Plastic Barrel Annular Grooves Suppress Reflected Light
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional plastic barrels used in compact optical lens assemblies for portable electronic devices have high reflectivity, which limits their ability to suppress unwanted light, thereby compromising image quality, especially in high-end camera functionalities.
Innovation Solution
A plastic barrel design featuring an object-end portion with annular grooves on its surface, which are coaxially disposed to reduce reflectivity and improve image quality, combined with a lens module and specific dimensions to optimize light suppression.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a conventional plastic barrel is formed by injection molding with a smooth and bright surface, then the manufacturing process is simple and efficient, but the reflectivity is high which causes unexpected lights to not be suppressed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating annular grooves at specific locations on the plastic barrel surface. These grooves are positioned at the object-end surface where they interact with incoming light, providing localized light suppression functionality without requiring the entire barrel surface to have special properties. This allows the majority of the barrel to maintain its simple injection-molded structure while adding functional features only where needed to suppress unexpected lights.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a dimensional change by forming annular grooves that extend radially outward from the central axis of the plastic barrel. These grooves create a three-dimensional surface structure with varying depths and radii, transforming the otherwise two-dimensional smooth surface into a multi-dimensional feature set that effectively diffracts and suppresses unexpected lights while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through injection molding.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the plastic barrel surface is atomized with surface treatment to reduce reflectivity, then unexpected lights are suppressed to some extent, but the effect is limited and cannot satisfy high-end optical systems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the plastic barrel surface into multiple annular groove structures with different radii and depths. Instead of applying a uniform surface treatment, the surface is divided into distinct functional zones (different annular grooves) that work together to suppress unexpected lights more effectively. This segmentation allows each groove to target specific light paths, providing more comprehensive light suppression than a single uniform treatment while improving overall image quality reliability.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If annular grooves with stepped surfaces are added to the plastic barrel, then light suppression effectiveness is improved, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the light suppression function directly into the plastic barrel structure by integrating annular grooves with stepped surfaces as inherent features of the barrel itself. Rather than adding separate light suppression components or applying complex external treatments, the grooves are combined with the barrel's basic structure, allowing the barrel to simultaneously serve as both the structural housing and the optical light-suppression element. This merging reduces overall device complexity despite the enhanced surface features.
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 effectively reduces reflected light, enhancing image quality and meeting the requirements of high-end optical systems by incorporating annular grooves on the plastic barrel's surface, thereby improving the performance of compact optical lens assemblies.
Implementation Method 1
A surface property of the plastic barrel relates to an effect of suppressing unexpected lights. Accordingly, an image quality of the optical lens assembly is influenced by the surface property of the plastic barrel.
Implementation Method 2
The conventional plastic barrel is atomized with a surface treatment, so that a reflectivity thereof is reduced. However, the effect of suppressing unexpected lights is still limited.
Data Source
AI summary
A plastic barrel includes an object-end portion, an image-end portion and a tube portion. The object-end portion includes an object-end surface and an object-end hole, wherein the object-end surface includes a plurality of annular grooves, which are disposed coaxially to a central axis, and each of the annular grooves includes a stepped surface. The image-end portion includes an image-end opening. The tube portion connects the object-end portion and the image-end portion.