Flexible Membrane Lens Assembly for Focus Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wafer level camera lenses face challenges with inflexible, thick, and prone-to-breakage substrates, which limit their thickness, cost-effectiveness, and ability for focus adjustment and lens repositioning.
Innovation Solution
A membrane and lens assembly using a flexible, stretchable, and durable membrane substrate supported by spacers or rings, allowing for varying membrane characteristics to adjust lens position and focus, with methods including electromagnetic, electrostatic, and piezoelectric actuation for focus adjustment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a conventional rigid substrate is used for wafer level cameras, then structural stability is maintained, but the substrate becomes inflexible, thick, and prone to breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional rigid substrates with flexible membranes that can be stretched and deformed. These membranes serve as the base layer for lens fabrication, enabling both mechanical flexibility and structural stability. The membrane's ability to stretch allows for focus adjustment while maintaining durability through elastic recovery.
Solution Approach 2:
The substrate transitions from a static rigid structure to a dynamic flexible membrane that can change shape and tension. This dynamic characteristic enables the substrate to adapt its form for different optical functions (focus adjustment, zoom) while maintaining structural integrity through material elasticity.
2Stability of the object's composition
If a thick substrate is used to ensure durability, then structural stability is improved, but lens repositioning and focus adjustment become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible membrane substrate enables lens repositioning through stretching and deformation, eliminating the need for thick rigid structures. The membrane's thin profile combined with elastic properties allows easy manipulation for focus and zoom adjustments while maintaining operational stability.
3Manufacturing precision
If conventional fabrication methods are used on rigid substrates, then manufacturing precision is maintained, but production cost increases and thickness is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter of substrate flexibility, enabling new fabrication approaches on stretchable membranes. This allows for cost-effective production methods while maintaining lens precision through the membrane's ability to hold formed shapes after stretching.
Solution Approach 2:
The dynamic stretching capability of the membrane substrate enables simplified fabrication processes. Lenses can be formed on the stretched membrane and then transferred or sealed, reducing manufacturing complexity and cost while maintaining optical precision.
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 solution enables a thinner, more cost-effective lens profile with improved flexibility and durability, enabling precise focus adjustment and repositioning of lenses, facilitating zooming and phase modulation while reducing the risk of breakage.
Implementation Method 1
The movable magnetic element generates a magnetic field, which interacts with a magnetic field of the fixed magnet to deform the membrane
Implementation Method 2
at least one piezoelectric element and an actuator for deforming the membrane by inducing a piezoelectric effect in the piezoelectric element
Data Source
AI summary
A membrane and lens assembly includes a flexible membrane mounted with a supporting structure, such as a plurality of spacers, a frame, a ring, a plate or a surface plate. At least one first lens mounts with a first side of the membrane. At least one actuator varies a characteristic of the membrane, such as membrane shape, position or tautness, to reposition the lens. In a related method of lens replication, a flexible membrane is attached to a ring and stretched with the ring. Lenses are replicated on one or both sides of the stretched membrane.