Seven-Lens Image Capturing Assembly for Compact Wide-FOV Imaging
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional optical lens assemblies face challenges in balancing image quality, sensitivity, aperture size, volume, and field of view, making it difficult to achieve high performance in compact electronic devices.
Innovation Solution
An image capturing lens assembly with seven lens elements, each with specific refractive powers and surface shapes, including aspheric surfaces with inflection points, is designed to optimize the balance between these factors, featuring a configuration that includes negative and positive refractive powers, concave and convex surfaces, and carefully controlled thickness ratios to achieve a wide field of view while minimizing aberrations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the number of lens elements is increased to improve image quality, then aberration correction is enhanced, but the overall size and complexity of the lens assembly increases
Solution Approach 1:
The lens assembly is divided into seven distinct lens elements with specific refractive power assignments (negative, positive, negative, positive, positive, negative, negative). Each element is optimized for specific aberration correction functions, allowing complex optical performance to be achieved through modular segmentation rather than a single complex element.
Solution Approach 2:
At least one lens element incorporates an aspheric surface with inflection points instead of traditional spherical surfaces. This allows for more precise control of light rays and correction of spherical aberration, improving image quality without requiring additional lens elements that would increase complexity.
2Illumination intensity
If the aperture size is increased to improve sensitivity, then light gathering capability is enhanced, but the volume of the lens assembly increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent specifies precise parameter ranges including focal length ratios (f3/f6 between 2.30-5.42, CT3/CT7 between 1.25-3.00) and field of view constraints (42.5-67.5 degrees). These parameter optimizations allow the lens to achieve high sensitivity with a compact form factor by efficiently utilizing the available aperture without requiring excessive volume.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the field of view is widened to improve coverage, then the viewing angle is enhanced, but aberrations increase and image quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Different lens elements are assigned specific functions based on their position in the optical path. The fourth lens element with its concave image-side surface and the seventh element with convex object-side and concave image-side surfaces are specifically optimized to correct off-axis aberrations, allowing wide field of view while maintaining image quality across the entire field.
Solution Approach 2:
Aspheric surfaces with inflection points are incorporated to correct field curvature and distortion that typically increase with wider fields of view. These non-spherical surfaces enable precise control of marginal rays, maintaining sharpness and reducing aberrations even at the edges of a wide 42.5-67.5 degree field of view.
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 solution enables a compact optical lens assembly that maintains high image quality, corrects aberrations, and balances field of view and size, effectively addressing the limitations of conventional designs.
Implementation Method 1
The first lens element has negative refractive power. The third lens element has positive refractive power. The fifth lens element has positive refractive power. The seventh lens element with negative refractive power has the object-side surface being convex in a paraxial region thereof and the image-side surface being concave in a paraxial region thereof.
Data Source
AI summary
An image capturing lens assembly includes seven lens elements, which are, in order from an object side to an image side along an optical path, 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, each of the seven lens elements has an object-side surface towards the object side and an image-side surface towards the image side. The first lens element has negative refractive power. The third lens element has positive refractive power. The seventh lens element has negative refractive power.