KR101621893B1 - Camera module - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a focus camera module, and more particularly, to a camera module capable of obtaining an image having an optimal resolution by adjusting a refractive index of an infrared filter in a camera module whose focus is fixed.

A camera module according to the present invention includes an image sensor, a lens for condensing light with the image sensor, a lens barrel for supporting the lens, and an infrared filter provided between the image sensor and the lens on the light irradiation path, The filter includes a thermo-optic material and includes a power supply unit for changing the optical refractivity of the infrared filter by applying power to the infrared filter. In addition, in the camera module of the present invention, the infrared filter is made of a polymer electrolyte material of acrylic resin (PMMA: Poly Methyl Methacrylate) or polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). In addition, in the camera module of the present invention, the power supply unit includes a transparent electrode that is provided in contact with the infrared filter, receives the external power, and transmits the power to the infrared filter.

Camera, infrared filter, thermal optics

Description

Camera module {CAMERA MODULE}

The present invention relates to a focus camera module, and more particularly, to a camera module capable of obtaining an image having an optimal resolution by adjusting a refractive index of an infrared filter in a camera module whose focus is fixed.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there has been a demand for a small-sized camera module for a variety of multimedia fields such as a notebook type personal computer, a camera phone, a PDA, a smart, and a toy, and furthermore for an image input device such as an information terminal of a surveillance camera or a video take recorder .

4, a general camera module includes an image sensor chip 12 for converting an optical signal into an electric signal, a lens 15 for condensing light to the image sensor chip 12, And a printed circuit board 11 on which a circuit pattern for processing a signal to be processed is formed.

The image sensor chip 12 includes an image sensor 22 for converting an image of an object into an electric signal and a lens 15 mounted inside the lens barrel 16 for fixing the lens 15, And is coupled to the upper surface of the housing 13 located on the upper surface of the substrate 11. An IR (infrared ray) filter 14 is attached to the inside of the housing 13.

At this time, the lens 15 refracts light so as to attract a large amount of light from one point of the object and collect it at a point, and the light irradiated straight from one point passes through the lens, At this time, the distance between the image sensor chip 12 and the upper surface of the image sensor 22, which forms the image with the lens 15, is called a focal distance. That is, the focal distance is the distance between the lens and the image plane of the image sensing unit. However, the focus camera module 10 minimizes the manufacturing process and minimizes the focus adjustment process due to cost reduction. However, in the conventional camera module, there is a problem of focal dispersion due to manufacturing tolerance generated when the lens 15 is manufactured. Particularly, the light transmitted through the lens 15 passes through the IR filter 14 to the image sensor 22 There is a problem that the refractive index of the IR filter 14 also causes focal scattering.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a focus adjustment camera module in which an IR filter is provided by using a thermo-optical element and power is applied to the IR filter to adjust the refractive index, The present invention provides a camera module for a camera.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera module including an image sensor, a lens for condensing light by the image sensor, a lens barrel for supporting the lens, The infrared filter includes a thermooptic material, and includes a power supply unit for changing the optical refractivity of the infrared filter by applying power to the infrared filter.

In addition, in the camera module of the present invention, the infrared filter is made of a polymer electrolyte material of acrylic resin (PMMA: Poly Methyl Methacrylate) or polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF).

In addition, in the camera module of the present invention, the power supply unit includes a transparent electrode that is provided in contact with the infrared filter, receives the external power, and transmits the power to the infrared filter.

In addition, in the camera module of the present invention, the transparent electrode is provided on the infrared filter on an out-of-zone portion constituting an effective pixel of the image sensor in a planar projection.

As described above, according to the present invention, an infrared filter is provided as a thermo-optic material, power can be applied, and the refractive power of the infrared filter can be changed by applying power gradually so as to have an optimal resolution, have.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments, but includes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Terms including ordinals, such as first, second, etc., may be used to describe various elements, but the elements are not limited to these terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the second component may be referred to as a first component, and similarly, the first component may also be referred to as a second component.

It is to be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, . On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another element, it should be understood that there are no other elements in between.

The terminology used in this application is used only to describe a specific embodiment and is not intended to limit the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In the present application, the terms "comprises", "having", and the like are used to specify that a feature, a number, a step, an operation, an element, a component, But do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

Hereinafter, a camera module according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, and the same or corresponding components are denoted by the same reference numerals regardless of the reference numerals, and redundant explanations thereof are omitted.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view for explaining a camera module according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a conceptual view for explaining a change in refractive index according to power application of the infrared filter shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a process of determining a fixed focus of a camera module according to an embodiment.

Prior to the description of the present invention, the same parts as those of the prior art are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The camera module according to the present embodiment includes an image sensor chip 12 for converting an optical signal into an electric signal, a lens 15 for condensing light to the image sensor chip 12, And a printed circuit board 11 on which a circuit pattern to be processed is formed. The image sensor chip 12 includes an image sensor 22 for converting an image of an object into an electric signal and a lens 15 mounted inside the lens barrel 16 for fixing the lens 15, And is coupled to the upper surface of the housing 13 located on the upper surface of the substrate 11. An infrared filter 14 is attached to the inside of the housing 13. The infrared filter 14 is provided as a thermo-optic material. A transparent electrode 14 'for supplying power to the infrared filter 14 is further provided at the edge of the infrared filter 14. In this case, it is preferable that the transparent electrode 14 'is provided at a portion of the image sensor 22 located below the effective pixel range of the image sensor 22 in the plan view. That is, since the transparent electrode 14 'also has a specific refractive index, it is necessary to control the applied voltage of the infrared filter 14 to prevent interference by the transparent electrode 14' to be.

The transparent electrode 14 'is most preferably supplied with power from the printed circuit board 11 on which the image sensor chip 12 is mounted, but is not limited thereto. The transparent electrode 14 'is implemented by ITO or the like, which is a well-known technology, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the infrared filter 14 provided with the thermo-optic material, when the power is applied by the transparent electrode 14 ', the chemical property changes and the refractive index for the projected light changes. 2, the light U 'projected before the power source reaches the point B' with respect to a certain reference line due to the own refractive index of the infrared filter 14, (U) reaches point B with respect to a certain reference line. That is, it means that the light after power application is shorter than before the power source application by as much as 'S', which means that the focal distance is changed. Therefore, the effective focal distance is adjusted on the entire optical system side through which the light incident through the lens 15 passes through the infrared filter 14.

3, after the housing 13 is mounted, the infrared rays are transmitted through the transparent electrode 14 'to the infrared ray detector 14' And the voltage is sequentially applied to the filter 14. The sequential voltage application may be implemented as High to Low or Low to High. Since the refractive index of the infrared ray filter 14 changes according to the application of the voltage and the resolution of the image sensed by the image sensor 22 changes as the refractive index changes, Value. In addition, the voltage value corresponding to the detected optimal resolution is continuously supplied to the infrared filter 14 through the transparent electrode 14 ', so that a high quality image can be obtained.

The embodiment of the present invention described above should not be construed as limiting the technical idea of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention is limited only by the matters described in the claims, and those skilled in the art will be able to modify the technical idea of the present invention in various forms. Accordingly, such improvements and modifications will fall within the scope of protection of the present invention as long as it is obvious to those skilled in the art.

1 is a sectional view for explaining a camera module according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the change in refractive index according to the power application of the infrared filter shown in FIG. 1

3 is a diagram for explaining a process of determining a fixed focus of a camera module according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a view for explaining a conventional camera module;

Claims (10)

An image sensor, A lens for condensing light to the image sensor, A lens barrel for supporting the lens, And an infrared filter disposed between the image sensor and the lens on the light irradiation path, The infrared filter is made of a thermo-optic material, And a power supply unit for applying power to the infrared filter to change the optical refraction index of the infrared filter, The infrared filter includes: A camera module that is a polymer electrolyte material of acrylic resin (PMMA: Poly Methyl Methacrylate) or polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF: Polyvinylidene Fluoride). The method according to claim 1, The power supply unit, And a transparent electrode that is provided in contact with the infrared filter and receives an external power source to transmit the external power to the infrared filter. 3. The method of claim 2, The transparent electrode Wherein the infrared sensor is installed on the infrared filter at an out-of-zone portion constituting an effective pixel of the image sensor in a planar projection. An image sensor, A lens for condensing light to the image sensor, A lens barrel for supporting the lens, And an infrared filter disposed between the image sensor and the lens on the light irradiation path, The infrared filter is made of a thermo-optic material, And a power supply unit for applying power to the infrared filter to change the optical refraction index of the infrared filter, The power supply unit, And a transparent electrode that is provided in contact with the infrared filter and receives an external power source to transmit the external power to the infrared filter. 5. The method of claim 4, The infrared filter includes: A camera module that is a polymer electrolyte material of acrylic resin (PMMA: Poly Methyl Methacrylate) or polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF: Polyvinylidene Fluoride). 5. The method of claim 4, The transparent electrode Wherein the infrared sensor is installed on the infrared filter at an out-of-zone portion constituting an effective pixel of the image sensor in a planar projection. An image sensor, A lens for condensing light to the image sensor, A lens barrel for supporting the lens, And an infrared filter disposed between the image sensor and the lens on the light irradiation path, The infrared filter is made of a thermo-optic material, And a power supply unit for adjusting the size of the power source and applying the adjusted power to the infrared filter to change the optical refractivity of the infrared filter, Wherein the effective focal length of the lens is adjusted as the optical refractivity of the infrared filter changes. 8. The method of claim 7, The infrared filter includes: A camera module that is a polymer electrolyte material of acrylic resin (PMMA: Poly Methyl Methacrylate) or polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF: Polyvinylidene Fluoride). 8. The method of claim 7, The power supply unit, And a transparent electrode that is provided in contact with the infrared filter and receives an external power source to transmit the external power to the infrared filter. 10. The method of claim 9, The transparent electrode Wherein the infrared sensor is installed on the infrared filter at an out-of-zone portion constituting an effective pixel of the image sensor in a planar projection.

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