WO2023060441A1

WO2023060441A1 - Camera assembly and electrical device

Info

Publication number: WO2023060441A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/123332
Authority: WO
Inventors: Atushi MATSUTANI
Original assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Ltd.
Priority date: 2021-10-12
Filing date: 2021-10-12
Publication date: 2023-04-20

Abstract

A camera assembly according to the embodiment of the present disclosure includes a pop-up lens unit including a lens barrel, and a first drive mechanism configured to perform at least one of an OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) control drive or an AF (Autofocus) control drive for the lens barrel; and a pop-up base unit including a second drive mechanism configured to perform a movement that the pop-up lens unit moves along an optical axis of the lens barrel, toward and away from an image sensor, wherein, when the movement is performed by the pop-up base unit, the pop-up lens unit vibrates at a dither frequency, by performing a dither control drive different from the OIS control drive and the AF control drive.

Description

CAMERA ASSEMBLY AND ELECTRICAL DEVICE

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a camera assembly and an electrical device.

BACKGROUND

Electrical devices such as smartphones and tablet terminals are widely used in our daily life. Nowadays, many of the electrical devices are equipped with a camera assembly for capturing images. Some of the electrical devices are portable and are thus easy to carry. Therefore, a user of the electrical device can easily take a picture of an object by using the camera assembly of the electrical device anytime, anywhere.

The portability of the electrical device is very important for the user and therefore the electrical devices should be as thin as possible. If the height of the camera assembly is large, the camera assembly will project outside the surface of the electrical device. Therefore, the height of the camera assembly should also be as small as possible. On the other hand, from the viewpoint of improving optical performance, a flange back distance should be sufficiently long because a proper focal length is necessary for a large size image sensor.

Therefore, there is space in the pop-up structure of the electrical device for the flange back distance. Some dust and water could come into the pop-up structure of the electrical device.

Therefore, the pop-up mechanism of the camera module needs to be provided with a waterproof mechanism.

However, the pop-up mechanism of the camera module provided with the waterproof mechanism has a problem that it is difficult to slide smoothly due to the friction of the waterproof mechanism.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure aims to solve at least one of the technical problems mentioned above. Accordingly, the present disclosure needs to provide a camera assembly and an electrical device.

In accordance with the present disclosure, a camera assembly includes:

a pop-up lens unit including a lens barrel, and a first drive mechanism configured to perform at least one of an OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) control drive or an AF (Autofocus) control drive for the lens barrel; and

a pop-up base unit including a second drive mechanism configured to perform a movement that the pop-up lens unit moves along an optical axis of the lens barrel, toward and away from an image sensor,

wherein, when the movement is performed by the pop-up base unit, the pop-up lens unit vibrates at a dither frequency, by performing a dither control drive different from the OIS control drive and the AF control drive.

In accordance with the present disclosure, an electrical device includes:

a camera assembly comprising:

a pop-up base unit including a second drive mechanism configured to perform a movement that the pop-up lens unit moves along an optical axis of the lens barrel, toward and away from an image sensor, and

a controller configured to control the camera assembly,

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following descriptions made with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a first side of an electrical device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a second side of the electrical device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the electrical device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional block diagrams for showing a structure of the camera assembly in the home position of the electrical device according to the present embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional block diagrams for showing a structure of the camera assembly in the ready position of the electrical device according to the present embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional block diagram for explaining an OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) and AF (Autofocus) function of the pop-up lens unit of the electrical device according to the present embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the camera assembly in the home position of the electrical device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the camera assembly in the ready position of the electrical device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a pop-up lens unit which is a component of the camera assembly;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a pop-up base unit which is a component of the camera assembly;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the pop-up lens unit in FIG. 9 and the pop-up base unit in FIG. 10 being assembled;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a base board member and an image sensor on the base board member;

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a structure focusing on the pop-up lens unit and the waterproof mechanism;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the vibration waveform of the pop-up lens unit driven by the dither control;

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram showing an example of a control flow for executing the dither control drive by the AF drive mechanism;

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram showing an example of a control flow for executing the dither control drive by the OIS drive mechanism; and

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of the control timing chart of the camera assembly from the pop-up movement of the pop-up lens unit to the accommodating movement of the pop-up lens unit, through the shooting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail and examples of the embodiments will be illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same or similar elements and the elements having same or similar functions are denoted by like reference numerals throughout the descriptions. The embodiments described herein with reference to the drawings are explanatory and aim to illustrate the present disclosure, but shall not be construed to limit the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a first side of an electrical device 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure and FIG. 2 is a plan view of a second side of the electrical device 10 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. The first side may be referred to as a back side of the electrical device 10 whereas the second side may be referred to as a front side of the electrical device 10.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the electrical device 10 may include a display 20 and a camera assembly 30. In the present embodiment, the camera assembly 30 includes a first main camera 32, a second main camera 34 and a sub camera 36. The first main camera 32 and the second main camera 34 can capture an image in the first side of the electrical device 10 and the sub camera 36 can capture an image in the second side of the electrical device 10. Therefore, the first main camera 32 and the second main camera 34 are so-called out-cameras whereas the sub camera 36 is a so-called in-camera. As an example, the electrical device 10 can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant, and so on.

Each of the first main camera 32, the second main camera 34 and the sub camera 36 has an imaging sensor which converts a light which has passed a color filter to an electrical signal. A signal value of the electrical signal depends on an amount of the light which has passed the color filter.

Although the electrical device 10 according to the present embodiment has three cameras, the electrical device 10 may have less than three cameras or more than three cameras. For example, the electrical device 10 may have two, four, five, and so on, cameras.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the electrical device 10 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, in addition to the display 20 and the camera assembly 30, the electrical device 10 may include a main processor 40, an image signal processor 42, a memory 44, a power supply circuit 46 and a communication circuit 48. The display 20, the camera assembly 30, the main processor 40, the image signal processor 42, the memory 44, the power supply circuit 46 and the communication circuit 48 are connected with each other via a bus 50.

The main processor 40 executes one or more program instructions stored in the memory 44. The main processor 40 implements various applications and data processing of the electrical device 10 by executing the program instructions. The main processor 40 may be one or more computer processors. The main processor 40 is not limited to one CPU core, but it may have a plurality of CPU cores. The main processor 40 may be a main CPU of the electrical device 10, an image processing unit (IPU) or a DSP provided with the camera assembly 30.

That is, the main processor 40 constitutes a controller of the electrical device 10 in the present embodiment.

The image signal processor 42 controls the camera assembly 30 and processes various kinds of image data captured by the camera assembly 30 to generate a target image data. For example, the image signal processor 42 can apply a demosaicing process, a noise reduction process, an auto exposure process, an auto focus process, an auto white balance process, a high dynamic range process and so on, to the image data captured by the camera assembly 30.

In the present embodiment, the main processor 40 and the image signal processor 42 collaborate with each other to generate a target image data of the object captured by the camera assembly 30. That is, the main processor 40 and the image signal processor 42 are configured to capture the image of the object by means of the camera assembly 30 and apply various kinds of image processing to the captured image data.

The memory 44 stores program instructions to be executed by the main processor 40, and various kinds of data. For example, data of the captured image are also stored in the memory 44.

The memory 44 may include a high-speed RAM memory, and/or a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory and a magnetic disk memory. That is, the memory 44 may include a non-transitory computer readable medium in which the program instructions are stored.

The power supply circuit 46 may have a battery such as a lithium-ion rechargeable battery and a battery management unit (BMU) for managing the battery.

The communication circuit 48 is configured to receive and transmit data to communicate with base stations of the telecommunication network system, the Internet or other devices via wireless communication. The wireless communication may adopt any communication standard or protocol, including but not limited to GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) , CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) , LTE (Long Term Evolution) , LTE-Advanced, 5th generation (5G) . The communication circuit 48 may include an antenna and an RF (radio frequency) circuit.

Here, FIG. 4 is a cross sectional block diagrams for showing a structure of the camera assembly in the home position of the electrical device according to the present embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 is a cross sectional block diagrams for showing a structure of the camera assembly in the ready position of the electrical device according to the present embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 is a cross sectional block diagram for explaining an OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) and AF (Autofocus) function of the pop-up lens unit of the electrical device according to the present embodiment of the present disclosure.

In addition, in FIGS. 4 and 5, the image sensor 68 of the camera assembly 30 is omitted. In FIG. 6, the pop-up base unit 62 of the camera assembly 30 is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 6, the camera assembly 30 has a pop-up lens unit 60 and a pop-up base unit 62.

The pop-up lens unit 60 has a lens barrel 64 which includes one or more optical lenses. An optical axis AX of each of the optical lenses is aligned. That is, the optical axis AX of the optical lenses are straightly aligned. In the present embodiment, the lens barrel 64 is composed of one or more convex lenses and one or more concave lenses. In other words, the optical lenses are also referred to as a combination lens.

As shown in FIG. 4, the pop-up base unit 62 accommodates the pop-up lens unit 60. In the present embodiment, the pop-up base unit 62 has an image sensor 68 (FIG. 6) . The image sensor 68 captures an image of an object through the lens barrel 64 of the pop-up lens unit 60. That is, the image of the object is formed on the image sensor 68. The image sensor 68 converts the intensity of light passing through the optical lenses to electrical signals which are sent to, for example, the main processor 40 and/or the image signal processor 42.

In the present embodiment, for example, the image sensor 68 is a solid state imaging device such as a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor, a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) image sensor and so on. In an example of the camera assembly 30 according to the present embodiment, the image sensor 68 is disposed at the bottom of the pop-up base unit 62. That is, if it is assumed that a first direction is a direction toward the top of the pop-up base unit 62 to the bottom of the pop-up base unit 62, and a second direction is a direction toward the bottom of the pop-up base unit 62 to the top of the pop-up base unit 62, the image sensor 68 is located at the most distant position in the first direction in the pop-up base unit 62 from the lens barrel 64. Here, the first direction and the second direction are parallel to the optical axis AX.

Here, a flange back distance FB can be defined as a distance between the image sensor 68 and a first optical lens which is the closest one to the image sensor 68 among the optical lenses. More precisely, the flange back distance FB can be defined as a distance between an imaging surface of the image sensor 68 and a closest edge of the first optical lens, where the closest edge is a point closest to the image sensor 68 of the first optical lens.

The pop-up lens unit 60 is movably held in the pop-up base unit 62. That is, the pop-up lens unit 60 can be moved to the first direction and the second direction. FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing for showing a home position in which the camera assembly 30 is not able to capture an image whereas FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing for showing a ready position in which the camera assembly 30 is able to capture an image.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the camera assembly 30 is in the home position, the pop-up lens unit 60 is accommodated in the pop-up base unit 62. In this case, the lens barrel 64 may be entirely accommodated in the pop-up base unit 62 or may be partially accommodated in the pop- up base unit 62. As a result, the height of the camera assembly 30 and the flange back distance FB (FIG. 6) is minimal.

If the lens barrel 64 is entirely accommodated in the pop-up lens unit 62, the pop-up lens unit 60 and the lens barrel 64 of the camera assembly 30 does not project outside a surface of the electrical device 10. On the other hand, if the lens barrel 64 is partially accommodated in the pop-up lens unit 62, the lens barrel 64 may possibly project outside the surface of the electrical device 10 but its projection amount is slight and minimized.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, when the camera assembly 30 is in the ready position, the pop-up lens unit 60 is popped up and partially accommodated in the pop-up base unit 62. As a result, the height of the camera assembly 30 and the flange back distance FB (FIG. 6) is maximized. Therefore, the pop-up lens unit 60 of the camera assembly 30 projects outside the surface of the electrical device 10.

In other words, the pop-up lens unit 60 can alternately be moved between the home position (the first position) and the ready position (the second position) . Next, a moving mechanism of the pop-up lens unit 60 in the electrical device 10 according to the present embodiment will be explained.

Here, As shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the pop-up lens unit 60 of the camera assembly 30 has a lens barrel 64, and a first drive mechanism 101 that executes at least one of OIS control drive and AF control drive for the lens barrel 64.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the pop-up base unit 62 of the camera assembly 30 has a second drive mechanism 102. The second drive mechanism performs a movement that the pop-up lens unit moves along an optical axis of the lens barrel, toward and away from the image sensor 68. In particular, the second drive mechanism 102 executes a pop-up movement that displaces the pop-up lens unit 60 from a home position to a ready position, or executes an accommodating movement that displaces the pop-up lens unit 60 from the ready position to the home position. That is, the second drive mechanism 102 performs the pop-up movement to drive the pop-up lens unit moving along an optical axis of the lens barrel away from the image sensor 68. On the other hand, the second drive mechanism 102 performs the accommodating movement to drive the pop-up lens unit moving along an optical axis of the lens barrel toward the image sensor.

Especially, the second drive mechanism 102 moves the pop-up lens unit 60 in an optical axis direction along the optical axis AX to change the flange back distance FB.

The second drive mechanism 102 has an actuator (for example, a stepping motor) to move the pop-up lens unit 60 to the first direction and the second direction which is an opposite direction of the first direction.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the electrical device 10 has the OIS function, a camera shake on an image can be compensated by the first drive mechanism 101 moving the lens barrel 64 in the horizontal direction when the camera shake is detected. The first drive mechanism 101 may directly move the lens barrel 64 in the horizontal direction or may move the pop-up lens unit 60 to move the lens barrel 64 in the horizontal direction.

In an example of FIG. 6, the first drive mechanism 101 can move the lens barrel 64 from the center position in horizontal direction to all directions. If the camera shake is detected when the user takes a picture, the first drive mechanism 101 moves the lens barrel 64 to absorb the camera shake.

Especially, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 6, the camera assembly 30 includes a waterproof mechanism 200. The waterproof mechanism 200 is designed to waterproof the space between the pop-up lens unit 60 and the pop-up base unit 62. This prevents water and dust from entering between the pop-up lens unit 60 and the pop-up base unit 62.

For example, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the waterproof mechanism 200 is fixed to the pop-up base unit 62.

Here, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the camera assembly 30 in which the pop-up lens unit 60 is in the home position in the electrical device 10 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the camera assembly 30 in which the pop-up lens unit 60 is in the ready position in the electrical device 10 according to the present embodiment.

The camera assembly 30 shown in FIG. 7 corresponds to the camera assembly 30 of the schematic drawing shown in FIG. 4 whereas the camera assembly 30 shown in FIG. 8 corresponds to the camera assembly 30 of the schematic drawing shown in FIG. 5.

As shown in FIG. 7, in the home position, the pop-up lens unit 60 is accommodated inside the pop-up base unit 62. Therefore, the user can easily carry the electrical device 10 with the camera assembly 30 and thus its portability is maintained. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, in the ready position, the popup lens unit 60 is popped up from the pop-up base unit 62 so that the necessary flange back distance FB is generated. Therefore, a focal length of the camera assembly 30 is increased and the optical performance of the camera assembly 30 is improved.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the pop-up lens unit 60 as one of the components, and FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the pop-up base unit 62 as one of the components.

As shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, the pop-up base unit 62 has a hole 62a, and a size of the pop-up lens unit 60 is slightly smaller than a size of the hole 62a of the pop-up base unit 62. Therefore, the pop-up lens unit 60 can be accommodated into the pop-up base unit 62 through the hole 62a.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the pop-up lens unit 60 and the pop-up base unit 62 in which the pop-up lens unit 60 and the pop-up base unit 62 are assembled. FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the image sensor 68 mounted on a base board member 62b.

As shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the image sensor 68 is disposed on the base board member 62b. In the present embodiment, the image sensor 68 is located around the center of the base board member 62b. The base board member 62b shown in FIG. 12 can be engaged with the bottom of the pop-up base unit 62 shown in FIG. 11 and the image sensor 68 is positioned such that the optical axes AX of the optical lenses and the center of the image sensor 68 are aligned. In other words, the base board member 62b is a base plate to seal the bottom of the pop-up base unit 62.

The electrical signals generated in the image sensor 68 are outputted via a print cable 68a, for example, to the main processor 40 and/or the image signal processor 42.

Here, an example of a structure focusing on the pop-up lens unit 60 and the waterproof mechanism 200 of the camera assembly 30 having the above-described configuration will be described. FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a structure focusing on the pop-up lens unit and the waterproof mechanism.

For example, as shown in FIG. 13, the first drive mechanism 101 includes an OIS drive mechanism D1 that drives OIS control and an AF drive mechanism D2 that drives AF control, provided in the unit case UC of the pop-up lens unit 60.

Then, for example, as shown in FIG. 13, the OIS drive mechanism D1 includes an OIS base B1, an OIS case OC, a magnet MG, an OIS yoke Y1, an OIS FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) F1, an OIS coil C1, and an OIS spring S1.

Then, for example, as shown in FIG. 13, the OIS base B1 is arranged in the unit case UC. The OIS case OC places the lens barrel 64 inside, and the OIS case OC is located above the OIS base B1. The magnet MG is fixed in the OIS case OC. The OIS yoke Y1 is fixed on the OIS base B1. The OIS FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) F1 is arranged on the OIS base B1. The OIS coil C1 is fixed to the OIS base B1 and is provided adjacent to the magnet MG. The OIS spring S1 is connected between the OIS case OC and the OIS base B1.

Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 13, the AF drive mechanism D2 includes a magnet MG, a AF coil C2, and a AF spring S2.

Then, for example, as shown in FIG. 13, the AF coil C2 is provided adjacent to the magnet MG. The AF spring S2 is connected between the OIS case OC and the lens holder LH holding the lens barrel 64.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 13, in the execution of the dither control drive DC2, the pop-up lens unit 60 vibrates the lens barrel 64 in the direction of the optical axis AX of the lens barrel 64 by the AF drive mechanism D2.

Similarly, in the execution of the dither control drive DC1, the pop-up lens unit 60 vibrates the lens barrel 64 in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis AX of the lens barrel 64 by the OIS drive mechanism D1.

If the dither control drive DC1 by the OIS drive mechanism D1 and the dither control drive DC2 by the AF drive mechanism D2 are executed at the same time, the vibration of the pop-up lens unit 60 is the combined vibration of the vibration occurred by the dither control drive DC1 and the vibration occurred by the dither control drive DC2. For example, the pop-up lens unit 60 vibrates by the dither control drive DC1 and DC2 different from the OIS control drive and the AF control drive, when the pop-up lens unit 60 is moved by the pop-up base unit 62. Thereby, the pop-up lens unit 60 can move smoothly executed by this vibration, by changing the static friction force between the waterproof mechanism 200 and the pop-up lens unit 60 into a dynamic friction force.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 13, the waterproof mechanism 200 includes the waterproof member 200a that comes into contact with the pop-up lens unit 60.

In particular, as shown in FIG. 13, the end portion 200a1 of the waterproof member 200a and the outer side surface UCa of the unit case UC are in contact with each other, so that the end portion 200a1 of the waterproof member 200a is curved upward and pressed against the outer side surface UCa of the unit case UC.

As a result, the frictional force between the end of the waterproof member 200a and the pop-up lens unit 60 during the accommodating movement is larger than the frictional force between the end of the waterproof member and the pop-up lens unit 60 during the pop-up movement.

The waterproof member 200a is made of, for example, a rubber. However, the waterproof member 200a may be a waterproof member other than rubber.

For example, the pop-up base unit 62 is adapted to perform the pop-up movement of the pop-up lens unit 60, or the accommodating movement of the pop-up lens unit 60, by sliding the pop-up lens unit 60, in a state where the end portion 200a1 of the waterproof member 200a shown in FIG. 13 and the pop-up lens unit 60 are in contact with each other.

In particular, the pop-up lens unit 60 vibrates at a dither frequency by operating the first drive mechanism 101 to execute a dither control drive different from the OIS control drive and the AF control drive, during the pop-up movement or the accommodating movement by the pop-up base unit 62.

Thereby, the pop-up movement or the accommodating movement can be smoothly executed by this vibration, by changing the static friction force between the waterproof mechanism 200 and the pop-up lens unit 60 into a dynamic friction force.

The dither frequency is, for example, the natural frequency of the pop-up lens unit 60. In this case, the pop-up lens unit 60 can be vibrated more with less power, so that efficiency can be improved. The natural frequency of the pop-up lens unit 60 is, for example, 200 Hz to 300 Hz.

The first drive mechanism 101 may vibrate the lens barrel 64 by executing the dither control drive, in the state that the lens barrel 64 displaced to the end of the movable range of the AF control drive in the direction of the optical axis AX, or in the state the lens barrel 64 displaced to the end of the movable range of the OIS control drive in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis AX.

Furthermore, the pop-up lens unit 60 may displace the lens barrel 64 to the initial position for photographing by the first drive mechanism 101, after executing the dither control drive by the first drive mechanism 101.

Here, FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the vibration waveform of the pop-up lens unit driven by the dither control DC. FIG. 15 is a flow diagram showing an example of a control flow for executing the dither control drive by the AF drive mechanism. FIG. 16 is a flow diagram showing an example of a control flow for executing the dither control drive by the OIS drive mechanism.

In FIG. 14, the target rotation speed and the pulse train command of the stepping motor (the second drive mechanism 102 of the pop-up base unit 62) for the pop-up movement or the accommodating movement are shown with the vibration waveform of the pop-up lens unit driven. It is noted that, the direction of vibration is different based on the drive mechanism. For example, the vibration occurs in the optical axis direction by the OIS drive mechanism D1. On the other hand, the vibration occurs in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction by the AF drive mechanism D2. In FIG. 14, the dither control drive DC corresponds to the dither control drive DC1 and/or the dither control drive DC2 in FIG. 13.

For example, as shown in FIG. 14, the vibration of the pop-up lens unit 60 due to the dither control drive DC is increased, during the acceleration period of controlling the stepping motor (at the start of the pop-up movement or the accommodating movement) .

The friction force between the waterproof mechanism 200 and the pop-up lens unit 60 is the static friction force at the start of the pop-up movement or the accommodating movement. However, the friction force is changed into the dynamic friction force by the dither control drive DC.

Thereby, the static frictional force between the waterproof mechanism 200 and the pop-up lens unit 60 can be reduced, at the start of the pop-up movement or the accommodating movement.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 14, the vibration of the pop-up lens unit 60 due to the dither control drive DC is increased, during the deceleration period of controlling the stepping motor (at the end of the pop-up movement or the accommodating movement) .

The friction force between the waterproof mechanism 200 and the pop-up lens unit 60 is maintained as the dynamic friction force by the dither control drive DC.

Thereby, the static frictional force between the waterproof mechanism 200 and the pop-up lens unit 60 can be reduced, at the end of the pop-up movement or the accommodating movement.

Furthermore, it is possible to prevent the user from noticing a deterioration in the quality of the image due to sound or vibration, by reducing the amplitude of the vibration caused in the middle of the dither control drive DC, during the constant velocity period of controlling the stepping motor.

Furthermore, for example, as shown in FIG. 15, at the time of the pop-up movement, the OIS control signal applied to the AF coil C2 of the AF drive mechanism D2 is a signal obtained by superimposing a Sin wave generated by the program on the PWM control value by the normal PID control of AF.

It is noted that, after the pop-up movement, the Sin wave is not superimposed on the PWM control value.

It is noted that, in the example of FIG. 15, an example of the flow at the time of pop-up movement is described, but the flow at the time of accommodating movement is also described in the same manner.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 16, at the time of the pop-up movement, the OIS control signal applied to the OIS coil C1 of the OIS drive mechanism D1 is a signal obtained by superimposing the SIN wave generated by the program on the PWM control value by the normal PID control of OIS.

It is noted that, in the example of FIG. 16, an example of the flow at the time of pop-up movement is described, but the flow at the time of accommodating movement is also described in the same manner.

It is noted that, the frequency and amplitude (the AF control signal and OIS control signal) of vibrating the lens barrel 64 by the first drive mechanism 101 (the OIS drive mechanism D1 and the AF drive mechanism D2) by the dither control drive are set, so that the frictional force when sliding the pop-up lens unit 60 changes from static frictional force to dynamic frictional force.

Next, an example of a control method of the camera assembly 10 having the above configuration and functions will be described.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of the control timing chart of the camera assembly from the pop-up movement of the pop-up lens unit to the accommodating movement of the pop-up lens unit, through the shooting. In FIG. 17, the dither control drive DCA1 and the dither control drive DCA2 correspond to the dither control drive DC1 in FIG. 13, and the dither control drive DCO1 and the dither control drive DCO2 correspond to the dither control drive DC2 in FIG. 13.

For example, as shown in FIG. 17, the pop-up lens unit 60 may execute the dither control drive DCA1 and DCO1 by the first drive mechanism 101 of the pop-up lens unit 60, before the start time T1 of the pop-up movement (at the time T1a) , or until after the end time T2 of the pop-up movement (at the time T2a) .

Thereby, the sliding performance of the pop-up lens unit 60 from the start to the end of the pop-up movement can be improved.

Furthermore, for example, as shown in FIG. 17, the pop-up lens unit 60 may execute the dither control drive DCA2 and DCO2 by the first drive mechanism 101 of the pop-up lens unit 60, before the start time T5 of the accommodating movement (at the time T5a) , or until after the end time T6 of the accommodating movement (at the time T6a) .

As a result, the sliding performance of the pop-up lens unit 60 from the start to the end of the accommodating movement can be improved. Furthermore, the tilt of the pop-up lens unit 60 due to lifting from one side of the electrical device 10 can be improved.

Furthermore, for example, as shown in FIG. 17, the dither control drive DCA1 and DCO1 by the first drive mechanism 101 during the period T1 to T2 of the pop-up movement, is different from the dither control drive DCA2 and DCO2 by the first drive mechanism 101 during the periods T5 to T6 of the accommodating movement.

For more details, the amplitude (the vibration energy) of the vibration of the pop-up lens unit 60 by the dither control drive DCA2 and DCO2 by the first drive mechanism 101 during the accommodating movement period T5 to T6 is larger than the amplitude (the vibration energy) of the vibration of the pop-up lens unit 60 by the dither control drive DCA1 and DCO1 by the first drive mechanism 101, during the period T1 to T2 of the pop-up movement.

That is, the amplitude of the OIS control signal in the periods T5 to T6 of the accommodating movement is larger than the amplitude of the OIS control signal in the periods T1 to T2 of the pop-up movement.

In the same way, the amplitude of the AF control signal in the periods T5 to T6 of the accommodating movement is larger than the amplitude of the AF control signal in the periods T1 to T2 of the pop-up movement.

Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 17, the dither control drive DCA2 and DCO2 by the first drive mechanism 101 at the start time T5 of the accommodating movement or the end time T6 of the accommodating movement is different from the dither control drive DCA2 and DCO2 by the first drive mechanism 101 during the period from the start to the end of the accommodating movement.

For more details, the amplitude (the vibration energy) of the vibration of the pop-up lens unit 60 by the dither control drive DCA2 and DCO2 by the first drive mechanism 101 at the start time T5 of the accommodating movement or the end time T6 of the accommodating movement is larger than the amplitude (the vibration energy) of the vibration of the pop-up lens unit 60 by the dither control drive DCA2 and DCO2 by the first drive mechanism 101, during the period T5 to T6 of the accommodating movement.

That is, the amplitude of the OIS control signal at the start time T5 of the accommodating movement or the end time T6 of the accommodating movement is larger than the amplitude of the OIS control signal during the periods T5 to T6 of the accommodating movement.

In the same way, the amplitude of the AF control signal at the start time T5 of the accommodating movement or the end time T6 of the accommodating movement is larger than the amplitude of the AF control signal during the periods T5 to T6 of the accommodating movement.

As described above, since the frictional force during the accommodating movement is larger than the frictional force during the pop-up movement, the amplitudes of the dither control drive DCA1, DCO1 and the dither control drive DCA2, DCO2 are different.

The AF control signal and the OIS control signal in the dither control drive DCA1, DCO1, DCA2 and DCO2 are, for example, a sine wave, but may be a square wave or the like in addition to the sine wave.

For example, as shown in FIG. 17, the camera assembly 10 executes the dither control drive DCA1 and DCO1 by the first drive mechanism 101 of the pop-up lens unit 60, from the time T1a before the start of the pop-up movement to the time T2a after the end of the pop-up movement.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 17, the camera assembly 10 executes the dither control drive DCA2 and DCO2 by the first drive mechanism 101 of the pop-up lens unit 60, from the time T5a before the start of the accommodating movement to the time T6a after the end of the accommodating movement.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 17, the camera assembly 10 stops the dither control drive DCA1, DCO1, DCA2 and DCO2 by the first drive mechanism 101, while the OIS control drive or AF control drive of the lens barrel 64 is being executed by the first drive mechanism 101, during the shooting period T3 to T4.

It is noted that, if the pop-up lens unit 60 does not slide even though the pop-up movement or the accommodating movement is executed by the second drive mechanism 102 (when the error of the pop-up movement or the accommodating movement occurs) , the pop-up lens unit 60 may vibrate by executing an additional control drive different from the dither control drive by the first drive mechanism 101.

As a result, the pop-up lens unit 60 can be slid by reducing the frictional force by the additional control drive, even if the sliding performance of the pop-up lens unit 60 deteriorates.

Furthermore, the pop-up lens unit 60 may be made to vibrate by executing the dither control drive by the first drive mechanism 101, when it is detected that the direction of the optical axis AX of the lens barrel 64 is the vertical direction or approaches the vertical direction, using a sensor such as a gyro sensor or an acceleration sensor of the camera assembly 10.

Thereby, for example, the sliding performance of the pop-up lens unit 60 can be improved by causing dust adhering to the periphery of the waterproof mechanism 200 to fall downward.

Furthermore, the pop-up lens unit 60 may be made to vibrate, by executing the dither control drive by the first drive mechanism 101, when the free fall of the camera assembly 10 is detected by using a sensor such as a gyro sensor or an acceleration sensor of the camera assembly 10.

As a result, the camera assembly 100 can improve the sliding performance when the pop-up lens unit 60 is urgently accommodated to the pop-up base unit 62, before the camera assembly 10 falls and collides with the ground or the like.

That is, the pop-up lens unit 60 can be protected by appropriately storing the pop-up lens unit 60 in the pop-up base unit 62.

As mentioned above, the camera assembly of the electrical device according to the present embodiment, includes a pop-up lens unit including a lens barrel, and a first drive mechanism configured to perform at least one of an OIS control drive or an AF control drive for the lens barrel; a pop-up base unit including a second drive mechanism configured to perform a pop-up movement that displaces the pop-up lens unit from a home position to a ready position or performs an accommodating movement that displaces the pop-up lens unit from the ready position to the home position; a waterproof mechanism configured to waterproof between the pop-up lens unit and the pop-up base unit. When the pop-up movement or the accommodating movement is performed by the pop-up base unit, the pop-up lens unit vibrates at a dither frequency, by performing a dither control drive different from the OIS control drive and the AF control drive, by operating the first drive mechanism.

In this way, the sliding performance of the pop-up lens unit 60 can be improved, by reducing the friction caused by the waterproof mechanism by the dither control drive, at the time of the pop-up movement or the accommodating movement.

That is, the camera assembly of the electrical device can speed up the pop-up movement or the accommodating movement. In particular, the actuator (for example, a stepping motor) of the pop-up base unit can be miniaturized.

In the description of embodiments of the present disclosure, it is to be understood that terms such as "central" , "longitudinal" , "transverse" , "length" , "width" , "thickness" , "upper" , "lower" , "front" , "rear" , "back" , "left" , "right" , "vertical" , "horizontal" , "top" , "bottom" , "inner" , "outer" , "clockwise" and "counterclockwise" should be construed to refer to the orientation or the position as described or as shown in the drawings under discussion. These relative terms are only used to simplify description of the present disclosure, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a particular orientation, or constructed or operated in a particular orientation. Thus, these terms cannot be constructed to limit the present disclosure.

In addition, terms such as "first" and "second" are used herein for purposes of description and are not intended to indicate or imply relative importance or significance or to imply the number of indicated technical features. Thus, the feature defined with "first" and "second" may comprise one or more of this feature. In the description of the present disclosure, "a plurality of" means two or more than two, unless specified otherwise.

In the description of embodiments of the present disclosure, unless specified or limited otherwise, the terms "mounted" , "connected" , "coupled" and the like are used broadly, and may be, for example, fixed connections, detachable connections, or integral connections; may also be mechanical or electrical connections; may also be direct connections or indirect connections via intervening structures; may also be inner communications of two elements, which can be understood by those skilled in the art according to specific situations.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, unless specified or limited otherwise, a structure in which a first feature is "on" or "below" a second feature may include an embodiment in which the first feature is in direct contact with the second feature, and may also include an embodiment in which the first feature and the second feature are not in direct contact with each other, but are contacted via an additional feature formed therebetween. Furthermore, a first feature "on" , "above" or "on top of" a second feature may include an embodiment in which the first feature is right or obliquely "on" , "above" or "on top of" the second feature, or just means that the first feature is at a height higher than that of the second feature; while a first feature "below" , "under" or "on bottom of" a second feature may include an embodiment in which the first feature is right or obliquely "below" , "under" or "on bottom of" the second feature, or just means that the first feature is at a height lower than that of the second feature.

Various embodiments and examples are provided in the above description to implement different structures of the present disclosure. In order to simplify the present disclosure, certain elements and settings are described in the above. However, these elements and settings are only by way of example and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. In addition, reference numbers and/or reference letters may be repeated in different examples in the present disclosure. This repetition is for the purpose of simplification and clarity and does not refer to relations between different embodiments and/or settings. Furthermore, examples of different processes and materials are provided in the present disclosure. However, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other processes and/or materials may be also applied.

Reference throughout this specification to "an embodiment" , "some embodiments" , "an exemplary embodiment" , "an example" , "a specific example" or "some examples" means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristics described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present disclosure. Thus, the appearances of the above phrases throughout this specification are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment or example of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples.

Any process or method described in a flow chart or described herein in other ways may be understood to include one or more modules, segments or portions of codes of executable instructions for achieving specific logical functions or steps in the process, and the scope of a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure includes other implementations, in which it should be understood by those skilled in the art that functions may be implemented in a sequence other than the sequences shown or discussed, including in a substantially identical sequence or in an opposite sequence.

The logic and/or step described in other manners herein or shown in the flow chart, for example, a particular sequence table of executable instructions for realizing the logical function, may be specifically achieved in any computer readable medium to be used by the instruction execution system, device or equipment (such as the system based on computers, the system comprising processors or other systems capable of obtaining the instruction from the instruction execution system, device and equipment and executing the instruction) , or to be used in combination with the instruction execution system, device and equipment. As to the specification, "the computer readable medium" may be any device adaptive for including, storing, communicating, propagating or transferring programs to be used by or in combination with the instruction execution system, device or equipment. More specific examples of the computer readable medium comprise but are not limited to: an electronic connection (an electronic device) with one or more wires, a portable computer enclosure (a magnetic device) , a random access memory (RAM) , a read only memory (ROM) , an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or a flash memory) , an optical fiber device and a portable compact disk read-only memory (CDROM) . In addition, the computer readable medium may even be a paper or other appropriate medium capable of printing programs thereon, this is because, for example, the paper or other appropriate medium may be optically scanned and then edited, decrypted or processed with other appropriate methods when necessary to obtain the programs in an electric manner, and then the programs may be stored in the computer memories.

It should be understood that each part of the present disclosure may be realized by the hardware, software, firmware or their combination. In the above embodiments, a plurality of steps or methods may be realized by the software or firmware stored in the memory and executed by the appropriate instruction execution system. For example, if it is realized by the hardware, likewise in another embodiment, the steps or methods may be realized by one or a combination of the following techniques known in the art: a discrete logic circuit having a logic gate circuit for realizing a logic function of a data signal, an application-specific integrated circuit having an appropriate combination logic gate circuit, a programmable gate array (PGA) , a field programmable gate array (FPGA) , etc.

Those skilled in the art shall understand that all or parts of the steps in the above exemplifying method of the present disclosure may be achieved by commanding the related hardware with programs. The programs may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, and the programs comprise one or a combination of the steps in the method embodiments of the present disclosure when run on a computer.

In addition, each function cell of the embodiments of the present disclosure may be integrated in a processing module, or these cells may be separate physical existence, or two or more cells are integrated in a processing module. The integrated module may be realized in a form of hardware or in a form of software function modules. When the integrated module is realized in a form of software function module and is sold or used as a standalone product, the integrated module may be stored in a computer readable storage medium.

The storage medium mentioned above may be read-only memories, magnetic disks, CD, etc.

Although embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the embodiments are explanatory and cannot be construed to limit the present disclosure, and changes, modifications, alternatives and variations can be made in the embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

A camera assembly comprising:

a pop-up lens unit including a lens barrel, and a first drive mechanism configured to perform at least one of an OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) control drive or an AF (Autofocus) control drive for the lens barrel; and

a pop-up base unit including a second drive mechanism configured to perform a movement that the pop-up lens unit moves along an optical axis of the lens barrel, toward and away from an image sensor,

wherein, when the movement is performed by the pop-up base unit, the pop-up lens unit vibrates at a dither frequency, by performing a dither control drive different from the OIS control drive and the AF control drive.
The camera assembly according to claim 1, further comprising a waterproof mechanism configured to waterproof between the pop-up lens unit and the pop-up base unit.
The camera assembly according to claim 1 or 2, the first drive mechanism is configured to perform the dither control drive.
The camera assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the dither frequency is the natural frequency of the pop-up lens unit.
The camera assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first drive mechanism vibrates the lens barrel by performing the dither control drive, in a state where the lens barrel is displaced to an end of a movable range of the AF control drive in a direction of the optical axis of the lens barrel, or in a state where the lens barrel is displaced to an end of a movable range of the OIS control drive in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis.
The camera assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the pop-up lens unit displaces the lens barrel to an initial position for shooting by the first drive mechanism, after performing the dither control drive by the first drive mechanism.
The camera assembly according to claim 1, wherein the pop-up lens unit performs the dither control drive, from before a start of the movement or until after an end of the movement.
The camera assembly according to claim 2, wherein, when it is detected that the direction of the optical axis of the lens barrel is the vertical direction or approaches the vertical direction, the pop-up lens unit vibrates by performing the dither control drive by the first drive mechanism.
The camera assembly according to claim 2, wherein, when the pop-up lens unit does not slide even though the movement is performed by the second drive mechanism, the pop-up lens unit vibrates by performing an additional control, different from the dither control drive, by the first drive mechanism.
The camera assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein an amplitude of a vibration of the pop-up lens unit due to the dither control drive at a start of the movement is larger than an amplitude of a vibration of the pop-up lens unit due to the dither control drive after a start of the movement.
The camera assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein, when a free fall of the camera assembly is detected, the pop-up lens unit vibrates by performing the dither control drive by the first drive mechanism.
An electrical device comprising:

a camera assembly comprising:

a pop-up lens unit including a lens barrel, and a first drive mechanism configured to perform at least one of an OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) control drive or an AF (Autofocus) control drive for the lens barrel; and

a pop-up base unit including a second drive mechanism configured to perform a movement that the pop-up lens unit moves along an optical axis of the lens barrel, toward and away from an image sensor, and

a controller configured to control the camera assembly,

wherein, when the movement is performed by the pop-up base unit, the pop-up lens unit vibrates at a dither frequency, by performing a dither control drive different from the OIS control drive and the AF control drive.