JP2003319216A - Image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image pickup device which has a good assembly property by reducing the number of ports and which can automatically be assembled without causing unreasonable elastic deformation. <P>SOLUTION: A reinforcing plate 6 holding a circuit board 5 is allowed to abut on an opening edge part of a different end side of a housing 2 for adjusting a solid-state image pickup device 7 with respect to a condenser lens 10, and an end part of the reinforcing plate 6 is elastically deformed to be mounted while locked by a locking part 2b formed on the different end side of the housing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image pickup device used in, for example, a mobile phone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, due to the rapid progress of information and communication technology, the data communication speed has been improved and the data communication amount has been increased, and CCD (charge coupled device) has been used for mobile electronic devices such as mobile phones and notebook computers. ) Image sensor and CM
Those incorporating an image pickup device such as an OS image sensor are becoming popular. In addition to character data, these are capable of transmitting in real time image data captured by an image capturing device.

An example of this image pickup apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. The housing 51 has a cylindrical shape in which module components are mounted from both side openings. A lens holder 52 is screwed into and attached to an opening on one end side of the housing 51. In the lens holder 52,
An aperture and a condenser lens (not shown) are attached. On the light collecting surface of the lens holder 52, the cover glass 5
3 is fitted to prevent dust from entering the aperture and the condenser lens side.

A circuit board 54 is fitted in the opening on the other end side of the housing 51, and a back plate 55 is fitted on the outside thereof. The circuit board 54 has a CC
Sensor elements such as a D (charge coupled device) image sensor and a CMOS image sensor, a control (processor) element, a passive element such as a capacitor, and the like are mounted.

As the circuit board 54, a strip-shaped flexible circuit board (a circuit board in which a wiring pattern is formed on a resin film such as polyimide) is used, or a stiffener (reinforcing plate) is attached to the back surface of the circuit board. Used. The circuit board 54 is abutted against a positioning portion provided on the inner wall surface of the opening on the other end side of the housing 51, and the fitting hole 54a of the circuit board 54 is fitted into the positioning pin (housing post) to collect light. The lens and the sensor element are positioned and mounted so that the optical axes thereof coincide with each other.

The circuit board 54 is on the outside (back side).
The back plate 55 is superposed and held by the back plate 55, and is attached to the housing 51. A locking piece 55b is provided upright on the periphery of the plate body 55a of the back plate 55. A guide groove 51a is formed on the circumferential surface of the housing 51 at a position corresponding to the locking piece 55b. The back plate 55 is attached to the housing 51 while the locking pieces 55b are spread outward along the guide grooves 51a, and the locking claws 55c are moved to the upper surface side of the housing 51 by the returning force due to the elastic deformation of the locking pieces 55b. The circuit board 54 is mounted on the housing 51 by being pushed up and locked to the housing 51.

[0007]

However, when the back plate 55 is mounted on the housing 51, a plurality of locking claws 55c bent at the tip of the locking piece 55b are slid along the guide groove 51a. Since it is necessary to mount the locking piece 55b while pushing it apart, the locking piece 55b
When the amount of deformation of the circuit board becomes large and is deformed beyond the elastic limit, the locking piece 55b returns insufficiently, and the circuit board 54 is not pressed against the housing 51 sufficiently. There is a possibility that the positional accuracy of the substrate 54 in the optical axis direction may deteriorate. Further, since the number of parts required for assembly is large, there is a problem that the cost is increased and it is difficult to automate labor and time for the assembly work.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, to provide an image pickup apparatus capable of reducing the number of parts, having good assembling property, and being capable of assembling automation without undue elastic deformation. is there.

[0009]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following constitution. That is, an imaging device in which a condensing lens is mounted in an opening on one end side and a circuit board on which a solid-state image sensor is mounted is mounted in an opening on the other end side of a cylindrical housing whose both ends are open. In, the reinforcing plate that holds the circuit board is brought into contact with the opening edge portion on the other end side of the housing that aligns the solid-state imaging device with respect to the condenser lens, and the end portion of the reinforcing plate is fixed. It is characterized in that it is elastically deformed and is attached by being engaged with an engaging portion formed on the other end side of the housing. Further, the reinforcing plate is formed with an abutting surface portion that abuts on an opening edge portion on the other end side of the housing, and an elastically deformable hook portion that engages with an engaging portion on the housing side. A slit hole is formed at a position near the hook portion. Further, the circuit board is a flexible circuit board including an element mounting portion and a wiring portion formed on a resin film substrate, and the reinforcing plate is integrally attached to the back surface side of the element mounting portion. Characterize.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing a main part of the image pickup apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a parts explanatory view showing an assembly structure of a circuit board to a housing.

First, a schematic structure of the image pickup apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. Reference numeral 1 denotes an imaging device, which is installed in mobile electronic devices such as mobile phones and notebook computers. Reference numeral 2 denotes a cylindrical housing having both ends opened, and a lens holder 3 is screwed and mounted in an opening 2c on one end side (upper end side) of the housing 2. The lens holder 3 is formed of a resin material (for example, polycarbonate) into a cylindrical shape, and the aperture 9 and the condenser lens 10 are attached to the side fitted into the housing 2. The aperture 9 defines a passage of light passing through the condenser lens 10, and the condenser lens 10 collects the light passing through the aperture 9 on a sensor element described later and receives the light at a light receiving portion. There is. A cover glass 4 is fitted on the light incident surface of the lens holder 3 to prevent dust from entering the aperture 9 and the condenser lens 10 side (see FIG. 1).

A circuit board 5 is fitted in the opening 2d on the other end side (lower end side) of the housing 2. The circuit board 5 may be a polyimide resin film board to which a copper foil is attached and the copper foil is etched to form a pattern. That is, the circuit board 5 is a flexible circuit board in which a wiring pattern is formed on the resin film substrate, and the element mounting portion 5a and the wiring portion 5b for connection are integrally formed with the resin film substrate. This element mounting part 5
On the back surface side of the circuit board 5 corresponding to a, for example, aluminum, S
A stiffener 6 is integrally attached as a reinforcing plate made of a metal plate such as US (see FIG. 2).

Further, a sensor element such as a CCD (charge coupled device) image sensor and a CMOS image sensor, and a solid-state image pickup element 7 such as a control (processor) element are mounted on the circuit board 5, and further, such as a condenser. The passive element 8 and the like are mounted (see the broken line in FIG. 1). The sensor element of the solid-state image sensor 7 receives the light taken in by the condenser lens 10 to perform photoelectric conversion, and the control (processor) element transmits the photoelectrically converted electric signal as image data. Has become.

The stiffener 6 holding the circuit board 5 is brought into contact with the opening edge portion on the other end side of the housing 2 to align the solid-state image pickup device 7 with respect to the condenser lens 10 in the height direction, and the stiffener 6 The stiffener 6 is positioned by the outer shape of, and is elastically deformed at the end portion of the stiffener 6 so as to be locked to the locking portion 2b formed on the other end side of the housing 2 and mounted.

That is, the stiffener 6 has an abutting surface portion 6a that abuts against the reference surface 2a of the housing 2 and an elastically deformable hook portion 6 that engages with the engaging portion 2b of the housing 2.
b are formed. Contact surface portion 6a and hook portion 6b
Is formed so as to project outward from the outer shape of the circuit board 5, and the hook portion 6b is a rectangular stiffener 6 in this embodiment.
Are formed at three locations on opposite edges. In addition, a rectangular slit hole 6c is formed at a position near the base of each hook portion 6b formed so as to project from the stiffener 6 substantially parallel to the width direction of each hook portion 6b (FIG. 2).
reference).

The engaging portion 2b of the housing 2 is formed by bending the other end of the housing 2 obliquely upward, and the hook portion 6b of the stiffener 6 is bent obliquely downwardly away from the reference surface 2a. (See FIG. 1).
While the circuit board 5 is supported by the stiffener 6, the contact surface portion 6a is pressed against the reference surface 2a for aligning the solid-state image pickup element 7 with respect to the condenser lens, and the hook portion 6b is inside the opening portion 2d on the other end side. The circuit board 5 is fixed to the bottom portion of the housing 2 together with the stiffener 6 by being elastically deformed obliquely upward so as to be pushed in and locked to the locking portion 2b. The contact surface portion 6a is pressed against the reference surface 2a to position the solid-state image sensor 7 mounted on the element mounting portion 5a in the height direction, and the hook portion 6b prevents shock and vibration acting on the circuit board 5. It absorbs by elasticity. Further, the slits 6c alleviate the stress that spreads to the entire stiffener 6 when the hook portion 6b elastically deforms, and further alleviates the stress concentration so that the circuit board 5 supported by the stiffener 6 is not deformed or broken. Has become.

As described above, the circuit board 5 can be integrally formed by punching out the outer shape in a state where the wiring pattern is formed on the polyimide resin film base material and the metal substrate serving as the stiffener 6 is attached. However, the stiffener 6 is not attached to the portion where the wiring portion 5b is formed. Therefore, when the image pickup apparatus 1 is assembled, the lens holder 3 is screwed into the opening 2c on the one end side of the housing 2, and the electronic component such as the solid-state image pickup element 7 is mounted on the circuit board 5. While being sucked and held, the hook portion 6b can be assembled by being locked by the locking portion 2b by pushing in (pressing) from the opening 2d on the other end side of the housing 2.

According to the above image pickup device, the number of parts required for assembly can be reduced, so that the material cost can be reduced, the assembling process can be simplified, the manufacturing cost can be reduced, and the assembling process can be easily automated. Mass productivity can be improved.

Various preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, the positioning of the circuit board 5 and the housing 2 is performed by the stiffener 6. Although it was performed with the accuracy of the external dimensions, the spirit of the law may be achieved by fitting a slit hole penetrating the circuit board 5 and the stiffener 6 to a positioning pin protruding on the housing 2 side to perform positioning. Of course, many modifications can be made without departing.

[0020]

According to the image pickup device of the present invention, the circuit board on which the solid-state image pickup device is mounted is integrally supported by the reinforcing plate, and the reinforcing plate is brought into contact with the opening edge portion on the other end side of the housing. At the same time, the end portion of the reinforcing plate can be elastically deformed and locked by the locking portion to be mounted. Therefore, the circuit board on which the solid-state imaging device is mounted can be mounted by simply pressing it together with the reinforcing plate from the opening on the other end side of the housing. Further, since the number of parts required for assembly can be reduced, the material cost can be reduced. Further, since the assembling process can be simplified, the manufacturing cost can be reduced, and the assembling process can be easily automated, so that the mass productivity can be improved. Further, the reinforcing plate is formed with an abutting surface portion that abuts against the opening edge portion on the other end side of the housing, and an elastically deformable hook portion that engages with the engaging portion of the housing. The contact surface portion is pressed against the opening edge portion to position the solid-state image sensor mounted on the element mounting portion in the height direction with high accuracy, and the hook portion prevents shock and vibration acting on the circuit board. It can be absorbed by elasticity. In addition, since a slit hole is drilled in the vicinity of the hook portion, the stress that spreads to the entire stiffener when the hook portion elastically deforms is relaxed, and the circuit board supported by the stiffener does not deform or break. Thus, stress concentration can be relaxed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing a main part of an image pickup apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a perspective explanatory view showing an assembly structure of a substrate with respect to a housing of an imaging device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an assembly structure in a conventional imaging device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Imaging device 2 housing 2a Reference plane 2b Locking part 2c, 2d opening 3 lens holder 4 cover glass 5 circuit board 5a Element mounting part 5b Wiring part 6 Stepner 6a Contact surface part 6b Hook part 6c slit 7 Solid-state image sensor 8 passive elements 9 Aperture 10 Condensing lens

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cylindrical housing having openings at both ends, a condenser lens is attached to an opening on one end side, and a circuit board on which a solid-state image sensor is mounted is attached to an opening on the other end side. In the imaging device, the reinforcing plate that holds the circuit board is brought into contact with the opening edge portion on the other end side of the housing that aligns the solid-state imaging device with respect to the condenser lens, and An imaging device, wherein an end portion is elastically deformed and is attached by being locked to a locking portion formed on the other end side of the housing. 2. The aforesaid reinforcing plate is provided with an abutting surface portion that abuts against an opening edge portion on the other end side of the housing, and an elastically deformable hook portion that engages with an engaging portion on the housing side. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein a slit hole is formed at a position near the hook portion. 3. The circuit board is a flexible circuit board including an element mounting portion and a wiring portion formed on a resin film substrate, and the reinforcing plate is integrally attached to the back surface side of the element mounting portion. Claim 1 or 2 characterized in that
The imaging device described.