Large-aperture compact scanning tele cameras

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12326545-B2
Application number	US-202419000742-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 24, 2024
Priority date	Dec 14, 2021
Publication date	Jun 10, 2025
Grant date	Jun 10, 2025

Abstract

Scanning Tele cameras (STCs) based on two optical path folding element (OPFE) field-of-view scanning and mobile devices including such STCs. A STC may comprise a first OPFE (O-OPFE) for folding a first optical path OP 1 to a second optical path OP 2 , an O-OPFE actuator, a second OPFE (I-OPFE) for folding OP 2 to a third optical path OP 3 , an I-OPFE actuator, a lens, a lens actuator and an image sensor, wherein the STC has a STC native field-of-view (n-FOV T ), wherein the O-OPFE actuator is configured to rotate the O-OPFE around a first axis and the I-OPFE actuator rotates the I-OPFE around a second axis for scanning a scene with the n-FOV T , wherein the lens actuator is configured to move the lens for focusing along a third axis, and wherein the first axis is perpendicular to the second axis and parallel to the third axis.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A scanning Tele camera (STC), comprising:
an optical path folding element (OPFE) for folding a first optical path OP 1 to a second optical path OP 2 ;
an OPFE actuator;
a lens with a maximum lens aperture height H A along OP 1 ; and
an image sensor,
wherein the STC has a STC native field-of-view n-FOV T , wherein the OPFE actuator is configured to rotate the OPFE around a first rotation axis perpendicular to both OP 1 and OP 2 and around a second rotation axis parallel to OP 1 for scanning a scene with the n-FOV T ,
wherein the STC is included in a camera module,
wherein the camera module is divided into a module region having a module region height H M and a shoulder region having a shoulder region height H S <H M , both H M and H S measured along OP 1 , and
wherein H S <H A +3 mm.

2. The STC of claim 1 , wherein H S <H A +2 mm.

3. The STC of claim 1 , the OPFE having an OPFE length L O measured along an axis perpendicular to OP 1 and an OPFE light exiting surface, wherein the first rotation axis is located at a distance Δ 1 from the light exiting surface of the OPFE, and wherein Δ 1 /L O <0.25.

4. The STC of claim 3 , wherein Δ 1 /L O <0.2.

5. The STC of claim 3 , wherein Δ 1 /L O <0.1.

6. The STC of claim 1 , wherein the OPFE has an OPFE center with respect to OP 1 , wherein the first rotation axis is located at a distance Δ C from the OPFE center along OP 1 , and wherein a ratio of Δ C and H S fulfils Δ C /H S >0.01.

7. The STC of claim 6 , wherein Δ C /H S >0.015.

8. The STC of claim 1 , wherein the lens has a maximum lens aperture width W A measured along an axis perpendicular to both OP 1 and OP 2 , and wherein H S <W A .

9. The STC of claim 1 , wherein H S /H M <0.9.

10. The STC of claim 1 , wherein H A /H S >0.7.

11. The STC of claim 1 , wherein the lens has an effective focal length (EFL), an aperture diameter (DA) and a f number f/#=EFL/DA, and wherein DA/H S >0.8.

12. The STC of claim 1 , wherein the lens has an effective focal length (EFL), an aperture diameter (DA) and a f number f/#=EFL/DA, and wherein f/#<3.5.

13. The STC of claim 12 , wherein f/#<3.

14. The STC of claim 1 , wherein the OPFE has an OPFE height H O along OP 1 and wherein H M <H O +3 mm.

15. The STC of claim 1 , wherein the OPFE is included in the module region and wherein the lens and the image sensor are included in the shoulder region.

16. The STC of claim 1 , wherein the lens is divided into a first lens group (G1) and a second lens group (G2), and wherein G1 has a lens optical axis parallel to OP 1 and G2 has a lens optical axis parallel to OP 2 .

17. The STC of claim 1 , wherein the lens is divided into a first lens group (G1) and a second lens group (G2), wherein the OPFE and G1 are included in the module region and G2 and the image sensor are included in the shoulder region.

18. The STC of claim 1 , included in a mobile device, wherein the mobile device has a regular region with a regular thickness T and a bump region with a bump thickness T+B, wherein the shoulder region is included in the mobile device regular region and wherein the module region is included in the mobile device bump region.

19. The STC of claim 18 , wherein the mobile device includes a Wide camera having a Wide camera image sensor and a Wide camera field-of-view (FOV W ).

20. The STC of claim 19 , wherein the mobile device is a smartphone.

Assignees

• Corephotonics Ltd

Inventors

• Goldenberg Ephraim
• Kowal Yiftah
• Shabtay Gal
• Boral Itamar
• Shemesh Ziv

Classifications

• G03B17/17 Primary

  with reflectors arranged in beam forming the photographic image, e.g. for reducing dimensions of camera · CPC title

• G03B3/06

  using movable reflectors to alter length of light path · CPC title

• H04N23/55

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

• G02B26/108 Primary

  having one or more prisms as scanning elements · CPC title

• G02B26/10 Primary

  Scanning systems · CPC title