KR101438078B1 - Camera Lens Shutter System and Manufacturing Method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a camera, comprising: a shutter unit opened and closed on a front surface of a camera lens; A comb comb drive unit including a movable comb electrode for applying a driving force for opening and closing the shutter unit and a fixed comb electrode for applying an electric power to the movable comb electrode upon receiving electric power; And a connecting portion for transmitting a driving force of the movable comb electrode to the shutter portion. The shutter portion, the comb drive, and the connecting portion are integrally formed by a MEMS process.

Description

Technical Field [0001] The present invention relates to a camera lens shutter device,

The present invention relates to a camera lens shutter apparatus, and more particularly, to a camera lens shutter apparatus including a shutter for protecting a camera lens and a system for opening and closing the shutter, and a method of manufacturing the same.

Generally, a camera is provided for image recognition in a video camera, an electronic still camera, a camera phone, or the like.

Recently, camera modules have been installed in various high-performance devices according to the development of technology. In particular, miniaturization of the camera module mounted on a very small mobile device or the like is very important.

On the other hand, a camera is installed on the vehicle for monitoring both front and rear and for acquiring information for vehicle operation. In particular, a rear camera is provided to allow the driver to easily recognize another vehicle or object in the rear of the vehicle when the vehicle is moving backward.

The rear camera is usually installed on the rear bumper, and the image photographed by the rear camera is displayed to the driver through the display device. The camera mounted on the rear bumper is always exposed to the environment such as dust, rain, snow and the like due to the nature of the lens driving vehicle, so that the surface of the lens is easily contaminated and the life of the device is short.

To solve this problem, some of the conventional rearview cameras are equipped with a lens cover for a camera and a mechanical mechanism is used to open and close the lens cover. However, when a mechanical mechanism is used, the manufacturing cost is increased, the durability is poor, the operation speed is slow, and the proper reaction can not be performed.

KR 10-2005-0113417 A KR 10-2002-0049870 A

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a camera module and a comb drive for opening and closing the shutter, And to provide a method of manufacturing the same.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a shutter apparatus for protecting a camera lens, the shutter apparatus comprising: a shutter unit opened and closed on a front surface of a camera lens; A comb comb drive unit including a movable comb electrode for applying a driving force for opening and closing the shutter unit and a fixed comb electrode for applying an electric power to the movable comb electrode upon receiving electric power; And a connecting portion for transmitting a driving force of the movable comb electrode to the shutter portion, wherein the shutter portion, the comb drive, and the connecting portion are formed by a MEMS process.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a shutter apparatus for protecting a camera lens, comprising: a transparent substrate coupled to a front surface of the camera lens; A shutter unit formed correspondingly to open and close the camera lens on the transparent substrate; A comb comb drive unit including a movable comb electrode for applying a driving force to open and close the shutter unit, and a fixed comb electrode for applying an electric power to the movable comb electrode under electric power; And a connecting portion for transmitting the driving force of the movable comb electrode to the shutter portion. The substrate, the shutter portion, the comb drive, and the connecting portion are integrally formed by a MEMS process, and are sealed and packaged.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a shutter device for protecting a camera lens, comprising the steps of: a) preparing an SOI (Silicon On Insulator) substrate; b) forming a comb drive structure for driving the shutter and the shutter on the substrate; c) separating the comb drive and shutter structure from the substrate; d) annealing the comb drive and shutter structure; And e) sealing and packaging the comb drive and shutter structure, wherein b) comprises: b ') forming a photoresist on the substrate; And b ") etching the SOI substrate to form the comb drive and shutter structure, wherein the step c) includes etching the intermediate oxide layer of the SOI to separate the comb drive and shutter structure from the substrate .

According to the present invention configured as described above, the lens can be protected from the external environment when the camera is not in use, and the comb drive, which is integrally manufactured by using the MEMS technology without a mechanical mechanism, And enables the implementation of ultra-small camera modules.

1 is a schematic view showing a configuration of a shutter apparatus for protecting a camera lens according to an embodiment of the present invention,
2 and 3 are sectional views of a shutter apparatus for protecting a camera lens according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig.
4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing a shutter device for protecting a camera lens according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a shutter device for protecting a camera lens will be described in detail with reference to drawings attached to embodiments of the present invention.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing a configuration of a shutter apparatus for protecting a camera lens, which is schematically shown in exploded form, and Figs. 2 and 3 are sectional views of a shutter for protecting a camera lens according to an embodiment.

As shown in the figure, the shutter apparatus for protecting a camera lens according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a shutter 120 installed to open and close a lens, a comb drive 130 for applying a driving force for opening and closing the shutter 120, And a connection part 140 for transmitting driving force of the drive to the shutter 120. [

The shutter 120 may be formed as two sheets as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and may be vertically or horizontally moved to open or close the lens 110. Although not shown, the shutter 120 may be composed of one or more than three sheets. Since the shutter 120 is in contact with the lens 110 and is opened and closed, an adhesive force may be generated between the shutter 120 and the lens 110. Thus, anti-stiction coating layers 121 and 111 are formed on the contact surfaces of the shutter 120 and the lens 110 Respectively.

It is preferable that the semi-contact coating layers 121 and 111 include a fluorosilane series. The fluorosilane-based anti-contact coating layers 121 and 111 are hydrophobic and can minimize the adsorption of moisture and dust on the surfaces of the shutter 120 and the lens 110.

The comb drive 130 is an actuator and is used as a linear actuator using an electrostatic force acting between two electric conduction comb electrodes. The comb drive 130 is generally manufactured by processing MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) on a micro or nanometer scale.

An electrostatic force is generated when a voltage is applied between the fixed comb electrodes 132 and the movable comb electrodes 131 to pull each other. The generated attraction is proportional to the change in capacitance between the two comb electrodes. The force generated by the comb drive 130 increases with the drive voltage, the number of comb teeth, and the interval between comb teeth. When the two comb electrodes are in contact with each other, the comb electrodes do not contact each other because the voltage difference is lost. The fixed comb electrodes 132 and the movable comb electrodes 131 are arranged so that combs can slide quickly.

The connection unit 140 transmits the driving force by the movement of the movable comb electrode 131 to the shutter by the electrostatic force. The connection portion 140, the comb drive 130, and the shutter 120 are preferably integrally formed by a MEMS process.

1 to 3 show a shutter opening / closing device packaged separately from a substrate used in fabrication. However, a comb drive, a shutter, and a connecting portion are integrally formed on a transparent substrate, and are sealed and packaged together with the substrate, It may be mounted on the front surface.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing a shutter opening / closing device coupled to a front surface of a camera lens according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the shutter opening / closing apparatus 100 first prepares a silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate (S10), forms a photoresist on the substrate (S20) The SOI substrate is etched (S40 and S50) to form a shutter and comb drive structure (S60), a metal electrode side is deposited (S60), a shutter and comb drive structure are separated from a substrate (S70) Annealing the drive structure (S80), and sealing and packaging the annealed shutter and comb drive structure.

In step S10, the SOI substrate is a structure in which an oxide film of a 탆 scale is formed on a silicon substrate, and silicon of a few 탆 thickness is formed on the oxide film. Description of the substrate cleaning process and the like will be omitted.

In step S20, a lithography process forms a photoresist layer for forming a shutter and comb drive structure on the SOI substrate. The photoresist layer is formed by photocuring and is then removed in the process.

In step S30, it is preferable that the anti-adhesive coating layer includes a fluorosilane-based material for preventing the opening and closing of the anti-adhesive coating layer from being interfered with by the adhesive force of the lens and the shutter. When the fluorosilane-based anti-adherence coating layer is formed, since the coating layer is hydrophobic, adsorption of moisture and dust on the shutter and lens surface can be minimized.

In steps S40 and S50, the SOI substrate is etched to form a shutter and comb drive structure. Preferably, the SOI substrate is etched by a deep reactive ion etch (DRIE) process.

In step S60, a metal electrode layer is deposited by a vacuum evaporator.

In step S70, the intermediate drive oxide layer of the SOI is etched by liquid-phase etching to separate the comb drive and the shutter structure from the substrate, so that the comb drive and the shutter structure can be independently driven from the substrate.

In step S80, the comb drive and the shutter structure are annealed to anneal the polysilicon of the SOI substrate to be doped.

Thereafter, the comb drive and the shutter structure are sealed and packaged by being installed on the front surface of the lens so as to be opened and closed to protect the lens.

The above method may be produced by using a SOI substrate, or by using a transparent substrate and packaging it with a transparent substrate.

The operation of the camera shutter device will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing the shutter 120 when the shutter 120 is in the closed state, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the shutter 120 when the shutter 120 is in the open state.

As shown in the figure, the shutter 120 is formed at a position corresponding to the lens 110, and receives driving force of the comb drive 130 through the connection portion 140. The comb drive 130 is driven under the control of a camera module control unit (not shown in the figure) to open and close the shutter.

The movable comb electrode 131 is connected to the shutter 120 and the fixed comb electrode 132 is disposed to face the movable comb electrode 131. When power is not applied to the comb drive 130, The electrostatic force is not generated between the movable comb electrode 131 and the movable comb electrode 131, so that the shutter 120 is positioned on the lens 110 to be in a closed state.

When power is applied to the comb drive 130, an electrostatic force is generated between the movable comb electrode 131 and the fixed comb electrode 132, so that attraction force acts between the comb comb electrode 131 and the fixed comb electrode 132, 120 are pulled toward the fixed comb electrode 132, so that the camera lens is opened.

That is, when the electrostatic force is applied, the comb drive electrodes are attracted to each other, and when the electrostatic force is electrically disconnected, the movable comb electrode 131 rotates due to elasticity such as a spring and the shutter 120 is closed do.

When the rear camera is not needed, the shutter is closed to protect the lens from the external environment. To open the shutter 120, power is applied to the comb drive 130 to generate an electrostatic force, 120, the shutter 120 is opened.

At this time, since the shutter 120 and the lens 110 are brought into contact with each other, a considerable adhesive force is applied, and the adhesive force is overcome by the anti-adhesive coating layers 111 and 121. In addition, perfluorosilane-based coatings are hydrophobic and minimize the adsorption of moisture and dust on the surface by camera lens and shutter.

The shutter 120 is preferably integrally formed with the comb drive 130 by a MEMS process.

100: shutter device 110: lens
111: Anti-adhesive coating layer 120: Shutter
121: Anti-adhesive coating layer 130: Comb drive
131: movable comb electrode 132: fixed comb electrode
140:

Claims (15)

A method of manufacturing a shutter device for coupling to a front surface of a camera lens,
a) preparing an SOI (Silicon On Insulator) substrate;
b) forming a comb drive structure for driving the shutter and the shutter on the substrate;
c) separating the comb drive and shutter structure from the substrate;
d) annealing the comb drive and shutter structure; And
e) sealing and packaging the comb drive and shutter structure,
The step b)
b ') forming a photoresist on the substrate; And
b ") etching the SOI substrate to form the comb drive and shutter structure,
Wherein the step (c) separates the comb drive and the shutter structure from the SOI substrate by etching the intermediate oxide layer of the SOI substrate. The method according to claim 1,
The movable comb electrode of the comb drive moving to open and close the shutter, the fixed comb electrode which applies electric power to the movable comb electrode to apply an electrostatic force to the movable comb electrode, Wherein the photoresist is formed at a position on the SOI substrate corresponding to a connection portion for transmitting driving force of the drive to the shutter. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the step b) includes etching the vertical structure using a deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) process to form the shutter, the movable comb electrode, the fixed comb electrode, and the connection portion. delete 3. The method of claim 2,
After performing the step b)
Further comprising the step of depositing an electrode layer for supplying electric power to the fixed comb electrode. 6. The method of claim 5,
And depositing the electrode layer using a vacuum evaporator. The method according to claim 1,
After performing the step b '),
Further comprising the step of forming an anti-adhesive coating layer on the SOI substrate corresponding to the shutter. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the anti-adhesive coating layer comprises silane fluoride. A shutter apparatus for protecting a camera lens,
A shutter unit opened and closed on the front surface of the camera lens;
A comb comb drive unit including a movable comb electrode for applying a driving force for opening and closing the shutter unit and a fixed comb electrode for applying an electric power to the movable comb electrode upon receiving electric power; And
And a connection portion for transmitting the movable comb electrode movable comb electrode to the shutter portion,
Wherein the shutter unit, the comb drive, and the connection unit are formed by a MEMS process. 10. The method of claim 9,
Further comprising an antireflection coating layer formed on a surface of the shutter section that contacts the lens. 11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the anti-adhesive coating layer comprises silane fluoride. A shutter apparatus for protecting a camera lens,
A transparent substrate coupled to a front surface of the camera lens;
A shutter unit formed correspondingly to open and close the camera lens on the transparent substrate;
A comb comb drive unit including a movable comb electrode for applying a driving force to open and close the shutter unit, and a fixed comb electrode for applying an electric power to the movable comb electrode under electric power;
And a connecting portion for transmitting the driving force of the movable comb electrode to the shutter portion,
Wherein the transparent substrate, the shutter unit, the comb drive, and the connection unit are integrally formed by a MEMS process, and are integrally sealed and packaged. delete delete delete

Images