JP2007134850A - Camera module - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera module preventing a lower end face of a mirror barrel from being in contact with a filter without imposing an excessive load onto a main body part and the mirror barrel. <P>SOLUTION: The camera module includes the mirror barrel 2 housing a lens 3, and the main body part 1 accommodating the mirror barrel 2, the main body part 1 includes a container part 10 with outer shape nearly fit to that of the mirror barrel 2, the filter 4 is arranged at a bottom side of the container part 10, the mirror barrel 2 includes at its upper part a flange 22 projected in an outer circumferential direction and is freely movable in a lens optical axis direction with respect to the container part 10 of the main body part 1, and the flange 22 is pressed into contact with the upper side of the container part 10 in such a state that the lower surface of the mirror barrel 2 in the container part 10 is arranged above the upper surface of the filter 4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a camera module that adjusts the position of a lens barrel containing a lens with respect to a main body provided with an image sensor and a filter by means of a screw provided on the outer periphery thereof, and particularly damages the filter by adjusting the position of the main body. It is related to the camera module without.

  A camera module installed in a small electronic device such as a mobile phone is composed of a lens barrel containing a lens and a main body that houses the lens barrel. The main body receives light from the lens and outputs image data. An image pickup device is housed. In addition, the main body is provided with a filter for blocking infrared rays between the lens and the image sensor.

Here, the distance between the lens and the image sensor is important for obtaining a good image on the image sensor, and therefore the mounting position of the lens barrel with respect to the main body is individually adjusted. For example, as shown in Patent Document 1, a screw thread is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the main body and the outer peripheral surface of the lens barrel, and the lens barrel is inserted into the main body by screw rotation. The distance between the lens and the image sensor can be adjusted appropriately.
US Pat. No. 6,383,101

  However, in the camera module, a filter is provided at the lower end of the barrel housing portion in the main body, and when the barrel is inserted to the lowest end of the housing portion for position adjustment, the lower end surface of the barrel is filtered. May touch the filter and damage the filter. In order to prevent this, it may be possible to stop the thread formation on the main body side from above the filter, but in this case an excessive load is applied to the thread when the lens barrel is inserted to the lowest end. This has caused strength problems.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a camera module in which the lower end surface of the lens barrel does not touch the filter without applying an excessive load to the main body or the lens barrel. And

In order to solve the above problems, a camera module according to the present invention has a lens barrel containing a lens and a main body portion that accommodates the lens barrel, and the main body portion substantially conforms to the outer shape of the lens barrel. In the camera module comprising a housing and a filter disposed on the bottom of the housing,
The lens barrel has a flange portion protruding in the outer peripheral direction at the top, and is movable in the lens optical axis direction with respect to the housing portion of the main body, and the lower surface of the lens barrel is the upper surface of the filter in the housing portion The collar portion is configured to be in contact with the upper surface of the housing portion in a state of being disposed at a higher position.

  In the camera module according to the present invention, the height from the lower surface of the collar portion contacting the upper surface of the housing portion to the lower surface of the lens barrel is smaller than the height from the upper surface of the housing portion to the upper surface of the filter. It is structured as a feature.

  Furthermore, the camera module according to the present invention is provided with a thread on each of the inner peripheral surface of the housing portion of the main body and the outer peripheral surface of the lens barrel so as to be screwed to each other. Thus, it is configured to be movable in the direction of the optical axis of the lens by being rotated by the screw thread.

  According to the camera module of the present invention, the lens barrel includes a collar portion protruding in the outer peripheral direction at the upper portion, and the collar portion of the housing portion is in a state where the lower surface of the lens barrel is disposed above the upper surface of the filter in the housing portion. By contacting the upper surface, the lower surface of the lens barrel does not come into contact with the filter when aligning the lens barrel in the housing portion of the main body, and the filter can be protected, and the flange portion and the housing portion can be protected. Since the lens barrel is received by the main body portion by the contact of the upper surface, an excessive load is not applied to the main body portion and the lens barrel.

  In addition, according to the camera module of the present invention, the height from the lower surface of the collar portion contacting the upper surface of the housing portion to the lower surface of the lens barrel is smaller than the height from the upper surface of the housing portion to the upper surface of the filter. The lower surface of the cylinder can reliably prevent contact with the filter.

  Furthermore, according to the camera module of the present invention, the inner peripheral surface of the housing portion of the main body and the outer peripheral surface of the lens barrel are each threaded and screwed together, and the lens barrel is screwed to the housing portion. By making it move freely in the direction of the optical axis of the lens by rotating with a mountain, it is possible to easily align the lens barrel with the main body.

  An embodiment of a camera module of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the camera module in the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the camera module in the present embodiment is composed of a main body 1 serving as a base and a lens barrel 2 accommodated in the main body 1.

  The lower part of the main body 1 is formed in a substantially box shape, and an image sensor 5 is disposed on the bottom surface. The imaging element 5 is formed by arranging a large number of photoelectric conversion elements on a plane, and receives light from an imaging target and outputs it as image data.

  In addition, a cylindrical housing portion 10 is formed on the upper portion of the main body 1, and the inner diameter is substantially matched to the outer diameter of the lens barrel 2 so that the lens barrel 2 can be accommodated therein. Is formed. Further, a main body side screw thread 13 is formed on the inner peripheral surface 11 of the accommodating portion 10 over substantially the entire length thereof. Furthermore, an opening 12a is formed on the bottom surface 12 of the housing portion 10, and light is guided from the opening 12a to the image pickup device 5 disposed below.

  A flat plate-like filter 4 is disposed on the bottom surface of the housing 10 so as to cover the opening 12a. The filter 4 is an IR filter that blocks infrared rays from outside light. The filter 4 is fixed to the bottom surface of the housing portion 10 on the bottom surface side, and the lens barrel 2 is configured so that the lower surface of the lens barrel 2 does not contact the upper surface of the filter 4 as will be described later.

  The lens barrel 2 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and a collar portion 22 that protrudes in the outer circumferential direction over the entire circumference in the circumferential direction is formed at the upper end portion. A lens 3 is housed on the inner peripheral surface of the lens barrel 2 to collect light from the object to be photographed. As described above, the light collected by the lens 3 is received by the image sensor 5 through the filter 4 and output as image data.

  On the outer peripheral surface 20 of the lens barrel 2, a lens barrel side thread 21 is formed corresponding to the main body side thread 13 formed on the inner peripheral surface 11 of the housing portion 10 of the main body 1. Accordingly, the lens barrel 2 is rotated in the optical axis direction of the lens 3 with respect to the housing portion 10 of the main body 1 by rotating the lens barrel side screw 21 with respect to the main body side screw 13 of the main body 1. It can be movable. Further, since the position in the optical axis direction of the lens 3 of the lens barrel 2 can be determined by the position where the screw rotation is stopped, the distance between the lens 3 and the image sensor 5 can be easily adjusted.

  Here, the lens barrel 2 is configured such that the lower surface thereof does not come into contact with the upper surface of the filter 4 at the lowermost position of insertion into the housing portion 10. For this purpose, when the lens barrel 2 is inserted into the housing portion 10 by screw rotation, the flange 22 formed on the upper portion of the lens barrel 2 before the lower surface of the lens barrel 2 contacts the upper surface of the filter 4. The lower surface of the housing is in contact with the upper surface of the accommodating portion 10.

  FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the camera module in a state where the lens barrel 2 is inserted into the housing portion 10 to the lowest end. As shown in this figure, when the lens barrel 2 is inserted into the accommodating portion 10 of the main body 1, the lower surface of the lens barrel 2 is disposed above the upper surface of the filter 4 in the accommodating portion 10. The contact surface 23 that is the lower surface of the flange portion 22 contacts the contacted surface 14 that is the upper surface of the housing portion 10, and cannot be inserted further downward.

  For this reason, the height from the contact surface 23 of the collar portion 22 of the lens barrel 2 to the lower surface of the lens barrel 2 is higher than the height from the contacted surface 14 of the housing portion 10 of the main body 1 to the upper surface of the filter 4. It is formed to be smaller. As a result, even if the lens barrel 2 is inserted into the housing portion 10, the contact surface 23 of the flange portion 22 of the lens barrel 2 is in contact with the housing portion of the main body 1 before the lower surface of the lens barrel 2 contacts the filter 4. 10, the lower surface of the lens barrel 2 does not contact the filter 4, and the filter 4 is not damaged by adjusting the position of the lens 3. Further, since the lower surface of the collar portion 22 formed on the entire circumference in the circumferential direction of the lens barrel 2 is received in a planar shape by the upper surface of the housing portion 10 of the main body portion 1, the downward movement of the lens barrel 2 is stopped. No excessive load is applied to 1 and the lens barrel 2.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, application of this invention is not restricted to these embodiment, It can apply variously within the range of the technical idea.

It is sectional drawing of the camera module in this embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the camera module of the state which inserted the lens-barrel to the accommodating part to the lowest end.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body part 2 Lens barrel 3 Lens 4 Filter 5 Image pick-up element 10 Accommodating part 13 Main body part side thread 21 Lens barrel side thread 22

Claims (3)

It has a lens barrel containing a lens and a main body portion that accommodates the lens barrel. The main body portion includes a housing portion that substantially matches the outer shape of the lens barrel, and a filter is disposed on the bottom surface of the housing portion. In the camera module
The lens barrel has a flange portion protruding in the outer peripheral direction at the top, and is movable in the lens optical axis direction with respect to the housing portion of the main body, and the lower surface of the lens barrel is the upper surface of the filter in the housing portion The camera module, wherein the flange portion is in contact with the upper surface of the housing portion in a state of being disposed further upward.   2. The camera module according to claim 1, wherein a height from a lower surface of the collar portion contacting the upper surface of the housing portion to a lower surface of the barrel is smaller than a height from the upper surface of the housing portion to the upper surface of the filter. . The inner peripheral surface of the housing portion of the main body portion and the outer peripheral surface of the lens barrel are each threaded and screwed together, and the lens barrel rotates with respect to the housing portion by the thread. 2. The camera module according to claim 1, wherein the camera module is movable in an optical axis direction.

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