Modular Lens Seat Assembly for Industrial Camera Mold Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing industrial camera systems face challenges in upgrading hardware due to fixed lens and sensor component sizes, leading to high costs and the need for multiple molds for different sensor sizes, making equipment updates expensive and production inefficient.
Innovation Solution
A modular assembly structure featuring a separate lens seat and housing with a protrusive engaging portion and thermal conductive blocks, allowing for easy alignment and heat dissipation, and a light absorption layer to reduce noise, enabling flexible lens hole sizes and reduced mold requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the lens seat and housing are integrally manufactured, then the structure is simple and stable, but different molds are needed for sensor components of various sizes, resulting in increased production costs
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is divided into two separate components: the lens seat and the main housing body. The lens seat can be manufactured independently with a specific lens hole size, while the main housing remains standardized. This segmentation allows the lens seat to be customized for different sensor sizes without requiring different main housing molds, thus reducing production costs while maintaining structural stability through the integrated assembly of lens seat and housing.
2Ease of manufacture
If the lens hole size is fixed in the lens seat, then the mold design is simplified, but the camera cannot be upgraded to accommodate different sensor component sizes
Solution Approach 1:
The lens seat is designed as a universal component that can accommodate different sensor component sizes through adjustable or interchangeable lens holes. The lens seat maintains a standardized interface with the housing while providing flexibility in lens hole configuration, allowing the same lens seat design to work with various sensor sizes (e.g., 1/3 inch, 1/2 inch, 2/3 inch sensors) without requiring complete redesign of the housing mold.
3Productivity
If the lens and sensor components are fixed in size, then the manufacturing process is simplified, but hardware upgrading becomes difficult or requires discarding the entire camera
Solution Approach 1:
The lens hole in the lens seat is designed to be dynamically adjustable or replaceable rather than fixed. This allows the lens seat to adapt to different sensor component sizes during upgrades. The modular design enables users to replace only the lens seat or lens components when upgrading, rather than discarding the entire camera, thus improving hardware upgradability while maintaining manufacturing efficiency through standardized interfaces.
4Manufacturing precision
If multiple molds are developed for different sensor sizes, then each sensor type can be precisely accommodated, but the number of molds increases and production costs rise
Solution Approach 1:
A single standardized housing mold is designed to accept multiple lens seat variants through universal mounting interfaces. The lens seats can be manufactured with different lens hole sizes to match various sensor components, but they all interface with the same housing mold. This approach maintains precise sensor component fit while reducing the total number of molds needed from one per sensor size to a single housing mold plus varied lens seats.
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
This configuration simplifies mold design, facilitates mass production with fewer molds, reduces production costs, and improves heat dissipation and image quality by allowing modular updates and stable structure.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of thermal conductive blocks placed on the electric circuit board are configured on the periphery around the sensor component of the camera module. When the sensor component of the camera module operates, the thermal conductive blocks can absorb heat energy generated by the sensor component and transfer heat energy to the housing by way of the lens seat in order to form a thermal conduction path
Implementation Method 2
a light absorption layer is formed on the blocking plane. When the sensor component of the camera module operates, the sensor component can induce the light focused and projected by the predetermined lens installed within the installation hole of the lens seat, and during this induction process, the light absorption layer can also absorb a part of incident light entering into the lens hole but not containing image information, thereby effectively suppressing the noise possibly generated by the light induction in the sensor component
Data Source
AI summary
An assembly structure for industrial camera has a camera module including an electric circuit board and a sensor component configured on the electric circuit board, a base of a camera seat combined onto the electric circuit board, a protrusive and hollow engaging portion installed on the surface of the base, an installation hole combined with a predetermined lens installed in the engaging portion, and a lens hole creating a closure state configured at the bottom of the installation hole. Thus capable of further combining the camera module and the lens seat into the accommodation space within the housing and extending to outside by the engaging portion of the lens seat via the through-hole in the housing, there is no need to develop different molds for the housing with regard to the sensor components of various sizes in the camera module, but simply alter the camera seat having different lens hole size in correspondence with the sensor component for assemblages, thus further achieving the effects of stable structure, mass production and reduced production costs.