Lens Stack Retaining Ring for Replaceable Outer Lens Repair
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wide field of view lenses, such as fisheye lenses, are prone to scratching and impact damage, leading to optical distortion and degradation of captured images, as they often lack protective covers due to their field of view requirements.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a replaceable outer lens system with a retaining ring mechanism that allows for easy attachment and detachment of outer lenses, using mechanisms like bayonet, threaded, or snap-ring systems, and incorporating waterproofing O-rings to maintain image quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a protective cover is added to protect the outer lens from damage, then the lens protection is improved, but the field of view is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The lens system is divided into two separable parts: a fixed inner lens assembly and a replaceable outer lens. This segmentation allows the outer lens to be removed when protection is needed (improving reliability) while maintaining the inner lens structure that preserves field of view characteristics. The modular design enables the system to switch between protected and unprotected states without permanent compromise to either protection or optical performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The outer lens is designed to be dynamically replaceable rather than fixed. Users can attach the outer lens when wide field of view is needed and remove it when protection is required. This dynamic configuration allows the system to adapt between two operational states: one optimized for field of view and another optimized for protection, resolving the contradiction between these two requirements.
2Area of moving object
If the outer lens is made protruding to achieve wide field of view, then the field of view is improved, but the vulnerability to impact damage increases
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the lens into inner and outer components, the vulnerable outer lens can be designed with protruding geometry for wide field of view while the protected inner lens remains recessed. When the outer lens sustains impact damage, only the outer component needs replacement, not the entire lens assembly or inner lenses.
Solution Approach 2:
The outer lens is designed as a consumable, replaceable component that can withstand impact better than the inner lenses but may still suffer damage. When damaged, it is replaced rather than repaired, protecting the more expensive inner lens assembly. This approach accepts that the protruding outer lens will be the sacrificial element, but this is economically acceptable since only this single component needs replacement.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the lens structure is made fixed and integrated, then the structural stability is improved, but the ease of repair and replacement is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The lens system is segmented into a stable inner lens assembly that remains fixed in the camera body and a replaceable outer lens. This segmentation maintains structural stability of the core optical components while enabling easy replacement of the outer lens through simple attachment/detachment mechanisms without requiring disassembly of the entire lens barrel or internal components.
Solution Approach 2:
The replaceable outer lens is designed to nest over the fixed inner lens assembly, creating a stable integrated structure during use. The outer lens contains features like flanges or mounting surfaces that interface with the inner lens housing, providing structural stability when assembled. When replacement is needed, the outer lens simply detaches from this nested configuration, enabling easy repair while maintaining stability during operation.
Data Source
AI summary
An image capture device is disclosed that includes a lens barrel disposed in a body of the image capture device, an outer lens mountable on the body of the image capture device at a first end of the lens barrel, an image sensor mounted in the body at a second end of the lens barrel, one or more inner lenses mounted to inner walls of the lens barrel, and a retaining ring configured to fasten the outer lens in a position covering the first end of the lens barrel in a first arrangement and configured to release the outer lens from the body of the image capture device in a second arrangement. The image sensor is configured to capture images based on light incident on the image sensor through the outer lens and through the one or more inner lenses when the retaining ring is in the first arrangement.