Camera module

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10812697-B2
Application number	US-201916282617-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 22, 2019
Priority date	Aug 28, 2018
Publication date	Oct 20, 2020
Grant date	Oct 20, 2020

Abstract

A camera module includes a housing having a lens module, an aperture module provided above the lens module and including blades that form incident holes having different sizes in multiple stages or successively, a moving part configured to linearly reciprocate to drive the blades, including a driving magnet facing a driving coil, a position sensor configured to sense a position of the moving part according to interaction with the driving magnet, and a controller configured to receive a signal from the position sensor and confirm or correct the position of the moving part.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A camera module comprising:
a housing comprising a lens module;
an aperture module disposed above the lens module and comprising a plurality of blades configured to form incident holes having different sizes in multiple stages or successively;
a moving part configured to linearly reciprocate to move at least a portion of the blades, comprising a driving magnet facing a driving coil;
a position sensor configured to sense a position of the moving part according to an interaction with the driving magnet; and
a controller configured to receive a signal from the position sensor and confirm or correct the position of the moving part.

2. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein the position sensor is disposed inside the driving coil, or outside the driving coil adjacent to a side surface of the driving coil.

3. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein the position sensor is a Hall sensor.

4. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of blades are three or more blades.

5. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of blades are further configured to form N incident holes having different sizes in multiple stages, where N is a natural number.

6. The camera module of claim 5 , wherein N is a natural number equal to or greater than 3.

7. The camera module of claim 6 , wherein the moving part is further configured to stop at any of N positions along a movement path of the moving part, where N is a natural number, and a number of the N positions is equal to a number of the N incident holes.

8. The camera module of claim 7 , wherein the aperture module further comprises a base,
the moving part is further configured to linearly reciprocate along a side surface of the base, and
the camera module further comprises at least one yoke disposed on the lens module or the base and facing the driving magnet.

9. The camera module of claim 8 , wherein the at least one yoke is N yokes, where N is a natural number, and a number of the N yokes is equal to a number of the N positions, and
the N yokes are disposed at intervals along a line parallel to the movement path of the moving part facing respective ones of the N positions.

10. The camera module of claim 8 , wherein the at least one yoke is a single yoke extending along a line parallel to the movement path of the moving part.

11. The camera module of claim 10 , wherein the single yoke comprises N extended portions and other portions disposed between the N extended portions, where N is a natural number, and a number of the N extended portions is equal to a number of the N positions,
the N extended portions are disposed at intervals along a line parallel to the movement path of the moving part facing respective ones of the N positions, and
a height of each of the extended portions in an optical axis direction is greater than a height of each of the other portions in the optical axis direction.

12. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of blades are three blades, and
at least one of the three blades is further configured not to move while the moving part moves along a first section of a movement path of the moving part, and to move as the moving part moves along a second section of the movement path of the moving part.

13. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of blades are four blades, and
at least one of the four blades is further configured not to move while the moving part moves along a first section of a movement path of the moving part, and to move as the moving part moves along a second section of the movement path of the moving part.

14. A portable electronic apparatus comprising:
the camera module of claim 1 further configured to convert light incident through the lens module to an electrical signal; and
a display unit disposed on a surface of the portable electronic apparatus and configured to display an image based on the electrical signal.

15. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein the driving magnet faces the driving coil in a direction intersecting an optical axis direction, and
the position sensor is disposed inside the driving coil, or outside the driving coil adjacent to a side surface of the driving coil.

16. A camera module comprising:
a housing comprising a lens module configured to move in an optical axis direction relative to the housing;
an aperture module disposed above the lens module and configured to move in the optical axis direction relative to the housing along with the lens module;
a moving part configured to linearly reciprocate to move at least a portion of the blades, comprising a driving magnet facing a driving coil; and
a position sensor configured to sense a position of the moving part according to an interaction with the driving magnet,
wherein the driving coil and the position sensor are disposed on the housing.

17. The camera module of claim 16 , further comprising a yoke facing the driving magnet and disposed on the lens module.

18. The camera module of claim 16 , wherein the aperture module further comprises:
a base; and
a yoke facing the driving magnet and disposed on the base,
wherein the moving part is further configured to linearly reciprocate along a side surface of the base.

19. An aperture module comprising:
a plurality of blades overlapping each other in an optical axis direction and comprising through holes configured to form an aperture, the blades being disposed rotatably on a base;
a holding yoke;
a moving part coupled to the blades, configured to slide linearly relative to the base to rotate at least one of the blades to change a size of the aperture formed by the through holes, and comprising a magnet,
wherein an attraction between the holding yoke and the magnet stably holds the moving part at any of two or more positions spaced apart along a movement path of the moving part and respectively corresponding to two or more predetermined sizes of the aperture.

20. The aperture module of claim 19 , wherein the holding yoke is disposed on the base.

21. The aperture module of claim 19 , further comprising:
a driving coil facing the magnet and configured to drive the magnet to move the moving part to the two or more positions;
a sensor configured to sense a position of the moving part according to an interaction with the magnet; and
a controller configured to control the moving part to stay at one of the two or more positions or slide linearly relative to the base to another one of the two or more positions in response to a signal from the sensor.

Assignees

• Samsung Electro Mech

Inventors

• Lee Kyung Hun
• Kim Jae Kyung
• Seo Bo Sung
• Kim Sang Joon
• Park Sung Ryung
• Joo Ho Young
• Park Sang Eun
• Kang Hwan Jun

Classifications

• H04N23/55

  Optical parts specially adapted for electronic image sensors; Mounting thereof · CPC title

• H04N23/54

  Mounting of pick-up tubes, electronic image sensors, deviation or focusing coils · CPC title

• H04N23/57 Primary

  Mechanical or electrical details of cameras or camera modules specially adapted for being embedded in other devices · CPC title

• G03B9/04 Primary

  Single movable plate with two or more apertures of graded size, e.g. sliding plate or pivoting plate · CPC title

• H04N23/51

  Housings · CPC title