JP4658545B2 - Camera device - Google Patents

Description

  The invention particularly relates to a camera device in an automobile.

  A circuit arrangement is known from DE 199 17 438 A1. This circuit device has a lens, a conductor plate, and an image photographing unit arranged on the conductor plate. In addition, a lens holder for accommodating and fixing the optical element is presented. DE 199 17 438 A1 does not make any suggestion regarding a camera device that can be adjusted and set accurately.

The camera device described below in which the lens housing portion and the lens form a spherical joint has the advantage that it is possible to easily compensate for camera shake. Furthermore, the proposed camera device can simultaneously set the easy configuration and high accuracy of the camera device. Inaccuracies in housings and / or housing parts and / or conductor plates and / or connections (eg adhesives) and / or optical units including screws and / or tolerances are generally long with large tolerances This creates a chain of tolerances. In order to keep such tolerances small, it is possible to obtain high accuracy with great cost in the construction and manufacture of components. This is obtained by using components such as pins and / or stopper edges which have a slight tolerance and thus high dimensional accuracy (Masshaltigkeit). Such a solution is generally associated with high costs if the product is highly accurate.
Federal Republic of Germany Publication No. 1917438

  An object of the present invention is to provide a camera device that can be adjusted and set accurately at low cost.

The above-described problem includes at least one lens housing portion and at least one lens, and the lens housing portion and the lens constitute a ball joint, and the lens housing portion has three or at least three rings arranged concentrically. Each guide path is configured as one spiral path having one step, and the three or at least three guide paths have a preset gradient. And the lens has three or at least three bearings, each of which is in contact with the guideway. in contact, the width of the bearing is characterized in that less than the width of the groove, is solved by the automatic car camera device.

  The cost for the camera device described below is very low. This is because the dimensional accuracy required for the component, that is, the dimensional accuracy of the component being used is low. This is achieved by the camera device described below allowing manufacturing engineering compensation of known tolerances. Manufacturing tolerance compensation for known tolerances is low cost when the number is large, such as mass production and / or serial production. The camera device described below is particularly advantageous for use in automobiles due to its compact and robust construction style as well as its low price in mass production. The camera devices described below are particularly suitable as components for night vision systems and / or driver assistance systems and / or back-travel systems.

  Advantageously, the lens housing is configured as a ball joint bearing and the lens is configured as a head of the ball joint.

  Further, in the camera device described below, the lens housing portion has three or at least three concentrically arranged ring-shaped guide paths each having a unique screw groove (Gewindegang), and adjustment of focusing Has the advantage of being easily implemented.

  Particularly advantageously, the guideway is in the groove. This is because the restriction of the tilt of the lens in the lens housing portion is determined by this.

  It is further advantageous that the lens receiving part is part of the housing. This is because a particularly compact and light construction form of the camera device is realized.

  Further advantages are described in the following description of the embodiments and the dependent claims in connection with the drawings.

  The invention will be described in more detail below on the basis of the illustrated embodiments.

  Hereinafter, a camera device, particularly a camera device used in an automobile will be described. This camera device includes a lens housing portion and a lens. Together they constitute a single ball joint. Alternatively or additionally, the lens housing part has three guide paths arranged concentrically in a ring shape. Each of these guide paths has one screw groove. Each guide path is in contact with at least one support portion of the lens.

  Camera devices provided for use in automobiles must be very robust on the one hand and at the same time very accurate. At the same time, a further criterion is that the camera device is inexpensive. In the camera apparatus, lateral alignment of the photodiode field (imager chip, image sensor chip) with respect to the optical system (optical unit) is required, and orthogonal orientation of the imager chip with respect to the lens of the optical unit is required. The depth of focus region where the photodiode field is present has an extension of about 20 μm. Here, this depth of focus depends on the focal length and / or the stop. Therefore, the optimum surface for the imager chip is the cut surface of the focal depth region. Such adjustment is preferably effected at a room temperature of 20 °. Accordingly, the displacement caused by material elongation during temperature fluctuations between −40 ° and + 85 ° does not deviate from the depth of focus region. Furthermore, compensation for the optical axis, which is different from the imager normal, is necessary. Such compensation is called shake compensation (Taumelausgleich).

  Orientation and / or position adjustment for image definition and / or orientation and / or position adjustment (blur compensation) for tilting of the optical axis is performed by feedback coupling with the image sensor. Feedback coupling is performed by the operation of the image sensor with the captured and transmitted images. This image is evaluated in subsequent processing units and / or calculators. Such a manufacturing step is located at the end of the mounting line for manufacturing the camera device.

  The lens housing design presented below compensates for blurring and / or focusing by tilting and rotating the lens in the lens housing.

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a camera device as a first drawing of a preferred embodiment camera device. The camera device includes a lens 17 and a lens housing portion 4. Furthermore, the camera device is composed of an image sensor unit. The image sensor unit includes a conductor plate 5 and an imager 8 (image sensor). The imager 8 likewise includes an imager chip 2 and a protective cover 7. On the conductor plate 5, functional electronic devices and plugs for data (for example, image data) and energy transmission are further arranged. The imager 8 includes an imager chip 2 having photosensitive silicon. A translucent protective cover 7 is attached on the imager chip 2, and the protective cover is parallel to the imager chip 2. In a preferred embodiment, the lens housing 4 is fixed, in particular bonded, on the conductor plate 5. In order to accurately position the optical system 1 relative to the imager chip 2, the lens 17 has a spherical shape with a hemispherical lower surface 3 in the form of a spherical cap. The lens housing portion 4 for the lens 17 is a negative push (Negativabdruck) with respect to the hemispherical lower surface 3 of the lens 17, that is, a reverse spherical cap. In an advantageous embodiment, the lens 17 is connected to the housing 6, in particular by means of an adhesive connection 11. Additionally or alternatively, a sealing part 10 is attached between the lens 17 and the housing 6. Furthermore, the optical axis 20 is shown in FIG. This optical axis is substantially defined by the axis of symmetry of the optical system 1. The lens housing portion 4 and the lens 17 constitute a ball joint. In an advantageous embodiment, the lens housing 4 is configured as a ball joint bearing (Pfanne) and the lens 17 is configured as a head of a ball joint. In an advantageous embodiment, three concentric guide paths 12 are arranged as support parts in the hemispherical, ie spherical cap-shaped connection between the lens 17 and the lens housing part 4. Here, each section is a part of a sphere. In an advantageous embodiment, the guide path 12 is arranged in the groove 16. There is a web 14 between the grooves. The lens 17 moves upward on the screw groove or the screw groove defined by the guide path 12 when turning around the optical axis 20, and focusing is performed here. The turning is performed only 360 ° in terms of structural conditions. This is because the initial state is reached again, and the lens 17 is lowered by the height of the screw through the step 13 shown in FIG. The thread groove must be within tolerances so that focusing can be performed. When performing the focusing, it is preferably started at the lower end of the tolerance range and pivoted to the optimum focus. Furthermore, in an advantageous embodiment, the optical axis 20 is displaced laterally with respect to the center of the image plane of the imager chip 2 by shifting the lens housing 4 on the conductor plate 5. In an advantageous embodiment, the oriented lens 17 is bonded to the housing 6 together with the optical system 1 via an adhesive connection and is thereby fixed. A UV-reactive adhesive, i.e., an adhesive that cures by UV light, is used to pre-fix before final curing. Here, as can be seen from FIG. 1, the image sensor unit and the lens housing portion 4 are held in the housing 6 via the lens 17 only after curing. In order to produce the camera device of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the lens housing 4 is placed on the conductor plate 5 by means of an adhesive. Subsequently, the lens 17 is assembled into the lens housing portion 4 with an adhesive. By swiveling and / or tilting and / or displacing, the two parts, the lens 17 and the lens housing 4 are oriented by an adjustment algorithm executed in the processing unit. In the subsequent steps, the adhesive is fixed and cured by irradiation with ultraviolet light or UV flash.

  FIG. 2 shows the connection between the lens 17 and the lens housing 4 as a second drawing of the preferred embodiment camera device. The support portion 15 that is in contact with the guide path 12 is configured as follows. That is, as indicated by reference numeral 23, the optical axis 20 of the lens 17 is configured to rotate relative to the lens housing portion 4 in accordance with the function of the ball joint. Further, FIG. 2 shows that the guide path 12 is provided in the groove 16. The groove 16 is limited by the web 14. The difference in the width of the groove 16 relative to the width of the bearing 15 defines the maximum possible rotation adjustment 23. This web-groove connection thus defines the tilting of the ball joint and thus possible blur compensation.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic plan view of the lens housing 4 as a third drawing of the camera device of an advantageous embodiment. Here, only the guide path 12 is shown, and the groove and web are omitted. In an advantageous embodiment, the lens housing 4 has three ring-shaped guide paths 12 arranged concentrically. Here, each of the three guide paths has one screw groove. Since each ring shows one screw groove, a step portion 13 exists at each guide path 12. This step has exactly the height of the thread groove. The steps of the thread grooves of the guide path are arranged at equally spaced angles, in particular the steps of the thread grooves of the three guide paths are arranged at intervals of 120 °. In an advantageous embodiment, the steps 13 are arranged 120 ° apart on the circumference. Further, the height of the screw groove, and hence the height of the stepped portion 13, is the same in all the three guide paths 12.

FIG. 4 shows, as a fourth drawing of the camera device of an advantageous embodiment, a lens housing part with three guide paths 12 in the form of rings arranged concentrically around the optical axis 20 with a step part 13. A plan view is shown.

  FIG. 5 is a view for facilitating understanding of the support surface 18 of the lens housing in an advantageous embodiment. In an advantageous embodiment, the lens support is substantially a negative stamp of the guide path 12 of the lens housing. Nevertheless, the bearing is narrower than the guideway in width and has a sufficiently large play in the groove. When turning 180 °, 50% of the surface of the support portion of the lens comes into contact. The support surface 18 and the optical axis 20 on each guide path 12 are shown in FIG.

  FIG. 6 shows a second view for the sake of clarity of the support surface 18 of the lens housing in an advantageous embodiment. By displacing, contact is made in the form of three legs 19 at 350 °. The supporting surfaces in the form of three legs 18 on each guide path 12 and the optical axis 20 are shown in FIG.

  FIG. 7 shows a diagram of another form of the camera device of an advantageous embodiment. This consists of a lens 17 and a lens housing 4. In this embodiment, the lens housing portion 4 is a part of the housing 6. Even in such a configuration, the camera device further includes an image sensor unit. The image sensor unit includes a conductor plate 5 and an imager chip 2. The imager chip 2 is connected to the conductor plate 5 via bonding wires. On the conductor plate 5, functional electronic devices and plugs for data (for example, image data) and energy transmission are further arranged. The conductor plate 5 is fixed to the spacing bolt 22 of the housing 6 by a screw 21 via a screw connection. In the form of this advantageous embodiment, the oriented lens 17 is glued and fixed to the housing 6 together with the optical system 1 via the glue connection 11. A UV reactive adhesive is used to pre-fix before final cure. In order to accurately position the optical system 1 relative to the imager chip 2, the lens 17 also has a spherical shape with a hemispherical lower surface 3 in the form of a spherical cap in this preferred embodiment. Yes. The lens housing part 4 has the ring-shaped guide path arranged concentrically as described above. Further, FIG. 7 shows the optical axis 20.

  In this form of the preferred embodiment, the bearing part is constituted by a stand-inartige surface. This surface is configured such that the bearing part slides on the guide path.

  The described camera device is suitable for CCD image sensors and / or CMOS image sensors as imagers.

  The proposed ball joint and at least three guideways arranged in a ring, each with one screw groove, are used individually in another form of the preferred embodiment.

  Three or at least three guideways have a preset unique slope.

1 is a first view of a camera device of an advantageous embodiment; FIG.

Figure 2 is a second view of an advantageous embodiment camera device;

FIG. 4 is a third view of an advantageous embodiment camera apparatus;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a lens housing portion of an advantageous embodiment camera device.

FIG. 6 is a first view showing the support surface of the lens housing portion in an advantageous embodiment in an easy-to-understand manner.

FIG. 6 is a second view showing the supporting surface of the lens housing portion in an advantageous embodiment in an easy-to-understand manner.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of another form of camera device in an advantageous embodiment;

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical system 2 Imager chip 3 Lower surface 4 Lens accommodating part 5 Conductor plate 6 Housing 7 Protective cover 8 Imager (image sensor)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Sealing part 11 Adhesive connection part 12 Guide way 13 Step part 14 Web 16 Groove 17 Lens 19 Three legs 20 Optical axis 21 Screw 22 Spacing bolt 23 Rotation adjustment

Claims (4)

A automatic car camera device,
Comprising at least one lens housing and at least one lens;
The lens housing portion and the lens constitute a ball joint ,
The lens housing portion has three or at least three ring-shaped guide paths arranged concentrically, and each guide path is configured as one spiral path having one step portion. The three or at least three guide paths have a preset gradient and are provided in a plurality of slots limited by the web;
The lens has three or at least three support portions, and each of the support portions is in contact with the guide path, and the width of the support portion is narrower than the width of the groove.
A camera device characterized by that. The lens housing portion is configured as a ball joint bearing,
The camera device according to claim 1, wherein the lens is configured as a head of a ball joint. Wherein the plurality of the plurality of step portions of the spiral path are arranged at equal intervals of an angle, a camera apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 wherein. The lens housing portion is a part of the housing, the camera device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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