Camera module

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10840835-B2
Application number	US-201916247855-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 15, 2019
Priority date	Aug 13, 2018
Publication date	Nov 17, 2020
Grant date	Nov 17, 2020

Abstract

A camera module includes a lens barrel configured to be movable; a detection target disposed on one side of the lens barrel; an integrated coil and a sensing coil facing the detection target and disposed in a direction perpendicular to a direction of movement of the lens barrel; a driver configured to apply a driving signal to the integrated coil; and a position detector configured to detect a position of the lens barrel according to an inductance of the integrated coil and an inductance of the sensing coil, wherein a width of the integrated coil in the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the lens barrel and a width of the sensing coil in the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the lens barrel change in the direction of movement of the lens barrel.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A camera module comprising:
a lens barrel configured to be movable;
a detection target disposed on one side of the lens barrel;
an integrated coil and a sensing coil facing the detection target and disposed in a direction perpendicular to a direction of movement of the lens barrel;
a driver configured to apply a driving signal to the integrated coil; and
a position detector configured to detect a position of the lens barrel according to an inductance of the integrated coil and an inductance of the sensing coil,
wherein a width of the integrated coil in the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the lens barrel and a width of the sensing coil in the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the lens barrel change in the direction of movement of the lens barrel.

2. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein the width of the integrated coil in the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the lens barrel and the width of the sensing coil in the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the lens barrel increase or decrease in opposite directions in the direction of movement of the lens barrel.

3. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein the width of the integrated coil in the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the lens barrel is greater than the width of the sensing coil in the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the lens barrel.

4. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein the position detector is further configured to compare the inductance of the integrated coil and the inductance of the sensing coil with each other, and detect the position of the lens barrel based on a result of the comparing of the inductances with each other.

5. The camera module of claim 4 , wherein the position detector is further configured to compare directions in which the inductance of the integrated coil and the inductance of the sensing coil increase or decrease with each other, and detect the position of the lens barrel based on a result of the comparing of the directions with each other.

6. The camera module of claim 5 , wherein the position detector is further configured to detect the position of the lens barrel based on a difference between the inductance of the integrated coil and the inductance of the sensing coil in response to the result of the comparing of the directions with each other indicating that the inductance of the integrated coil and the inductance of the sensing coil increase or decrease in opposite directions.

7. The camera module of claim 5 , wherein the position detector is further configured not to detect the position of the lens barrel in response to the result of the comparing of the directions with each other indicating that the inductance of the integrated coil and the inductance of the sensing coil increase or decrease in a same direction.

8. The camera module of claim 1 , wherein the position detector is further configured to generate a first oscillation signal according to the inductance of the integrated coil and a second oscillation signal according to the inductance of the sensing coil, and detect the position of the lens barrel according to a frequency of the first oscillation signal and a frequency of the second oscillation signal.

9. A camera module comprising:
a lens barrel configured to be movable;
a detection target configured to be movable with the lens barrel;
an integrated coil facing the detection target;
a reference coil facing the detection target;
a shielding layer disposed between the reference coil and the detection target;
a driver configured to apply a driving signal to the integrated coil; and
a position detector configured to detect a position of the lens barrel according to an inductance of the integrated coil and an inductance of the reference coil.

10. The camera module of claim 9 , wherein the integrated coil is disposed on a first surface of the shielding layer, and
the reference coil is disposed on a second surface of the shielding layer.

11. The camera module of claim 9 , wherein the integrated coil comprises a plurality of layers,
the shielding layer is disposed facing the detection target in a hollow portion of at least one layer of the plurality of layers, and
the reference coil is disposed in a hollow portion of at least one other layer of the plurality of layers.

12. The camera module of claim 9 , wherein the inductance of the integrated coil changes according to a movement of the lens barrel, and
the inductance of the reference coil is remains substantially constant as the lens barrel moves.

13. The camera module of claim 9 , wherein the inductance of the integrated coil and the inductance of the reference coil change according to a common noise component.

14. The camera module of claim 13 , wherein the position detector is further configured to remove the common noise component by detecting the position of the detection target based on a difference between the inductance of the integrated coil and the inductance of the reference coil.

15. The camera module of claim 9 , wherein the position detector is further configured to detect the position of the detection target based on a difference between the inductance of the integrated coil and the inductance of the reference coil.

16. The camera module of claim 9 , wherein the inductance of the integrated coil is greater than the inductance of the reference coil.

17. The camera module of claim 9 , wherein the integrated coil is disposed at a fixed position relative to the reference coil.

18. The camera module of claim 9 , wherein the reference coil faces the shielding layer in a first direction, and
the integrated coil and the reference coil either face the detection target in the first direction, or are disposed next to each other in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.

19. A camera module comprising:
a lens barrel configured to be movable;
a detection target disposed on the lens barrel;
an integrated coil and a sensing coil disposed facing the detection target in a direction perpendicular to a direction of an optical axis of the lens barrel;
a driver configured to apply a driving signal to the integrated coil to drive the lens barrel in the optical axis direction; and
a position detector configured to detect a position of the lens barrel in the optical axis direction according to an inductance of the integrated coil and an inductance of the sensing coil,
wherein a geometry of the integrated coil causes the inductance of the integrated coil to change in a first direction as the lens barrel moves in the optical axis direction, and
a geometry of the sensing coil causes the inductance of the sensing coil to change in a second direction opposite to the first direction as the lens barrel moves in the optical axis direction.

20. The camera module of claim 19 , wherein the geometry of the integrated coil and the geometry of the sensing coil cause the inductance of the integrated coil to increase and the inductance of the sensing coil to decrease as the lens barrel moves in a first direction in the optical axis direction, and cause the inductance of the integrated coil to decrease and the inductance of the sensing coil to increase as the lens barrel moves in a second direction in the optical axis direction opposite to the first direction.

21. The camera module of claim 19 , wherein the position detector is further configured to detect the position of the lens

Assignees

• Samsung Electro Mech
• Samsung Eiectro Mech Co Ltd

Inventors

• Yu Je Hyeon
• Lee Youn Joong
• Pang Sung Man
• Kim Jin
• Cho Koon Shik

Classifications

• H04N23/681

  Motion detection · CPC title

• H04N23/687

  by shifting the lens or sensor position · CPC title

• H04N23/55 Primary

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

• H04N23/54 Primary

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

• H04N23/67

  Focus control based on electronic image sensor signals · CPC title