Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F03—MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS; WIND, SPRING, OR WEIGHT MOTORS; PRODUCING MECHANICAL POWER OR A REACTIVE PROPULSIVE THRUST, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F03G—SPRING, WEIGHT, INERTIA OR LIKE MOTORS; MECHANICAL-POWER PRODUCING DEVICES OR MECHANISMS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR OR USING ENERGY SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F03G7/00—Mechanical-power-producing mechanisms, not otherwise provided for or using energy sources not otherwise provided for
  • F03G7/06—Mechanical-power-producing mechanisms, not otherwise provided for or using energy sources not otherwise provided for using expansion or contraction of bodies due to heating, cooling, moistening, drying or the like
  • F03G7/065—Mechanical-power-producing mechanisms, not otherwise provided for or using energy sources not otherwise provided for using expansion or contraction of bodies due to heating, cooling, moistening, drying or the like using a shape memory element
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B7/00—Mountings, adjusting means, or light-tight connections, for optical elements
  • G02B7/02—Mountings, adjusting means, or light-tight connections, for optical elements for lenses
  • G02B7/04—Mountings, adjusting means, or light-tight connections, for optical elements for lenses with mechanism for focusing or varying magnification
  • G02B7/08—Mountings, adjusting means, or light-tight connections, for optical elements for lenses with mechanism for focusing or varying magnification adapted to co-operate with a remote control mechanism

Definitions

• Fig. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the actuator assembly with different helical bearing arrangements
• Fig. 33 is a perspective view of an alternative helical bearing arrangement
• bearing in some embodiments of the present disclosure, more than one type of bearing element may be used in combination to provide the bearing functionality. Accordingly, the term "bearing” used herein includes any combination of, for example, plain bearings, ball bearings, roller bearings and flexures.
• the first and second helical bearings 46 and 47 are of the same type as the helical bearing 30 shown in Fig. 2 wherein the bearing surfaces 31 and 32 each comprise respective grooves 34 and 35.
• Fig. 11 illustrates an example of the helical bearing arrangement 20 of the actuator assembly 1 shown in Fig. 9, wherein the static part 2 and the lens element 10 are formed by moulded components.
• the detailed form of the static part 2, the lens element 10 and the helical bearings 30 can be seen.
• Fig. 17 illustrates another possible helical bearing arrangement that is a modification of the helical bearing arrangement of Fig. 7.
• the helical bearing arrangement includes four helical bearings 46 to 49 only, and the four helical bearings 46 to 49 are equally angularly spaced around the helical axis H, but they could alternatively be spaced unequally.
• the first bearing surface 101 is formed on a flexure element 104 that is connected to the lens element 10 or the support structure 2.
• the flexure element 104 is made of a resilient material, typically metal such as steel, and is connected to the adjacent part of the lens element 10 or the support structure 2.
• the flexure element 104 is a resilient element which both allows the movement of the first bearing surface 101 with respect to the adjacent support structure 2 or lens element 10 and acts as a resilient loading arrangement that resiliently loads the first bearing surface 101 away from the adjacent part of the lens element 10 or the support structure 2, against the rolling bearing element 103.
• helical flexure bearing 1090' acts to convert a relative displacement parallel to the primary axis z into a rotation about the primary axis z and to convert a rotation about the primary axis z into a relative displacement parallel to the primary axis z. These movements are not independent of one another. Relative to clamped pads 1093i', 10932', 10933', 10934', the circular annulus 1091' is constrained to move along an approximately helical path.
• the crimp arms 119' extend away from the helical axis H and generally towards the corners C of the actuator assembly 1 (from the circular annulus 1091').
• the crimp arms 119' are generally flat and coplanar with the circular annulus 1091' (i.e. the crimp arms 119' and the circular annulus 1091' sit on a common plane perpendicular to the primary axis z).
• the static part 2 may have four pillars (not shown but comparable to pillars 152i, 1522, 1523, 1524 in Fig. 34B), each upstanding (in the positive z direction) from a respective corner C of the base 4.
• Each pillar has a connection portion 18' (e.g. crimps, also referred to herein as "static crimps").
• the four pillars may be integrally formed with the base 4 or attached to the base 4 using welding, adhesive or other suitable attachment methods.
• the flexure arms 1092', the movable crimps 19', the static crimps 18' and the SMA actuator wires 60' have a two-fold rotational symmetry around the helical axis H.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Optics & Photonics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Lens Barrels (AREA)
• Adjustment Of Camera Lenses (AREA)
• Bearings For Parts Moving Linearly (AREA)
• Manipulator (AREA)
• Transmission Devices (AREA)

Priority Applications (2)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=69322965

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Citations (15)

• 2019
  • 2019-12-26 GB GBGB1919340.8A patent/GB201919340D0/en not_active Ceased
• 2020
  • 2020-12-29 WO PCT/GB2020/053376 patent/WO2021130506A1/en unknown
  • 2020-12-29 CN CN202080090383.XA patent/CN115103959A/zh active Pending
  • 2020-12-29 EP EP20838280.4A patent/EP4081710A1/en active Pending

Patent Citations (15)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events