CN110749971A

CN110749971A - SMA actuator, camera module, and electronic apparatus

Info

Publication number: CN110749971A
Application number: CN201911158292.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘述伦; 蔡日新; 耿新龙
Original assignee: Dongguan Yadeng Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Guangdong haideya Technology Co.,Ltd.
Priority date: 2019-11-22
Filing date: 2019-11-22
Publication date: 2020-02-04

Abstract

The invention discloses an SMA actuator, a camera module and an electronic device. An SMA actuator comprising: the SMA wire can be electrified and contracted; one end of the connecting rod is connected with the SMA wire; one end of the connecting rod is elastically connected with the supporting part; the first elastic arm is arranged between the connecting rod and the supporting part and can be elastically bent; driven piece, one end of connecting rod is articulated with driven piece, and SMA wire accessible shrink drives the relative supporting part swing of connecting rod, and the connecting rod can drive driven piece motion. Has the advantages that: the displacement of the driven piece can be larger than the contraction of the SMA wire, so that a larger stroke of the driven piece can be realized under the condition that the SMA actuator is smaller in size, and the miniaturization of the SMA actuator is facilitated. The present invention relates to the field of electronics.

Description

SMA actuator, camera module, and electronic apparatus

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of electronics, and in particular to SMA actuators, camera modules and electronic devices.

Background

An actuator (activating device) is a driving mechanism commonly used in the electronic field, and can be used for driving a camera. SMA refers to shape memory alloy (shape memory alloy) which is a driving element in an actuator. SMA is a material composed of two or more metal elements having a Shape Memory Effect (SME) by thermoelastic and martensitic transformation and inversion thereof. SMA can be deformed at a lower temperature and can restore the shape before deformation after being electrified and heated, thereby realizing electrically-controlled contraction.

Insert Molding bases (Insert Molding bases) include a set of inserts and a body that is typically plastic, with the set of inserts typically being a different material than plastic. The injection mold body is typically formed by injection molding after the insert is formed. The insert group can be used as a framework of the injection mold body, and the structural strength of the insert molding base can be enhanced.

Camera modules provided with SMA actuators typically also include a lens assembly on which a number of lenses are provided to enable imaging functionality. The SMA actuator is required to drive the lens arrangement in various different directions to effect adjustment of the position and orientation of the lens arrangement.

In the prior art, the SMA actuator usually directly pulls the driven member through the SMA wire, and the technical defect is that: the driving stroke of the driven piece is usually not larger than the contraction amount of the SMA wire, and the driving stroke of the driven piece can be larger only by increasing the whole scale of the SMA actuator, which is not beneficial to the miniaturization of the SMA actuator.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to solve at least one of the problems of the related art, and to provide an SMA actuator, a camera module, and an electronic apparatus having a large drive stroke and a compact structure.

The technical scheme adopted for solving the technical problems is as follows:

an SMA actuator comprising: the SMA wire can be electrified and contracted; one end of the connecting rod is connected with the SMA wire; one end of the connecting rod is elastically connected with the supporting part; the first elastic arm is arranged between the connecting rod and the supporting part and can be elastically bent; driven piece, one end of connecting rod is articulated with driven piece, and SMA wire accessible shrink drives the relative supporting part swing of connecting rod, and the connecting rod can drive driven piece motion.

The SMA actuator has at least the following beneficial effects:

the first elastic arm enables the connecting rod to elastically swing relative to the supporting part, so that the displacement of the driven part can be larger than the contraction of the SMA wire, and a larger stroke of the driven part can be realized under the condition that the SMA actuator is small in size, and the miniaturization of the SMA actuator is facilitated.

In one possible embodiment of the invention, the support portion, the first resilient arm and the link are integrally formed by a conductive material. The support portion, the first elastic arm and the connecting rod are integrally formed, so that manufacturing difficulty and cost of the SMA actuator are reduced, the support portion, the first elastic arm and the connecting rod can be made of the SMA wire to be conductive through the conductive materials, and the overall circuit structure of the SMA actuator is simplified.

In one possible embodiment of the invention, the number of the support portions, the first resilient arms and the links is two and symmetrically arranged. The symmetrical arrangement of the supporting part, the first elastic arm and the connecting rod can enhance the movement stability of the driven piece.

In one possible embodiment of the present invention, the first elastic arm has a U-shape, one end of the first elastic arm is connected to the support portion and the other end of the first elastic arm is connected to the link. The first elastic arm is U-shaped, which is beneficial to enhancing the deformability of the first elastic arm, so that the stroke of the driven element can be further increased.

A camera module comprising an SMA actuator.

In one possible embodiment of the present invention, the camera module further includes a lens assembly and a base assembly, the lens assembly includes a frame body, the driven member is a frame body, the base assembly includes a base body, the supporting portion is fixedly connected with the base body, the frame body is movably connected with the base body, and the SMA actuator can drive the frame body to move relative to the base body. Thereby the mountable lens realizes the imaging function on the mirror frame body, and SMA actuator can drive the motion of mirror frame body to realize focusing or anti-shake.

In one possible embodiment of the invention, the SMA actuator comprises at least one first SMA actuator whose SMA wire is arranged between the connecting rod and the base body and at least one second SMA actuator whose connecting rod is arranged between the SMA wire and the base body. The relative positions of the connecting rod, the SMA wire and the base body in the first SMA actuator and the second SMA actuator are different, so that the lens frame body can be driven in opposite directions, the lens frame body can be driven to move in more directions, and the camera module can be expanded in focusing and anti-shaking functions.

In a possible embodiment of the present invention, the lens assembly further includes a first spring and a second spring, the first spring and the second spring are respectively fixedly connected to the frame body, a plurality of second elastic arms are respectively disposed around the first spring and the second spring, one end of each second elastic arm is connected to the base body, and the second elastic arms enable the first spring and the second spring and support the frame body and enable the frame body to move relative to the base body.

An electronic device includes an SMA actuator.

An electronic device includes a camera module.

Drawings

The above and/or additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a camera module according to embodiment 1 of the present invention;

fig. 2 is an exploded schematic view of a camera module according to embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the relative positions of a first SMA actuator and a second SMA actuator of embodiment 1 of the invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a lens assembly according to embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the operating conditions of a first SMA actuator of embodiment 1 of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the operating conditions of a second SMA actuator of embodiment 1 of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a first SMA actuator of embodiment 2 of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural view of a second SMA actuator of embodiment 2 of the invention;

reference numerals:

an SMA wire 101, a link 102, a first elastic arm 103, a support 104;

a frame body 201, a first spring 202, a second spring 203, a second elastic arm 204;

the base comprises a base body 301, a circuit board 302, a first control end 303, a second control end 304, a third control end 305, a fourth control end 306 and a common end 307.

Detailed Description

Example 1:

reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the orientation or positional relationship referred to in the description of the orientation, such as the upper, lower, front, rear, left, right, etc., is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and is only for convenience of description and simplification of description, and does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and thus, should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

In the description of the present invention, the meaning of a plurality of means is one or more, the meaning of a plurality of means is two or more, and larger, smaller, larger, etc. are understood as excluding the number, and larger, smaller, inner, etc. are understood as including the number. If the first and second are described for the purpose of distinguishing technical features, they are not to be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated or implicitly indicating the precedence of the technical features indicated.

In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise explicitly limited, terms such as arrangement, installation, connection and the like should be understood in a broad sense, and those skilled in the art can reasonably determine the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention in combination with the specific contents of the technical solutions.

Referring to fig. 1 to 6, a camera module includes an SMA actuator.

An SMA actuator comprising: the SMA wire 101, the SMA wire 101 can be electrified and contracted; one end of the connecting rod 102 is connected with the SMA wire 101, and an included angle between the SMA wire 101 and the connecting rod 102 is larger than zero; a support part 104, one end of the connecting rod 102 is elastically connected with the support part 104; a first elastic arm 103, the first elastic arm 103 is arranged between the connecting rod 102 and the supporting part 104, and the first elastic arm 103 can be elastically bent; one end of the connecting rod 102 is hinged to the driven member, the SMA wire 101 can drive the connecting rod 102 to swing relative to the supporting portion 104 by contraction, and cause the first elastic arm 103 to bend, and the connecting rod 102 can drive the driven member to move.

The SMA actuator has at least the following beneficial effects:

the first elastic arm 103 allows the link 102 to elastically swing with respect to the support 104. The included angle between the SMA wire 101 and the connecting rod 102 is larger than zero, so that the displacement of the driven piece can be larger than the contraction of the SMA wire 101, and a larger stroke of the driven piece can be realized under the condition that the SMA actuator is smaller in size, and the miniaturization of the SMA actuator is facilitated.

With respect to the support portion 104, the support portion 104 is fixed to the base body 301, and the link 102 and the frame body 201 are movable relative to the support portion 104.

As for the SMA wire 101, the SMA wire 101 is a shape memory alloy wire that can achieve length contraction before and after energization.

Regarding the first elastic arm 103, the first elastic arm 103 is made of an elastic material, and can be bent when the SMA wire 101 is contracted. The first elastic arm 103 is in a bar shape, one end of the first elastic arm 103 is connected to the support portion 104, and the other end is connected to the link 102.

Regarding the connecting rod 102, the connecting rod 102 is a rod with certain rigidity, and can support the driven member to displace.

Regarding the driven member, the driven member is the mirror holder body 201, a protruding hinge column is arranged on the mirror holder body 201, a hinge ring is arranged at one end of the connecting rod 102, and the hinge ring is sleeved on the hinge column to form a hinge mechanism.

In the present embodiment, the support portion 104, the first elastic arm 103 and the link 102 are integrally molded by a conductive material. The support portion 104, the first elastic arm 103 and the connecting rod 102 are integrally formed, so that the manufacturing difficulty and cost of the SMA actuator are reduced, and the support portion 104, the first elastic arm 103 and the connecting rod 102 can be made of an electric conductive material to be conductive to the SMA wire 101, so that the overall circuit structure of the SMA actuator is simplified.

The support portion 104, the first elastic arm 103, and the link 102 are integrally formed of a metal material, and thus have both excellent elasticity and conductivity.

In the present embodiment, the number of the support portions 104, the first elastic arms 103, and the links 102 is two and symmetrically arranged. The symmetrical arrangement of the support portion 104, the first resilient arm 103 and the link 102 may enhance the stability of the movement of the driven member.

With respect to the SMA wire 101, both ends of the SMA wire 101 are respectively connected to one ends of two links 102, so that the two links 102 symmetrically arranged can be simultaneously driven when the SMA wire 101 is contracted.

In this embodiment, the camera module further includes a lens assembly and a base assembly, the lens assembly includes a lens frame body 201, the driven member is the lens frame body 201, the base assembly includes a base body 301, the supporting portion 104 is fixedly connected to the base body 301, the lens frame body 201 is movably connected to the base body 301, and the SMA actuator can drive the lens frame body 201 to move relative to the base body 301. The lens can be installed on the frame body 201 to realize the imaging function, and the SMA actuator can drive the frame body 201 to move, thereby realizing focusing or anti-shake.

In this embodiment, the SMA actuators comprise at least one first SMA actuator, the SMA wire 101 of which is arranged between the connecting rod 102 and the base body 301, and at least one second SMA actuator, the connecting rod 102 of which is arranged between the SMA wire 101 and the base body 301. The relative positions of the connecting rod 102, the SMA wire 101 and the base body 301 in the first SMA actuator and the second SMA actuator are different, so that the lens frame body 201 can be driven in opposite directions, the lens frame body 201 can be driven to move in more directions, and the focusing and anti-shaking functions of the camera module can be expanded.

With respect to the camera module, the first SMA actuators are two in number and symmetrically arranged with respect to the housing body 201, and the second SMA actuators are two in number and symmetrically arranged with respect to the housing body 201. The two first SMA actuators and the two second SMA actuators are respectively and symmetrically arranged about the mirror frame body 201, and by respectively detecting or controlling the SMA actuators, the detection or control of the inclination angle and the displacement of the mirror frame body 201 can be realized, which is beneficial to further expanding the functions of the camera module.

With respect to the SMA actuators, each SMA actuator surrounds the periphery of the housing body 201.

With respect to the base assembly, the base assembly also includes a circuit board 302. One of the two supports 104 in each SMA actuator is electrically connected to the circuit board 302 and forms a control terminal, and the other of the two supports 104 in each SMA actuator is electrically connected to the circuit board 302 and forms a common terminal 307, so that each SMA wire 101 is electrically contractible between the common terminal 307 and the control terminal. The control terminals in this embodiment include a first control terminal 303, a second control terminal 304, a third control terminal 305, and a fourth control terminal 306. The connection relationship between each control terminal and the common terminal 307 is shown in fig. 3.

With respect to the first and second SMA actuators, the differences are contrasted from fig. 1, 5 and 6. When the SMA wire 101 contracts, the link 102 of the first SMA actuator swings away from the base body 301, driving the mirror frame body 201 away from the base body 301. When the SMA wire 101 contracts, the link 102 of the second SMA actuator swings in a direction to approach the base body 301, thereby driving the mirror frame body 201 close to the base body 301.

In this embodiment, the lens assembly further includes a first spring 202 and a second spring 203, the first spring 202 and the second spring 203 are respectively fixedly connected to the frame body 201, a plurality of second elastic arms 204 are respectively disposed around the first spring 202 and the second spring 203, one end of each second elastic arm 204 is connected to the base body 301, and the second elastic arms 204 enable the first spring 202 and the second spring 203 to support the frame body 201 and enable the frame body 201 to move relative to the base body 301.

The first spring 202 and the second spring 203 are fixed to both surfaces of the frame body 201 in contact with each other, respectively, by the first spring 202 and the second spring 203. The first spring 202 and the second elastic arm 204 are integrally formed metal sheets, and the second spring 203 and the second elastic arm 204 are integrally formed metal sheets. The second resilient arm 204 allows the frame body 201 to be resiliently suspended from the base body 301 to facilitate driving of the frame body 201 over the respective SMA actuators.

With respect to the first spring and the second spring, the first spring and the second spring constitute a suspension system of the lens assembly. The first spring and the second spring herein do not refer to a coil spring, a spiral spring or a plate spring which are common in the mechanical field, but are special springs for hanging the lens assembly. The first spring and the second spring are in a sheet shape and are respectively attached to the mirror frame body from two sides of the lens assembly.

The SMA actuator and the camera module in the technical scheme can be used in electronic equipment.

Example 2:

as shown in fig. 7 to 8, the present embodiment is different from embodiment 1 in that: in this embodiment, the first elastic arm 103 is U-shaped, one end of the first elastic arm 103 is connected to the support portion 104, and the other end of the first elastic arm 103 is connected to the link 102. The first elastic arm 103 is U-shaped, which is beneficial to enhancing the deformability of the first elastic arm 103, so that the stroke of the driven element can be further increased.

Claims

An SMA actuator, comprising:

an SMA wire that is electrically contractible;

one end of the connecting rod is connected with the SMA wire;

one end of the connecting rod is elastically connected with the supporting part;

the first elastic arm is arranged between the connecting rod and the supporting part and can be elastically bent;

one end of the connecting rod is hinged to the driven part, the SMA wire can contract to drive the connecting rod to swing relative to the supporting part, and the connecting rod can drive the driven part to move.
2. The SMA actuator of claim 1, wherein: the support portion, the first elastic arm and the link are integrally formed by a conductive material.
3. The SMA actuator of claim 1, wherein: the number of the supporting parts, the first elastic arms and the connecting rods is two and the two connecting rods are symmetrically arranged.
4. An SMA actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: one end of the first elastic arm is connected with the supporting part, and the other end of the first elastic arm is connected with the connecting rod.
5. Camera module, its characterized in that: an SMA actuator comprising any one of claims 1 through 4.
6. The camera module of claim 5, wherein: still include lens subassembly and base subassembly, the lens subassembly includes the mirror holder body, it does by the driving piece the mirror holder body, the base subassembly includes the base body, the supporting part with base body fixed connection, the mirror holder body with movably between the base body is connected, the SMA actuator can drive the mirror holder body is relative the motion of the base body.
7. The camera module of claim 6, wherein: the SMA actuators comprise at least one first SMA actuator and/or at least one second SMA actuator, the first SMA actuator and the second SMA actuator being operable to drive the driven member in opposite directions.
8. The camera module of claim 6, wherein: the lens subassembly still includes first spring and second spring, first spring with the second spring respectively with mirror holder body fixed connection, first spring with be equipped with a plurality of second elastic arms around the second spring respectively, the one end of second elastic arm with base body coupling, the second elastic arm makes first spring with second spring and support the mirror holder body makes the mirror holder body can be relative the base body is movable.
9. An electronic device, characterized in that: an SMA actuator comprising any one of claims 1 through 4.
10. An electronic device, characterized in that: comprising a camera module according to any one of claims 5 to 8.