Multi-Lens Camera Module with Asymmetric Vertical Stacking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Camera modules installed on vehicle windshields face challenges in achieving high image position accuracy in the lateral direction while avoiding blind spots and object loss, particularly when using multiple lens units with overlapping angles of view and depths of field, which can lead to decreased pixel resolution and increased size due to excess light incidence.
Innovation Solution
A camera module configuration with multiple lens units having shifted optical axes and different angles of view, including wide, narrow, and telescopic units, where the angles of view overlap vertically, and a hood structure that guides optical images and restricts excess light, ensuring high image position accuracy and compact size.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple lens units with overlapping angles of view are used to image the external environment, then the imaging coverage is improved, but the pixel resolution decreases and the module size increases due to excess light incidence
Solution Approach 1:
The imaging system is divided into multiple lens units (first lens unit, second lens unit, third lens unit) with different fields of view (wide-angle, intermediate-angle, telephoto). Each lens unit independently images a specific angular range, segmenting the overall imaging task to avoid overlap and excess light incidence, thereby maintaining pixel resolution while expanding total imaging coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-lens two-dimensional imaging approach to a multi-lens three-dimensional spatial arrangement. Lens units are positioned at different locations and orientations to capture light from different angular dimensions, enabling comprehensive environmental coverage without compromising resolution through overlapping paths.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple lens units with overlapping angles of view are used to image the external environment, then the imaging coverage is improved, but the module size increases due to excess light incidence
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple lens units with different fields of view (wide-angle, intermediate-angle, telephoto) are merged into a single integrated camera module housing. This combination allows the module to achieve comprehensive imaging coverage across multiple angular ranges while maintaining a compact overall structure, avoiding the need for separate camera systems.
3Measurement precision
If lens units are arranged to overlap vertically when viewed in the vertical direction, then image position accuracy in the lateral direction is improved, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The lens units are arranged in an asymmetric vertical configuration rather than symmetric horizontal placement. The first lens unit (wide-angle), second lens unit (intermediate-angle), and third lens unit (telephoto) are positioned at different vertical heights and angular orientations. This asymmetric vertical stacking achieves accurate lateral image positioning by eliminating overlap while simplifying the overall structural design compared to traditional horizontal arrangements.
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
Enhances image position accuracy in the lateral direction, prevents object loss in overlapping regions, and maintains a compact module size by optimizing the placement and overlap of lens units and using a hood to manage light incidence.
Implementation Method 1
a hood (6040, 9040) defining an imaging space (410), which is to guide the optical image of the external environment within an imaging target range of the imaging system (50) to the lens units, and to restrict incidence of light on the lens units from an outside of the imaging target range
Data Source
AI summary
A camera module, which is mounted on an inside of a front windshield of a vehicle and configured to image an external environment of the vehicle, includes multiple lens units on which an optical image of the external environment is incident, individually, and an imaging system to generate an outside image of the external environment by imaging through each of the lens units, individually.