting process are becoming increasingly higher. The anti-shake capabilities of traditional optically stabilized cameras are no longer able to meet people's needs, affecting the user experience. To improve the anti-shake performance of cameras, pan-head systems are introduced into cameras, especially mobile phone cameras. The operation of the pan-head differs from that of traditional optically stabilized cameras in that the operating parts of optically stabilized cameras move within the module, while pan-head cameras require the movement of the entire module. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] In the process of realizing this application, the inventor discovered that in the related art, there is at least a problem that when the pan head moves, the flexible circuit board pulls the pan head, hindering the movement of the pan head.

[0004] The present application is intended to provide a camera module and electronic device that solves at least one of the problems discovered by the inventors. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] According to a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application proposes a camera module, the camera module including: a case provided with an accommodating cavity; a lens assembly movably provided within the accommodating cavity; a first drive assembly connected to the lens assembly to drive the lens assembly to move, at least a portion of the first drive assembly being provided on an inner wall of the case; a circuit board connected to the lens assembly; and a second drive assembly provided in the case, at least a portion of the second drive assembly being connected to the circuit board to drive the circuit board to move.

[0006] According to a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application proposes an electronic device, which includes the camera module described above. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] In the embodiment of the present application, a first driving assembly and a second driving assembly are employed to drive the lens assembly and the circuit board, respectively, so that the circuit board can move in the same direction as the lens assembly, and the lens assembly can avoid pulling on the circuit board during movement, thereby allowing the lens assembly to move a longer distance and roll at a larger angle.

[0008] Additional aspects and advantages of embodiments of the present application will be set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of embodiments of the present application.

[0009] The above and / or additional aspects and advantages of the present application will become apparent and easier to understand from the following description of the embodiments taken in conjunction with the drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a shake-preventing camera platform according to a related art. [Figure 2]1 is a plan view of an embodiment of a camera module according to the present application. [Figure 3] 1 is a partial exploded view of an embodiment of a camera module according to the present application. [Figure 4] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2. [Figure 5] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. [Figure 6] 1 is a schematic diagram of a circuit board stress of a camera module according to an embodiment of the present application; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The following describes in detail the embodiments of the present application, and examples of the embodiments are shown in the drawings. Herein, the same or similar symbols throughout represent the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions. The embodiments described below with reference to the drawings are merely illustrative and are intended to help interpret the present application and should not be understood as limitations on the present application. Based on the embodiments in the present application, those skilled in the art may obtain other embodiments without exerting any creative effort, and all of these embodiments fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0012] In the specification and claims of this application, the terms "first" and "second" feature may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the feature. In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, "plurality" means two or more. Note that in the specification and claims, "and / or" indicates at least one of the connected objects, and the character " / " generally indicates an "or" relationship between the preceding and following related objects.

[0013] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the orientations or positional relationships indicated by terms such as "center," "longitudinal," "lateral," "length," "width," "thickness," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "clockwise," "counterclockwise," "axial," "radial," "circumferential," etc. are orientations or positional relationships shown based on the drawings, and are intended merely for the convenience and simplification of the description of the present application. They do not indicate or imply that the referred devices or elements must have a specific orientation or be configured and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as limitations on the present application.

[0014] In the description of the present application, it should be explained that unless otherwise clearly defined or limited, the terms "attached," "connected," and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, and may refer to, for example, a fixed connection, a detachable connection, an integral connection, a mechanical connection, an electrical connection, a direct connection, an indirect connection via an intermediate medium, or internal communication between two elements. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meanings of the above terms in the present application according to specific circumstances.

[0015] FIG. 1 shows a prior art anti-shake head.

[0016] As shown in Figure 1, in a conventional anti-shake pan head, the flexible circuit board 1 has its wiring drawn out from the camera module head 2 side and enters a sealed flexible circuit board case 3, where it makes an S-shaped bend and is folded five times before exiting the flexible circuit board case 3 and connecting to the motherboard. In this way, when the camera module is in operation, the flexible circuit board 1 has space to expand and contract within the flexible circuit board case 3, thereby reducing resistance. This solution still cannot effectively prevent the flexible circuit board 1 from being pulled by the pan head, limiting its optical anti-shake performance.

[0017] Based on this, the inventor of the present application has creatively obtained the following invention and creation through long-term research and experimentation.

[0018] A camera module 100 according to an embodiment of the present application includes a case 10 , a lens assembly 20 , a first drive assembly 30 , a circuit board 40 , and a second drive assembly 50 .

[0019] Specifically, an accommodating cavity 11 is provided in the case 10, the lens assembly 20 is movably provided in the accommodating cavity 11, a first drive assembly 30 is connected to the lens assembly 20 and drives the lens assembly 20 to move, at least a portion of the first drive assembly 30 is provided in the case 10, a circuit board 40 is connected to the lens assembly 20, and a second drive assembly 50 is provided in the case 10, at least a portion of the second drive assembly 50 is connected to the circuit board 40 and drives the circuit board 40 to move.

[0020] In other words, the camera module 100 according to the embodiment of the present application is mainly composed of a case 10, a lens assembly 20 attached to the case 10, a first drive assembly 30 that drives the lens assembly 20 to move, a circuit board 40 that is electrically connected to the lens assembly 20, and a second drive assembly 50 that drives the circuit board 40 to move. Here, the case 10 is a basic component of the camera module 100, and the case 10 can provide a mounting base for other components of the camera module 100. In the embodiment of the present application, the case 10 has an accommodating cavity 11 that can accommodate the lens assembly 20.

[0021] In a specific shooting process, the camera module 100 will further tilt due to shaking, which will ultimately affect the shooting quality. In the camera module 100 disclosed in the embodiments of the present application, the lens assembly 20 is movable relative to the case 10, and the first driving assembly 30 drives the lens assembly 20 to move, thereby correcting the tilt caused by shaking of the camera module 100 and providing effective anti-shake for the camera module 100.

[0022] In the embodiment of the present application, the first drive assembly 30 can drive the lens assembly 20 to move, and at the same time, the second drive assembly 50 can drive the circuit board 40 to move in the same direction, thereby alleviating the problem of the lens assembly 20 pulling the circuit board 40. It should be noted that the type of movement of the lens assembly 20 includes, but is not limited to, a translation type and a rotation type.

[0023] It should be noted that when the first drive assembly 30 is installed, the first drive assembly 30 may be connected to the lens assembly 20 in a conventional manner. For example, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, a portion of the first drive assembly 30 is connected to the case 10, and another portion of the first drive assembly 30 is connected to the lens assembly 20.

[0024] When installing the second drive assembly 50, a portion of the second drive assembly 50 may be installed within the accommodating cavity 11 and connected to the circuit board 40, or the entire second drive assembly 50 may be installed outside the accommodating cavity 11 and connected to the circuit board 40.

[0025] It should be noted that the first drive assembly 30 and the second drive assembly 50 include motors, but are not limited to such, and may also include other drive structures capable of moving the lens assembly 20 and the circuit board 40, such as drive motors, drive motors, and transmission mechanisms linked to the drive motors.

[0026] As a result, the camera module 100 according to the embodiment of the present application employs the first drive assembly 30 and the second drive assembly 50 to drive the lens assembly 20 and the circuit board 40, respectively, so that the circuit board 40 moves in the same direction as the lens assembly 20, and avoids pulling on the circuit board 40 during the movement of the lens assembly 20, thereby allowing the lens assembly 20 to move a longer distance and roll at a larger angle.

[0027] According to one embodiment of the present application, the driving of the circuit board 40 by the second driving assembly 50 and the driving of the lens assembly 20 by the first driving assembly 30 are performed synchronously, which can further prevent the occurrence of relative movement between the circuit board 40 and the lens assembly 20, thereby further improving the anti-stretch effect on the circuit board 40.

[0028] In some specific embodiments of the present application, the first drive assembly 30 includes a first magnetic member 31 and a first coil 32, one of the first magnetic member 31 and the first coil 32 is connected to the case 10, and the other of the first magnetic member 31 and the first coil 32 is connected to the lens assembly 20. The first coil 32 is movable relative to the first magnetic member 31 after being energized, thereby driving the lens assembly 20. In other words, the first magnetic member 31 may be disposed on the case 10, and the first coil 32 may be disposed on the lens assembly 20, or the first magnetic member 31 may be disposed on the lens assembly 20, and the first coil 32 may be disposed on the case 10. For example, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 , the first magnetic member 31 is disposed on the outer wall surface of the lens assembly 20, and the first coil 32 is disposed on the inner wall surface of the case 10, corresponding to the position of the first magnetic member 31.

[0029] According to one embodiment of the present application, the case 10 includes a bracket 12 and a cover plate 13, the bracket 12 is provided with a receiving cavity 11 having an open first side, the lens assembly 20 may be provided in the receiving cavity 11 and be movable relative to the bracket 12, and the circuit board 40 may be connected to the lens assembly 20 through the opening. The cover plate 13 is provided on the first side of the bracket 12, and the second drive assembly 50 is provided on the cover plate 13. Optionally, a portion of the second drive assembly 50 may be provided on the cover plate 13, and another portion of the second drive assembly 50 may be provided on the circuit board 40 and be movable relative to the cover plate 13.

[0030] Furthermore, the circuit board 40 includes a first plate 41 and a second plate 42, the first plate 41 is disposed between the lens assembly 20 and the cover plate 13, a first side of the first plate 41 is connected to the lens assembly 20 and moves synchronously therewith, the second plate 42 is electrically connected to the first plate 41, and a second drive assembly 50 is disposed between the second plate 42 and the cover plate 13, the second drive assembly 50 is connected to the second plate 42 and drives it to move. The second plate 42 may be a flexible circuit board, a conductive wire, or the like.

[0031] For ease of description, the camera module 100 is hereinafter defined as being assembled along the vertical direction, with the direction approaching the viewer being the front side and the direction away from the viewer being the rear side.

[0032] As shown in FIG. 3 , a receiving cavity 11 is defined within the bracket 12, and an opening is provided on the underside of the bracket 12. A circuit board 40 is provided in front of the bracket 12, and a cover plate 13 is provided below the bracket 12 and the circuit board 40. A first plate 41 is located behind a second plate 42 and below the lens assembly 20. During assembly, the first plate 41 is inserted between the bracket 12 and the cover plate 13 to establish an electrical connection between the first plate 41 and the lens assembly 20. The lower end surface of the second plate 42 is connected to a second drive assembly 50, allowing the second plate 42 to move in the same direction as the lens assembly 20. Separating the circuit board 40 into the first plate 41 and the second plate 42 and establishing the connection between the circuit board 40 and the second drive assembly 50 facilitates the connection between the circuit board 40 and the lens assembly 20 and the movement of the lens assembly 20.

[0033] It should be noted that the above definitions of up, down, front, and rear are merely for the purpose of facilitating the description of the positional or connection relationships of each component of the camera module 100 in the embodiments of the present application, and do not limit the embodiments of the present application.

[0034] In the drawings, although the same parts or members in the embodiments of the present application may be represented by a reference numeral only for one of the parts or members, the reference numeral can be similarly applied to other same parts or members.

[0035] Alternatively, the first plate 41 may be a circuit board, and the second plate 42 may be a flexible circuit board. During assembly, the second plate 42 may be folded in an S-shape, allowing the second plate 42 to expand and contract synchronously with the movement of the lens assembly 20, thereby expanding the range of movement of the lens assembly 20. Furthermore, the second plate 42 and the second drive assembly 50 may be installed correspondingly, thereby fully utilizing the space below the second plate 42. When the case 10 further includes a flexible circuit board housing 60, the flexible circuit board housing 60 may be located in front of the bracket 12, as shown in FIG. 3 , and the second plate 42 and the second drive assembly 50 may be simultaneously located within the flexible circuit board housing 60, thereby fully utilizing the space for housing the flexible circuit board.

[0036] According to one embodiment of the present application, the second drive assembly 50 includes a second magnetic member 51 and a second coil 52, one of the second magnetic member 51 and the second coil 52 is connected to the cover plate 13, and the other of the second magnetic member 51 and the second coil 52 is connected to the second plate 42. The second coil 52 is movable relative to the second magnetic member 51 after being energized, thereby driving the second plate 42. In other words, the second magnetic member 51 may be installed on the cover plate 13, and the second coil 52 may be installed on the second plate 42, or the second magnetic member 51 may be installed on the second plate 42, and the second coil 52 may be installed on the cover plate 13. For example, as shown in FIG. 3 , the second magnetic member 51 is installed on the lower end surface of the second plate 42, and the second coil 52 is installed on the upper end surface of the cover plate 13.

[0037] The operation principles of the first drive assembly 30 and the second drive assembly 50 of the embodiment of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the drawings.

[0038] The second magnetic member 51 cooperates with the second coil 52, and the second magnetic member 51 can provide a magnetic field, and based on Fleming's left-hand rule, a force perpendicular to the magnetic field direction is generated in the energized second coil 52, and this force can be controlled to move the circuit board 40 when acting on the circuit board 40. Similarly, the first magnetic member 31 cooperates with the first coil 32, and the first coil 32 can provide a thrust after being energized.

[0039] 3, in the embodiment of the present application, the lens assembly 20 may be mounted on the bracket 12 by a cross support shaft 14 connected diagonally, the cross support shaft 14 may include two hinge connection shafts perpendicular to each other, and the first drive assembly 30 may include two first magnetic members 31 and two first coils 32, and the first drive assembly 30 drives the lens assembly 20 to rotate around one of the two hinge connection shafts. It should be noted here that in the embodiment of the present application, the technical means for driving the lens assembly 20 to rotate by the first drive assembly 30 is well known in the art and will not be further described herein.

[0040] In the embodiments of the present application, the second coil 52 of the second drive assembly 50 includes one or more coils, and various types of second drive assemblies 50 are described below.

[0041] Case 1 The number of coils is one, and various types of movement of the circuit board 40 can be realized by one coil.

[0042] Specifically, when the coil is a linear conductor, after current is passed through the linear conductor, the linear conductor moves, and when the current direction or magnetic field direction is changed, the linear conductor moves in the opposite direction, thereby driving the circuit board 40 to move.

[0043] When the coil is a circular conductor, after the circular conductor is energized, both sides of the circular conductor are subjected to forces in different directions, and the circular conductor can rotate around its own axis, thereby driving the circuit board 40 to rotate along a certain direction.

[0044] Case 2 The second coil 52 is made up of two annular coils, and the two annular coils are provided on the second plate 42 with a gap therebetween.

[0045] Referring to FIG. 3, for example, the two toroidal coils may be a first toroidal coil and a second toroidal coil, respectively, and the first toroidal coil and the second toroidal coil may share a single magnet. By independently controlling the operation of either the first toroidal coil or the second toroidal coil, the second plate 42 can be rotated in a certain direction.

[0046] In the embodiment of the present application, when the second plate 42 is folded along an S-shape, the lower end surface of the second plate 42 is a roughly rectangular member. For ease of description, a line parallel to the longitudinal direction of the second plate 42 is defined as the Y-axis, a line parallel to the width direction of the second plate 42 is defined as the X-axis, and a line perpendicular to the plane on which the second plate 42 is located is defined as the Z-axis. The second plate 42 may be folded roughly along the Z-axis direction.

[0047] The first and second toroidal coils are located on the lower end surface of the second plate 42 and are spaced apart along the longitudinal direction of the second plate 42. The first and second toroidal coils are both elliptical members extending approximately along the width direction of the second plate 42. When the acting forces generated in the first and second toroidal coils are the same, or when the first or second toroidal coil is turned on independently, the second plate 42 can be rotated around the Y axis by restricting the direction of the current and the direction of the magnetic field.

[0048] It should be noted that the above definitions of the X, Y, and Z axis directions are merely for the purpose of facilitating the description of the positional or connection relationships between each part or component of the camera module 100 in the embodiments of the present application, and do not limit the embodiments of the present application.

[0049] Furthermore, the second magnetic member 51 has a plate-like structure, that is, the second magnetic member 51 may be a flat coil, which can effectively save space. The second magnetic member 51 is attached to the cover plate 13, which facilitates assembly of the second magnetic member 51. It should be noted that the second magnetic member 51 may also be attached to the cover plate 13 using other mounting methods, such as detachable mounting methods such as locking or insertion.

[0050] According to one embodiment of the present application, the camera module 100 further includes a flexible circuit board position feedback element 70, which allows the flexible circuit board position feedback element 70 to 40 The flexible circuit board position feedback element 70 may be a Hall chip or the like, but is not limited thereto.

[0051] In some specific embodiments of the present application, the camera module further includes a lens assembly position feedback element, which can be connected to the first drive assembly 30. When assembling and producing the camera module 100 and calibrating the linear motion relationship of the lens assembly, the lens assembly moves, and data from the lens assembly position feedback element and the flexible circuit board position feedback element 70 is read, and the corresponding relationship between the flexible circuit board position and the lens assembly position is recorded and burned into memory through a fitting algorithm, and the electronic device accesses the data in the memory when in use to control the movement of the flexible circuit board and offset the pulling effect of the flexible circuit board on the lens assembly.

[0052] That is, a closed-loop control system is added to the flexible circuit board so that the flexible circuit board can move along with the movement of the lens assembly, thereby avoiding interference of the flexible circuit board with the lens assembly and improving the anti-shake performance of the lens assembly.

[0053] An embodiment of the present application further provides an electronic device, which includes the camera module 100 of any one of the above embodiments. The lens assembly 20 may be electrically connected to a motherboard of the electronic device via a circuit board 40, which also provides power supply to the lens assembly 20.

[0054] The electronic device according to the embodiments of the present application may be a smart mobile phone, a tablet computer, or a wearable device, etc., but is not limited thereto.

[0055] In the description herein, references to terms such as "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "exemplary embodiments," "example," "specific examples," or "some examples" mean that the specific feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with this embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present application. In the description herein, the exemplary use of the term does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific feature, structure, material, or characteristic described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

[0056] Although embodiments of the present application have been shown and described, those skilled in the art will recognize that various changes, modifications, substitutions and variations may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present application, and the scope of the present application is limited by the claims and their equivalents. [Explanation of symbols]

[0057] a camera module 100; Case 10, accommodation cavity 11, bracket 12, cover plate 13, cross support shaft 14, Lens assembly 20, a first drive assembly 30, a first magnetic member 31, a first coil 32, A circuit board 40, a first plate 41, a second plate 42, a second drive assembly 50, a second magnetic member 51, a second coil 52, Flexible circuit board storage section 60, Flexible circuit board position feedback element 70, lens assembly position feedback element 80, Flexible circuit board 1, camera module head 2, flexible circuit board box 3

Claims

1. A camera module (100), a case (10) in which a receiving cavity (11) is provided; a lens assembly (20) movably mounted within the receiving cavity (11); a circuit board (40) connected to the lens assembly (20); a pan head assembly, the pan head assembly comprising: a first drive assembly (30) connected to the lens assembly (20) to drive the lens assembly (20) to move, at least a portion of the first drive assembly (30) being provided on an inner wall of the case (10); a second drive assembly (50) provided in the case (10), at least a portion of which is connected to the circuit board (40) to drive the circuit board (40) to move; The camera module (100) is configured such that the drive of the circuit board (40) by the second drive assembly (50) and the drive of the lens assembly (20) by the first drive assembly (30) are performed synchronously, and the synchronous drive of the circuit board (40) and the drive of the lens assembly (20) are performed simultaneously in the same direction.

2. 2. The camera module (100) of claim 1, wherein the first drive assembly (30) includes a first magnetic member (31) and a first coil (32), one of the first magnetic member (31) and the first coil (32) being provided on an inner wall surface of the case (10), and another of the first magnetic member (31) and the first coil (32) being provided on an outer wall surface of the lens assembly (20), and the first coil (32) being movable relative to the first magnetic member (31) after being energized, thereby driving the lens assembly (20).

3. The case (10) is a bracket (12) in which the receiving cavity (11) having an opening at a first side is provided; 2. The camera module (100) of claim 1, further comprising: a cover plate (13) provided on a first side of the bracket (12), the second drive assembly (50) being provided on the cover plate (13).

4. The circuit board (40) a first plate (41) disposed between the lens assembly (20) and the cover plate (13), the first side of the first plate (41) being connected to the lens assembly (20) and moving synchronously with the lens assembly (20); 4. The camera module (100) of claim 3, further comprising: a second plate (42) electrically connected to the first plate (41), the second drive assembly (50) being provided between the second plate (42) and the cover plate (13), and the second drive assembly (50) being connected to the second plate (42) to drive the second plate (42) to move.

5. 5. The camera module (100) of claim 4, wherein the first plate (41) is a circuit board and the second plate (42) is a flexible circuit board (40).

6. 6. The camera module (100) of claim 5, wherein the second drive assembly (50) includes a second magnetic member (51) and a second coil (52), one of the second magnetic member (51) and the second coil (52) being connected to the cover plate (13), and another of the second magnetic member (51) and the second coil (52) being connected to the second plate (42), and the second coil (52) being movable relative to the second magnetic member (51) after being energized, thereby driving the second plate (42).

7. 7. The camera module (100) according to claim 6, wherein the second magnetic member (51) has a plate-like structure, and the second magnetic member (51) is attached onto the cover plate (13).

8. The camera module (100) of claim 6, wherein the second coil (52) is two annular coils (521), and the two annular coils (521) are spaced apart on the second plate body (42).

9. An electronic device comprising a camera module (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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