Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide a lens driving device without a baffle plate on a base.
A lens driving device for driving a lens defining a subject located in front of the lens in an optical axis direction includes a base; the lower end of the shell is connected with the base and forms an accommodating space together with the base; a lens holder on which a through hole for loading the lens is formed; an elastic member for supporting the lens holder suspension within the housing; a driving unit for driving the lens holder to move in the accommodating space in the direction of the optical axis of the lens or in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis; and the flexible circuit board is electrically connected with the driving unit. The lens driving device further comprises a baffle plate arranged between the shell and the base, the lower end part of the baffle plate extends to below the lower ends of the shell and the base, and the flexible circuit board is fixed on the baffle plate.
As one embodiment, an electronic component is fixed on a surface of the flexible circuit board facing the lens support, and a clearance space corresponding to the electronic component is formed on the baffle.
As one embodiment, at least a portion of the baffle plate extending below the lower end of the housing is bent toward the optical axis direction of the lens, and is used for bearing the input/output terminal of the flexible circuit board.
As one embodiment, the baffle is electrically connected to the ground terminal of the flexible circuit board, and the baffle further has a pin extending below the lower end of the housing and serving as the ground terminal.
As one embodiment, the driving unit includes: one or more driving coils fixed to an outer circumferential sidewall of the lens holder; and a plurality of driving magnets fixed on the base and spaced apart from and opposed to the one or more driving coils in a direction perpendicular to an optical axis of the lens. Wherein, the base includes: a bottom plate with a through hole formed at the center thereof; a plurality of posts extending vertically from the base plate; and a plurality of limiting parts extending from the bottom plate or the plurality of upright posts. Wherein each driving magnet is limited between two upright posts in a first direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction, and is limited at least one limiting part in a direction towards or away from the driving coil opposite thereto, so that the plurality of limiting parts can limit the distance between the driving magnet and the driving coil opposite thereto.
As an implementation mode, the base is embedded with two conductive pieces made of high magnetic conductive materials which are not connected with each other.
As one embodiment, the area ratio of the conductive member to the bottom plate is 20% -50% as viewed from the direction of the optical axis of the lens.
In one embodiment, when the number of the driving coils is plural, the plurality of driving coils may be wound around the direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the lens, or may be wound around the outer peripheral wall of the lens holder around the optical axis of the lens; when the number of the driving coils is one, the driving coils are wound on the outer peripheral wall of the lens bracket around the optical axis direction of the lens; at least two winding posts and a wire groove for guiding wires electrically connected with the driving coil and the elastic member are also formed on the peripheral wall of the lens bracket; the driving magnets are arranged at intervals, and the at least two winding posts are arranged in the interval between one driving magnet and are not opposite to any driving magnet; the outer peripheral wall of the lens support is also provided with a position sensing magnet or an inductor, and the position sensing magnet or the inductor is arranged in the interval between the other driving magnets.
As one embodiment, the flexible wiring board is fixed to a surface of the barrier plate located radially outward of the lens.
As one embodiment, the housing side wall is formed with an opening penetrating the lower end edge of the housing side wall at a position corresponding to the baffle plate, and the flexible circuit board has a peripheral shape matching the opening
The shell of the lens driving device is provided with an independent baffle plate, and the flexible circuit board is fixed by the baffle plate and is supported by the whole flexible circuit board. The baffle is an independent element, the thickness is customizable, and the thickness can be very thin, so that the gluing space and the design adjustment space of the base are increased. In addition, the baffle can make the bending angle according to the requirement without increasing the thickness. Because the baffle is the independent subassembly, can fix the flexible line way board in advance on the preset position of baffle earlier, then fix the baffle between shell and base. Compared with the existing flexible circuit board assembly mode, the circuit board positioning and assembly are simpler, and other plastic parts are not needed to be used for positioning the circuit board.
Detailed Description
The invention will be described in further detail with reference to specific embodiments and drawings.
The lens driving device of the present invention is preferably a VCM (Voice Coil Motor) driving Motor, and the driving unit includes a driving Coil and a driving magnet which are opposed to each other with a space therebetween. The support member includes a lens holder for loading a lens, a peripheral support member provided on an outer peripheral side of the lens holder, and an elastic member for suspending the lens holder in the peripheral support member. One of the drive coil and the drive magnet is fixed to the lens holder, and the other is fixed to the peripheral support member. In operation, the driving coil in the magnetic field of the driving magnet is electrified, and the generated lorentz force is utilized to push the lens support to realize the focusing driving function of the lens. In addition, the closed-loop control function can be realized by arranging a sensor for position sensing and a magnet.
The lens support may have a substantially (i.e. substantially or approximately) circular or square or hexagonal polygonal shape, the magnets may be straight or arc or L-shaped, and the peripheral support members may be correspondingly shaped. The driving coil may be wound around a direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the lens and then fixed to the outer side wall of the lens holder, or may be wound around the optical axis direction of the lens on the outer peripheral wall of the lens holder. When the driving coils are wound around a direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the lens, the number is generally set to two (opposed and parallel across the lens holder), four (rotationally symmetrically disposed on the outer peripheral side wall of the lens holder), six, eight, or the like. When the driving coil is wound around the outer peripheral wall of the lens holder in the optical axis direction of the lens, the number is generally set to one or two (disposed back and forth in the optical axis direction). The plurality of driving magnets are arranged at intervals without being connected with each other, and are generally arranged in a rotationally symmetrical manner or an axially symmetrical manner.
A lens driving device having a substantially square outer shape will be described below as an example, and a single driving coil wound around the optical axis direction of the lens and two straight driving magnets will be provided. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the shape and number of component parts should not limit the scope of the present invention.
Hereinafter, for convenience of description, it is defined that the object is located in front of the lens driving device (i.e., lens), the side close to the object in the lens optical axis direction is the front side (front, upper), and the side far from the object in the optical axis direction is the rear side (rear, lower). The direction parallel to the optical axis of the lens is defined as the Z direction, and two directions perpendicular to the Z direction and perpendicular to each other are distributed as the X direction and the Y direction.
As shown in fig. 3, in an embodiment of the present invention, the lens driving device mainly includes a base 1, a housing 2 fastened to the base 1 from the front of the base 1, and a housing space defined by the housing 2 and the base 1: a lens holder 3 having a through hole for mounting a lens (not shown), a driving coil 31 wound around an outer peripheral side wall of the lens holder 3 in the optical axis direction, two driving magnets 32 provided on an outer peripheral side of the driving coil 31, a position detecting magnet 33 fixed to the lens holder 3, a position detecting sensor (not shown) opposed to the position detecting magnet 33, a flexible wiring board 6 for fixing the position detecting sensor, a conductive member 4 embedded (i.e., wrapped so as not to be visible from outside of the chassis) in the chassis 1, and an elastic member 5 for suspending the lens holder 3 inside the housing 2 and allowing the lens holder 3 to move in the optical axis direction are formed.
The housing 2 is in a square cover shape, and comprises a square cover plate and three side walls perpendicular to the cover plate, wherein the fourth side wall is not formed into an opening 21 or a generally U-shaped opening 21 penetrating through the lower end of the side wall is formed in the fourth side wall. The lower end parts of the three side walls are connected with the base. In this embodiment, the side wall located on the +x side is the fourth side wall, and a substantially U-shaped opening 21 is formed through the lower end portion of the side wall. A baffle 23 closes the opening 21 from inside the opening 21. The way of closing the opening 21 may be: (1) A baffle 23 is fixed on the inner side wall of the housing 2 and closes the opening 21; or (2) the baffle 23 is fixed on the base 1, and the baffle 23 closes the opening 21 when the base 1 is connected and fixed with the shell 2. In other embodiments, when the fourth sidewall is missing to form the opening 21, the side edge of the baffle 23 may be fixed to the adjacent sidewall and cover plate or to the base 1, thereby closing the opening.
The housing 2 is made of a low magnetic permeability material or a non-magnetic permeability material. Here, the magnetic permeability (magnetic permeability, generally denoted by the symbol μ, μ being equal to the ratio of the magnetic induction B to the magnetic field H in the magnetic medium, i.e., μ=b/H) is defined as a high magnetic permeability material, and a magnetic permeability lower than 1.5 is defined as a low magnetic permeability material.
The baffle 23 is preferably made of a conductive metal or alloy and is generally square. Specifically, the shutter 23 is divided into a first plate 231 located at the front in the optical axis direction, a second plate 232 integrally extending from the lower end portion of the first plate 231, and pins 233 integrally extending from the lower end portion of the first plate 231 and serving as ground terminals. The remaining three sides of the first plate 231 are secured to the housing inner side wall (or the first plate 231 is secured to the base 1) such that it closes the opening 21, while the second plate 232 and pins 233 extend below the lower end of the housing 2. The first plate 231 is formed with a clearance 2311 corresponding to an electronic component, particularly, a position detection sensor, fixed to the flexible wiring board 6 so that the position detection sensor can be opposed to the position detection magnet 33 fixed to the lens holder 3 with a clearance therebetween. The second board 232 is for bearing against the input-output terminals 61 formed at the lower end of the flexible wiring board 6. The flexible wiring board 6 is fixed to one surface of the baffle plate 23 located radially outside the lens, and has input and output terminals formed at the lower end thereof, and the outer peripheral shape except the lower end matches the side where the opening 21 is formed. Therefore, when in assembly, the flexible circuit board 6 can be fixed at the preset position of the baffle plate 23, so that the surface of the flexible circuit board, on which the electronic components are fixed, faces the lens support, the electronic components penetrate through the avoidance holes 2311 to be opposite to the lens support, and the whole flexible circuit board comprises the input and output terminals of the flexible circuit board and is supported on the baffle plate 23. Then the baffle 23 is fixed inside the opening 21 (directly fixed on the inner side wall of the shell 2 or directly fixed on the base 1, and then the base 1 and the shell 2 are connected, so that the baffle 23 is positioned inside the opening 21), and the upper part of the flexible circuit board 6 is embedded into the opening 21, so that the assembly and the positioning are accurate and simple. Because the baffle can possess rigidity and intensity that satisfies the requirement under very thin circumstances, consequently the rubber coating space and the design adjustment space of base increase.
According to practical needs, the second plate 232 may be slightly bent towards the optical axis of the lens relative to the first plate 231, so as to increase the soldering space with the substrate of the flexible circuit board 6. Because the baffle 23 is in an independent plate shape, accurate bending angles can be easily realized, and therefore, the bending angles can be formulated according to the requirements without increasing the thickness.
In addition, since the baffle plate 23 made of a conductive material is used, the baffle plate 23 can serve as a ground terminal of the flexible wiring board 6 and the entire lens driving device. The grounding end of the flexible circuit board 6 is electrically connected with the baffle 23. It will be appreciated that the surface of the shield 23 is covered with an insulating layer except for a portion of the pins 233 and a portion electrically connected to the flexible wiring board 6.
The base 1 is used for fixing the driving magnet 32, the elastic member 5 and the conductive member 4. The base 1 includes a generally quadrangular bottom plate 11, upright posts 12 extending perpendicularly from four corners of the bottom plate 11, a plurality of stopper portions 13 extending perpendicularly from the bottom plate 11, and one or more support plates 14. The middle part of the bottom plate 11 is provided with a through hole opposite to the lens. The columns 12 extend vertically from the four corners of the base plate 11. The elastic member 5 is attached to the front end face of the pillar 12. Due to the upright posts 12, when the shell 2 is connected with the base 1, the outer side surface of the upright posts 12 can be adhered to the inner side surface of the shell 2, so that the adhesion area of the two is obviously increased, and the overall structural strength of the lens driving device is enhanced.
In this embodiment, the limiting portions 13 extend from two sides of the bottom plate 11, and are substantially rectangular plates with surfaces parallel to the X direction. Here, the limit portion 13 is defined to be located at +y side and-Y side of the base 1, and the pillar 12 has a side surface 122 parallel to the Y direction, and the side surface 122 forms an L-shaped limit structure with one surface of the limit portion 13 parallel to the X direction. The two side end surfaces of the driving magnets 32, i.e., + X side end surface and-X side end surface, are in contact with the side surfaces 122 of the columns 12 (may also be simultaneously connected by gluing), so that each driving magnet 32 is located between two columns 12 at the upper limit in the Y direction. The end surface of the driving magnet 32 in the direction opposite to the driving coil 31 contacts the stopper 13 (preferably, is simultaneously connected by gluing), and is thereby held by the stopper 13 in the direction toward the lens. In addition, the stopper 13 can also restrict the position of the driving magnet 32 in the direction parallel to the optical axis. Therefore, a plastic part bracket which is fixed on the inner side of the shell and used for limiting the driving magnet and the FPC in the existing driving device is omitted.
The support plate 14 integrally extends from the side edge of the bottom plate 11 on the +x side. In this embodiment, the support plate 14 is also used for fixing the baffle 23, i.e. one side of the baffle is connected to the inner side wall of the housing 2 and the other side is connected to the support plate 14 of the base 1. A portion of the outer side surface of the support plate 14 may be adhered to the inner side surface of the housing 2, so that the adhesion area of the chassis 1 and the housing 2 is remarkably increased, and the overall structural strength of the lens driving apparatus is enhanced. In this embodiment, the supporting board 14 is generally square, and a through hole is formed in the middle for the electronic component on the flexible circuit board to extend into.
In addition, as described above, the base 1 is embedded (wrapped) with two conductive members 4 made of high magnetic conductive material that are not connected to each other, that is, the conductive members 4 are wrapped in the base 1 during injection molding of the base 1. In this embodiment, the two conductive members 4 are respectively disposed near the two sets of limiting portions 13, that is, are respectively disposed at the +y side and the-Y side of the base 1. Each conductive member 4 includes a second conductive piece 43 perpendicular to the optical axis direction, i.e., the Z direction, and two first conductive pieces 44 integrally extending perpendicularly from the second conductive piece 43. The two first conductive strips 44 extend to the lower end of the supporting board 14 respectively, and are exposed from the lower end of the supporting board 14 or extend out of the supporting board 14 through a bending structure, and are electrically connected with the flexible circuit board 6.
In addition, the second conductive sheet 43 of each conductive member 4 further extends an L-shaped fourth conductive sheet 41. That is, the fourth conductive sheet 41 is first vertically extended from the second conductive sheet 43, and then bent and extended toward the outside, and is formed in an L shape. And, the fourth conductive sheet 41 extends to the hole formed on the base plate 11 so that a portion thereof is exposed, facilitating connection with the elastic member 5.
In particular, the area ratio of the conductive member 4 to the bottom plate 11 is 20% -50% as viewed from the direction of the optical axis of the lens, so that when assembling a product, a large-area magnet can be arranged on the assembling surface, and then the base 1 is arranged on the magnet for assembly, so that the base 1 is stably fixed on the jig by virtue of large downward magnetic attraction force, and is not easy to float and skew due to the influence of the driving magnet, the product is convenient to assemble, and the movement of the base 1 is limited without redesigning a compression bar.
The elastic member 5 includes a front side leaf 51 and a rear side leaf 52 each including an inner portion for connection with the lens holder 3, an outer portion for connection with the base 1, and a wrist portion extending in a meandering manner for connection of the inner portion and the outer portion. In the present embodiment, the inner side of the front side reed 51 is formed in a substantially annular shape and is connected to the front end of the lens holder 3, and the outer side of the front side reed 51 is also formed in a substantially annular shape and is connected to the front end surface of the pillar 12 and is engaged with the boss 121. The rear side reed 52 is required to be a conductive path, and thus is divided into two pieces which are not connected to each other, the inner side portion of each piece is connected to the rear end of the lens holder, the outer side portion of each piece is connected to four corners of the bottom plate 11, and is electrically connected to the corresponding conductive member 4 through the hole formed in the bottom plate 11.
In this way, the elastic member 5 suspension-supports the lens holder 3 inside the housing 2, and allows the lens holder 3 to move in the optical axis direction.
As described above, in the present embodiment, the lens holder 3 has a substantially square shape, and the drive coil 31 is wound around the optical axis of the lens on the outer peripheral side wall of the lens holder 3 and is opposed to the two drive magnets 32 with a space therebetween. Referring to fig. 4, two winding posts 33 are further formed on the outer peripheral wall of the lens holder 3 in the-X direction, and wire grooves for guiding wires electrically connecting the driving coil and the elastic member are further formed on the mounting portion of the lens holder from the winding post 33 to the driving coil 31 and the mounting portion from the winding post 33 to the rear-side reed 52. The two wires led out from the driving coil 31 reach the spool 33 along the wire groove, then rotate around the spool 33 for several weeks, reach the portion of the lens holder connected to the rear side reed 52 along the wire groove, and are electrically connected to the rear side reed 52. In this embodiment, the two bobbins 33 are provided on the same side, i.e., -X side, of the lens holder 3, i.e., the side on which the driving magnet is not provided, while facing away from the other side on which the position sensing magnet is provided. Thus, the wire groove is only required to be arranged on the same side of the lens bracket 3 as the winding post 33, the length of the wire groove is greatly shortened, the design difficulty of the die is reduced, the available space of other parts is increased, and the overall structure is developed towards the miniaturization trend. Similarly, two driving magnets 32 are correspondingly arranged on the lens support, when two winding posts 33 are arranged on the same side of the non-corresponding magnets, the winding mode of the driving coil 31 is simple, the winding distance is short, and the design difficulty of the wire groove is reduced. When two winding posts 33 are both disposed on opposite sides of the flexible circuit board 6, the design of the winding posts will not affect the use of the circuit board, and the winding posts 33 have more space, so that the design of the winding posts 33 is more reasonable.
In addition, the problem of the difference in winding number of coils at two sides of the lens support caused by rotationally symmetrical winding posts in the prior art can be overcome (refer to fig. 5). When rotationally symmetrical winding stems are employed as in fig. 5, the start of the driving coil starts winding from the winding stem located at the upper side of fig. 5 and ends winding at the winding stem located at the lower side in fig. 5, there occurs a case where the number of windings of the driving coil located at the left side of the lens holder in fig. 5 is smaller than that at the right side, resulting in unbalanced magnetic pushing force generated at the time of driving. In the winding post scheme of the present invention, as shown in fig. 6, the number of windings of the coil on both sides of the lens holder, which are spaced apart from the driving magnet, is completely equal.
When the number of driving coils and driving magnets used is increased, the number of winding posts is correspondingly increased. However, no matter how three or more winding posts 33 are provided, the positions of the winding posts 33 should be designed so as to be within the space between two driving magnets, not to be opposed to any driving magnet, and the position sensing magnet or sensor should be provided within the space between the other driving magnets. The same effects as those of the above embodiment can be achieved.
In operation, the drive coil 31 is powered by the flexible circuit board 6, the conductive member and the elastic member 5 to drive the lens. The whole device only adopts a wire when the rear side reed is connected with the driving coil, other conductive paths are built-in and point-to-point welded, the circuit is more stable, and the improvement and optimization of the performance on the lens module are facilitated.
In other embodiments, when the base plate is of other shape, the posts 12 are symmetrically, preferably rotationally symmetrically, disposed on the base plate. In other embodiments, the limiting portion may extend from the upright along the X direction and not contact the bottom plate, or the limiting portion may extend from the bottom portion and not contact the upright. In other embodiments, the number of the limiting portions may be two or more than four, and the shape is not limited to a plate shape, as long as the limiting portions have a plane parallel to the X direction. The column 12 and the stopper 13 may have other shapes, so that the translation of the driving magnet 32 and the distance between the driving magnet 32 and the driving coil 31 may be restricted. In other embodiments, when the position sensor is provided on the outer peripheral wall of the lens holder, the position sensor is opposed to the circuit board, and the position sensor magnet is provided on the circuit board. In other embodiments, the back side reed may be divided into three or more parts that are independent and not connected to each other, and the number of the high magnetic conductive pieces embedded in the base is three or more or still two, so that different parts of the back side reed are electrically connected to the corresponding high magnetic conductive pieces according to different circuit function designs. In other embodiments, when the number of conductive elements embedded in the base is three or more, one or more of the conductive elements may be made of a low magnetic conductive material or a non-magnetic conductive material.
In other embodiments, the lens driving device may be other types of lens motors, such as a shape memory alloy driving type lens motor, a piezoelectric device driving type lens motor, the housing is provided with a separate metal sheet, and the structure in which the FPC is fixed to the metal sheet is also applicable to the shape memory alloy driving type lens motor and the piezoelectric device driving type lens motor.
In other embodiments, the support plate 14 may be omitted and the baffle may be secured directly to the inner wall of the housing. In other embodiments, the baffle may be secured to the support plate 14 only, and not fixedly attached to the inner wall of the housing.
In other embodiments, the housing may not have openings 21.
In other embodiments, the baffle may be secured to the inner wall of the housing or the base by a snap fit provided on the inner wall of the housing or the base, or the baffle may simply be clamped between the inner wall of the housing and the base.
In other embodiments, the housing may be made of a high magnetic conductive material, and the baffle may be made of a non-metallic material, and is used only for supporting the flexible circuit board and the input/output pins thereof.
In other embodiments, the conductive element embedded in the base may be omitted, and the rear elastic member or the front elastic member may be directly electrically connected to the flexible circuit board and supply power to the driving coil.
While the invention has been described in conjunction with the specific embodiments above, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, all such alternatives, modifications, and variations are included within the spirit and scope of the following claims.