Endoscope Image Pickup Wafer Bonding with Curing Resin
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image pickup apparatuses for endoscopes face challenges in size reduction, particularly in minimizing diameter size to enhance invasiveness, and suffer from low reliability due to detachment of gluing interfaces among optical devices.
Innovation Solution
A manufacturing method involving the fabrication of optical wafers with spacers and resins, where a first resin forms walls to seal optical paths and a second resin, upon curing, shrinks to define the interval between wafers, reducing residual stress and enhancing gluing reliability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If optical wafers are glued together using conventional gluing materials, then the image pickup apparatus can be manufactured, but the gluing interfaces detach over time reducing reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The gluing interface is segmented into multiple functional layers: a first gluing material layer for initial bonding, a second gluing material layer for additional bonding, and a resin layer for structural support and optical path filling. This segmentation allows each layer to perform its specific function optimally, preventing detachment while maintaining manufacturability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite gluing structures combining multiple materials with different properties: flexible resin materials for the first and second gluing materials to accommodate stress, and a curing resin for the structural layer. This composite approach enhances the overall reliability of the gluing interface by distributing mechanical and optical functions across different materials.
2Length of moving object
If the diameter size of the image pickup apparatus is reduced, then invasiveness is minimized, but manufacturing precision becomes more difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The optical paths are pre-defined and pre-aligned during the fabrication of individual optical wafers before assembly. The resin layer is designed to automatically fill and equalize the optical paths between wafers, ensuring precise alignment is maintained even when the overall device diameter is reduced. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for complex post-assembly adjustments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes changes in resin material parameters during curing - specifically, the resin transitions from a liquid or soft state during assembly to a cured solid state with defined optical properties. This parameter change allows the resin to adapt to precise dimensional requirements and maintain optical path alignment while accommodating size reductions of the overall apparatus.
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
The method results in a minimally invasive, reliable image pickup apparatus with stable optical path length and reduced likelihood of detachment, facilitating the production of endoscopes with favorable optical properties.
Implementation Method 1
performing curing treatment on the second resin to cause the second resin to shrink, and fix the second principal surface and the third principal surface in a state where an interval between the second principal surface and the third principal surface is defined by the spacers
Data Source
AI summary
A manufacturing method of an image pickup apparatus for endoscope includes: fabricating a first optical wafer and a second optical wafer including spacers; disposing walls made of a first resin, being greater in height than the spacers, and enclosing optical paths without any gap; clamping the first optical wafer and the second optical wafer with the walls being interposed between the first optical wafer and the second optical wafer; charging a second resin around the walls; performing curing treatment on the second resin to cause the second resin to shrink, and fix the first optical wafer and the second optical wafer in a state where an interval between the first optical wafer and the second optical wafer is defined by the spacers; and cutting a bonded wafer.