JP2012220942A - Three-dimensional camera module, portable terminal including the same, and cellular phone - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent, in a three-dimensional camera module, a mounting error of two cameras in a manufacturing step and prevent displacement of the mounting positions of two cameras due to impact or the like after the assembly.SOLUTION: In a three-dimensional camera module 10 capable of capturing a three-dimensional image, two rectangular parallelepiped cameras 12 having a flexible substrate 11 are stored in a pair of rectangular-cross-sectional storage recesses 21 separately that are spaced at a predetermined interval in the left/right of a holder 20 formed of molding. Position regulating springs 40 are fitted in the storage recesses 21 and, in each storage recess 21, each camera 12 is pushed to two orthogonal inner surfaces of the storage recess 21 to regulate the position of the camera 12.

Description

  The present invention relates to a three-dimensional camera module, a portable terminal equipped with a three-dimensional camera module, and a mobile phone equipped with a three-dimensional camera module.

  In recent years, 3D television and 3D stereoscopic games have become popular among consumers. A three-dimensional image is obtained by simultaneously capturing a right-eye image and a left-eye image with separate cameras and displaying the two images in a composite image.

  For example, two cameras for photographing the same direction are mounted on an imaging apparatus such as Patent Document 1, and a three-dimensional image is created from the imaging. In order to generate a three-dimensional image by processing an image shot within a certain tolerance of the distance between two cameras and the tilt of the optical axis, a plurality of cameras have a camera housing so that there is no positional or optical axis shift. Need to be incorporated into

  Further, as in Patent Document 2, a small camera unit used for a mobile phone or the like is known. This type of camera unit is known to be connected to a substrate via a flexible substrate because it is provided in a thin cellular phone casing.

JP 2008-141518 A JP-A-2005-157107

  Conventionally, when a camera unit is used, as shown in FIG. 12, for example, the camera unit 110 wraps the camera 112 with a shield sheet metal 140 for noise reduction and fits it in the holder 120, and uses the upper and lower cushions 116 and 132. In a state of being sandwiched, the flexible substrate 111 is connected and fixed to the substrate 104. In such a configuration, variations in the production process are likely to occur, and the camera 112 is inclined with respect to the normal mounting position in the holder 120 as shown in FIG. do not do. If two such camera units 110 are used to create a three-dimensional image as in Patent Document 1, it will be difficult to mount the camera with a certain direction, and if there is a deviation within an allowable range at the time of shipment. Even when two cameras 112 are attached, the camera unit 110 may be displaced due to an impact such as dropping. If two cameras 112 are mounted with the optical axis 112b shifted beyond the allowable range, the image shifts in the horizontal, vertical, and rotational directions of the images of the two cameras 112. Occurs. Even if the deviation of these images taken by each camera 112 is detected by software processing, and even if trimming, rotation, enlargement / reduction processing, etc. are performed, the deviation or blurring of the images taken by the two cameras 112 is large However, there is a problem in that it is impossible to generate images for left eye and right eye that are consistent, and in the worst case, it is impossible to generate a 3D image.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to prevent mounting errors of the two cameras in the production process and to mount the two cameras by impact after assembly. It is to prevent the shift.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, the camera is urged in a predetermined direction within the holder of the molded product by the position regulating spring.

Specifically, in the first invention,
Assuming a 3D camera module capable of capturing 3D images,
The 3D camera module is
Two rectangular parallelepiped cameras having a flexible substrate;
A holder made of a molded product having a pair of rectangular recesses that are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance on the left and right to accommodate the two cameras,
And a position regulating spring for regulating the position of the camera by pressing the cameras against two orthogonal inner surfaces of the housing recess in the housing recess.

  According to the above configuration, the holder made of a molded product can be accurately molded even in a complicated shape, and the camera is pressed against the two inner surfaces orthogonal to the housing recess by the position regulating spring, so that the pair of cameras are respectively placed in the housing recess. Positioned with high accuracy. For this reason, variations in the production process are unlikely to occur, and the tilt and displacement of the camera in the housing recess are less likely to occur, and the optical axis is stabilized. Moreover, since the position regulating spring presses the camera against the two orthogonal inner surfaces of the housing recess even when subjected to an impact, the camera is prevented from shifting in the housing recess.

In the second invention, in the first invention,
Each of the cameras is urged in the same direction either up or down by the position regulating spring and is urged in either the left or right direction.

  According to the above configuration, the pair of cameras are urged in the same direction by the position regulating spring, so that the vertical shift that is difficult to correct the influence of the shift can be minimized. On the other hand, because the human eyes are arranged apart from each other in the left and right directions, it is not always necessary to urge them in the same direction in the left and right directions in which some deviation is allowed.

In the third invention, in the second invention,
The position restricting spring is bent and formed in an L-shaped cross section, and is disposed at a corner portion of each housing recess, and is disposed so as to urge each camera in the left-right direction and the up-down direction.

  According to the above configuration, since the camera can be pressed in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction with one position regulating spring, the number of parts is reduced and the assembly to the housing recess is easy.

In the fourth invention, in the second or third invention,
At the corner on the bottom side of each housing recess, a projection is formed on which the side surface of the camera abuts when each camera presses the position regulating spring with a force larger than the biasing force of the position regulating spring. And
Each of the position regulating springs has a spring portion whose tip is tapered toward the bottom surface of the housing recess.

  According to said structure, the range which a camera moves when an excessive load is added to a camera by providing a projection part is restrict | limited. Further, since the tip of the spring portion of the position regulating spring is tapered, the protrusion and the spring portion do not interfere with each other. Furthermore, by making the base end side of the spring part thick, a necessary elastic coefficient can be secured.

In a fifth invention, in any one of the first to fourth inventions,
The bottom surface side of the holder is covered with a stainless frame having a pair of windows for exposing the lenses of the pair of cameras.

  According to the above configuration, by covering the lens side of the holder with a stainless steel frame having high flatness and high rigidity, the rigidity and strength can be increased while keeping the parallelism of the lens surfaces of the pair of cameras constant. The displacement of the paired cameras can be effectively prevented.

In a sixth invention, in any one of the first to fifth inventions,
The pair of cameras are connected by the flexible substrate and have one signal transmission / reception connector and a pair of ground wirings.

  According to the above configuration, by making the signal transmission / reception connector common to the pair of cameras, the connection with the main board can be facilitated and the number of parts can be reduced. Further, noise countermeasures are surely performed by connecting a pair of ground wirings to the main board.

In a seventh invention, in any one of the first to sixth inventions,
Between the pair of receiving recesses, there is formed a board fitting recess capable of arranging a sub-board different from the main board connecting the pair of cameras.

  According to the above configuration, since the sub-board can be arranged in the extra space between the pair of cameras, it becomes possible to mount many electronic components in a narrow space, and mounting of the electronic components on the main board by providing two cameras The decrease in area can be compensated. Further, since the pair of cameras and the sub board can be fixed with one holder, the number of parts is reduced.

In an eighth invention, in a portable terminal comprising the three-dimensional camera module of the seventh invention,
In the three-dimensional camera module, with the flexible substrate of the three-dimensional camera module connected to the main substrate, the pair of cameras are passed through the pair of through holes penetrating the main substrate. Attached to the main board by the provided locking claws,
The sub board is disposed in the board fitting recess with a distance from the main board.

  That is, there is a limit to reducing the thickness of the camera because of the need to ensure the performance of the camera, and if the camera is arranged on the main board, the thickness of the portable terminal cannot be reduced. For this reason, a pair of cameras cannot be arranged on the board, the main board corresponding to the outer area of the camera unit is deleted, and the camera is inserted into that part so that the thickness of the mobile terminal does not increase. . For this reason, since two cameras are inserted through the board and arranged, it is necessary to delete more area of the main board. Since the mounting area of the electronic component on the main board decreases due to the reduction in the area of the main board, there arises a problem that the mounting of the electronic component on the main board is hindered. However, according to the present invention, since the sub board different from the main board is arranged in the board fitting recess between the pair of cameras and is attached to the main board together with the holder, the mounting is easy and the mounting area of the electronic component Is secured.

In the ninth invention, in the eighth invention,
The holder has a boss portion for fixing to the main substrate in the substrate fitting recess, and the boss portion also serves to fix the sub substrate to the holder.

  According to the above configuration, since the sub board can be fixed by inserting the screw into the boss part provided in the board fitting recess and fixing it to the main board, it is easy to mount and the rigidity around the 3D camera module is improved. Further improvement.

In a tenth invention, in any one of the first to seventh inventions,
The camera is configured to take a 3D image while looking at the display unit on the front side with the pair of cameras arranged side by side.

  According to the above configuration, since the pair of cameras can be accurately positioned and mounted in a compact manner, a highly accurate three-dimensional image can be taken without increasing the size of the mobile phone.

  As described above, according to the present invention, a position regulating spring is fitted in a holder made of a molded product, and each camera is pressed against two orthogonal inner surfaces of the housing recess in the holder to regulate the camera position. By doing so, it is possible to prevent mounting errors of the two cameras in the production process and to prevent the mounting positions of the two cameras from shifting due to impact after assembly or the like. The axis can be kept in a certain direction.

It is a disassembled perspective view of the three-dimensional camera module and main board of an embodiment. It is the perspective view which looked at the mobile telephone from the front side. It is the perspective view which looked at the mobile telephone from the back side. It is a perspective view which shows the main board | substrate with which the three-dimensional camera module was attached. FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 viewed from another direction. A pair of cameras are shown, (a) is a front view, (b) is a bottom view, and (c) is a rear view. It is a perspective view which expands and shows a holder. It is a perspective view which expands and shows the inner surface side of a stainless frame. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the position regulating spring, (a) is a perspective view seen from the inner surface side, and (b) is a perspective view seen from the outer surface side. The outline of a mode that a position control spring energizes a camera is shown, (a) is a front view and (b) is an Xb-Xb line sectional view of (a). It is a perspective view which shows the three-dimensional camera module which concerns on other embodiment. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the conventional three-dimensional camera module. It is a figure explaining the shift | offset | difference of the optical axis of the camera in the conventional three-dimensional camera module, (a) is a front view, (b) is the XIIIb-XIIIb sectional view taken on the line of (a).

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  2 and 3 show a mobile phone 1 as a mobile terminal including the 3D camera module 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The mobile phone 1 has a display unit 2 capable of displaying a 3D image on the front side. I have. Further, the mobile phone 1 includes a main board 4 made of a printed board as shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5 inside a housing 3 made of a resin molded product, etc., and the main board 4 has a three-dimensional camera. Module 10 is attached. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, the mobile phone 1 holds the display unit 2 on the front side in a state where a pair of cameras 12 (to be described later) are arranged side by side in a horizontally long hand. While viewing, the shutter 3b is pressed with the right hand to take a 3D image.

  The three-dimensional camera module 10 of the present embodiment includes a pair of rectangular parallelepiped cameras 12 having a flexible substrate 11 as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. The camera 12 is covered with a rectangular tube-shaped metal frame 12a, and the lens 13 is viewed from the front side opposite to the flexible substrate 11. The pair of lenses 13 can be viewed from the camera window 3a of the housing 3 (see FIG. 3). The pair of cameras 12 are connected at the tip of the flexible substrate 11 connected to each camera 12, and one signal transmission / reception connector 14 for connecting to the main substrate 4 is provided at the tip. Each camera 12 has a ground wiring 15, and noise countermeasures are taken by connecting the ground wiring 15 to the main board 4. Thus, by sharing the signal transmission / reception connector 14 between the pair of cameras 12, the connection with the main board 4 can be facilitated, and the number of components is reduced.

  The pair of cameras 12 are attached to a holder 20 (shown in FIG. 7) made of a molded product such as ABS resin, other engineering plastic, or Mg alloy fixed to the main substrate 4. A material that is relatively rigid and easy to mold even with a complicated shape, such as an ABS resin, other engineering plastics, or an Mg alloy, is suitable as a material for the holder 20. The holder 20 has a pair of housing recesses 21 having a rectangular cross section (square tube shape) that are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance in the left and right to house each camera 12. The housing recess 21 has left and right side walls 21a and upper and lower side walls 21b. The flatness of the left and right side walls 21a and the upper and lower side walls 21b is kept high by molding. The holder 20 includes a plurality of engaging claws 22 having hook-shaped protrusions on the main board 4 side. As shown in FIG. 1, the holder 20 is fitted as a through hole in which the engaging claws 22 are formed through the main board 4. It is fixed to the main board 4 by being inserted into the joint hole 4a and engaging the hook-shaped protrusion.

  Between the pair of housing recesses 21, a board fitting recess 23 is formed in which a sub-board 5 different from the main board 4 connecting the pair of cameras 12 can be placed. As shown in FIG. 1, the sub-board 5 has a rectangular cutout 5 a for avoiding the outer periphery of one housing recess 21. Moreover, it has a pair of screw insertion hole 5b near the notch 5a.

  Then, the sub board 5 is fitted into the board fitting recess 23 to align the pair of boss portions 24 provided between the pair of receiving recesses 21 in the holder 20 with the screw insertion holes 5b of the sub board 5. The claw 22 is engaged with the holder fitting hole 4 a to lock the holder 20, and the holder mounting screw 25 is inserted into the screw insertion hole 5 b and the boss portion 24 to be fastened to the screw hole 4 b of the main board 4. Thus, the holder 20 to which the sub-board 5 is fitted is firmly fixed to the main board 4. In this way, as shown in FIG. 4, the sub-board 5 is arranged in the board fitting recess 23 with a distance in parallel with the main board 4. The electronic component mounted on the sub-board 5 is suitable for a small number of signal lines, for example, a storage medium connecting part, in order to reduce the number of signal lines between the sub-board 5 and the main board 4. The connector (not shown) that connects the signal lines between the sub-board 5 and the main board 4 becomes smaller.

  As described above, since a part of the sub-board 5 can be disposed in the surplus space between the pair of cameras 12, many electronic components can be mounted in a narrow space, and the main board 4 by providing two cameras 12. Make up for the decrease in mounting area of electronic components. Further, since the holder 20 has not only a function of holding the pair of cameras 12 but also a function of holding the sub-board 5, the number of parts is reduced and space saving is achieved.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the bottom side of the holder 20 (the back side of the mobile phone 1) is covered with a stainless frame 30 formed by press-molding a thin stainless steel plate, for example. The stainless frame 30 has a pair of windows 31 for exposing the lenses of the pair of cameras 12. As shown in FIG. 8, the rear surface side has a rectangular parallelepiped shape as a cushioning material between the holder 20 and the stainless frame 30. An inner cushion 32 is affixed. The stainless steel frame 30 has a plurality of engagement holes 33, and the stainless steel frame 30 is fitted into the holder 20 by engaging the engagement protrusions 26 of the holder 20 with the engagement holes 33. A dustproof cushion 34 (shown only in FIG. 1) is attached to the outer surface of the stainless frame 30 to prevent dust and the like from entering the camera window 3a of the housing 3.

  A position regulating spring 40 is fitted in each housing recess 21 of the holder 20. The position regulating spring 40 plays a role of regulating the position of the camera 12 by pressing each camera 12 against the inner surface of the housing recess 21 in the housing recess 21. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, the position regulating spring 40 has a spring main body 41 that is bent at a right angle in an L-shaped cross section, and one end side of the spring main body 41 (the front side of the mobile phone 1). A plurality of locking portions 42 for hooking on the holder 20 are provided. The spring body 41 has two spring portions 43, and the spring portion 43 has a tip 43 a that tapers toward the bottom surface side of the housing recess 21. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, each camera 12 is position-regulated with a force larger than the urging force of the position-regulating spring 40 at the three corners where the position-regulating springs 40 are provided on the bottom surface side of each housing recess 21. Projections 27 with which the side surfaces of the camera 12 come into contact when the spring 40 is pressed are formed.

  As described above, since one camera 12 can be pressed in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction by the single position regulating spring 40, the number of parts is reduced and the assembly to the holder 20 is facilitated. Further, by providing the projection 27 in the housing recess 21, the range in which the camera 12 moves when an excessive load is applied to the camera 12 is limited. Further, since the distal end 43a of the spring portion 43 of the position regulating spring 40 is tapered, the protrusion 27 and the spring portion 43 do not interfere with each other, and the base end side of the spring portion 43 is further thickened to obtain the necessary elasticity. The coefficient is secured.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 1, a pair of cameras 12 is mounted from the back side (the lower side of FIG. 1) of the main board 4 to the pair of receiving recesses 21 to which the position restricting springs 40 are mounted. The wiring 15 is connected to the main board 4. A rectangular back cushion 16 is attached to the back side (flexible substrate 11 side) of each camera 12.

  As schematically shown in FIG. 10, the position regulating springs 40 are disposed at the upper right corner 21 c and the upper left corner 21 d of the left and right receiving recesses 21. The pair of spring portions 43 of the position restricting spring 40 disposed at the upper right corner portion 21c urges the camera 12 to the left side and the lower side. A pair of spring portions 43 of the position restricting spring 40 disposed at the upper left corner portion 21d urges the camera 12 to the right side and the lower side. As described above, since each camera 12 is urged downward by the position regulating spring 40 and pressed against the lower side wall 21b, the mounting position thereof does not shift in the vertical direction. In addition, since each camera 12 is biased so as to approach the left and right, a lateral shift is also prevented. Note that the position regulating spring 40 may be disposed so as to bias the pair of cameras 12 upward. By urging both the pair of cameras 12 in the same direction up and down by the position regulating spring 40, it is possible to minimize the vertical shift that is difficult to correct the influence of the shift. On the other hand, it is not always necessary to urge the left and right directions in which the slight deviation is allowed in the same direction.

  In this way, the holder 20 made of a resin molded product can be accurately molded even in a complicated shape, and the camera 12 is pressed against the inner surface of the housing recess 21 of the holder 20 by the position regulating spring 40, so that the pair of cameras 12 are respectively holders. 20 is positioned with high accuracy. For this reason, variations in the production process are unlikely to occur, and the tilt and displacement of the camera 12 in the holder 20 are unlikely to occur, and the optical axis 12b is stabilized. Moreover, since the position regulating spring 40 presses the camera 12 against the inner surface of the housing recess 21 even under impact, the camera 12 is prevented from being displaced in the holder 20.

  Further, by covering the entire lens 13 side of the holder 20 with a stainless frame 30 having high flatness and high rigidity, the lens 20 of the pair of cameras 12 is positioned with high rigidity and strength while keeping the parallelism of the lens surfaces constant. The pair of cameras 12 can be prevented from shifting.

  Furthermore, since the pair of cameras 12 can be accurately positioned and mounted compactly, a three-dimensional image can be taken without increasing the size of the mobile phone 1.

  Therefore, according to the three-dimensional camera module 10 according to the present embodiment, the mounting error of the two cameras 12 in the production process is prevented, and the mounting positions of the two cameras 12 are not shifted due to an impact after assembly. can do. Thereby, the optical axes of the two camera lenses can be maintained in a certain direction.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention may be configured as follows with respect to the above embodiment.

  That is, in the above embodiment, the substrate fitting recess 23 for accommodating the sub-board 5 is provided in the holder 20, but the holder 220 is not provided with a portion corresponding to the substrate fitting recess 23, and as shown in FIG. A unitized three-dimensional camera module 210 may be used. In this case, since the unitized three-dimensional camera module 210 may be fitted to the main board 4, the attachment is extremely easy and the optical axes of the pair of cameras 12 are attached to the main board 4. 12b does not shift.

  In the above-described embodiment, the mobile terminal is the mobile phone 1, but may be a PHS (Personal Handy-phone System), a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a smartphone, a mobile tool, an electronic dictionary, a calculator, a game machine, or the like. .

  In addition, the above embodiment is an essentially preferable illustration, Comprising: It does not intend restrict | limiting the range of this invention, its application thing, or a use.

  As described above, the present invention is useful for a three-dimensional camera module having two cameras, a portable terminal having a three-dimensional camera module, and a mobile phone having a three-dimensional camera module.

1 Mobile phone (mobile terminal)
2 Display 4 Main board 4a Holder fitting hole (through hole)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 5 Sub board | substrate 10 Three-dimensional camera module 11 Flexible board 12 Camera 13 Lens 14 Signal transmission / reception connector 15 Ground wiring 20 Holder 21 Housing recessed part 21a Left and right side wall 22 Engaging claw 23 Board fitting recessed part 24 Boss part 27 Protrusion part 30 Stainless frame 31 Window 40 Position Control Spring 43 Spring 43a Tip 210 Dimension Camera Module

Claims (10)

In a 3D camera module that can capture 3D images,
Two rectangular parallelepiped cameras having a flexible substrate;
A holder made of a molded product having a pair of rectangular recesses that are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance on the left and right to accommodate the two cameras,
And a position regulating spring that regulates the position of the camera by pressing each camera against two orthogonal inner surfaces of the housing recess in the housing recess. 3D camera module. The three-dimensional camera module according to claim 1,
The three-dimensional camera module, wherein each of the cameras is urged in the same direction either up or down by the position regulating spring and is urged in either the left or right direction. The three-dimensional camera module according to claim 2,
The position restricting spring is formed to be bent in an L-shaped cross section, is disposed at a corner portion of each receiving recess, and is disposed so as to urge each camera in the left-right direction and the up-down direction. Dimension camera module. The three-dimensional camera module according to claim 2 or 3,
At the corner on the bottom side of each housing recess, a projection is formed on which the side surface of the camera abuts when each camera presses the position regulating spring with a force larger than the biasing force of the position regulating spring. And
Each of the position regulating springs has a spring portion whose tip is tapered toward the bottom surface side of the housing recess. The three-dimensional camera module according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The three-dimensional camera module characterized in that the bottom side of the holder is covered with a stainless frame having a pair of windows for exposing the lenses of the pair of cameras. The three-dimensional camera module according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The pair of cameras are connected by the flexible substrate, have one signal transmission / reception connector, and have a pair of ground wirings. The three-dimensional camera module according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
A board fitting recess in which a sub-board different from the main board connecting the pair of cameras is formed between the pair of housing recesses. In the portable terminal which has the three-dimensional camera module of Claim 7,
In the three-dimensional camera module, with the flexible substrate of the three-dimensional camera module connected to the main substrate, the pair of cameras are passed through the pair of through holes penetrating the main substrate. Attached to the main board by the provided locking claws,
The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the sub board is disposed in the board fitting recess with a distance from the main board. The mobile terminal according to claim 8, wherein
The holder has a boss portion for fixing to the main substrate in the substrate fitting recess, and the boss portion also serves to fix the sub substrate to the holder. A three-dimensional camera module according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is provided on the back surface,
A mobile phone configured to take a 3D image while looking at the front display unit in a state where the pair of cameras are arranged side by side.

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