Six-Lens Optical Imaging System Compact Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current optical imaging lenses for portable devices face challenges in achieving a balance between being lighter, thinner, shorter, and smaller while maintaining a smaller F-number and larger field of view with good imaging quality.
Innovation Solution
A six-lens element optical imaging lens design with specific refracting power configurations and surface shapes, including negative and positive refracting powers, convex and concave regions, and optimized air gaps and thicknesses, is proposed to achieve a smaller F-number and larger field of view while maintaining good imaging quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If the optical imaging lens is made lighter, thinner, shorter and smaller, then the portability and integration are improved, but the field of view and imaging quality may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The optical imaging lens is divided into six lens elements with different refracting powers and surface shapes. Each lens element is optimized independently to contribute to the overall field of view and imaging quality while keeping individual element sizes small. The segmentation allows complex optical functions to be distributed across multiple smaller components rather than requiring a single large element.
Solution Approach 2:
Different lens elements have different refracting powers (positive or negative) and different surface shape configurations (convex or concave periphery regions). This local differentiation allows each element to perform specific optical functions optimally, enabling the compact system to achieve a large field of view through coordinated local optimizations rather than requiring uniform large-scale components.
2Illumination intensity
If the F-number is reduced to increase luminous flux, then the light gathering ability is improved, but the system complexity and difficulty of maintaining imaging quality increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes specific parameters of the lens elements including refracting powers, surface shapes (convex/concave periphery regions), thicknesses, and air gaps. By carefully controlling these parameters within specific ranges, the system achieves a small F-number for high luminous flux while maintaining manageable complexity through systematic parameter optimization rather than arbitrary design.
Solution Approach 2:
The six lens elements work together as an integrated system where each element contributes to multiple functions: some elements primarily control light gathering (affecting F-number), while others primarily control field of view, and all collectively maintain imaging quality. This multi-functionality allows the system to achieve small F-number without proportionally increasing complexity, as the same elements serve multiple optical purposes.
3Length of moving object
If the system length is reduced to make the lens thinner and shorter, then the integration is improved, but the field of view and imaging quality may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The six lens elements are arranged in sequence along the optical axis with optimized spacing (air gaps) between them. This nested arrangement allows the optical system to achieve its full optical path length and field of view capability within a compact overall package. The elements are positioned to maximize their optical effectiveness within the constrained system length, with each element's position optimized to contribute to both compactness and imaging quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent specifies that periphery regions of lens surfaces are either convex or concave rather than flat. These curved surfaces are essential for achieving wide field of view in compact systems, as they properly direct off-axis rays to the image plane. The curvature configurations are optimized to maintain imaging quality across the field of view while minimizing the system length required to accommodate the optical path.
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 increases the half field of view and reduces the system length while maintaining good imaging quality, with improved thermal stability and fabrication yield through the selection of appropriate materials and configurations.
Implementation Method 1
Each first lens element, second lens element, third lens element, fourth lens element, fifth lens element and sixth lens element has an object-side surface which faces toward the object side and allows imaging rays to pass through as well as an image-side surface which faces toward the image side and allows the imaging rays to pass through
Data Source
AI summary
An optical imaging lens includes a first lens element to a sixth lens element from an object side to an image side along an optical axis. The first lens element has negative refracting power, the second lens element has negative refracting power and a periphery region of the object-side surface of the second lens element is convex, a periphery region of the image-side surface of the third lens element is concave, a periphery region of the object-side surface of the fifth lens element is concave and a periphery region of the image-side surface of the fifth lens element is concave. Lens elements included by the optical imaging lens are only six lens elements described above. AAG is a sum of five air gaps from the first lens element to the sixth lens element along the optical axis, and EFL is an effective focal length to satisfy AAG/EFL≤2.700.