Seven-Element Optical Imaging Lens for Slim Wide-Angle Cameras
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge lies in creating a minimized optical imaging lens that maintains good image quality, a large aperture stop, and a wide field of view while reducing its length, without compromising manufacturing and assembly yields.
Innovation Solution
The optical imaging lens design incorporates specific concave and convex shapes for its lens elements, along with aspheric surfaces, to achieve a compact form factor while maintaining optical performance. This is achieved by optimizing the arrangement and refractive powers of elements such as the first lens element, second lens element, and others, adhering to constraints like EFL/(T1+T4+G56)≤3.51 and V2≤35.00, ensuring effective focal length, thickness, and air gaps are managed effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If the length of optical imaging lens is shortened, then the device becomes more compact and slim, but optical performance and image quality deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The optical imaging lens is divided into seven separate lens elements (first through seventh lens elements) with different refractive powers and surface configurations. Each lens element contributes to correcting specific optical aberrations, allowing the system to maintain high optical performance in a compact form factor by distributing optical functions across multiple segmented components rather than requiring a single long lens assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes complex three-dimensional surface geometries including convex portions, concave portions, and aspheric surfaces on each lens element. By optimizing the spatial arrangement and surface curvature in multiple dimensions, the design achieves superior optical performance without increasing the overall axial length of the lens system.
2Illumination intensity
If the aperture stop is enlarged, then more light is captured for better image quality, but the lens structure becomes more complex and difficult to manufacture
Solution Approach 1:
Each lens element is designed with specific local surface characteristics - some with convex portions, others with concave portions, and varying aspheric coefficients. This localized optimization of surface geometry allows each element to contribute differently to light gathering and aberration correction, enabling a large effective aperture while maintaining manufacturability through standardized manufacturing processes for each element type.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the field of view is widened, then more scene is captured, but optical aberrations increase and image quality decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The seven-lens-element design segments the optical correction function across multiple elements, with each element optimized for specific field angles. This segmentation allows the system to maintain aberration control across a wide field of view by distributing the correction burden across multiple specialized components rather than requiring a single element to handle all field angles.
Solution Approach 2:
The aspheric surfaces and varying refractive powers across the lens elements create dynamic optical paths that adapt to different field angles. This dynamic optimization allows the lens system to maintain sharp focus and minimal aberrations across the entire wide field of view, from center to periphery.
4Volume of moving object
If the lens is miniaturized, then it fits in compact devices, but manufacturing and assembling yields decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes specific parameters including the ratio EFL/(T1+T4+G56)≤3.51 and Abbe number V2≤35.00 to achieve a balance between miniaturization and manufacturability. By carefully controlling the effective focal length relative to the sum of critical thicknesses and air gaps, the design maintains compact volume while ensuring that each lens element can be manufactured and assembled with reasonable tolerances and yields.
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 design results in an optical imaging lens with an excellent field of view, large aperture stop, and good image quality, facilitating a slim design without compromising optical performance, and is easier to manufacture and assemble.
Implementation Method 1
each of the first lens element to the seventh lens element includes an object-side surface that faces the object side and allows imaging rays to pass through and an image-side surface that faces the image side and allows the imaging rays to pass through
Data Source
AI summary
An optical imaging lens includes a first lens element, a second lens element, a third lens element, a fourth lens element, a fifth lens element, a sixth lens element and a seventh lens element arranged in order from an object side to an image side along an optical axis. Each lens element has an object-side surface and an image-side surface. The image-side surface of the first lens element has a concave portion in a vicinity of the optical axis; the object-side surface of the second lens element has a convex portion in a vicinity of the optical axis; the image-side surface of the second lens element has a concave portion in a vicinity of a periphery of the second lens element; and the second lens element has positive refracting power.