Pop-Out Camera With Dynamic TTL For Slim Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge of enhancing camera performance by enlarging the image sensor dimensions conflicts with the requirement for a low thickness in camera modules, as it necessitates increasing the Total Track Length (TTL), which is incompatible with the slimness needed for smartphones and tablets.
Innovation Solution
A camera module with a pop-out assembly that includes a lens barrel, a cover window, and an actuator with a driving cam, allowing the lens barrel to move between collapsed and operative states, coupled with an auto-focus and optical image stabilization system, to adjust the TTL dynamically.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the image sensor dimensions are enlarged to enhance camera performance, then the low-light performance and resolution are improved, but the Total Track Length (TTL) increases, making the camera module too thick for smartphones and tablets
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the camera module extendible and collapsible. The lens barrel is designed to move between a retracted position (when the camera is inactive) and an extended position (when the camera is active). This dynamic configuration allows the TTL to be increased only when needed for camera operation, while maintaining a slim profile when the camera is not in use, thus resolving the contradiction between large sensor dimensions and thin device profile.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs the nesting principle by placing the lens barrel inside a housing structure that allows it to be retracted into a compact form. The lens barrel can be nested within the housing when not in use, reducing the overall TTL, and extended when camera operation is required, allowing the larger image sensor to achieve its full optical potential without permanently increasing device thickness.
2Measurement precision
If the camera module is made extendible to increase TTL when active, then the camera performance is improved, but the device thickness increases when the camera is not in use
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the camera module extendible and collapsible. The lens barrel is designed to move between a retracted position (when the camera is inactive) and an extended position (when the camera is active). This dynamic configuration allows the TTL to be increased only when needed for camera operation, while maintaining a slim profile when the camera is not in use, thus resolving the contradiction between large sensor dimensions and thin device profile.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables improved camera performance with larger image sensors while maintaining a slim form factor by dynamically adjusting the TTL, enhancing low-light performance, resolution, and field of view without compromising device thickness.
Implementation Method 1
a driving cam configured to be driven rotationally by the driving motor, the driving cam being coupled to the cover window so that a rotation of the driving cam causes the cover window to axially move between the retracted position and the extended position
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides a camera module for use in a portable electronic device. The camera module comprises a shiftable lens barrel comprising an objective assembly holding coaxially one or more lens elements defining an optical axis. The camera module has a retractable cover window. The lens barrel has an operative state and a collapsed state and the cover window has a corresponding extended and retracted position. The camera further comprises an actuator including a driving motor; a pop-out assembly actuatable by the actuator. The pop-out assembly includes a driving cam configured to be driven rotationally by the actuator, a carrier configured to receive the lens barrel and an image sensor configured to image a field of view of the objective assembly when the lens barrel is in the operative state.