Self-aligning Lens Holder with Registration Tabs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional camera assemblies in mobile drive units face misalignment issues due to tolerance in image sensor location on circuit boards, leading to distortion and increased height and complexity, especially when using wide-angle lenses like fisheye lenses.
Innovation Solution
A self-aligning lens holder with registration elements such as tabs or fingers that align with the image sensor chip, reducing manufacturing complexity and potentially eliminating the need for special tools, and a spring assembly to maintain focal distance, allowing for precise alignment and reduced mechanical stress on the chip.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If conventional surface mount technology is used to install the image sensor on the circuit board, then automated assembly is achieved, but misalignment between the lens and image sensor occurs due to tolerance in sensor location
Solution Approach 1:
The lens holder includes registration elements (tabs or fingers) that automatically align with corresponding features on the image sensor chip during assembly. This self-aligning mechanism compensates for tolerance variations in sensor placement, enabling precise lens-sensor alignment without requiring special alignment tools or manual adjustment, thus maintaining both automated assembly and manufacturing precision
Solution Approach 2:
The lens holder acts as an intermediary component between the circuit board and the image sensor. It provides registration elements that interface with the sensor chip, mediating the alignment relationship and ensuring accurate lens-sensor positioning regardless of the sensor's exact location on the board
2Manufacturing precision
If the image sensor is mounted on a separate circuit board to achieve precise alignment, then alignment precision improves, but the height of the mobile drive unit increases and complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The lens holder and image sensor mounting are merged into a single integrated structure. The registration elements on the lens holder directly engage with the image sensor chip, combining the lens mounting function and sensor positioning function into one component, thereby achieving precise alignment while maintaining a single circuit board configuration and reducing overall device complexity
3Manufacturing precision
If a spring assembly is used to preload the lens and eliminate thread backlash, then focal distance stability improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The lens holder assembly is segmented into functional components: the registration elements for alignment, the spring assembly for focal distance stabilization, and the mounting features for attachment to the circuit board. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently, achieving focal distance stability through the dedicated spring mechanism while keeping the overall design modular and manageable
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 self-aligning lens holder improves camera assembly precision, reduces the height of mobile drive units, and simplifies manufacturing by ensuring accurate lens placement without special tools, while maintaining a suitable field of view for fiducial marker reading.
Implementation Method 1
The spring assembly includes a flange plate or washer and a coil spring. The washer is located on the underside of a shoulder of the lens and the coil spring wraps around the shaft of the lens holder to push upwardly on the washer against a base of the lens holder to upwardly bias the lens in the cavity of the lens holder.
Data Source
AI summary
A self-aligning lens holder includes elements that register against an image sensor chip to align the holder and lens with the chip. The elements may deflect or deform. A corresponding method aligns the lens holder and a fisheye lens to the image sensor.