Nested-Lens Optical Imaging for Compact Mobile Camera Performance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mobile terminals face challenges in achieving high-performance cameras due to space limitations, necessitating an optical imaging system that enhances camera performance without increasing size.
Innovation Solution
An optical imaging system comprising seven lenses, including specific configurations and ratios, such as L12345TRavg/L7TR, L1w/L7w, and S6d/f, with aspherical surfaces and spacers, to optimize lens alignment and aberration correction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a camera system is designed with more lenses to improve performance, then image quality and optical performance are improved, but the overall size and complexity of the camera increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a nested lens configuration where the seventh lens is positioned inside the aperture of the sixth lens, creating a compact nested structure. This nesting arrangement allows multiple lenses to be integrated within a reduced overall camera footprint, achieving high optical performance without proportionally increasing camera size. The conditional expressions specifically control the positioning and dimensional relationships of these nested lenses to optimize both performance and compactness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs aspherical surfaces on multiple lenses (first, third, sixth, and seventh lenses) to correct optical aberrations more effectively than traditional spherical surfaces. This dimensional change in surface geometry enables better light path control and image quality enhancement within a compact arrangement, allowing the system to achieve high performance without requiring additional spatial volume.
2Length of moving object
If the overall length of the optical system is reduced to fit mobile terminal constraints, then device compactness is improved, but optical aberrations increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies aspherical surfaces specifically to lenses that require aberration correction (first, third, sixth, and seventh lenses) while maintaining simpler spherical or flat surfaces on other lenses. This localized application of complex surface geometry provides targeted aberration correction without unnecessarily complicating the entire optical system, enabling compact length while managing optical quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses conditional expressions to precisely control the refractive indices, curvatures, and spacing parameters of individual lenses. By optimizing these parameters within specific ranges (e.g., conditional expressions for L12345TRavg/L7TR, L1w/L7w, S6d/f), the system achieves effective aberration correction within a reduced overall length, balancing compactness with optical performance.
3Length of moving object
If lens spacing is reduced to compact the camera, then device size is reduced, but alignment precision and image quality deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates spacers between adjacent lenses (first-second, second-third, third-fourth, fourth-fifth, fifth-sixth lenses) that are pre-configured with precise dimensions and positions. These spacers perform the alignment function in advance during manufacturing, ensuring accurate lens spacing and alignment without requiring complex post-assembly adjustments, thus maintaining precision even in a compact design.
Solution Approach 2:
The spacers act as intermediary elements between the lenses, providing stable mechanical support and precise positioning. These intermediaries ensure that the lenses maintain their correct relative positions and orientations, facilitating accurate light path alignment even when the overall camera structure is compacted to reduce size.
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 system achieves improved camera performance by aligning lenses efficiently and minimizing aberrations, facilitating compact and high-performance imaging without enlarging the camera.
Implementation Method 1
an optical imaging system includes a first lens, a second lens, a third lens, a fourth lens, a fifth lens, a sixth lens, and a seventh lens sequentially disposed in numerical order along an optical axis
Data Source
AI summary
An optical imaging system includes a first lens, a second lens, a third lens, a fourth lens, a fifth lens, a sixth lens, and a seventh lens sequentially disposed in numerical order along an optical axis of the optical imaging system from an object side of the optical imaging system toward an imaging plane of the optical imaging system, wherein the optical imaging system satisfies 0.5<L12345TRavg/L7TR<0.9, where L12345TRavg is an average value of overall outer diameters of the first to fifth lenses, L7TR is an overall outer diameter of the seventh lens, and L12345TRavg and L7TR are expressed in a same unit of measurement.