JP2017181675A - Imaging device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase space efficiency and reduce burdens of a flexible circuit board on an image sensor in an imaging device provided with an image sensor that performs vibrationproof drive having a high level of operational freedom.SOLUTION: An image sensor according to the present invention corrects an image blur by tilting around a discretionary shaft substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of an imaging optical system and rotary motion centering on the optical axis. A flexible circuit board connecting to an image sensor substrate that supports the image sensor is provided with, as viewed along the optical axis, a radial extension part extended from the image sensor substrate toward an outer diametrical direction centering on the optical axis and a pair of curved parts constituting a circular arc shape extending in forward and reverse from an outer diametrical end of the radial extension part toward a circumferential direction centering on the optical axis and enclosing the image sensor and the image sensor substrate.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus provided with an image stabilization (image blur correction) mechanism.

  In recent imaging apparatuses, an anti-vibration mechanism for reducing image blur caused by camera shake or the like is generally mounted. The anti-vibration mechanism shifts the imaging optical system and the image sensor (imaging device) with respect to the optical axis (a plane perpendicular to the optical axis) so as to detect the vibration and posture change applied to the imaging device and cancel the influence. ) And tilt (inclination with respect to the optical axis).

  In the image stabilization mechanism that drives the image sensor during image blur correction (anti-vibration drive), a substrate for supporting the image sensor and a substrate on which a control circuit and an image processing circuit are provided are connected to a flexible substrate for signal communication (flexible print). In many cases, they are connected by a circuit board. When the posture of the image sensor changes during image blur correction, the flexible substrate changes its shape, and signal communication is performed while suppressing a mechanical load. However, a flexible substrate for an image sensor has a large amount of signal communication and requires a large number of wires as compared with a flexible substrate connected to a lens or a shutter. There is a problem such as. As a countermeasure, Patent Document 1 proposes a flexible substrate having a configuration in which a load on an image sensor that is driven in a two-dimensional manner is reduced.

  With the background of diversification of uses of imaging devices, it is required to improve the operation specifications (driving amount and degree of freedom of driving direction) of an optical element for image stabilization. For example, the imaging apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2 is a three-axis drive type in which a tilting operation including components in the pitching direction and the yawing direction and a roll operation in the rotation direction about the optical axis are performed by an optical element for vibration isolation. Anti-vibration mechanisms have been proposed.

Japanese Patent No. 5115494 JP2013-246414A

  When the image sensor is anti-vibration driven by the above-described three-axis drive type anti-vibration mechanism, the degree of freedom in the driving direction is higher than that of the existing two-dimensional driving type, and the operation becomes complicated. A flexible substrate corresponding to that is required. Further, when the flexible substrate connected to the movable part is disposed in the imaging apparatus, it is necessary to consider space efficiency so as to prevent interference with surrounding parts while avoiding an increase in the size of the imaging apparatus. In order to satisfy the above requirements, an object of the present invention is to provide an imaging apparatus including a flexible substrate that can reduce the load regardless of the driving direction of the image sensor and is excellent in space efficiency.

  The present invention enables an image sensor that receives a light beam from an imaging optical system to tilt around an arbitrary axis substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the imaging optical system and to rotate around the optical axis. In an image pickup apparatus in which an image sensor tilts and rotates during image blur correction, a flexible substrate connected to an image sensor substrate that supports the image sensor is configured as follows.

  First, when viewed along the optical axis, the flexible substrate is a radially extending portion extending from the image sensor substrate toward an outer radial direction away from the optical axis in a radial direction centered on the optical axis. And an arc that surrounds the image sensor and the image sensor substrate by extending from the end on the outer diameter side of the radially extending portion toward the circumferential direction centering on the optical axis when viewed along the optical axis. A pair of curved portions having a shape. The pair of curved portions fits in the space around the image sensor with good space efficiency and contributes to load reduction with excellent followability with respect to tilting of the image sensor and rotation operation about the optical axis.

  Space efficiency in the optical axis direction can be improved by arranging the pair of curved portions of the flexible substrate at positions overlapping with at least a part of the image sensor and the image sensor substrate in the direction along the optical axis.

  The radially extending portion is connected to the image sensor substrate to form an optical axis orthogonal plane portion that is substantially perpendicular to the optical axis, and from the end on the outer diameter side of the optical axis orthogonal plane portion to the optical axis. A first optical axis extending portion extending in the direction along the optical axis, and folded back from the first optical axis extending portion and positioned on the outer diameter side of the first optical axis extending portion to the optical axis. And a second optical axis direction extending portion extending in a direction along the direction, and a pair of curved portions may be connected to the end of the second optical axis direction extending portion. In addition, the entire first optical axis extending portion, the entire second optical axis extending portion, and a part of the optical axis orthogonal plane portion have a pair of branch shapes divided in the circumferential direction. It may be allowed. With these configurations, the effect of reducing the load on the operation of the image sensor can be enhanced in the radially extending portion.

  The pair of curved portions preferably have substantially the same length in the circumferential direction, and it is preferable that ends of the pair of curved portions opposite to the side connected to the radially extending portion overlap each other in the radial direction. .

  An image sensor and an image sensor substrate, comprising: a movable member that supports the image sensor and the image sensor substrate; and a fixed member that is formed of a cylindrical body and that movably supports the movable member inside the image sensor substrate. It is preferable to arrange a pair of curved portions of the flexible substrate in a radial space between the arc-shaped outer periphery centered on the optical axis. Thereby, a pair of curved part of a flexible substrate can be stored in space efficiency in the radial direction of an imaging device.

  According to the imaging apparatus of the present invention, a flexible board having a configuration excellent in space efficiency can reduce a load on an image sensor having a high degree of freedom of operation, and has a compact image pickup apparatus having excellent vibration isolation performance. Can be obtained.

It is a front perspective view which shows the external appearance of the imaging device to which this invention is applied. It is a back perspective view of an imaging device. It is a rear view of an imaging device. It is a rear view of an imaging device in the state where a back cover was removed. It is a side view of an imaging device. It is sectional drawing which follows the VI-VI line of FIG. It is a front perspective view of the state where the imaging device was disassembled. It is a back perspective view of the state where the imaging device was disassembled. It is a side view of the state which decomposed | disassembled the imaging device. It is a front perspective view of an image sensor unit and a flexible substrate. It is a back perspective view of an image sensor unit and a flexible substrate. It is a front view of an image sensor unit and a flexible substrate. It is a rear view of an image sensor unit and a flexible substrate. It is a XIV arrow directional view of FIG. It is a XV arrow line view of FIG. It is a XVI arrow line view of FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the XVII-XVII line of FIG. It is a front perspective view of a flexible substrate. It is a back perspective view of a flexible substrate. It is a front view of a flexible substrate. It is a rear view of a flexible substrate. It is a XXII arrow line view of FIG. It is a XXIII arrow line view of FIG. It is a XXIV arrow line view of FIG. It is an expanded view of a flexible substrate.

  Hereinafter, an imaging device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. As shown in FIG. 6, the imaging apparatus 10 includes an imaging optical system L and an image sensor unit 12 as imaging means for obtaining a subject image. “O” in each figure is the optical axis of the imaging optical system L. In the following description, a direction along the optical axis O (a direction in which the optical axis O and its extension line extend or a straight line parallel to the optical axis O is shown). The extending direction) is the optical axis direction, the subject (object) side in the optical axis direction is the front, and the image side is the rear. Further, a radial direction centering on the optical axis O (a direction in which a straight line extending perpendicularly to the optical axis O and intersecting the optical axis O) is a radial direction, and a direction approaching the optical axis O in the radial direction is an inner diameter direction, an optical axis The direction away from O is the outer diameter direction. A circumferential direction around the optical axis O is defined as a circumferential direction. In addition, two virtual planes P1 and P2 that are perpendicular to each other through the optical axis O are shown in FIGS. The direction along the imaginary plane P1 when viewed along the optical axis O is the up-down direction, the direction along the imaginary plane P2 is the left-right direction, and the up-down, left-right directions are indicated by arrows in the figure. However, the left-right direction and the up-down direction here are for convenience, and the left-right direction and the up-down direction of the illustrated arrow line do not have to coincide with the horizontal direction or the vertical direction when the imaging apparatus 10 is used. Unless otherwise specified, the optical axis O means an optical axis in an initial design state in which the lens barrel 11 described later is not tilted (tilt operation).

  As shown in FIGS. 6 to 9, the imaging apparatus 10 includes a lens barrel (movable member) 11 that supports an imaging optical system L therein, and an image sensor unit 12 that is attached to the rear end of the lens barrel 11. It has a basic structure in which a combined body of the cylinder 11 and the image sensor unit 12 is movably supported in a cylindrical coil holder (fixing member) 13. The outer circumferential surface of the coil holder 13 is covered with a cylindrical outer yoke 14, the front end of the coil holder 13 is covered with a cover glass 15, and the rear end of the coil holder 13 is covered with a back cover 16. The cover glass 15 is fixed to the coil holder 13 by a holding ring 17.

  The lens barrel 11 includes an optical system holding cylinder 18 having a cylindrical shape centered on the optical axis O, and an image sensor mounting portion 19 formed integrally with the rear end portion of the optical system holding cylinder 18. A plurality of lenses (groups) constituting the imaging optical system L are held inside the optical system holding cylinder 18. Three swing guide surfaces 20 are formed on the outer surface of the optical system holding cylinder 18 (two swing guide surfaces 20 are shown in FIGS. 7 to 9). The three swing guide surfaces 20 are provided at different positions in the circumferential direction. Each swing guide surface 20 is a part of the same spherical surface centered on a predetermined point on the optical axis O, and the center of this spherical surface is a spherical center swing center Q (FIG. 6).

  The lens barrel 11 supports three magnet units 21, 22, and 23 at circumferential positions between the three swing guide surfaces 20. As shown in FIGS. 6 to 9, each of the magnet unit 21 and the magnet unit 22 is composed of a pair of permanent magnets spaced apart in the optical axis direction, and each permanent magnet has a longitudinal direction in the circumferential direction. It has an arc shape centered on the optical axis O. As shown in FIG. 8, the magnet unit 23 is composed of a pair of permanent magnets arranged in the circumferential direction so as to be separated from each other, and each permanent magnet is a circular arc centered on the optical axis O and oriented in the longitudinal direction in the optical axis direction. It has a shape.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the image sensor mounting portion 19 is a cylindrical body surrounding the rear end portion of the optical system holding cylinder 18, and an image sensor insertion opening 24 having a substantially rectangular cross-sectional shape is formed inside thereof. Yes. The outer peripheral surface of the image sensor mounting portion 19 has a D-shape including a cylindrical surface portion 25 centered on the optical axis O and a flat portion 26 along one long side of the image sensor insertion opening 24 (FIG. 8). ). Three screw holes 27 are formed in the rear end surface of the image sensor mounting portion 19. The three screw holes 27 are arranged on the same circumference around the optical axis O.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 10 to 13, the image sensor unit 12 has an image sensor 31 on the front side of a flat image sensor substrate 30 that is substantially perpendicular to the optical axis O. The image sensor 31 includes a rectangular light receiving surface having a pair of long sides and a pair of short sides. The image sensor substrate 30 has a D-shape having a cut portion 32 in which a part of a disk shape is cut out linearly (FIGS. 10, 12, and 13), and the image sensor mounting portion of the lens barrel 11 19 can be brought into contact with the rear end surface. The cut portion 32 is formed along one long side of the image sensor 31 substantially in parallel with the long side. The outer peripheral portion 33 of the image sensor substrate 30 excluding the cut portion 32 has an arc (cylindrical) shape centered on the optical axis O.

  In the image sensor substrate 30, three screw insertion holes 34 are formed in a positional relationship corresponding to the three screw holes 27 on the image sensor attachment portion 19 side of the lens barrel 11. The three screw insertion holes 34 are provided between three sides of the image sensor 31 excluding one long side along the cut portion 32 and the outer peripheral portion 33 of the image sensor substrate 30. The image sensor substrate 30 is positioned with respect to the image sensor mounting portion 19 so that the plane portion 26 and the cut portion 32 are substantially parallel to each other, and then the three screw holes 27 and the three screw insertions are inserted. Substrate fixing screws 35 are inserted into and screwed into the holes 34, respectively, and fixed. In this fixed state, the light receiving surface of the image sensor 31 is positioned on the image surface behind the imaging optical system L (FIG. 6).

  A flexible substrate 36 is connected to the image sensor substrate 30. A subject image obtained through the imaging optical system L is photoelectrically converted by the image sensor 31, and the image signal is transmitted through the flexible substrate 36. The flexible substrate 36 is connected to a control circuit 37 (conceptually shown in FIG. 6) that controls the image pickup apparatus 10, and the control circuit 37 processes image signals to display images on a display device and image data on a recording medium. Record. Further, a signal from an attitude detection sensor 38 (conceptually shown in FIG. 6) that detects the attitude of the imaging device 10 is input to the control circuit 37. Details of the flexible substrate 36 will be described later.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 to 9, the coil holder 13 has a cylindrical portion 40 surrounding the optical axis O. The cylindrical portion 40 has three through holes 41 penetrating in the radial direction at substantially equal intervals in the circumferential direction ( 120 intervals). Each through hole 41 is a long hole whose length in the optical axis direction is larger than the width in the circumferential direction, and the inner diameter side portion is shorter in the optical axis direction than the outer diameter side portion. A step portion is formed in the through hole 41 due to the difference in thickness.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, a support member 42, an elastic member 43, and a pressing member 44 are inserted into the three through holes 41 of the coil holder 13 in order from the inner diameter side. The support member 42 has a flange whose length in the optical axis direction is increased. The flange is inserted into the through hole 41 with the flange facing the outer diameter side, and the flange comes into contact with a step portion in the through hole 41. Therefore, insertion in the inner diameter direction is restricted. Movement of the pressing member 44 to the outer diameter side is restricted by a cylindrical outer yoke 14 attached to the outside of the cylindrical portion 40 of the coil holder 13. The elastic member 43 is made of an elastically deformable material, is sandwiched between the support member 42 and the pressing member 44 in a compressed state, and biases the support member 42 in the inner diameter direction.

  Support surfaces 45 formed at the inner diameter side ends of the support members 42 inserted into the through holes 41 abut against the three swing guide surfaces 20 of the lens barrel 11. Through the abutting portion between the support surface 45 and the swing guide surface 20, the lens barrel 11 rotates with respect to the coil holder 13 in a freely rotatable direction around the center of swinging of the spherical center Q (FIG. 6). It is supported so as to be able to perform (heart swing). The support surface 45 is a part of a cylindrical surface (cylindrical concave surface) centered on a line that passes through the center of swinging of the spherical center Q and is substantially perpendicular to the optical axis O. The shape of the support surface 45 is not limited to this, and an arbitrary shape can be selected.

  The coil holder 13 further has three coil insertion holes 51, 52, 53 at circumferential positions between the three through holes 41, and the coils 54, 55, 53 are provided in the coil insertion holes 51, 52, 53. 56 is supported. Each of the coils 54, 55, and 56 is an air-core coil having a pair of side portions extending in the optical axis direction and a pair of side portions extending in the circumferential direction, and both radial surfaces are curved surfaces having the optical axis O as the center. It has a formed arc shape.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the coils 54, 55, and 56 attached to the coil holder 13 are opposed to the magnet units 21, 22, and 23 on the lens barrel 11 side in the radial direction, respectively. When the coil 54 and the coil 55 are energized, a thrust in a direction in which the optical axis O is tilted with respect to the lens barrel 11 is generated. By this thrust, the lens barrel 11 tilts (tilt operation) about an arbitrary axis substantially perpendicular to the optical axis O. Of the tilting of the lens barrel 11, tilting along the virtual plane P1 (centering on the horizontal axis) is the pitching direction operation, and tilting along the virtual plane P2 (centering on the vertical axis) is the yawing direction. The operation is as follows. When the coil 56 is energized, a thrust in the direction of rotating about the optical axis O (rolling direction) is generated with respect to the lens barrel 11, and the lens barrel 11 performs a rotation operation (roll operation) about the optical axis. With the thrust of these three actuators (voice coil motors), it is possible to cause the lens barrel 11 and the image sensor unit 12 to perform three-axis ball center oscillation with a high degree of freedom in the operation direction. Although not shown in the drawings, the lens barrel 11 and the coil holder 13 are provided with a restricting portion that limits the mechanical range of the pivot of the lens barrel 11.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, a hall sensor (magnetic sensor) 57 is inserted and supported in the hollow portions of the coils 54, 55, and 56. Each Hall sensor 57 detects a change in magnetic field in the three actuators, and a detection signal is sent to the control circuit 37 to detect the attitude of the lens barrel 11.

  The support member 42, the elastic member 43, and the pressing member 44 are inserted into the through holes 41 of the coil holder 13, and the coils 54, 55, 56 are supported in the coil insertion holes 51, 52, 53 of the coil holder 13. In this state, the outer yoke 14 that covers the outside of the cylindrical portion 40 is attached. The outer yoke 14 is formed of a magnetic metal, and prevents the pressing member 44 from coming off as described above when attached to the outside of the cylindrical portion 40. The outer yoke 14 further prevents leakage of magnetic force from the magnet units 21, 22, and 23 constituting each actuator to the outside of the imaging device 10.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the cylindrical portion 40 of the coil holder 13 extends to the rear side of the portion covered with the outer yoke 14. A peripheral surface 46 is formed. As shown in FIG. 6, the image sensor unit 12 and the flexible substrate 36 are located inside the inner peripheral surface 46. A back cover 16 is attached to the rear end of the coil holder 13. FIG. 4 shows a state in which the back cover 16 is not attached, and the rear of the image sensor unit 12 and the flexible substrate 36 is closed by attaching the back cover 16 as shown in FIG. The back cover 16 is formed with a board insertion hole 47 through which the flexible board 36 is pulled out behind the coil holder 13.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the cover glass 15 is brought into contact with the front end surface of the coil holder 13 to cover the front of the lens barrel 11. A holding ring 17 attached to the front end of the coil holder 13 presses and fixes the peripheral edge of the cover glass 15 from the front.

  The imaging device 10 having the above configuration operates when the lens barrel 11 is operated in a direction and a size to reduce image shake on the image sensor 31 due to posture change when vibration due to camera shake is applied. It is possible to perform image stabilization (image blur correction) control that reduces quality deterioration. In the image stabilization control, the control circuit 37 energizes the coils 54, 55, 56 based on the attitude information of the imaging device 10 by the attitude detection sensor 38 (FIG. 6) and the position information of the lens barrel 11 by the hall sensors 57. It is executed by controlling. In particular, in the imaging apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, the lens barrel 11 that supports the imaging optical system L and the image sensor unit 12 is caused to perform three-axis ball center oscillation so that the optical system is optically aligned along a plane perpendicular to the optical axis O. Compared to an image pickup apparatus that operates the system, it is possible to increase the image blur correction angle that can be handled while having a compact configuration. For this reason, not only a camera that is supposed to be photographed by hand, but also a wearable camera that can be attached to any position of the body, or a camera that is mounted on a mobile machine such as an automobile, conditions that cause large image blurring. Even in the imaging apparatus, an excellent anti-shake correction effect can be obtained.

  Next, the flexible substrate 36 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 25 shows a state where the flexible substrate 36 is developed on a plane perpendicular to the optical axis O. The unfolded flexible substrate 36 has the following components with a substrate connection portion (optical axis orthogonal plane portion) 70 connected to the rear surface side of the image sensor substrate 30 as a base end. As shown in FIGS. 11, 13, 18, and 19, the board connecting portion 70 has a rectangular shape whose length in the left-right direction is larger than the length in the up-down direction. It is located below and connected to a portion along the cut portion 32 of the image sensor substrate 30.

  A pair of first belt-like portions 71 and 72 that are bifurcated downward from the substrate connecting portion 70 are extended. The center in the left-right direction of the board connecting portion 70 is located on the virtual plane P1, and the first belt-like portion 71 and the first belt-like portion 72 are substantially symmetrical with respect to the virtual plane P1. A slit 73 is formed between the first strip 71 and the first strip 72 along the virtual plane P1. The first belt-like portion 71 and the first belt-like portion 72 have substantially the same width in the left-right direction and substantially the same length in the vertical direction, and are respectively below the first belt-like portion 71 and the first belt-like portion 72. A pair of second belt-like portions 74 and 75 extend from the end of the left and right direction. The second strip 74 extends in the direction away from the virtual plane P1 with respect to the first strip 71, the second strip 75 extends in the direction away from the virtual plane P1 with respect to the first strip 72, and the second strip 74 and the 2nd strip | belt-shaped part 75 have a serial positional relationship in the left-right direction. The second belt-like portion 74 and the second belt-like portion 75 have substantially the same vertical width and substantially the same length in the left-right direction. A third belt-like portion 76 extends downward from an end of the second belt-like portion 74 opposite to the side connected to the first belt-like portion 71, and a portion of the second belt-like portion 75 has a first belt-like portion 72. A third strip 77 extends downward from the end opposite to the connecting side. The third belt-like portion 76 and the third belt-like portion 77 have substantially the same width in the left-right direction and substantially the same length in the vertical direction. That is, the unfolded flexible substrate 36 shown in FIG. 25 is bifurcated from the substrate connecting portion 70, and the bent belt-shaped portion 78 configured by the first belt-shaped portion 71, the second belt-shaped portion 74, and the third belt-shaped portion 76. The bent belt-like portion 79 is composed of the first belt-like portion 72, the second belt-like portion 75, and the third belt-like portion 77, and the bent belt-like portion 78 and the bent belt-like portion 79 are substantially symmetrical with respect to the virtual plane P1. It has a shape.

  The flexible substrate 36 having the above developed shape is mounted on the imaging device 10 in the shape shown in FIGS. The substrate connecting portion 70 is fixedly supported with respect to the image sensor substrate 30 and maintains a planar shape substantially perpendicular to the optical axis O together with the image sensor substrate 30.

  Each of the first belt-like portion 71 and the first belt-like portion 72 has continuous flat portions (optical axis orthogonal flat surface portions) 71 a and 72 a at portions following the substrate connecting portion 70. The position of the upper end portion of the slit 73 in the vertical direction becomes a boundary between the substrate connecting portion 70 and the continuous flat portions 71a and 72a. The substrate connecting portion 70 and the continuous flat portions 71a and 72a are bent or changed in direction at this boundary portion. Instead, a planar shape (optical axis orthogonal plane portion) substantially perpendicular to the optical axis O is continuously formed across the substrate connecting portion 70 and the continuous plane portions 71a and 72a.

  The first belt-like portion 71 and the first belt-like portion 72 are extended in the optical axis direction by bending the outer diameter side (downward) ends of the continuous flat portions 71a and 72a forward in the optical axis direction. Forward extending portions (first optical axis direction extending portions) 71b and 72b are formed. The front end bent portions 71c and 72c are formed by bending the front ends of the front extending portions 71b and 72b in the outer diameter direction (downward). Furthermore, the outer end side (downward) ends of the front end bent portions 71c and 72c are bent toward the rear in the optical axis direction, and the rear extension portion (the outer diameter of the radial extension portion) extends in the optical axis direction. Side end portions, second optical axis direction extending portions) 71d and 72d are formed. As shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the front end bent portion 71 c and the front end bent portion 72 c protrude slightly forward in the optical axis direction from the front surface of the image sensor 31. The rear extending portions 71d and 72d located on the outer diameter side of the front extending portions 71b and 72b are longer in the optical axis direction than the front extending portions 71b and 72b, and the front ends of the rear extending portions 71d and 72d are image sensors. 31 is located slightly in front of the front surface of the optical axis 31 and the rear ends of the rearwardly extending portions 71 d and 72 d are positioned rearward of the image sensor substrate 30 in the optical axis direction. That is, the rear extending portions 71 d and 72 d are at positions in the optical axis direction that overlap the entire image sensor unit 12, and are longer in the optical axis direction than the image sensor unit 12.

  The board connecting portion 70, the first belt-like portion 71, and the first belt-like portion 72 configured as described above are viewed when the flexible substrate 36 is viewed along the optical axis O as shown in FIGS. 12, 13, 20, and 21. A radially extending portion 80 (range indicated by double arrows in FIGS. 17, 20, and 21) extending from the image sensor substrate 30 toward the outer diameter direction is configured. The first belt-like portion 71 and the first belt-like portion 72 include portions extending in the optical axis direction such as the front extending portions 71b and 72b and the rear extending portions 71d and 72d, but along the optical axis O. As seen from the figure, it follows that the board connecting portion 70 is extended in the radial direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the first strip 71 and the first strip 72 include a folded portion that protrudes forward in the optical axis direction, as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17. Are in positions in the optical axis direction overlapping the image sensor substrate 30 and the image sensor 31, respectively. The image sensor substrate 30 is at a position where the entire thickness in the optical axis direction overlaps with the second belt-like portion 74 and the second belt-like portion 75, and part of the image sensor 31 is from the second belt-like portion 74 and the second belt-like portion 75. Also protrudes forward in the optical axis direction. Further, the front end bent portion 71 c and the front end bent portion 72 c in the first band portion 71 and the first band portion 72 are also positioned in front of the second band portion 74 and the second band portion 75.

  The second strip 74 extends upward from a rear extending portion 71d of the first strip 71 located below the image sensor substrate 30 while forming a curved portion 74a that protrudes rightward ( That is, it extends in a generally clockwise direction clockwise) and surrounds the right half of the arc-shaped outer peripheral portion 33 of the image sensor substrate 30. The second strip 75 extends upward from a rear extending portion 72d of the first strip 72 located below the image sensor substrate 30 while forming a curved portion 75a that protrudes to the left ( That is, it extends counterclockwise in a generally circumferential direction) and surrounds the left half of the arc-shaped outer peripheral portion 33 of the image sensor substrate 30. As shown in FIGS. 12, 13, 20, and 21, the bending portion 74a and the bending portion 75a have substantially the same length in the circumferential direction, and are substantially symmetrical with respect to the virtual plane P1. Of the curved portion 74a and the curved portion 75a, the end opposite to the side connected to the rearwardly extending portion 71d and the rearwardly extending portion 72d is in the radial direction at a position on the virtual plane P1 above the image sensor substrate 30 ( Overlapping in the vertical direction). That is, the flexible substrate 36 includes an annular body that encloses the image sensor substrate 30 and the image sensor 31 by the radially extending portion 80, the curved portion 74 a, and the curved portion 75 a, and the radially extending portion 80 is the image sensor. The curved portion 74 a and the curved portion 75 a extend from the cut portion 32 of the substrate 30 in the outer diameter direction and surround the outer diameter side of the outer peripheral portion 33 of the image sensor substrate 30.

  The third belt-like portion 76 and the third belt-like portion 77 are directed rearward in the optical axis direction while maintaining the overlapping relationship in the radial direction (vertical direction) from the overlapping portion of the curved portion 74a and the curved portion 75a above the image sensor substrate 30. Extended. The rearward extension of the third belt-like portion 76 and the third belt-like portion 77 is in accordance with the bent shape of the second belt-like portion 74 and the second belt-like portion 75 in the unfolded shape shown in FIG. Thus, no special shape processing such as bending is applied between the bending portion 74a and the third strip portion 76 and between the bending portion 75a and the third strip portion 77. In the present embodiment, the third belt-like portion 76 overlaps in the order of the inner diameter side (downward) and the third belt-like portion 77 in the order of the outer diameter side (upward), but this overlapping order may be reversed.

  The third belt-like portion 76 and the third belt-like portion 77 have close contact portions 76a and 77a that overlap with each other in the radial direction (up and down direction) and spaced portions 76b and 77b that are spaced apart in the radial direction. A stepped portion 76c is formed between 76a and the separating portion 76b. The separation portion 76b of the third strip portion 76 is offset in the inner diameter direction (downward) with respect to the contact portion 76a by the step portion 76c. On the other hand, the close contact part 77a and the separation part 77b of the third belt-like part 77 have a continuous shape with no step between them. As shown in FIG. 6, the close contact portion 76 a and the close contact portion 77 a are inserted into the board insertion hole 47 of the back cover 16, and the separation portion 76 b and the separation portion 77 b are extended to the rear of the coil holder 13. In each drawing, the connection structure from the separation portion 76b and the separation portion 77b is omitted, but the separation portion 76b and the separation portion 77b may be connected to the control circuit 37, and further from the separation portion 76b and the separation portion 77b. You may connect to the control circuit 37 via another flexible substrate. In any form, signal communication between the image sensor substrate 30 (image sensor 31) and the control circuit 37 becomes possible via the flexible substrate 36.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, there is a generally annular space between the image sensor mounting portion 19 and the image sensor unit 12 of the lens barrel 11 and the inner peripheral surface 46 of the cylindrical portion 40 of the coil holder 13. doing. Within the annular space, a portion of the flexible substrate 36 excluding a portion fixed to the image sensor substrate 30 (near the upper end of the substrate connection portion 70) is accommodated. In the initial state of the lens barrel 11, the curved portion 74 a and the curved portion 75 a of the flexible substrate 36 are predetermined in the radial direction with respect to any of the image sensor mounting portion 19, the image sensor unit 12, and the inner peripheral surface 46 of the coil holder 13. It is in a free support state with a gap. As for the third belt-like portion 76 and the third belt-like portion 77, the insertion portion to the board insertion hole 47 is fixed to the back cover 16.

  In addition to the board insertion hole 47 of the back cover 16, a surface located inside the coil holder 13 or the like may be selected as a target for fixing the third belt-like portion 76 and the third belt-like portion 77. For example, when the third belt-like portion 76 and the third belt-like portion 77 are fixed to the inner peripheral surface 46 of the coil holder 13, the fixing area is increased, which is advantageous in terms of strength, and is easy to handle during assembly. . On the other hand, since the positions close to the bending portion 74a and the bending portion 75a are fixed, the ease of deformation of the flexible substrate 36 may be restricted. Therefore, in consideration of various factors such as load absorbability by the flexible substrate 36 (particularly, the curved portion 74a and the curved portion 75a), stability of the flexible substrate 36, and assemblability, the flexible substrate 36 is placed at a location suitable for the required performance. A fixed part should be set.

  As described above, the flexible substrate 36 has a fixed portion to the back cover 16 (or the coil holder 13) as a fixed end, a substrate connecting portion 70 as a free end, and an intermediate portion from the fixed end to the free end as a coil holder. 13 is configured to fit in the annular space in the space efficiently in a free support state. Then, the flexible substrate 36 appropriately deforms the intermediate portion as the posture of the free end (substrate connecting portion 70) changes according to the swing of the sphere center of the lens barrel 11. According to the flexible substrate 36 configured in this manner, in the imaging apparatus 10 that performs three-axis spherical center swing with a high degree of freedom of operation of the movable part including the image sensor unit 12, the flexible substrate can be used for driving the image sensor unit 12. The load exerted by 36 can be effectively reduced.

  First, most of the flexible substrate 36 excluding the substrate connection portion 70 is branched into a bent band portion 78 and a bent band portion 79, so that the number of lines required for signal communication between the image sensor substrate 30 and the control circuit 37 is reached. While ensuring (the number of lines corresponding to the width in the left-right direction of the board connecting portion 70), the width of the flexible board 36 at a portion that deforms following the movement of the image sensor unit 12 can be suppressed.

  The second belt-like portion 74 and the second belt-like portion 75 branched in two on the flexible substrate 36 constitute arcuate curved portions 74a and 75a extending in the circumferential direction. Since the curved portion 74a and the curved portion 75a are disposed over a half circumference (180 degrees) in the circumferential direction and have a sufficient length, the tracking of the roll operation of the image sensor unit 12 with the optical axis O as the center. And load absorption are very good. For example, when the image sensor substrate 30 is rotated about the optical axis O in the counterclockwise direction of FIG. 12 (clockwise direction of FIG. 13) at the time of anti-vibration driving, the first band portion 71 (rear extension portion) to which the curved portion 74a is connected. 71d) tends to move away from the overlapping portion of the third belt portion 76 and the third belt portion 77 in the circumferential direction, and therefore a traction force acts on the curved portion 74a. Since the curved portion 74a in the initial state is in a free support state in which the curved portion 74a is not in contact with the outer peripheral portion 33 of the image sensor substrate 30 or the inner peripheral surface 46 of the coil holder 13, the curved portion 74a receiving the traction force is It becomes easy to produce the deformation | transformation to the short circuit direction which approaches the part 33. FIG. On the other hand, the first belt-like portion 72 (backward extending portion 72d) to which the curved portion 75a is connected tends to move in a direction approaching the overlapping portion of the third belt-like portion 76 and the third belt-like portion 77 in the circumferential direction. A pressing force in the circumferential direction acts on 75a. Since the bent portion 75a in the initial state is in a free support state in which it does not come into contact with the outer peripheral portion 33 of the image sensor substrate 30 or the inner peripheral surface 46 of the coil holder 13, the bent portion 75a receiving the pressing force is in the coil holder 13. Deformation in the bulging direction approaching the peripheral surface 46 is likely to occur. The gap secured inside and outside in the radial direction of the bending portion 74a and the bending portion 75a in the initial state was deformed even when the lens barrel 11 and the image sensor unit 12 performed the maximum roll operation within a mechanically allowable range. The bending portion 74 a and the bending portion 75 a are set so as not to contact the outer peripheral portion 33 of the image sensor substrate 30 and the inner peripheral surface 46 of the coil holder 13. This setting is similarly applied to the case where the image sensor substrate 30 rotates in the clockwise direction in FIG. 12 (counterclockwise in FIG. 13) during image stabilization driving. Accordingly, the load absorption performance in the rolling direction by the curved portion 74a and the curved portion 75a which are long in the circumferential direction is high.

  Further, the curved portion 74a and the curved portion 75b that are long in the circumferential direction and short in the optical axis direction are excellent in flexibility when the image sensor unit 12 performs a tilt operation including components in the pitching direction and the yawing direction. The load on the tilt operation of the lens barrel 11 and the image sensor unit 12 can be reduced. Further, since the curved portions 74a and 75b are annular arrangements that enclose the image sensor unit 12, there is an advantage that there is little variation in load due to a difference in the direction of the tilt operation of the image sensor unit 12. The radial gap between the curved portion 74a and the curved portion 75a with respect to the outer peripheral portion 33 of the image sensor substrate 30 and the inner peripheral surface 46 of the coil holder 13 described above is mechanically allowed for the lens barrel 11 and the image sensor unit 12. Even when the tilting operation is performed in the maximum range, the deformed curved portion 74a and the curved portion 75a are set so as not to contact the outer peripheral portion 33 of the image sensor substrate 30 and the inner peripheral surface 46 of the coil holder 13. Yes.

  The curved portion 74a and the curved portion 75b are guided by the radially extending portion 80 to a radial position where the image sensor unit 12 can be included. The radially extending portion 80 has a two-branch structure having a first belt-like portion 71 and a first belt-like portion 72 arranged in the circumferential direction with the slit 73 interposed therebetween in a predetermined range from the outer diameter side to the inner diameter side (substrate connection (Excluding the portion 70). Therefore, the radially extending portion 80 is wide in the left-right direction as a whole, but has high flexibility, and can reduce a load when the image sensor unit 12 performs a tilt operation or a roll operation.

  Furthermore, the radially extending portion 80 is not only bifurcated, but the first and second strips 71 and 72 each have two optical-axis extending portions (forward extension) extending in the optical axis direction. It has installation parts 71b and 72b and rear extension parts 71d and 72d). When the image sensor unit 12 performs a tilting operation, the board connecting portion 70 connected to the image sensor board 30 below the center of swinging of the spherical center Q changes its position in the optical axis direction while changing the orientation of the plate surface. Let The first strip portion 71 and the first strip portion 72 are configured so that the front extension portions 71b and 72b and the rear extension portions 71d and 72d are in the optical axis direction in accordance with the position change of the substrate connection portion 70 in the optical axis direction. The load can be reduced by tilting and changing the relative length in the optical axis direction. As for the tilting movement of the image sensor unit 12 in the pitching direction along the virtual plane P1, the front extending part 71b and the rear extending part 71d, the front extending part 72b and the rear part arranged separately in the vertical direction are arranged. The extending portions 72d are easy to follow by changing the mutual radial distance or causing individual twists. Also in the tilting operation of the image sensor unit 12 in the yawing direction along the virtual plane P2 and in the roll operation of the image sensor unit 12 centering on the optical axis O, a forward extension having a predetermined length in the optical axis direction is provided. By providing the portions 71b and 72b and the rear extending portions 71d and 72d, load absorption due to bending can be easily performed.

  The flexible substrate 36 is excellent in space efficiency. As shown in FIGS. 4, 6, 10 to 13, the bending portion 74 a and the bending portion 75 b are disposed in an annular space provided between the image sensor unit 12 and the inner peripheral surface 46 of the coil holder 13. In addition, since the curved shape is formed along the outer peripheral portion 33 of the image sensor substrate 30 and the inner peripheral surface 46 of the coil holder 13, the radial contraction of the imaging device 10 is ensured while ensuring a sufficient length for reducing the load. good.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 6, 14 to 17, the bending portion 74 a and the bending portion 75 b are provided at positions overlapping the image sensor unit 12 (except for a part in front of the image sensor 31) in the optical axis direction. ing. Thereby, the range that the image sensor unit 12 and the flexible substrate 36 occupy in the optical axis direction can be reduced, which contributes to the downsizing of the imaging device 10 in the optical axis direction.

  The optical axis direction extending portions (front extending portions 71b and 72b and rear extending portions 71d and 72d) in the first belt portion 71 and the first belt portion 72 reduce the load on the driving of the image sensor unit 12 described above. In addition, it also plays a role for positioning the curved portion 74a and the curved portion 75b at the position in the optical axis direction overlapping the image sensor unit 12. More specifically, the front extending portions 71b and 72b and the rear extending portions 71d and 72d form portions protruding forward in the optical axis direction from the substrate connecting portion 70, thereby continuing to the rear extending portions 71d and 72d. The positions of the bending portion 74a and the bending portion 75b can be shifted forward in the optical axis direction. Accordingly, in the flexible substrate 36 in which the substrate connection portion 70 is connected to the rear surface of the image sensor substrate 30, the curved portion 74a and a part of the curved portion 75b protrude forward from the substrate connection portion 70 (that is, the image sensor unit 12). And overlapping in the optical axis direction).

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on illustration embodiment, this invention can be made into a different form from illustration embodiment in the range of a summary. For example, the flexible substrate 36 of the embodiment includes a portion in which the radially extending portion 80 is bifurcated into a first strip portion 71 and a first strip portion 72, and the first strip portion 71 and the first strip portion 72 include Each includes an extension portion in the optical axis direction (front extension portions 71b and 72b and rear extension portions 71d and 72d). As described above, this configuration contributes to an improvement in load reduction effect in the flexible substrate 36. However, even when the radially extending portion 80 is configured not to have a branching structure or a protruding shape in the optical axis direction (a configuration in which the substrate connecting portion 70 is extended as it is in the outer diameter direction), the curved portion 74a and the curved portion 74 are curved. The load reducing effect can be obtained by the portion 75b, and the present invention does not exclude such an aspect. It is also possible for the radially extending portion 80 to have only one of the branch structure and the protruding shape in the optical axis direction.

  The support structure for swinging the three-axis ball center and the actuator for driving in the imaging device 10 of the embodiment are examples. The present invention can be applied to all imaging devices that cause at least an image sensor to perform anti-vibration driving by swinging a three-axis sphere, and is not limited to an imaging device including the specific support structure and actuator illustrated. .

  For example, the imaging apparatus 10 of the embodiment uses a voice coil motor as an actuator for vibration isolation, but an actuator other than the voice coil motor may be employed. Further, in the embodiment, a so-called moving magnet type voice coil in which a magnet is supported by a movable member (lens barrel 11) that moves during a vibration isolating operation and a coil is supported by a fixed member (coil holder 13) that does not move during the vibration isolating operation. Although it is a motor, the moving coil type voice coil motor which reversed this arrangement | positioning relationship can also be used.

  In the imaging apparatus 10 according to the embodiment, the entire imaging unit including the imaging optical system L and the image sensor unit 12 is tilted or rolled, but only the image sensor unit 12 is operated to perform image blur correction. The present invention can also be applied to a type of imaging apparatus.

10 imaging device 11 lens barrel (movable member)
12 Image sensor unit 13 Coil holder (fixing member)
14 outer yoke 15 cover glass 16 back cover 17 holding ring 18 optical system holding cylinder 19 image sensor mounting portion 20 swing guide surface 21 22 23 magnet unit 24 image sensor insertion opening 25 cylindrical surface portion 26 flat portion 27 screw hole 30 image sensor Substrate 31 Image sensor 32 Cut portion 33 Outer peripheral portion 34 Screw insertion hole 35 Substrate fixing screw 36 Flexible substrate 37 Control circuit 38 Attitude detection sensor 40 Cylindrical portion 41 Through hole 42 Support member 43 Elastic member 44 Holding member 45 Support surface 46 Inner peripheral surface 47 Substrate insertion hole 51 52 53 Coil insertion hole 54 55 56 Coil 57 Hall sensor 70 Substrate connection portion (plane perpendicular to optical axis)
71 72 1st strip | belt-shaped part 71a 72a A continuous plane part (optical axis orthogonal plane part)
71b 72b Front extension portion (first optical axis direction extension portion)
71c 72c front end bending portion 71d 72d rearward extension portion (end on the outer diameter side of radial extension portion, second optical axis direction extension portion)
73 Slit 74 75 Second strip portion 74a 75a Curved portion 76 77 Third strip portion 76a 77a Adhering portion 76b 77b Separating portion 76c Stepped portion 78 79 Bent strip portion 80 Radially extending portion L Imaging optical system O Optical axis Q Ball center Oscillation center

Claims (6)

An image sensor that receives a light beam from the imaging optical system supports tilting about an arbitrary axis that is substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the imaging optical system, and rotation operation about the optical axis, In the image pickup apparatus in which the image sensor performs the tilting and the rotating operation during image blur correction,
A flexible substrate connected to the image sensor substrate that supports the image sensor, the flexible substrate,
When viewed along the optical axis, a radially extending portion extending from the image sensor substrate in an outer radial direction away from the optical axis in a radial direction centered on the optical axis;
When viewed along the optical axis, the image sensor and the image sensor substrate extend from the end on the outer diameter side of the radially extending portion in the forward and backward directions toward the circumferential direction centering on the optical axis. A pair of curved portions forming an arc shape surrounding
An imaging apparatus comprising:   2. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pair of curved portions are located at positions that overlap at least a part of the image sensor and the image sensor substrate in a direction along the optical axis. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The radially extending portion is
An optical axis orthogonal plane portion connected to the image sensor substrate and having a planar shape substantially perpendicular to the optical axis;
A first optical axis direction extending portion extending in a direction along the optical axis from an outer diameter side end portion of the optical axis orthogonal plane portion;
A second optical axis direction extending portion that is folded back from the first optical axis direction extending portion and is located on the outer diameter side of the first optical axis direction extending portion and extends in a direction along the optical axis. And
An imaging apparatus in which the pair of curved portions are connected to end portions of the second optical axis direction extending portion.   4. The imaging device according to claim 3, wherein the entirety of the first optical axis direction extending portion, the second optical axis direction extending portion, and a portion of the optical axis orthogonal plane portion are the circumference. An imaging device having a pair of branch shapes divided in a direction.   5. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the pair of curved portions have substantially the same length in the circumferential direction, and is connected to the radially extending portion of the pair of curved portions. An imaging apparatus in which ends opposite to each other overlap each other in the radial direction. The imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A movable member that supports the image sensor and the image sensor substrate;
A fixed member that supports the movable member so that it can tilt and rotate;
With
The fixing member is a cylindrical body having an inner peripheral surface centered on the optical axis,
The image sensor substrate has an arc-shaped outer periphery centered on the optical axis,
The pair of curved portions of the flexible substrate is an imaging device arranged in a radial space between the inner peripheral surface of the fixing member and the outer peripheral portion of the image sensor substrate.

Images