Camera with a multi-material base structure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11808950-B2
Application number	US-202117480045-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 20, 2021
Priority date	Sep 24, 2020
Publication date	Nov 7, 2023
Grant date	Nov 7, 2023

Abstract

A camera may include a multi-material base structure having at least a first portion and a second portion. The first and second portions of the base structure may include different materials. The base structure may be used with one or more actuators of the camera to implement various optical image stabilization (OIS) and/or autofocus (AF) functions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A camera, comprising:
a lens group comprising one or more lens elements;
an image sensor to capture image data based on light that passes through the lens group;
a movable frame fixedly coupled with the lens group or the image sensor;
an actuator for moving the movable frame; and
a base structure that defines an end stop with respect to motion of the movable frame in one or more directions, wherein the base structure comprises:
an inner portion formed of a first material, wherein the inner portion at least partially encircles the movable frame; and
an outer portion formed of a second material that is different than the first material, wherein the outer portion at least partially encircles the inner portion.

2. The camera of claim 1 , wherein the first material has a higher tensile strength than the second material.

3. The camera of claim 1 , wherein:
the movable frame is fixedly coupled with the image sensor; and
the actuator is configured to move the movable frame, together with the image sensor, relative to the lens group.

4. The camera of claim 3 , wherein:
the lens group defines an optical axis; and
the actuator is configured to move the movable frame in one or more directions orthogonal to the optical axis, to provide optical image stabilization (OIS) movement of an image on the image sensor.

5. The camera of claim 4 , wherein:
the movable frame comprises a substrate to which the image sensor is attached; and
the camera further comprises:
a flexure suspension arrangement for suspending the substrate from the base structure, the flexure suspension arrangement comprising:
a dynamic platform fixedly coupled with the substrate;
a stationary platform coupled with the base structure; and
one or more flexure arms that connect the dynamic platform to the stationary platform and that allow the dynamic platform to move, in the one or more directions orthogonal to the optical axis, relative to the stationary platform.

6. The camera of claim 1 , wherein:
the inner portion is formed in a respective shot, in a multi-shot injection molding process, that occurs after a respective shot in which the outer portion is formed.

7. The camera of claim 6 , wherein:
the first material has a higher tensile strength than the second material; and
the second material has a lower shrinkage than the first material.

8. A device, comprising:
one or more processors;
memory storing program instructions executable by the one or more processors to control operations of a camera; and
the camera, comprising:
a lens group comprising one or more lens elements;
an image sensor to capture image data based on light that passes through the lens group;
a movable frame fixedly coupled with the lens group or the image sensor;
an actuator for moving the movable frame;
a base structure that defines an end stop with respect to motion of the movable frame in one or more directions, wherein the base structure comprises:
an inner portion formed of a first material, wherein the inner portion at least partially encircles the movable frame; and
an outer portion formed of a second material that is different than the first material, wherein the outer portion at least partially encircles the inner portion.

9. The device of claim 8 , wherein the first material has a higher tensile strength than the second material.

10. The device of claim 9 , wherein:
the lens group defines an optical axis;
the movable frame is fixedly coupled with the image sensor; and
the actuator is configured to move the movable frame, together with the image sensor, in one or more directions orthogonal to the optical axis.

11. The device of claim 10 , wherein:
the movable frame comprises a substrate to which the image sensor is attached; and
the camera further comprises:
a flexure suspension arrangement for suspending the substrate from the base structure, the flexure suspension arrangement comprising:
a dynamic platform fixedly coupled with the substrate;
a stationary platform coupled with the base structure; and
one or more flexure arms that connect the dynamic platform to the stationary platform and that allow the dynamic platform to move, in the one or more directions orthogonal.

12. The device of claim 8 , wherein:
the inner portion is formed in a respective shot, in a multi-shot injection molding process, that occurs after a respective shot in which the outer portion is formed;
the first material has a higher tensile strength than the second material; and
the second material has a lower shrinkage than the first material.

13. The device of claim 8 , wherein:
the base structure comprises:
a first side that faces, in a direction parallel to an optical axis defined by the lens group, towards the lens group; and
a second side that faces opposite the first side, wherein the inner portion abuts the outer portion such that the second side comprises a flat outer surface formed of the first material and the second material.

14. The device of claim 8 , wherein the base structure further comprises:
one or more conductive elements that are insert molded in a multi-shot injection molding process that is used to form the inner portion and the outer portion.

15. The device of claim 14 , wherein the one or more conductive elements are insert molded together with the inner portion.

16. The device of claim 14 , wherein the camera further comprises:
a conductive enclosure that encases at least a portion of the camera;
wherein:
the movable frame is fixedly coupled with an image sensor package comprising one or more electrical components; and
the one or more conductive elements form a portion of an electrical ground path between image sensor package and the conductive enclosure.

17. The device of claim 8 , wherein the actuator comprises a voice coil motor (VCM) actuator.

18. The device of claim 8 , wherein:
the first material has a higher tensile strength than the second material; and
the second material has a lower shrinkage than the first material.

19. A method, comprising:
forming, using a multi-shot injection molding process, a base structure of a camera, wherein the base structure is configured to define an end stop with respect to motion of a movable frame of the camera in one or more directions, wherein the camera includes an actuator to move the movable frame in the one or more directions, and wherein the forming the base structure comprises:
forming an inner shot portion and an outer shot portion in respective shots of the multi-shot injection molding process, wherein:
the inner shot portion is configured to at least partially encircle the movable frame and is formed of a first material; and
the outer shot portion is configured to at least partially encircle the inner shot portion and is formed of a second material that is different than the first material.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the forming the inner shot portion and the outer shot portion comprises:
injecting the second material into an outer shot mold cavity via a first set of one or more gates; and
injecting the first material into an inner shot mold cavity via a second set of gates, wherein the second set of gates comprises a greater number of gates than the first set of one or more gates.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Xu Bin
• Hubert Aurelien R

Classifications

• G02B27/646 Primary

  compensating for small deviations, e.g. due to vibration or shake (movement of one or more optical elements for control of motion blur in cameras, projectors or printers G03B2205/0007; image stabilisation in cameras peculiar to the presence or use of an electronic image sensor H04N23/68) · CPC title

• G02B7/021

  for more than one lens · CPC title

• G02B7/09

  adapted for automatic focusing or varying magnification · CPC title

• H04N23/687

  by shifting the lens or sensor position · CPC title

• G03B2205/0007

  Movement of one or more optical elements for control of motion blur · CPC title