JP7557263B2 - Camera module with blade drive device and blade drive device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a camera module with a blade drive device and a blade drive device.

Recent electronic devices, particularly portable electronic devices (such as notebook PCs, smartphones, and tablet devices), are equipped with camera modules. In a camera module, an imaging unit such as an image sensor is mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB), and a lens unit is mounted on top of the imaging unit. Camera modules that have a mechanical shutter on top of the lens unit are also known (see Patent Document 1 below).

JP 2009-288327 A

In recent years, many electronic devices are used while connected to a network, as expressed by the term "IoT: Internet of Things." In the IoT, electronic devices are constantly exposed to the risk of cracking (malicious hacking) and cyber attacks, making security measures essential.

In electronic devices equipped with a camera module, if the aperture that lets in light to the camera module is always left open, problems may arise in the IoT in the event that the camera function is activated by malicious external manipulation, such as the leakage of private images or a reduction in security functions due to unauthorized image acquisition.

Even when separated from the IoT, if the opening of the camera module is always left open, there is a possibility that unintended images may be captured and saved in portable electronic devices, which may lead to a situation where the device may be suspected of taking voyeuristic photographs. Even if no images are actually captured, there is a problem in that the fact that the opening of the camera module is left open may lead to false suspicions from those around that voyeuristic photographs may be taken.

In contrast, a configuration in which a mechanical shutter is provided above the lens unit in a camera module, as in the conventional technology described above, can eliminate the problem of image (video) information not intended by the user being captured by the camera module when the camera is not in use by intentionally closing the mechanical shutter when the camera is not in use. However, a configuration in which a mechanical shutter is provided above the lens unit, as in the conventional technology described above, has the problem that it cannot meet the high demand for thinness required for portable electronic devices, even if part of the lens unit is housed within part of the mechanical shutter, as in the conventional technology.

The present invention has been proposed to address these problems. In other words, the objective of the present invention is to solve the problem of image (video) information not intended by the user being captured by the camera module when the camera module is installed in an electronic device, and further to meet the demand for extremely thin electronic devices such as portable devices.

In order to solve such problems, the present invention has the following configuration.
A camera module with a blade drive device comprising: a camera module having an imaging unit mounted on a circuit board and a lens unit disposed on the imaging unit; and a blade drive device disposed on the circuit board and having a storage section for accommodating a protruding portion of the circuit board in the camera module, and having blades for opening or blocking the field of view of the lens unit, wherein a fixing surface for fixing the blade drive device is provided on the circuit board, and a gap is provided between the storage section and an upper surface of the lens unit to allow tilt when the lens unit is attached, and the gap is defined by the fixing surface to a constant distance between the storage section and the lens unit .

1 is an external perspective view of a camera module with a blade drive device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of a camera module with a blade drive device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A and 1B are explanatory diagrams showing examples of mounting a blade drive device to a camera module ((a) is an example in which the blade drive device is fixed onto a circuit board, and (b) is an example in which the lens unit of the camera module is fixed inside the housing of the blade drive device). 4A and 4B are explanatory diagrams showing main parts of the blade drive device (FIG. 4A is a side view, and FIG. 4B is a bottom view). 5A and 5B are explanatory diagrams showing the opening and closing of the blades of the blade drive device ((a) is an open state, and (b) is a closed state). 1A and 1B are explanatory diagrams showing the configuration of a locking shaft for a blade in a blade drive device (FIG. 1A is an example of integral molding, and FIG. 1B is an example of insert or outsert molding). 1A and 1B are explanatory diagrams showing examples of shielding portions of a blade ((a) is a mesh-shaped shielding portion, (b) is a concentric slit-shaped shielding portion, and (c) is a mosaic filter). An explanatory diagram showing the design on the outer surface of the blade ((a) is the picture design, (b) is the letter design). FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an electronic device equipped with a camera module with a blade drive device inside.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same reference numerals in different drawings indicate parts with the same function, and duplicate descriptions in each drawing will be omitted as appropriate.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the camera module 1 with a blade drive device includes a camera module 1A and a blade drive device 1B. The camera module 1A has an imaging unit 3 including an image sensor mounted on a circuit board (PCB) 2, and a lens unit 4 disposed on the imaging unit 3. In the example shown in Fig. 2, the imaging unit 3 is mounted in a recess 2A provided on the circuit board 2, and the lens unit 4 is attached to the surface 2B of the circuit board 2. As a result, the camera module 1A has a protruding portion above the circuit board 2 by the height H of the lens unit 4. Note that in other embodiments, the imaging unit 3 may be mounted on the circuit board 2 without providing a recess 2A on the circuit board 2.

In contrast, blade drive device 1B is arranged on circuit board 2, and has a housing section 5 that houses the protruding portion on circuit board 2 in camera module 1A described above. Housing section 5 is provided in frame 6 of blade drive device 1B, and frame 6 is arranged on circuit board 2. Note that "arrangement" in this specification includes a state in which at least a part of blade drive device 1B is fixed so as to be in contact with circuit board 2, and a state in which blade drive device 1B is fixed via another member without contacting circuit board 2.

The blade drive device 1B has blades 10 that open or block the field of view FOV (Field Of View) of the lens unit 4 in the camera module 1A. The frame 6 of the blade drive device 1B is also equipped with a drive unit 20 that drives the blades 10 to open and close. The drive unit 20 of the blade drive device 1B is arranged in parallel to the height H portion of the lens unit 4 that protrudes above the circuit board 2.

A specific example of the structure of the blade drive device 1B is described with reference to Figure 3. The frame 6 of the blade drive device 1B has the aforementioned storage section 5 and has a frame opening 6A that communicates with the storage section 5. The frame 6 can be integrally molded from resin or the like, and has an assembly protrusion 6B, a rotating shaft 6C, a support shaft 6P, and the like integrally formed on its surface.

The drive unit 20 of the blade drive device 1B is stored in the side portion of the storage section 5 in the frame body 6. In the drive unit 20, a rotor magnet 22, with which a drive lever 21 rotates integrally, is rotatably supported on a rotation shaft 6C of the frame body 6, and a U-shaped yoke 23 is disposed to surround the rotor magnet 22. One side of the yoke 23 is inserted into the winding core of the coil 24, and the coil 24 is wound around a bobbin 25 with an integrated current-carrying terminal 25A.

A partition plate 12 is provided on the drive unit 20 of the blade drive device 1B. The partition plate 12 has an opening 12A that corresponds to the field of view FOV of the camera module 1A. The partition plate 12 also has a hole 12B through which the engagement shaft 11 provided on the blade 10 passes, and an assembly hole 12C through which the assembly protrusion 6B of the frame body 6 passes.

The blades 10 and cover plate 13 are arranged on the partition plate 12, and the space between the partition plate 12 and the cover plate 13 becomes a blade chamber in which the blades 10 are arranged so as to be freely slidable. The cover plate 13 is provided with an opening 13A coaxial with the opening 12A of the partition plate 12, a hole 13B corresponding to the hole 12B of the partition plate 12, and a hole 13C corresponding to the assembly hole 12C.

In the camera module 1 with a blade drive device, for example, as shown in Figs. 4(a) and (b), the blade drive device 1B is attached to the camera module 1A. In the example shown in Fig. 4(a), the circuit board 2 and the frame 6 of the blade drive device 1B are fixed at the fixing portion P1, and a fixing surface 2P for fixing the blade drive device 1B is provided on the circuit board 2 at the fixing portion P1 (similarly, a fixing surface for fixing the circuit board 2 is provided on the underside of the frame of the blade drive device 1B).

In this example, a gap G1 is provided between the housing section 5 in the frame 6 and the top surface of the lens unit 4. Providing such a gap G1 makes it possible to allow for tilt when attaching the lens unit 4. Even when such a gap G1 is provided, an opening (opening 12A or opening 13A) of a size that does not limit the field of view FOV of the lens unit 4 is provided above the housing section 5.

In the example shown in FIG. 4(b), a fixing portion P2 for fixing a part of the lens unit 4 is provided in the housing portion 5 provided in the frame body 6, and this fixing portion P2 has a fixing surface on the inner surface of the housing portion 5. In this example, a gap G2 is provided between the circuit board 2 and the frame body 6 of the blade drive device 1B. By providing such a gap G2, it is possible to allow tilting of the lens unit 4 in this example as well. Note that adhesives or the like can be used for fixing at the fixing portions P1 and P2.

As shown in FIG. 5, an engagement shaft 11 that engages with the drive lever 21 of the drive unit 20 is provided on one side of the blade 10 and protrudes. The engagement shaft 11 engages with a rail portion 21A of the drive lever 21. In the illustrated example, the rail portion 21A is comb-shaped, but the rail portion 21A may be an elongated hole.

As described above, the blades 10 are slidably arranged in the thin space of the blade chamber formed between the partition plate 12 and the cover plate 13. The opening 12A of the partition plate 12 and the opening 13A of the cover plate 13 are coaxial, and the slightly smaller opening 12A is the opening of the blade drive device 1B. The engagement shaft 11, which is provided to protrude from one side of the blade 10, passes through the hole 12B of the partition plate 12 and engages with the rail portion 21A of the drive lever 21.

The blades 10 are supported by a support shaft 6P provided in the frame 6 through a shaft hole 10P. The support shaft 6P passes through a shaft hole 12P in the partition plate 12 and a shaft hole 10P in the blades 10, and then through a shaft hole 13P in the cover plate 13.

The opening and closing of the blade 10 is performed by energizing the coil 24 in the drive unit 20. When the coil 24 is energized, the rotor magnet 22 swings around the rotation axis 6C, the drive lever 21 swings left and right, and the engagement shaft 11 engaged with the drive lever 21 swings, causing the blade 10 to swing around the support shaft 6P. The state shown in FIG. 6(a) is the open state of the blade 10, which opens the opening 12A to open the field of view of the camera module 1A. The state shown in FIG. 6(b) is the closed state of the blade 10, which blocks the field of view of the camera module 1A by blocking the opening 12A. Note that when the coil 24 is not energized, the rotor magnet 22 is attracted to the yoke 23. This allows the blade 10 to be maintained in the open and closed states even when no current is applied.

The engagement shaft 11 protruding from one side of the blade 10 is either integrally molded from the same material as the blade 10 as shown in FIG. 7(a), or is a different material from the blade 10 and attached to the blade 10 by insert molding or outsert molding as shown in FIG. 7(b). In this way, by having the engagement shaft 11 protrude from one side of the blade 10 and engaging with the rail portion 21A of the drive lever 21, it is possible to effectively prevent the engagement between the engagement shaft 11 and the drive lever 21 from coming loose while suppressing the upward protrusion of the blade 10. This makes it possible to make the blade drive device 1B itself thinner.

The blade 10 used here has a shielding portion 10A that blocks the opening of the blade drive device 1B, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. This shielding portion 10A may be a light shielding portion that blocks all light entering the opening, but it may also be a portion that blocks part of the light entering the opening to prevent photography, as shown in Figs. 8(a) and 8(b). The example shown in Fig. 8(a) is a mesh-shaped shielding portion, and the example shown in Fig. 8(b) is a concentric slit-shaped shielding portion, and by providing these, it is possible to block part of the light entering the opening to prevent photography. In addition, the shielding portion 10A of the blade member 10 may be a filter portion that filters the light entering the opening to prevent photography, as shown in Fig. 8(c). The example shown in Fig. 8(c) can filter the light entering the opening with a mosaic filter to prevent photography.

It is preferable that when the blades 10 are closed, this state can be seen from the outside so that the user or other people can confirm that images are not being captured by the camera module 1. For this reason, it is preferable that the outer surfaces of the blades 10 are colored in a highly visible color such as red. It is also preferable to improve the appearance by providing the outer surface of the shielding portion 10A of the blades 10 with a picture design as shown in FIG. 9(a) or a letter design as shown in FIG. 9(b).

In the camera module 1 with a blade drive device according to an embodiment of the present invention, the blade drive device 1B is arranged on a circuit board 2, and a housing section 5 for housing the lens unit 4 of the camera module 1A is provided in a frame 6, thereby avoiding stacking the drive section 20 of the blade drive device 1B on the lens unit 4, and the drive section 20 of the blade drive device 1B is arranged in the space of the protruding height of the lens unit 4 arranged on the circuit board 2. This makes it possible to make the camera module 1 with a blade drive device thinner.

In addition, the camera module 1 with blade drive device can stably fix the blade drive device 1B by providing a fixing surface 2P on the circuit board 2 to which the blade drive device 1B is fixed, and further, by providing a gap G1 between the housing section 5 and the upper surface of the lens unit 4, tilt of the lens unit 4 can be effectively tolerated.

In addition, the camera module 1 with blade drive device can deploy the blade drive device 1B according to the attitude of the lens unit 4 by providing a fixing surface in the housing section 5 to which a part of the lens unit 4 is fixed. In this case, by providing a gap G2 between the circuit board 2 and the blade drive device 1B, it is possible to effectively allow tilting of the lens unit 4.

In addition, the camera module 1 with blade drive device has a protruding engagement shaft 11 on one side of the blade 10 that engages with the drive lever 21 of the drive unit 20, so that the blade 10 can be prevented from protruding upward when connecting the blade 10 to the drive unit 20. This makes it possible to make the blade drive device 1B itself thinner.

Figure 10 shows a PC (notebook PC) 100 with a camera function as an example of an electronic device equipped with a camera module 1 with a blade drive device. The camera module 1 with a blade drive device can be applied not only to such PCs, but also to general IoT devices with camera functions, such as mobile information terminals such as smartphones, AI speakers (smart speakers) with camera functions, and home security cameras.

By arranging the blade drive device 1B on the circuit board 2, the camera module 1 with blade drive device can be made thinner overall, and can be arranged without requiring a large space inside the housing T of the electronic device 100. In this example, the opening of the camera module with blade drive device 1 is arranged to overlap the housing opening T1 provided in the housing T.

The electronic device 100 equipped with such a camera module 1 with a blade drive device can prevent images (video) not intended by the user from being captured in the electronic device 100 by closing the blades 10 of the blade drive device 1B, so that the leakage of private images and suspicion of voyeurism can be avoided, and the electronic device with a camera function can be used safely even in an IoT environment. In other embodiments, a VCM (Voice Coil Motor) that moves a magnet or coil linearly may be used as the drive unit 20.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above in detail with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments, and the present invention includes design changes and the like that do not deviate from the gist of the present invention. In addition, the above-mentioned embodiments can be combined by reusing each other's technologies, as long as there are no particular contradictions or problems in the purpose, configuration, etc.

1: Camera module with blade drive device,
1A: camera module, 1B: blade drive device,
2: Circuit board (PCB), 2A: Recess, 2B: Surface, 2P: Fixing surface,
3: imaging unit, 4: lens unit,
5: accommodating section, 6: frame body, 6A: frame opening, 6B: assembly protrusion,
6C: Rotating shaft, 6P: Support shaft,
10: blade, 10P: shaft hole,
11: engagement shaft, 12: partition plate, 12A: opening, 12B: hole,
12C: assembly hole, 12P: shaft hole,
13: cover plate, 13A: opening, 13B, 13C: hole, 13P: shaft hole,
20: Drive section, 21: Drive lever, 21A: Rail section,
22: rotor magnet, 23: yoke,
24: coil, 25: bobbin, 25A: current-carrying terminal,
P1: Fixed part, G1, G2: Gap,
100: Electronic device (notebook PC), T: Housing, T1: Housing opening

Claims (7)

a camera module in which an imaging unit is mounted on a circuit board and a lens unit is disposed on the imaging unit;
a blade drive device provided on the circuit board, the blade drive device having a housing portion for housing a protruding portion of the camera module on the circuit board, the blade drive device including a blade for opening or blocking a field of view of the lens unit;
a fixing surface for fixing the blade drive device is provided on the circuit board,
a gap is provided between the housing portion and an upper surface of the lens unit to allow tilt when the lens unit is attached;
a fixing surface that defines the gap at a constant distance along the housing portion and the lens unit, said fixing surface being disposed on the fixing surface; a camera module in which an imaging unit is mounted on a circuit board and a lens unit is disposed on the imaging unit;
a blade drive device provided on the circuit board, the blade drive device having a housing portion for housing a protruding portion of the camera module on the circuit board, the blade drive device including a blade for opening or blocking a field of view of the lens unit;
the housing portion is provided with a fastening surface to which a part of the lens unit is fastened,
a gap is provided between the circuit board and the blade drive device to allow tilt when the lens unit is attached;
a blade drive device that drives the circuit board and the blades of the camera module; a blade drive device that drives the blades of the camera module; The camera module with blade drive device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the blade drive device has a drive unit for driving the blades arranged in parallel with the height portion of the lens unit protruding above the circuit board. A camera module with a blade drive device according to claim 3, characterized in that an engagement shaft that protrudes from one side of the blade and engages with the drive lever of the drive unit is provided. The camera module with blade drive device according to claim 4, characterized in that the engagement shaft is either integrally molded with the blade or attached to the blade by insert molding or outsert molding. A blade drive device that drives blades that open or block a field of view of a camera module having an imaging unit mounted on a circuit board and a lens unit disposed on the imaging unit ,
a mounting surface to be mounted on a circuit board of the camera module and a housing portion to house a protruding portion on the circuit board of the camera module;
a fixing surface for fixing the blade drive device is provided on the circuit board,
a gap is provided between the housing portion and an upper surface of the lens unit to allow tilt when the lens unit is attached;
The blade drive device, characterized in that the gap is defined by the fastening surface at a constant distance along the housing portion and the lens unit. A blade drive device that drives blades that open or block a field of view of a camera module having an imaging unit mounted on a circuit board and a lens unit disposed on the imaging unit ,
a mounting surface to be mounted on a circuit board of the camera module and a housing portion to house a protruding portion on the circuit board of the camera module;
the housing portion is provided with a fastening surface to which a part of the lens unit is fastened,
a gap is provided between the circuit board and the blade drive device to allow tilt when the lens unit is attached;
The blade drive device, characterized in that the gap is defined by the fastening surface at a constant interval along the circuit board and the blade drive device.

Images