CN115834997B - Optical lens assembly based on liquid lens, camera module and corresponding assembly method - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides an optical lens assembly based on a liquid lens, which comprises: the lens comprises a first sub-lens, a second sub-lens and a liquid lens. The liquid lens comprises a driving element, a lens support and a liquid lens, wherein the lens support comprises an inner ring, an outer ring and a connecting beam for connecting the inner ring and the outer ring, the inner ring, the connecting beam and the outer ring are integrally formed, and a plurality of first through holes are formed on the outer side surface of the inner ring, the inner side surface of the outer ring and the connecting beam; the liquid lens is mounted on the inner ring, the driving element is suitable for applying driving force to the outer ring and transmitting the driving force to the inner ring through the connecting beam, so that the inner ring moves and changes the shape of the liquid lens, and the liquid lens is positioned between the first lens group and the second lens group. Wherein the first sub-lens and the second sub-lens are directly bonded. The invention can help reduce the radial size of the lens, is convenient to assemble and has high imaging quality.

Description

Optical lens assembly based on liquid lens, camera module and corresponding assembly method

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of camera modules, in particular to an optical lens assembly based on a liquid lens, a camera module and a corresponding assembly method.

Background

The mobile phone camera module is one of important components of intelligent equipment, and the application range and the application amount of the mobile phone camera module in the market are continuously increased. Along with the progress of technology, both work and life are advocating the intellectualization, but one of the important preconditions for realizing the intellectualization is to be able to realize good interaction with the external environment, wherein one important way for realizing good interaction is visual perception, and the visual perception relies mainly on a camera module. It can be said that the camera module has been changed from silently-smelling intelligent equipment accessories to one of the key components of the intelligent equipment.

With the continuous improvement of the requirements of consumers on mobile phone photographing, functions such as automatic focusing and optical zooming become an increasingly important ring in mobile phone photographing modules. Both conventional autofocus lenses and optical zoom lenses require an optical actuator to drive the entire lens or a portion of the imaging lens to move within a certain range along the optical axis direction. However, such a solution would lead to an increase in the volume of the camera module, which is disadvantageous for miniaturization of the camera module.

In recent years, optical lenses and image capturing modules based on liquid lenses have received increased attention. The liquid lens is made of liquid light-transmitting materials. By changing the shape of the crescent surface of the liquid deformation body, the change of the focal length can be realized, and the focal length adjustment can be realized on the premise of not moving the position of the optical element of the liquid lens. The automatic focusing or optical zooming function of the whole optical lens can be realized by adding the optical element (such as a liquid deformation body) of the liquid lens into the lens group of the optical lens. Since only the surface shape of the liquid deformation body needs to be changed, there is no need to move the position of the optical element in the optical axis direction, and thus the height (referred to as the z-axis, i.e., the dimension in the optical axis direction) of the auto-focus or optical zoom lens can be significantly reduced.

However, in order to drive the liquid lens to change its focal length, it is necessary to provide a corresponding driving device and supporting structure, and the space occupied by these components is not negligible, so how to assemble the liquid lens into the optical lens or the camera module with minimum volume cost becomes one of the important difficulties faced by the module factories. CN202022005735.7 discloses an imaging module based on a liquid lens, wherein the liquid lens is arranged outside the actuator housing, and the liquid lens and the optical lens inside the actuator housing together constitute an imaging optical system.

On the other hand, there is a type of liquid lens for an auto-focus camera module, which generally has a moderate optical sensitivity, and which performs a focusing function in the entire optical system based on the zooming capability of its own deformation, while the deformation has a small influence on the total focal length of the entire optical system, thereby keeping the total focal length of the entire optical system substantially unchanged. Since the optical sensitivity cannot be too high or too low, such liquid lenses for focusing are generally not disposed at the foremost and rearmost ends of the optical system, but need to be disposed at the intermediate section of the optical system. With this design, the lens of the camera module will be divided into three parts, an upper lens group, a liquid lens and a lower lens group. How to assemble these three optical element groups with high yields while ensuring imaging quality is another important challenge facing those skilled in the art. Specifically, tolerance accumulation effects may occur in the tolerance of the liquid lens, assembly tolerance of the upper group of lens groups and the liquid lens, assembly tolerance of the liquid lens and the lower group of lens groups, and the like, resulting in significant degradation of imaging quality of the actual assembled product.

Further, in the prior art, the liquid lens generally includes a base plate, a metal ring mounted on the base plate, a liquid deformation body mounted on the inner side of the metal ring, and a driving element mounted on the base plate. Wherein the center of the substrate may have a light passing hole. The liquid deformation body may comprise a membrane structure and a liquid light transmitting body accommodated in the membrane structure. The driving element can drive the metal ring to move so as to adjust the shape of the film structure and the liquid transparent body, thereby changing the focal length of the liquid deformable body. The driving element and the substrate often occupy a large radial space (radial direction, i.e. direction perpendicular to the optical axis), and when the liquid lens is located in the middle of the camera module, the huge radial dimension of the liquid lens also makes assembly of the camera module very difficult. Particularly, the blocking of the liquid lens may cause difficulty to the active calibration process of the upper group and the lower group in the assembly of the camera module (wherein the active calibration refers to the assembly process of the optical lens or the camera module for adjusting the relative positions of the upper group and the lower group of the lens group based on the actual imaging result of the photosensitive chip), so that the assembly tolerance is increased, and the imaging quality of the module cannot reach the expectations.

In view of the foregoing, there is a great need for a liquid lens-based optical lens and camera module solution that can help reduce the radial size of the lens, facilitate assembly, and provide high imaging quality.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to overcome the defects of the prior art and provide an optical lens based on a liquid lens and an imaging module solution which can help to reduce the radial size of the lens, are convenient to assemble and have high imaging quality.

In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides an optical lens assembly based on a liquid lens, which includes: a first sub-lens including a first barrel and a first lens group mounted inside the first barrel; a second sub-lens including a second barrel and a second lens group mounted inside the second barrel; and a liquid lens including a driving element, a lens support, and a liquid lens, wherein the lens support includes an inner ring, an outer ring, and a connection beam connecting the inner ring and the outer ring, the inner ring, the connection beam, and the outer ring being integrally formed, an outer side surface of the inner ring, an inner side surface of the outer ring, and the connection beam constructing a plurality of first through holes; the liquid lens is mounted on the inner ring, the driving element is suitable for applying driving force to the outer ring and transmitting the driving force to the inner ring through the connecting beam, so that the inner ring moves and changes the shape of the liquid lens, and the liquid lens is positioned between the first lens group and the second lens group. Wherein the first lens barrel and the second lens barrel are directly bonded, and a bonding area of the first lens barrel and the second lens barrel is positioned in the first through hole in a top view.

Wherein, in a top view, the total area of the first through holes accounts for at least 70% of the total area of the annular region between the inner side surface of the outer ring and the outer side surface of the inner ring.

The top of the second lens barrel is provided with a plurality of bosses which extend upwards to pass through or extend into the first through hole, and the first lens barrel is bonded with the bosses of the second lens barrel; the bosses encircle around the liquid lens, and an avoidance groove is formed between the adjacent bosses, and the connecting beam penetrates through the avoidance groove.

The connecting beam comprises a bending section, an outer section and an inner section, wherein the outer section and the inner section are positioned at different heights, two ends of the outer section are respectively connected with the inner side face of the outer ring and the bending section, and two ends of the inner section are respectively connected with the outer side face of the inner ring and the bending section.

Wherein, lens support piece is through embedded injection molding technology integrated into one piece, wherein the inner ring is the metalwork, the outer loop with the tie beam is the working of plastics.

Wherein the lens support is integrally formed by an injection molding or a molding process, wherein the inner ring, the outer ring and the connecting piece are all plastic pieces.

The outer side surface of the first lens barrel is provided with a plurality of extension parts, the extension parts and the boss are at least partially overlapped in a top view, and the bottom surface of the extension parts is adhered to the top surface of the boss.

Wherein the relative positions of the first barrel and the second barrel are determined based on the active calibration, a bottom surface of the extension portion has a gap with a top surface of the boss, and the first barrel and the second barrel are supported by a gel material disposed in the gap so that the two are maintained at the relative positions determined by the active calibration.

The edge area at the top of the boss extends upwards to form an outer side wall, the outer side wall and the top surface of the boss form a containing groove, the extension part is located in the containing groove, and a gap between the outer side surface of the extension part and the outer side wall of the boss is provided with a glue material to strengthen bonding of the boss and the extension part.

The top surface of the outer side wall of the boss, the top surface of the connecting beam and the top surface of the extension part are flush.

The liquid lens comprises a rigid light-transmitting plate, two flexible light-transmitting films and a liquid light-transmitting material, wherein edge areas of the two flexible light-transmitting films are respectively fixed on the upper surface and the lower surface of the inner ring, the inner ring and the two flexible light-transmitting films form a closed container to contain the liquid light-transmitting material, and the rigid light-transmitting plate is attached to the surface of one of the flexible light-transmitting films.

The two flexible light-transmitting films are an upper flexible light-transmitting film and a lower flexible light-transmitting film, the rigid light-transmitting plate is adhered to the upper surface of the upper flexible light-transmitting film, the top surface of the rigid light-transmitting plate is adhered to the bottom surface of the first sub-lens, and the inner ring is suitable for moving in the optical axis direction of the optical lens assembly so as to change the shapes of the flexible light-transmitting film and the surface of the liquid light-transmitting material.

Wherein the optical lens assembly further comprises an actuator housing, the second lens group is located in the actuator housing, the actuator housing has an actuator through hole, the boss protrudes from the actuator through hole to the actuator housing, and the driving element is located inside the actuator housing and directly or indirectly connected with the outer ring.

Wherein the optical lens assembly further comprises a liquid lens driving carrier, and the driving element is connected with the outer ring through the liquid lens driving carrier.

According to another aspect of the present application, there is also provided an optical lens assembly method including the steps of: 1) Preparing a first sub-lens and a second sub-lens separated from each other, the first sub-lens including a first barrel and a first lens group mounted inside the first barrel, the second sub-lens including a second barrel and a second lens group mounted inside the second barrel, a top of the second barrel having a plurality of bosses; 2) The method comprises the steps of integrally manufacturing a lens support piece, wherein the lens support piece comprises an inner ring, an outer ring and a connecting beam for connecting the inner ring and the outer ring, the inner ring, the connecting beam and the outer ring are integrally formed, and a plurality of first through holes are formed in the outer side surface of the inner ring, the inner side surface of the outer ring and the connecting beam; 3) Mounting a liquid lens to the inner ring of the lens support to form a lens assembly; 4) Mounting the lens assembly to the first sub-lens to form an upper group assembly, wherein the liquid lens is positioned below the first lens group; 5) Moving the upper group assembly to the position above the second sub-lens, enabling the boss to penetrate through or extend into the first through hole of the lens support piece, and then actively calibrating the relative positions of the upper group assembly and the second sub-lens based on an actual imaging result; and 6) maintaining the upper cluster assembly and the second sub-lens in the relative position determined by active calibration by bonding the boss to the first sub-lens.

Wherein said step 5) comprises the following sub-steps: 51 Mounting the second sub-lens on an actuator to form a lower group assembly; 52 Moving the upper group assembly to the upper part of the second sub-lens, enabling the boss to penetrate or extend into the first through hole of the lens support piece, and then actively calibrating the relative positions of the upper group assembly and the second sub-lens based on an actual imaging result; 53 The outer ring is moved along the optical axis direction of the first sub-lens, and the relation between the axial displacement of the outer ring and the axial position of the image plane is calibrated according to the actual imaging result.

Wherein said step 6) comprises the following sub-steps: 61 By bonding the boss to the first sub-lens such that the upper group assembly and the second sub-lens remain in the relative position determined by active calibration; 62 A liquid lens driving carrier adhering the outer ring to the actuator, the driving element of the actuator being adapted to drive the liquid lens driving carrier to move up and down relative to the actuator housing, thereby driving the outer ring to move axially; the drive signal of the drive element is determined from the axial displacement of the outer ring calibrated in step 53) versus the axial position of the image plane.

According to still another aspect of the present application, there is also provided an image capturing module including: a photosensitive assembly having a photosensitive chip; and an optical lens assembly as described in any one of the preceding aspects; the optical lens assembly is mounted on the photosensitive assembly, so that the photosensitive chip is suitable for receiving light rays passing through the first lens group, the liquid lens and the second lens group and outputting imaging data.

Compared with the prior art, the application has at least one of the following technical effects:

1. According to the application, through the special shape design of the lens support piece, the upper group lens group and the lower group lens group separated by the liquid lens can be directly connected and fixed, so that tolerance accumulation in the assembly process is reduced, and the imaging quality of the camera module is improved.

2. In some embodiments of the present application, a large area of relief holes are reserved between the inner and outer rings of the lens support, thereby allowing the bosses of the lower lens group to have a larger glue distribution area, and then, by matching with an active calibration process, various tolerances of the assembly process and the optical element itself can be compensated, thereby improving the imaging quality.

3. In some embodiments of the present application, by setting a larger glue spreading area for the active calibration process, deformation of the glue during curing (e.g., baking curing) can be avoided or significantly suppressed, so that the relative position of each optical element can be maintained at the relative position determined by the active calibration, and further, the imaging quality is improved.

4. In some embodiments of the present application, the lens support with the inner and outer rings and the connecting beam is manufactured by an integrally-formed manufacturing process, so as to allow a larger hollowed-out area between the inner and outer rings to serve as the avoiding hole, and allow the boss surface of the lower group lens group to have a larger glue distribution area.

5. In some embodiments of the present application, the connection beam between the inner ring and the outer ring has a bent structure to improve the structural strength of the connection beam without increasing the thickness and weight of the connection beam, thereby suppressing errors generated when the driving force is transmitted from the outer ring to the inner ring.

6. In some embodiments of the present application, before the outer ring and the driving element are assembled, the relationship between the axial displacement of the outer ring and the axial position of the image plane can be calibrated based on the actual imaging data of the photosensitive chip, so as to inhibit or avoid the accumulated error caused by the process that the driving force is transmitted from the outer ring to the inner ring through the connecting beam, thereby ensuring the imaging quality and the automatic focusing accuracy of the whole camera module. This assembly scheme is particularly suited for lens supports having large area relief holes.

Drawings

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective cross-sectional view of a liquid lens-based camera module in accordance with one embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic perspective view of a lens support in one embodiment of the application;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic perspective view of a combination liquid lens and lens support;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic perspective view of a second sub-lens in an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic perspective view of a first sub-lens in an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an imaging module in a top view according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 7 illustrates a perspective exploded view of a camera module in one embodiment of the application;

FIG. 8a shows a schematic view of a liquid lens in a first state in one embodiment of the application;

fig. 8b is a schematic view of a liquid lens in an embodiment of the application in a second state.

Detailed Description

For a better understanding of the application, various aspects of the application will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the detailed description is merely illustrative of exemplary embodiments of the application and is not intended to limit the scope of the application in any way. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification. The expression "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It should be noted that in this specification, the expressions first, second, etc. are only used to distinguish one feature from another feature, and do not represent any limitation of the feature. Accordingly, a first body discussed below may also be referred to as a second body without departing from the teachings of the present application.

In the drawings, the thickness, size and shape of the object have been slightly exaggerated for convenience of explanation. The figures are merely examples and are not drawn to scale.

It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," "including," "having," "containing," and/or "including," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. Furthermore, when a statement such as "at least one of the following" appears after a list of features that are listed, the entire listed feature is modified instead of modifying a separate element in the list. Furthermore, when describing embodiments of the present application, the use of "may" means "one or more embodiments of the present application. Also, the term "exemplary" is intended to refer to an example or illustration.

As used herein, the terms "substantially," "about," and the like are used as terms of a table approximation, not as terms of a table level, and are intended to illustrate inherent deviations in measured or calculated values that would be recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

It should be noted that, without conflict, the embodiments of the present application and features of the embodiments may be combined with each other.

The invention is further described below with reference to the drawings and specific embodiments.

Fig. 1 shows a perspective cross-sectional view of a liquid lens-based camera module according to one embodiment of the present application. The camera module comprises a photosensitive component and an optical lens component. Wherein, optical lens assembly includes: a first sub-lens 10, a second sub-lens 20 and a liquid lens 30. The first sub-lens 10 includes a first barrel 12 and a first lens group 13 mounted inside the first barrel 12. The second sub-lens 20 includes a second barrel 22 and a second lens group (the second lens group is not separately shown in fig. 1, and in reality, the second barrel 22 is cylindrical, the second lens group is mounted inside the second barrel 22, and an inner side surface of the second barrel 22 may be stepped so as to assemble a plurality of lenses into an integral second lens group from as small as the earth, and a relative position between each lens inside the second lens group is supported and fixed by the second barrel). Further, in the present embodiment, the liquid lens 30 includes a driving element, a lens support, and a liquid lens 34. Fig. 2 shows a schematic perspective view of a lens support in one embodiment of the application. Referring to fig. 2, the lens support includes an inner ring 32, an outer ring 31, and a connection beam 33 connecting the inner ring 32 and the outer ring 31. In this embodiment, the inner ring 32, the connecting beam 33 and the outer ring 31 are integrally formed, and the outer side surface of the inner ring 32, the inner side surface of the outer ring 31 and the connecting beam 33 form a plurality of first through holes 30a. The liquid lens 34 is mounted to the inner ring 32. Fig. 3 shows a schematic perspective view of a combination of a liquid lens and a lens support. The outer ring 31 may be connected to a driving element (which may be referred to as a liquid lens driving element) adapted to apply a driving force to the outer ring 31 and to transmit the driving force to the inner ring 32 via the connecting beam 33 such that the inner ring 32 moves and changes the shape of the liquid lens 34, the liquid lens 34 being located between the first lens group 13 and the second lens group. In this embodiment, the top of the second lens barrel 22 has a plurality of bosses 21, the bosses 21 extend upward through or into the first through hole 30a, and the first lens barrel 12 is bonded to the bosses 21 of the second lens barrel 22. In this embodiment, the lens support is designed as an integrally formed support structure with the inner ring 32 and the outer ring 31, so that the space between the inner ring 32 and the outer ring 31 can be penetrated or extended by the boss structure of the lens barrel, and therefore the first sub-lens 10 and the second sub-lens 20 can be directly bonded, compared with the conventional scheme that the first sub-lens 10 is bonded with the liquid lens 30 and the liquid lens 30 is bonded with the second sub-lens 20, the assembly tolerance of the whole camera module can be reduced. Specifically, in the conventional scheme, there are liquid lens tolerance, substrate (supplate) tolerance, motor (actuator) tolerance, etc. in the assembly process, various tolerances have a cumulative effect, resulting in large assembly errors. In the solution of this embodiment, the relative positions of the first sub-lens 10 and the second sub-lens 20 may be adjusted based on the active calibration technique, and the first sub-lens 10 and the second sub-lens 20 may be directly bonded, so that the two are reliably kept at the relative positions determined by the active calibration, thereby effectively reducing assembly tolerance and further improving imaging quality. In the present embodiment, the deformable liquid lens 34 is disposed between the first sub-lens 10 and the second sub-lens 20, and the optical sensitivity thereof is configured to be suitable for adjusting the image plane position (referred to as axial position) of the entire optical system, thereby realizing the auto-focusing function. Specifically, when the shape of the liquid lens 34 changes (i.e., the shape of the optical surface changes), the focal length of the liquid lens 34 itself changes, causing the image surface position of the image formed by the light from the object passing through the optical system to change. on the other hand, the liquid lens 34 is not a lens with high optical sensitivity at the forefront of the whole optical system, so that when the shape of the liquid lens 34 is changed, the focal length of the whole optical system can be basically unchanged, thereby ensuring the final imaging quality.

Further still referring to fig. 1-3, in one embodiment of the present application, the first through hole 30a in the lens support of the liquid lens 30 may have a larger open area for active alignment and firm bonding of the first and second sub-lenses 10 and 20 and the liquid lens 30. The present inventors have found that when the bonding area of the first sub-lens 10 and the second sub-lens is too small, the adhesive material is easily deformed when baked and cured, so that the gap between the lens barrel and the lens becomes large, and errors occur. Thus, in this embodiment, the total area of the plurality of first through holes 30a (refer to the total area of all the first through holes in the top view) is at least 70% of the total area of the annular region between the inner side surface of the outer ring 31 and the outer side surface of the inner ring 32 (refer to the total area in the top view), and in a preferred embodiment, the total area of the plurality of first through holes is about 80% of the total area of the annular region.

Further, fig. 4 shows a schematic perspective view of a second sub-lens in an embodiment of the application. Referring to fig. 4, in the present embodiment, a plurality of the bosses 21 are surrounded around the liquid lens 34 in the second barrel 22, and a relief groove is formed between adjacent bosses 21, and the connection beam 33 of the lens support member may pass through the relief groove (refer to fig. 1). Further still referring to fig. 2 and 3, in one embodiment of the present application, the connection beam 33 may include an outer segment, an inner segment, and a bending segment, both ends of the outer segment being connected to an inner side surface of the outer ring 31 and the bending segment, respectively, and both ends of the inner segment being connected to an outer side of the inner ring 32 and the bending segment, respectively, the bending segment connecting the outer segment and the inner segment at different heights. Such a design with the bent portion can improve the structural strength of the connecting beam 33 (improve the structural strength of the connecting beam 33 without increasing the thickness and weight of the connecting beam 33), thereby suppressing errors occurring when the driving force is transmitted from the outer ring 31 to the inner ring 32. In this embodiment, the outer ring 31 is adapted to move up and down (i.e. move in the optical axis direction of the camera module) under the driving of the driving element, and the up and down movement is transmitted to the inner ring 32 through the connecting beam 33, and the shape of the liquid lens 34 is changed by the driving of the inner ring 32, so as to adjust the axial position of the actual imaging plane (i.e. adjust the position of the image plane in the optical axis direction), thereby implementing the auto-focusing function. In this embodiment, the travel of the outer ring 31 and the inner ring 32 up and down may be 100 μm to 200 μm (refer to a travel of S μm, which is a value between 100 μm and 200 μm). The travel of 100 μm-200 μm is much smaller than the travel of a conventional autofocus lens, so that the liquid lens 30-based autofocus scheme can help reduce the height (height refers to the dimension in the optical axis direction) of the camera module.

Further, in one embodiment of the present application, the lens support is integrally formed by an insert injection molding process, wherein the inner ring 32 is a metal piece, and the outer ring 31 and the connecting beam 33 are plastic pieces. This integrally formed manufacturing process is different from the common assembled lens supports. A common assembly type lens support is to mold the metal ring (corresponding to the inner ring 32 of the present application) of the liquid lens 34 and the base plate (subplate) separately and then assemble the two. In the present embodiment, the lens support with the inner ring 32 and the outer ring 31 is formed by the integrally forming process, so that the degradation of the imaging quality caused by insufficient bonding area of the first sub-lens 10 and the second sub-lens 20 can be avoided.

Further, in another embodiment of the present application, the lens support is integrally formed by injection molding or a molding process, wherein the inner ring 32, the outer ring 31 and the connecting member are all plastic members. The integrally formed manufacturing process is different from the common assembly type lens support piece, and can avoid the imaging quality degradation caused by insufficient bonding area of the first sub-lens 10 and the second sub-lens 20.

Further, fig. 5 shows a schematic perspective view of a first sub-lens in an embodiment of the present application. Referring to fig. 5, in the present embodiment, the outer side surface of the first barrel 12 has a plurality of extension portions 11 (four in fig. 4), the extension portions 11 overlap (at least partially overlap) the boss 21 in a plan view, and the bottom surface of the extension portion 11 is bonded to the top surface of the boss 21. The relative positions of the first barrel 12 and the second barrel 22 are determined based on the active alignment, a gap of 30 μm to 100 μm is provided between the bottom surface of the extension 11 and the top surface of the boss 21, and the first barrel 12 and the second barrel 22 are supported by a gel material disposed in the gap so that the two are maintained at the relative positions determined by the active alignment.

Further, in one embodiment of the present application, an edge region of the top of the boss 21 extends upward to form an outer sidewall 21a, the outer sidewall 21a and the top surface of the boss 21 form a receiving groove, the extension 11 is located in the receiving groove, and a gap between the outer side surface of the extension 11 and the outer sidewall 21a of the boss 21 is provided with a glue material to strengthen the adhesion of the boss 21 and the extension 11. The setting of this holding tank can also help blockking the bonding glue material, avoids glue material to pollute the light path of optical system.

Further, in one embodiment of the present application, the top surface of the outer side wall 21a of the boss 21, the top surface of the connection beam 33, and the top surface of the extension 11 are flush (refer to fig. 1 and 4 in combination). The design can reduce the gap at the top of the camera shooting module, avoid dust from entering the camera shooting module, and simultaneously enable the appearance of the camera shooting module to be more attractive.

Further, fig. 8a shows a schematic view of a liquid lens in a first state according to an embodiment of the present application, and fig. 8b shows a schematic view of a liquid lens in a second state according to an embodiment of the present application. The liquid lens includes a rigid light-transmitting plate 35, an upper flexible light-transmitting film 36, a lower flexible light-transmitting film 37, and a liquid light-transmitting material 38 filled between the two light-transmitting films (i.e., the upper flexible light-transmitting film 36 and the lower flexible light-transmitting film 37). The upper flexible light transmissive film 36 and the lower flexible light transmissive film 37 are both secured to the inner ring 32 of the lens support. Specifically, an edge region of the upper flexible light-transmitting film 36 may be fixed to an upper surface of the inner ring 32, and an edge region of the lower flexible light-transmitting film 37 may be fixed to a lower surface of the inner ring 32. Further, in this embodiment, the rigid light-transmitting plate 35 may be adhered to the upper surface of the upper flexible light-transmitting film 36, and the rigid light-transmitting plate 35 is located in the central region of the upper flexible light-transmitting film 36 in a top view. The inner ring 32 surrounds the rigid light-transmitting plate 35. The inner ring 32, the upper flexible light transmissive film 36 and the lower flexible light transmissive film 37 together form a closed container to contain the liquid light transmissive material 38. In this embodiment, the rigid light-transmitting plate 35 is located above the liquid lens 34, and its top surface is adhered to the bottom surface of the first sub-lens 10 (for example, may be adhered to the bottom surface of the first lens barrel 12). The lower flexible transparent film 37 can be driven by the driving element to move upwards by the inner ring 32 and change the surface shape thereof, so as to change the liquid surface shape of the liquid transparent material 38. In this embodiment, the light-transmitting plate 35 may be a glass plate. The height of the liquid lens 30 may be 400 μm-800 μm. In the present embodiment, the height of the liquid lens 30 is 500 μm. The height of the liquid lens 30, i.e., the thickness of the liquid lens, i.e., the distance from the upper surface of the rigid light-transmitting plate 35 to the lower surface of the lower flexible light-transmitting film 37. The inner ring 32 can move up and down within 200 μm. In the first state, the inner ring 32 is in the home position. The rigid light-transmitting plate 35 is fixed to the first sub-lens and remains stationary during focusing of the camera module. In the second state, the inner ring 32 moves upward (for example, moves upward under the action of the driving element), so that the shape of the lower flexible transparent film 37 is changed (for example, the curvature of the surface of the lower flexible transparent film 37 is changed), and the shape of the variable transparent body (i.e., the liquid transparent material 38) is changed, so that the whole optical lens or the camera module is automatically focused.

In another embodiment, the light-transmitting plate 35 may be located below the lower flexible light-transmitting film, the bottom surface of the light-transmitting plate 35 is adhered to the second sub-lens 20, and the inner ring 32 is adapted to move in the optical axis direction of the optical lens assembly to change the shape of the light-transmitting film and the surface of the liquid light-transmitting material 38. The light-transmitting plate 35 is adhered to the top surface of the second barrel 22 and surrounded by the boss 21.

Further, in one embodiment of the present application, the optical lens assembly may further include an actuator housing 41, the second lens group is located in the actuator housing 41, the actuator housing 41 has an actuator through hole 44, the boss 21 protrudes from the actuator through hole 44 out of the actuator housing 41, and a liquid lens driving element 43 is located inside the actuator housing 41, and the liquid lens driving element 43 may be indirectly connected with the outer ring 31. For example, the optical lens assembly may further comprise a liquid lens drive carrier 42, the drive element being connected to the outer ring 31 by the liquid lens drive carrier 42. Of course, in other embodiments, the liquid lens driving element 43 may be directly coupled to the outer ring 31.

Further, fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of the image capturing module according to an embodiment of the present application in a top view. Referring to fig. 6, in the present embodiment, the actuator through hole 44 is located in the central region of the actuator housing 41, with four connection beams 33 between the outer ring 31 and the inner ring 32. Fig. 7 shows a perspective exploded view of a camera module in one embodiment of the application. Referring to fig. 7, in the present embodiment, the image pickup module includes an actuator housing 41, a first sub-lens 10, a liquid lens 30 (driving elements thereof are not shown in the drawing), a second sub-lens 20, a liquid lens driving carrier 42, and a photosensitive assembly 50. The liquid light-transmitting material 38 is a deformable light-transmitting body that is enclosed between the upper flexible light-transmitting film 36 and the lower flexible light-transmitting film 37 of the liquid lens 30.

Furthermore, the application also provides an optical lens assembly method based on the liquid lens. In this embodiment, the assembling method includes:

In step S10, a first sub-lens 10 and a second sub-lens 20 separated from each other are prepared, the first sub-lens 10 including a first barrel 12 and a first lens group 13 mounted inside the first barrel 12, the second sub-lens 20 including a second barrel 22 and a second lens group mounted inside the second barrel 22, the second barrel 22 having a plurality of bosses 21 on a top thereof.

Step S20, integrally manufacturing a lens support, wherein the lens support comprises an inner ring 32, an outer ring 31 and a connecting beam 33 connecting the inner ring 32 and the outer ring 31, the inner ring 32, the connecting beam 33 and the outer ring 31 are integrally formed, and a plurality of first through holes are formed on the outer side surface of the inner ring 32, the inner side surface of the outer ring 31 and the connecting beam 33.

In step S30, a liquid lens 34 is mounted on the inner ring 32 of the lens support to form a lens assembly. In this step, the liquid lens 34 may include a rigid light-transmitting plate 35, an upper flexible light-transmitting film 36, an upper flexible light-transmitting film 37, and a liquid light-transmitting material 38 filled between the upper flexible light-transmitting film 36 and the upper flexible light-transmitting film 37. Specifically, an edge region of the upper flexible light-transmitting film 36 may be fixed to an upper surface of the inner ring 32, and an edge region of the upper flexible light-transmitting film 37 may be fixed to a lower surface of the inner ring 32. The inner ring 32, the upper flexible light transmissive film 36 and the upper flexible light transmissive film 37 together form a closed container to contain the liquid light transmissive material 38. Further, in this embodiment, the rigid light-transmitting plate 35 may be adhered to the upper surface of the upper flexible light-transmitting film 36, and the rigid light-transmitting plate 35 is located in the central region of the upper flexible light-transmitting film 36 in a top view.

Step S40, the lens assembly is mounted on the first sub-lens 10. In this embodiment, the lens assembly may be adhered to the bottom surface of the first sub-lens 10 (e.g., the bottom surface of the first barrel 12) by the rigid light-transmitting plate 35. That is, the upper surface of the rigid light-transmitting plate 35 is adhered to the bottom surface of the first barrel 12, so that the lens assembly based on the liquid lens 34 and the first sub-lens 10 form a composite semi-finished lens component, which is referred to as an upper group assembly for convenience of description.

In step S50, the upper sub-lens assembly is moved above the second sub-lens 20 (may also be referred to as a lower sub-lens assembly), and the relative positions of the first sub-lens 10 and the lower sub-lens assembly are actively calibrated based on the actual imaging result.

Step S60, bonding the boss 21 to the first sub-lens 10, so that the upper group assembly and the second sub-lens 20 are maintained at the relative positions determined by the active calibration. Wherein, the boss 21 can pass through or extend into the first through hole of the lens support member of the upper group assembly from bottom to top, so that the adhesive material can be conveniently arranged on the top surface of the boss 21 and adhered to the first lens barrel 12. In some embodiments, the outer side surface of the first lens barrel 12 may have a plurality of extension portions 11, the extension portions 11 at least partially overlap the boss 21 in a top view, and a bottom surface of the extension portions 11 is bonded to a top surface of the boss 21.

Further, in one embodiment of the present application, the step S50 may include the following sub-steps.

In step S51, the second sub-lens 20 is mounted on an actuator to form a lower group assembly. The actuator comprises an actuator housing 41 and the driving element located within the actuator housing 41, the actuator housing 41 having an actuator through hole 44. The drive element may be coupled to a liquid lens drive carrier 42, and the liquid lens drive carrier 42 may have an annular coupling portion that may protrude from the actuator through bore 44.

In step S52, the upper sub-lens assembly is moved above the second sub-lens 20 (may also be referred to as a lower sub-lens assembly), and the relative positions of the first sub-lens 10 and the lower sub-lens assembly are actively calibrated based on the actual imaging result.

In step S53, the outer ring 31 is moved along the optical axis direction of the first sub-lens 10, and the relationship between the axial displacement of the outer ring 31 and the axial position of the image plane is calibrated according to the actual imaging result of the optical system (the optical system consisting of the first lens group 13, the liquid lens 34 and the second lens group). The axial direction refers to the optical axis direction (e.g., the optical axis direction of the first sub-lens 10). In the present embodiment, the deformable liquid lens 34 is disposed between the first sub-lens 10 and the second sub-lens 20, and the optical sensitivity thereof is configured to be suitable for adjusting the image plane position (referred to as axial position) of the entire optical system, thereby realizing the auto-focusing function. Specifically, when the shape of the liquid lens 34 changes (i.e., the shape of the optical surface changes), the focal length of the liquid lens 34 itself changes, causing the image surface position of the image formed by the light from the object passing through the optical system to change. On the other hand, the liquid lens 34 is not a lens with high optical sensitivity at the forefront of the whole optical system, so that when the shape of the liquid lens 34 is changed, the focal length of the whole optical system can be basically unchanged, thereby ensuring the final imaging quality. Further, in step S52, a moving mechanism having two pairs of clamping jaws (the two pairs of clamping jaws may be referred to as a first clamping jaw and a second clamping jaw, respectively, and in other embodiments, the clamping jaws may be also be absorbed by other types of pickup heads such as an absorption pickup head) may be used to clamp the upper group assembly, wherein the first clamping jaw (i.e., one pair of clamping jaws) is used to clamp the first sub-lens 10, and the second clamping jaw (i.e., the other pair of clamping jaws) is used to clamp the outer ring 31 of the liquid lens 30. First, the optical system is actively calibrated, the relative positions of the first sub-lens 10 and the second sub-lens 20 are determined, and then the relative positions of the first sub-lens 10 and the second sub-lens 20 are maintained. In step S53, the outer ring 31 is moved by the second clamping jaw in the axial direction under the condition that the relative positions of the first sub-lens 10 and the second sub-lens 20 are kept unchanged, so as to change the shape of the liquid lens 34, and then the axial position of the image plane of the corresponding optical system is determined when the outer ring 31 is at different axial positions based on the actual imaging result, so that the relationship between the axial displacement of the outer ring 31 and the axial position of the image plane is obtained. The corresponding relation can be recorded in firmware of electronic equipment (such as a mobile phone) or can be directly burnt in a driving circuit of the camera module.

The step S60 may include the following sub-steps.

Step S61, by bonding the boss 21 and the first sub-lens 10, the upper group assembly and the second sub-lens 20 are kept at the relative positions determined by the active calibration. Wherein, the boss 21 can pass through or extend into the first through hole of the lens support member of the upper group assembly from bottom to top, so that the adhesive material can be conveniently arranged on the top surface of the boss 21 and bonded with the first lens barrel 12. In some embodiments, the outer side surface of the first lens barrel 12 may have a plurality of extension portions 11, the extension portions 11 at least partially overlap the boss 21 in a top view, and a bottom surface of the extension portions 11 is bonded to a top surface of the boss 21.

Step S62, bonding the outer ring 31 to the liquid lens driving carrier 42. The moving part of the driving element is mounted on the liquid lens driving carrier 42, the static part of the driving element may be mounted on the actuator housing 41, and under the action of the driving element, the liquid lens driving carrier 42 may move up and down (i.e. move along the optical axis direction of the first sub-lens 10) relative to the liquid lens driving carrier 42, so as to drive the outer ring 31 to axially move. The driving signal of the driving element may be determined according to the relationship between the axial displacement of the outer ring 31 and the axial position of the image plane (i.e., the relationship between the axial displacement of the outer ring 31 and the axial position of the image plane calibrated in step S53).

In this embodiment, before the upper group assembly and the second sub-lens 20 are adhered and fixed, the relative positions of the upper group assembly and the second sub-lens 20 can be actively calibrated based on the actual imaging data output by the photosensitive chip, so as to reduce the accumulation of assembly tolerance. Meanwhile, before the outer ring 31 is connected with the driving element, the actual deformation condition of the liquid lens 34 can be calibrated by moving the outer ring 31, so that the relation between the axial displacement of the outer ring 31 and the axial position of the image surface can be accurately determined, and the accumulated error caused by the process that the driving force is transmitted from the outer ring 31 to the inner ring 32 through the connecting beam 33 is restrained or avoided, so that the imaging quality and the automatic focusing accuracy of the whole camera module are ensured. This assembly scheme is particularly suited for lens supports having large area relief holes. Here, the large-area avoidance hole is the first through hole in the foregoing, and the first through hole can be used for the boss 21 of the second sub-lens 20 to pass through or extend into, and provides a large-area glue distribution area.

Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only for illustrating the technical solution of the present invention and are not limiting. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that modifications and equivalents may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, which is intended to be covered by the appended claims.

Claims (18)

1. An optical lens assembly based on a liquid lens, comprising:

A first sub-lens including a first barrel and a first lens group mounted inside the first barrel;

A second sub-lens including a second barrel and a second lens group mounted inside the second barrel; and

A liquid lens comprising a driving element, a lens support and a liquid lens, wherein the lens support comprises an inner ring, an outer ring and a connecting beam connecting the inner ring and the outer ring, the inner ring, the connecting beam and the outer ring are integrally formed, and the outer side surface of the inner ring, the inner side surface of the outer ring and the connecting beam form a plurality of first through holes; the liquid lens is mounted on the inner ring, the driving element is suitable for applying driving force to the outer ring and transmitting the driving force to the inner ring through the connecting beam, so that the inner ring moves and changes the shape of the liquid lens, and the liquid lens is positioned between the first lens group and the second lens group;

Wherein the first lens barrel and the second lens barrel are directly bonded, and a bonding area of the first lens barrel and the second lens barrel is positioned in the first through hole in a top view.

2. The optical lens assembly of claim 1, wherein a total area of the plurality of first through holes is at least 70% of a total area of the annular region between the inner side of the outer ring and the outer side of the inner ring in a top view.

3. The optical lens assembly of claim 1, wherein the top of the second barrel has a plurality of bosses extending upwardly through or into the first through hole, the first barrel being bonded to the bosses of the second barrel;

The bosses encircle around the liquid lens, and an avoidance groove is formed between the adjacent bosses, and the connecting beam penetrates through the avoidance groove.

4. The optical lens assembly according to claim 1, wherein the connecting beam comprises a bending section, an outer section and an inner section at different heights, two ends of the outer section are respectively connected with the inner side surface of the outer ring and the bending section, and two ends of the inner section are respectively connected with the outer side surface of the inner ring and the bending section.

5. The optical lens assembly of claim 3 or 4, wherein the lens support is integrally formed by an insert injection molding process, wherein the inner ring is a metal piece and the outer ring and the connecting beam are plastic pieces.

6. The optical lens assembly of claim 3 or 4, wherein the lens support is integrally formed by an injection molding or a molding process, wherein the inner ring, the outer ring, and the connecting member are all plastic pieces.

7. The optical lens assembly of claim 3, wherein the outer side of the first barrel has a plurality of extensions that at least partially overlap the boss in a top view, and wherein a bottom surface of the extensions is bonded to a top surface of the boss.

8. The optical lens assembly of claim 7, wherein the relative positions of the first barrel and the second barrel are determined based on active calibration, wherein a bottom surface of the extension has a gap from a top surface of the boss, and wherein the first barrel and the second barrel are supported by a gel disposed in the gap such that the two remain in the relative positions determined by active calibration.

9. The optical lens assembly of claim 8, wherein an edge region of the top of the boss extends upwardly to form an outer sidewall, the outer sidewall and the top surface of the boss form a receiving groove, the extension is located in the receiving groove, and a gap between the outer side of the extension and the outer sidewall of the boss is provided with a glue to strengthen the bonding of the boss to the extension.

10. The optical lens assembly of claim 9, wherein a top surface of the outer sidewall of the boss, a top surface of the connection beam, and a top surface of the extension are flush.

11. The optical lens assembly of claim 1, wherein the liquid optic comprises a rigid light transmissive plate, two flexible light transmissive films, and a liquid light transmissive material, edge regions of the two flexible light transmissive films being secured to upper and lower surfaces of the inner ring, respectively, the inner ring and the two flexible light transmissive films forming a closed container to contain the liquid light transmissive material, the rigid light transmissive plate being affixed to a surface of one of the flexible light transmissive films.

12. The optical lens assembly of claim 11, wherein the two flexible light-transmitting films are an upper flexible light-transmitting film and a lower flexible light-transmitting film, the rigid light-transmitting plate is adhered to an upper surface of the upper flexible light-transmitting film, a top surface of the rigid light-transmitting plate is adhered to a bottom surface of the first sub-lens, and the inner ring is adapted to move in an optical axis direction of the optical lens assembly to change shapes of the surfaces of the flexible light-transmitting film and the liquid light-transmitting material.

13. An optical lens assembly as claimed in claim 3, further comprising an actuator housing, the second lens group being located within the actuator housing, the actuator housing having an actuator through hole, the boss protruding from the actuator through hole out of the actuator housing, the drive element being located inside the actuator housing and being directly or indirectly connected to the outer ring.

14. The optical lens assembly of claim 13, further comprising a liquid lens drive carrier, the drive element being coupled to the outer ring by the liquid lens drive carrier.

15. An optical lens assembly method is characterized by comprising the following steps:

1) Preparing a first sub-lens and a second sub-lens separated from each other, the first sub-lens including a first barrel and a first lens group mounted inside the first barrel, the second sub-lens including a second barrel and a second lens group mounted inside the second barrel, a top of the second barrel having a plurality of bosses;

2) The method comprises the steps of integrally manufacturing a lens support piece, wherein the lens support piece comprises an inner ring, an outer ring and a connecting beam for connecting the inner ring and the outer ring, the inner ring, the connecting beam and the outer ring are integrally formed, and a plurality of first through holes are formed in the outer side surface of the inner ring, the inner side surface of the outer ring and the connecting beam;

3) Mounting a liquid lens to the inner ring of the lens support to form a lens assembly;

4) Mounting the lens assembly to the first sub-lens to form an upper group assembly, wherein the liquid lens is positioned below the first lens group;

5) Moving the upper group assembly to the position above the second sub-lens, enabling the boss to penetrate through or extend into the first through hole of the lens support piece, and then actively calibrating the relative positions of the upper group assembly and the second sub-lens based on an actual imaging result; and

6) The boss is bonded with the first sub-lens, so that the upper group assembly and the second sub-lens are kept at the relative positions determined by active calibration.

16. The method of assembling an optical lens of claim 15, wherein the step 5) includes the sub-steps of:

51 Mounting the second sub-lens on an actuator to form a lower group assembly;

52 Moving the upper group assembly to the upper part of the second sub-lens, enabling the boss to penetrate or extend into the first through hole of the lens support piece, and then actively calibrating the relative positions of the upper group assembly and the second sub-lens based on an actual imaging result;

53 The outer ring is moved along the optical axis direction of the first sub-lens, and the relation between the axial displacement of the outer ring and the axial position of the image plane is calibrated according to the actual imaging result.

17. The method of assembling an optical lens of claim 16, wherein the step 6) includes the sub-steps of:

61 By bonding the boss to the first sub-lens such that the upper group assembly and the second sub-lens remain in the relative position determined by active calibration;

62 A liquid lens driving carrier adhering the outer ring to the actuator, the driving element of the actuator being adapted to drive the liquid lens driving carrier to move up and down relative to the actuator housing, thereby driving the outer ring to move axially; the drive signal of the drive element is determined from the axial displacement of the outer ring calibrated in step 53) versus the axial position of the image plane.

18. A camera module, comprising:

A photosensitive assembly having a photosensitive chip; and

The optical lens assembly of any of claims 1-14; the optical lens assembly is mounted on the photosensitive assembly, so that the photosensitive chip is suitable for receiving light rays passing through the first lens group, the liquid lens and the second lens group and outputting imaging data.