Electro-optic aperture device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9307158-B2
Application number	US-201414146259-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 2, 2014
Priority date	Jan 4, 2013
Publication date	Apr 5, 2016
Grant date	Apr 5, 2016

Abstract

An electro-optic aperture has a stack that includes a front transparent conductor medium, an active electro-chromic medium, and a rear transparent conductor medium. The front and rear transparent conductor mediums are directly connected to each other by a conductive section located within the imaging path. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A portable consumer electronics device comprising:
a handheld portable device housing; and
an electronic camera module integrated in the housing, the module having a focusing lens to focus light from a scene, an imaging sensor to receive the focused light, and an electro-optic variable aperture to allow different amounts of the light from the scene to reach the imaging sensor through an imaging path,
wherein the aperture has an aperture stack that includes a front transparent conductor medium, an electrolyte medium, an active electro-chromic medium, and a rear transparent conductor medium, and wherein the front and rear transparent conductor mediums are directly connected to each other by a conductive section that is of the same material as the front and rear transparent conductor mediums and located within the imaging path.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the conductive section is oriented at about ninety degrees relative to the front and rear transparent conductor mediums and is located closer to a center, rather than a periphery, of a cross-section of the imaging path.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the conductive section is located at about a center of a cross-section of the imaging path, the device further comprising a driver circuit that is to apply an activation voltage to the front and rear transparent conductor mediums so that the aperture becomes least opaque at the conductive section and progressively more opaque further away from the center.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein the electrolyte medium comprises an ion source medium and an ion conduction medium.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein the aperture stack further comprises a front substrate on which the front transparent conductor medium is formed.

6. The device of claim 5 wherein the aperture stack further comprises a rear substrate on which the rear transparent conductor medium is formed.

7. The device of claim 1 wherein the aperture is positioned so that the front transparent conductor medium is closer to the scene than the rear transparent conductor medium.

8. The device of claim 1 further comprising:
a driver circuit to produce a variable voltage and being coupled to the transparent conductor mediums of the aperture, so as to apply the variable voltage to activate the aperture;
an exposure controller to receive a user-triggered shutter release command and in response signal a) the driver circuit to apply a particular voltage to activate the aperture and b) the imaging sensor to apply a particular integration time, in accordance with a given exposure setting; and
a digital image storage coupled to receive a captured digital image from the imaging sensor.

9. The device of claim 1 wherein the handheld portable device housing has a side that joins a front face and a rear face of the housing, and wherein the camera module is oriented in the housing such that the focusing lens is substantially parallel with the rear face of the housing and receives the light from the scene through an opening in the rear face of the housing.

10. The device of claim 1 wherein the electro-chromic medium comprises a layer of electro-chromic material that is substantially perpendicular to an optical axis of the camera module and that has essentially uniform thickness.

11. The device of claim 1 further comprising:
another transparent conductor medium;
another electro-chromic medium sandwiched between the another transparent conductor medium and the rear transparent conductor medium; and
a control circuit that determines voltages to be applied to the transparent conductor mediums in response to a plurality of input desired states including a clear state, an aperture stop state, and a neutral density state.

12. The device of claim 5 wherein the front substrate is the focusing lens of the camera module.

13. The device of claim 5 wherein the front substrate is an external housing wall of the device.

14. An electro-optic variable aperture to control light that passes through an imaging path, the electro-optic variable aperture comprising:
a front transparent conductor medium;
an electrolyte medium;
an active electro-chromic medium;
a rear transparent conductor medium; and
a conductive section located within the imaging path that directly connects the front and rear transparent conductor mediums, the conductive section being of the same material as the front and rear transparent conductor mediums.

15. The electro-optic variable aperture of claim 14 wherein the conductive section is oriented at about ninety degrees relative to the front and rear transparent conductor mediums and is located closer to a center, rather than a periphery, of a cross-section of the imaging path.

16. The electro-optic variable aperture of claim 14 wherein the conductive section is located at about a center of a cross-section of the imaging path, the electro-optic variable aperture further comprising a driver circuit that is to apply an activation voltage to the front and rear transparent conductor mediums so that the electro-optic variable aperture becomes least opaque at the conductive section and progressively more opaque further away from the center.

17. The electro-optic variable aperture of claim 14 wherein the electrolyte medium comprises an ion source medium and an ion conduction medium.

18. The electro-optic variable aperture of claim 14 wherein the electro-chromic medium comprises a layer of electro-chromic material that has essentially uniform thickness and that is substantially perpendicular to an optical axis of the electro-optic variable aperture.

19. The electro-optic variable aperture of claim 14 further comprising:
a third transparent conductor medium;
a second electro-chromic medium sandwiched between the third transparent conductor medium and the rear transparent conductor medium; and
a control circuit that determines voltages to be applied to the transparent conductor mediums in response to a plurality of input desired states including a clear state, an aperture stop state, and a neutral density state.

20. An electro-optic variable aperture to control light that passes through an imaging path, the electro-optic variable aperture comprising:
a front transparent conductor medium;
an electrolyte medium;
an active electro-chromic medium;
a rear transparent conductor medium; and
a conductive section located at a center of the imaging path, the conductive section forming an electrical short directly connecting the front and rear transparent conductor mediums.

21. The electro-optic variable aperture of claim 20 wherein the conductive section is of the same material as the front and rear transparent conductor mediums.

22. The electro-optic variable aperture of claim 20 wherein the conductive section is oriented at about ninety degrees relative to the front and rear transparent conductor mediums.

23. The electro-optic variable aperture of claim 20 wherein the conductive section is located at about a center of a cross-section of the imaging path, the electro-optic variable aperture further comprising a driver circuit that is to apply an activation voltage to the front and rear transparent conductor mediums so that the electro-optic variable aperture becomes least opaque at the conductive section and progressively more opaque further away from the center.

24. The electro-optic variable aperture of claim 20 wherein the electrolyte medium comprises an

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Gleason Jeffrey Nathan
• Yang Henry H

Classifications

• H04N23/55

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

• H04N23/73 Primary

  by influencing the exposure time · CPC title

• H04N23/75

  by influencing optical camera components · CPC title

• G02F1/153 Primary

  Constructional details · CPC title

• G03B9/02

  Diaphragms · CPC title