KR20040094133A - Imaging Device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An image pickup device is provided to include an image sensor in a hinge part and more than one pickup lens system, and to use a mirror such that an image pickup direction can be vertical at a hinge shaft, to sufficiently supply light to the image sensor, thereby improving an image quality. CONSTITUTION: A light incident outside is incident inside a rotational lens barrel(410) through a light incident window(450). The incident light is bent in a pickup direction converting mirror(440), and proceeds in parallel with a shaft of the lens barrel(410). Due to the bent light, a focus is formed on a surface of an image sensor(420) by a pickup lens system(430). An image of a subject to be pictured is formed on the surface of the image sensor(420). When the rotational lens barrel(410) receiving the pickup direction converting mirror(440) therein is rotated, a direction of the light incident window(450) changes to control a pickup direction.

Description

Imaging Device

The present invention relates to an image photographing apparatus of a foldable portable terminal having a video communication or a camera function and having a hinge. More particularly, the present invention relates to a hinge sensor of the portable terminal in a line with the hinge axis. The present invention relates to a structure and method for constructing an image photographing apparatus including the above-described imaging lens system and using a mirror in order to make the image photographing direction perpendicular to the hinge axis.

1 and 2 are diagrams for explaining the configuration of a conventional image capturing apparatus in the case of a mobile phone of the portable terminal.

As shown in FIG. 1, the folding cellular phone 100 having a hinge is divided into an upper cover portion 100a and a main body portion 100b, and has a structure that can be folded around the hinge 120. The body portion 100b is provided with buttons 150 for operating the mobile phone. The image capturing apparatus 130 is mounted adjacent to the hinge 120 of the mobile phone 100 and has a light incident window 140 for receiving a captured image. The internal configuration of the image capturing apparatus 130 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. The image capturing apparatus 130 includes an image sensor 160 for converting image information into an electrical signal, and a lens 170 for collecting incident light on an image sensor surface. ), An aperture 180 for limiting the width and the amount of incident light, and a light incident window 140. In the configuration of FIG. 1, the image capturing apparatus 130 is configured to rotate the image capturing apparatus 130 relatively to the hinge 120 in order to enable recording in any direction. 3 shows the image display device 200 rotated relative to the hinge 120 so that the light incident window 140 is attached to the upper cover portion 100a of the mobile phone 100. The configuration is adjusted to be in the same direction. 3A and 3B illustrate two imaging modes depending on the direction of the light incident window 140 of the image capturing apparatus 130. When the direction of the light incident window 140 is set as shown in FIG. 4, the user of the mobile phone may take a picture of a distant subject 300 such as a general camera. When the light incident window 140 is set as shown in FIG. 5, a user of the mobile phone may take a picture of himself / herself 310.

2, the image sensor 160, the lens 170, and the aperture 180 are sequentially configured in the direction perpendicular to the hinge axis, that is, the thickness direction of the mobile phone, as shown in FIG. 2. The distance from the sensor 160 to the end of the lens 170 is limited by the thickness of the mobile phone. Due to these limitations, it is difficult to use a plurality of lenses, and thus a single lens is used, and an aperture of a very small diameter, such as a pinhole camera, is used to eliminate optical aberration caused by the use of a single lens. Such a pinhole camera method has a very small amount of light incident on the image sensor, which results in poor quality of the captured image, and causes chromatic aberration, spherical aberration, and light intensity unevenness due to the limitation of a single lens.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a configuration of an image photographing apparatus for solving a problem of a small amount of light incident on an image sensor and a problem of optical aberration caused by using a single lens. And to provide a method.

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, an image capturing apparatus including an image sensor and at least one lens system is sequentially arranged in a direction coinciding with a hinge axis of a folding portable terminal, and image capturing is performed. A shooting direction switching mirror is provided next to the imaging lens system so that the direction is perpendicular to the hinge axis, and the direction of the shooting direction switching mirror is rotated about the hinge axis to adjust the image shooting direction. do.

Preferably, the image sensor and the imaging lens system is installed in the barrel fixed to the hinge portion, the barrel including the rotating mirror is configured to be rotatable by being fitted to the barrel including the image sensor and the imaging lens system. It is characterized by.

The image sensor in the first other application is provided in a fixed barrel fixed to the hinge portion, the imaging lens system is mounted in a lens barrel movable in a direction parallel to the hinge axis, and the rotating mirror is By assembling in a rotating barrel configured to rotate about the lens barrel axis of the imaging lens system, when the camera is not in use, the lens barrel of the imaging lens system is inserted into the fixed barrel in the direction of the image sensor, thereby imaging. The total length of the lens is reduced, and when the camera is used, the lens barrel of the imaging lens system is projected from the fixed barrel, so that the imaging lens system is configured to form an image on the image sensor surface.

In another second application, when the rotating mirror is to be assembled in a small space, the thickness of the mirror becomes thin, so as to eliminate the problem that the rigidity of the rotating mirror and its supporting structure weaken, so as to replace the rotating mirror at right angles. It is characterized by using a prism.

In another third application, the image sensor, without using a structure in which only the rotary barrel in which the photographing direction switching mirror is assembled, rotates about the hinge axis, which is the method described in the configuration according to the first aspect of the present invention. The imaging optical system and the photographing direction changing mirror are both mounted on one barrel, and are rotated about the hinge axis.

In another fourth application, an image plane smoothing compensation lens, i.e., an image flattening lens, is used between the image sensor plane and the imaging optical system to solve the problem of image pickup surface distortion on the image sensor surface, which the imaging optical system may have. Characterized in that.

In a fifth other application, the zoom lens system at the center of the imaging optical system lenses can be moved manually or automatically in the hinge axis direction, thereby adding a zoom function for adjusting the image magnification ratio, In order to eliminate the problem of focus shift in the image sensor surface, the distance between the image sensor and the imaging lens system may be manually or automatically fine-tuned in the hinge axis direction.

In a sixth other application, the rotating mirror is removed in the configuration according to the first aspect of the present invention so that the photographing direction of the image coincides with the hinge axis where the image sensor and the imaging lens system are arranged, and the image of the portable terminal. By rotating the display element in a direction parallel and perpendicular to the hinge axis, the user of the portable terminal can view the screen of the portable terminal while capturing an image.

Accordingly, by constructing a barrel including the image sensor and the imaging lens system in a direction coinciding with the hinge axis, the thickness of the image photographing apparatus is not limited by the thickness of the mobile terminal, and thus a plurality of lens systems can be used. As a result, the quality of the video taken can be significantly improved.

1 and 2 are configuration diagrams for explaining the principle of a conventional image capturing apparatus for a portable terminal.

3 is a diagram illustrating a camera rotated in the image capturing apparatus of FIG. 1.

4 and 5 are diagrams illustrating a photographing mode of the imager of FIG. 1.

6 is a diagram illustrating an image photographing apparatus of the present invention.

7 is a configuration diagram of a system applying the image capturing apparatus of the present invention to a mobile phone.

8 is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of the hinge portion of the mobile phone and the image photographing apparatus.

9 is a configuration diagram when the barrel is projected for shooting in the image capturing apparatus configuration having the barrel length variablely configured.

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating a configuration in which a barrel is pushed in when the camera is not used in the configuration of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a variable length barrel of FIG. 9 applied to a mobile phone.

12 is a configuration diagram in which the variable-length barrel configuration of FIG. 9 is applied to a cellular phone.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example in which a mirror is formed of a right prism in the configuration of FIG. 6.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of rotating the entire image capturing apparatus without rotating only the mirror in the configuration of FIG. 6.

FIG. 15 is a configuration diagram provided with an image surface compensating lens in front of the image sensor in order to compensate for image surface curvature of the imaging optical system according to the present invention. FIG.

Fig. 16 is a configuration in which a part of the imaging optical system and the image sensor are moved so that the image zoom in which the magnification ratio of the image sensor is changed is shown.

17 is a diagram of a cam structure for moving the imaging optical system and the image sensor of FIG. 16.

FIG. 18 is a configuration in which the image capturing direction is parallel to the hinge axis and the upper cover portion of the mobile phone is rotated when the configuration of FIG. 6 is applied to the mobile phone.

<Explanation of symbols for main parts of drawing>

400: imaging device barrel

410: mirror rotating mechanism

430 image sensor

430: imaging optical system

440: shooting direction change mirror

500: cell phone body

620: mobile phone hinge

800: shooting direction switching prism

1160: cam structure for video zoom

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a block diagram illustrating an image capturing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the image capturing apparatus includes a fixed barrel 400, a rotating barrel 410, an image sensor 420, an imaging lens system 430 composed of one impression, a photographing direction switching mirror 440, and light incidence. The window 450 is configured to include.

Light incident from the outside enters the inside of the rotating barrel 410 through the light incident window 450. The incident light is bent at the photographing direction changing mirror 440 to travel parallel to the shaft 410 axis. The folded light is focused on the surface of the image sensor 420 by the imaging lens system 430 to form an image of a subject on the surface of the image sensor 420. In FIG. 4, the subject is not shown.

As the rotary barrel 410 containing the photographing direction changing mirror 440 is rotated 46, the direction of the light incident window 450 is changed to adjust the photographing direction.

7 is an embodiment in which the image capturing apparatus is applied to a folding cellular phone among portable terminals.

Referring to FIG. 7, the foldable mobile phone 500 including the top cover portion 500a and the body portion 500b may be folded using a hinge 520 connecting the upper cover portion 500a and the body portion 500b. It is a structure that can be, and above the mobile phone body portion 500b is equipped with buttons 510 for operating the mobile phone.

The image capturing apparatus is mounted adjacent to the hinge 520 side by side, and the fixing barrel 400 of the image capturing apparatus is fixed to the fixing portion of the hinge 520 portion.

Through the configuration of FIG. 7, the image photographed by the image capturing apparatus may be input to a control circuit (not shown) of the cellular phone to use the cellular phone as a video communication terminal or a camera.

Referring to FIG. 8, the hinge 520 part includes a member 520a fixed to the upper cover portion 500a of the mobile phone and a member 520b fixed to the mobile phone body. The two members 520a and 520b are joined by a connecting shaft 600 to operate as a hinge. The fixing barrel 400 of the image capturing apparatus is fixedly coupled to the hinge member 520b fixed to the mobile phone body, and the rotating barrel 410 is assembled into a structure that is inserted into the fixing barrel 400 and rotates. Accordingly, the rotating barrel 410 has a structure that rotates about the hinge 520. Therefore, the rotating barrel 410 is rotated to adjust the direction of the photographing direction switching mirror 440 and to arbitrarily adjust the photographing direction.

9 and 10 illustrate a configuration of an image capturing apparatus according to another first embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated, the image sensor 420 is fixed in the fixing barrel 700, and the imaging lens system 430 is mounted on the lens barrel 710 which is movable in the axial direction of the fixing barrel 700. The photographing direction changing mirror 440 is mounted to a rotating barrel 720 that can rotate about the axis of the fixed barrel 700. FIG. 9 is a configuration of a barrel when the camera is used in this configuration, and the configuration when the camera is not used is shown in FIG. 10. As shown, the lens barrel 710 is inserted into the fixed barrel 700 in the direction of the image sensor 420 along the fixed barrel 700 to reduce the overall length of the imaging apparatus. 11 and 12 illustrate an example in which the configuration of FIGS. 9 and 10 is applied to a mobile phone. As shown in FIG. 11, when the camera is used, the lens barrel 710 is out of the fixing barrel 700 so that the camera can be used, and the rotating barrel 720 protrudes out of the mobile phone 500. , Operation of the shooting direction becomes easy. When the camera is not used, as shown in FIG. 12, the lens barrel 710 is inserted into the fixing barrel 700 and the total length thereof is shortened. Therefore, the lens barrel 710 does not protrude out of the mobile phone 500.

13 illustrates a configuration according to another second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the configuration is the same as that of FIG. 6 except for the photographing direction changing mirror 440. In the configuration of the present embodiment, when the photographing direction changing mirror 440 is accommodated in a small space, the right angle prism 800 is used in order to solve the problem that the thickness of the mirror becomes thin and the rigidity becomes weak and the difficulty of assembly is caused. Light incident from the outside enters the inside of the rotating barrel 410 through the light incident window 450, enters one side of the right angle prism 800, is reflected from the quadrilateral of the right angle prism 800, and is at right angles. The rectangular prism exits the other side of the prism 800 and reaches the image sensor 420 through the imaging optical system 430.

14 illustrates a configuration according to another third embodiment of the present invention. In the present exemplary embodiment, the image sensor 420, the imaging lens system 430, and the photographing direction changing mirror 440 are all contained within a single rotating barrel 910 without dividing the barrel of the image photographing apparatus into a fixed barrel and a rotating barrel. Mount it. In this configuration, the rotating barrel 910 is assembled to be rotatable to the member 900 fixed to the hinge portion 520, and arbitrarily adjusts the photographing direction according to the rotation of the rotating barrel 910.

15 is a view illustrating a configuration according to another fourth embodiment of the present invention.

In the present exemplary embodiment, in order to eliminate the problem of the image smoothing on the image sensor 420 that the imaging lens system 1040 may have, the image surface compensating lens 1000 may be disposed between the image sensor 420 and the imaging optical system 1040. That is, the image planarization lens is inserted. Accordingly, the image distortion error on the image sensor 420 can be greatly reduced, thereby improving the quality of the captured image.

16 is a diagram illustrating a configuration according to another fifth embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the imaging lens system is configured by dividing the fixed lens unit 1180 and the movable lens unit 1190. In this configuration, the movable lens unit 1180 is moved to enable a zoom function in which an enlargement ratio of an image formed on the image sensor 420 is changed. The movable lens unit 1180 is assembled to the zoom barrel 1140 and connected to the cylindrical member 1160 having a cam structure through the fixing pin 1150. A detailed embodiment of the zoom barrel is shown in FIG. 17. In accordance with the rotation of the cylindrical member 1160 having the cam 1210 structure on the side surface, the contact force of the cam 1210 is transmitted to the fixing pin 1150 to linearly move the zoom barrel 1140. The cylindrical member 1160 having the cam structure can be driven manually or automatically.

Referring to FIG. 16 again, the zoom barrel 1140 is moved in order to solve the problem that the focus of the image formed on the surface of the image sensor 420 is blurred according to the positional movement of the movable lens unit 1190. Similarly, the fixing member 1110 of the image sensor 420 is finely moved to focus, and the movement is performed by the fixing pin 1120 and the rotating cam member 1130. Rotation of the rotating cam member 1130 for transporting the image sensor 420 may be configured manually or automatically.

18 is a view illustrating a configuration according to another eighth embodiment of the present invention.

In the configuration example of FIG. 18, the photographing direction switching mirror is removed in the configuration of FIG. 6 so that the light incident window 1330 coincides with the hinge axis 1340 on which the image sensor 420 and the imaging lens system 430 are arranged. The cover part 1300a on the mobile phone to which the image display device is attached is rotatable about a direction parallel to and perpendicular to the hinge 1340. In this configuration, since the image photographing direction is fixed relative to the mobile phone 1300, the image is captured by randomly moving the cover 1300a.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image photographing apparatus, which is mounted to a portable terminal having a video communication or camera function having a folding hinge, and which captures still images and videos and supplies images to the main body of the portable terminal; The image capturing apparatus is provided adjacent to the hinge portion of the portable terminal; The image photographing apparatus includes an image sensor, one or more imaging lenses, a mechanism structure for mechanically fixing the image sensor and the lenses, a photographing direction switching mirror for vertically capturing an image with respect to the hinge axis, It is composed of a rotating mechanism of the mirror to change the image shooting direction arbitrarily, it is possible to improve the quality of the image by supplying sufficient light to the image sensor, the field of application of image shooting by adding a zoom function There is an effect that can be diversified.

In the above, the present invention has been described as an embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and has a general knowledge in the field to which the present invention pertains without departing from the gist of the present invention. Anyone who grows up will be able to make various variations.

Claims (7)

Mounted adjacent to the hinge axis of the foldable mobile terminal; An image sensor and at least one imaging lens system are sequentially configured in the hinge axis direction; The image sensor and the imaging lens system are assembled to a barrel fixed to the fixing portion of the hinge portion, and install a mirror such that the image photographing direction is perpendicular to the hinge axis; And the mirror is mounted in a rotating barrel of a structure rotatable with respect to the hinge member for arbitrarily adjusting the photographing direction. The method according to claim 1, wherein in order to vary the length of the image photographing apparatus, the imaging lens system is assembled to a separate lens barrel movable in the axial direction of the fixed barrel in which the image sensor is assembled; When the camera is not used, the lens barrel can be inserted into the fixed barrel fixed to the hinge to which the image sensor is assembled, thereby reducing the overall length of the imaging device; Protruding the lens barrel from the fixed barrel only when using a camera; And the rotating barrel is assembled to the lens barrel so as to be rotatable. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a rectangular prism is applied to perform the same operation without using the photographing direction turning mirror. 2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein the image sensor, the imaging lens system, and the photographing direction changing mirror are housed in one barrel, and the barrel is rotatable about the hinge axis with respect to a member fixed to the hinge portion. In this case, the image sensor, the imaging lens system and the photographing direction switching mirror are rotated in one body according to the rotation of the barrel, so that the image photographing direction is arbitrarily adjusted. The method according to claim 1, wherein an image surface curvature correcting lens is mounted between the image sensor and the imaging lens system in order to eliminate distortion of an image formed on the image sensor by the image curvature of the imaging lens system. The method of claim 1, wherein in order to vary the magnification of the image formed on the image sensor, some lenses of the imaging lens system are fixed, and the remaining lenses are manually or automatically moved in the barrel axis direction in which the image sensor is housed. Configuration and method for manually or automatically adjusting the distance between the image sensor and the entire imaging lens system to remove the focus shift on the image sensor according to the movement of the lens 2. The foldable portable terminal according to claim 1, wherein the rotating barrel for accommodating the photographing direction switching mirror and the photographing direction switching mirror is removed so that the image photographing direction is the same as the barrel shaft in which the image sensor and the imaging lens system are accommodated. A configuration and method for enhancing the convenience of image capturing by allowing the portion to which the screen display element is attached to be rotated about an axis parallel and perpendicular to the hinge axis of the mobile terminal.