Image Pickup Assembly Thickness Matching for Focus Consistency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Manufacturing image pickup apparatuses with excellent optical characteristics is challenging due to variations in the thickness of cover glasses and spacers, which affect the optical path length, and existing methods do not efficiently adjust these components to achieve consistent focusing lengths.
Innovation Solution
A manufacturing method that involves classifying image pickup members and spacers based on their thicknesses, selecting combinations to ensure the sum of their thicknesses falls within a predetermined range centered around the focusing length, and stacking them to form optical members with precise optical characteristics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If spacers and cover glasses are manufactured with standard tolerances, then manufacturing cost and complexity are reduced, but optical path length precision and focusing length consistency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent measures the thickness of each cover glass and spacer before assembly, and pre-determines compatible combinations that achieve the target optical path length. This preliminary measurement and matching process ensures precise optical path length control without requiring ultra-precise manufacturing tolerances, thus resolving the contradiction between manufacturing precision and process complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent systematically varies and matches different thickness parameters of cover glasses and spacers to achieve the desired optical path length. By measuring actual thickness values and selecting complementary combinations, the method transforms the problem from controlling individual component precision to controlling the sum of thickness parameters, thereby achieving precise optical path length with standard manufacturing tolerances.
2Reliability
If thickness measurements and classification of all components are performed, then optical characteristic consistency is improved, but manufacturing time and process steps increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs thickness measurements and classification of cover glasses and spacers during the manufacturing process before final assembly. By pre-categorizing components into groups based on their thickness measurements, the system ensures consistent optical characteristics in finished products while streamlining the assembly process through pre-determined compatible pairings, thus maintaining reliability without excessive productivity loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the manufacturing process into distinct stages: measuring thickness of individual components, classifying them into groups based on thickness ranges, selecting compatible combinations, and assembling matched pairs. This segmentation allows parallel processing of measurement and classification operations, and enables efficient assembly by pre-organizing components into compatible groups, thereby balancing optical characteristic consistency with manufacturing efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
A manufacturing method of an image pickup apparatus includes: fabricating a plurality of image pickup members each having a light-receiving surface on which a transparent plate is disposed and a plurality of spacers; measuring thicknesses of the transparent plates and the spacers; classifying the image pickup members into first groups depending on the thicknesses of the transparent plates; classifying the spacers into second groups depending on the thicknesses, selecting a combination of any one of the first groups and any one of the second groups such that a sum of the thickness of each of the transparent plates and the thickness of each of the spacers is within a predetermined range with a focusing length of optical members as a center; fabricating stacked bodies by stacking the image pickup members and the spacers in the selected combination; and disposing the optical members on the spacers in the stacked bodies.