KR20160103680A - Single actuator for dual lens and camera module including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the present invention, a single actuator for dual lens comprises: a housing having an inner space; a first and a second lens assembly; a carrier provided with a first mounting space coupling the first lens assembly and a second mounting space coupling the second lens assembly, moving in an inner space of the housing along an optical axis; a magnet mounted on the carrier; and a driving unit moving the carrier vertically by generating an electromagnetic force in the magnet with applied power.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a single actuator for a dual lens and a camera module including the single actuator.

The present invention relates to an actuator for autofocus and a camera module including the actuator. More specifically, the present invention relates to a single actuator for a dual lens that controls two lenses through a single driving device, and a camera module including the actuator.

As the hardware technology for image processing has developed dramatically and user needs for image shooting have increased, independent camera devices as well as camera modules mounted on mobile terminals such as mobile phones, smart phones, PDAs, tablets, Functions such as focus (AF) and auto-stabilization (Stabilizer) are implemented. In such devices or modules, an auto focus actuator (AFA, Auto Focus Actuator) do.

Recently, a dual lens actuator or a camera equipped with two lens modules has been disclosed. In the conventional dual lens actuator, as shown in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2010-0005409, two independent lens actuators are simply connected in parallel, Only two lens modules 231 and 232 are assembled into one housing 210 as shown in FIG.

1, the conventional dual lens actuator includes a lens module 220 and a lens moving body 220, a lens module 220, and a lens moving body 220, And the driving units 241 and 243 including the coil and the yoke unit are formed of two pieces, and the covers 221 and 222 are also formed of a plurality of pieces.

In order to drive and control the conventional dual lens, two driving units or driving modules are required. Therefore, a space for mounting the driving units must be provided. In addition, for mutual influence and shielding effect on the battery capacity of each driving module, There is a problem in that the space utilization efficiency is low and the device can not be optimized for miniaturization and weight reduction of a device such as a smart phone.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an optical pickup device, And it is an object of the present invention to provide a single actuator for a dual lens and a camera module including the single actuator, which are capable of dramatically optimizing the space utilization in the apparatus without any influence on the control.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, and it will be apparent from the description of the embodiments of the present invention. Further, the objects and advantages of the present invention can be realized by a combination of the constitution shown in the claims and the constitution thereof.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a single actuator for a dual lens, including: a housing having an inner space; First and second lens assemblies; A carrier having a first mounting space in which the first lens assembly is coupled and a second mounting space in which the second lens assembly is coupled together and moving along an optical axis in an inner space of the housing; A magnet mounted on the carrier; And a driving unit for generating an electromagnetic force in the magnet by the applied power source to move the carrier up and down.

Here, the driving unit of the present invention includes: a coil generating an electromotive force by an applied power; A Hall sensor for sensing a position of the carrier; And a drive module for controlling a size of a power source applied to the coil according to a sensing value of the Hall sensor. The driving unit of the present invention may further include a metal material And a yoke plate.

Further, the magnet of the present invention may be mounted on one side of the carrier. In this case, the housing of the present invention may be configured such that a groove on which the driving unit is mounted is provided at a position facing the magnet.

More preferably, the carrier of the present invention may be provided with an intermediate space between the first and second mounting spaces. In this case, the magnet is mounted on the inner surface of the intermediate space, and the driving unit is arranged to face the magnet And may be configured to be provided in a middle portion of the housing.

Further, in this case, it is preferable that the carrier of the present invention is provided such that a guiding line including guiding means is provided in a direction opposite to the yoke plate, and that the guiding line is provided on the inner surface of the mediating space .

The single actuator for a dual lens according to the present invention and the camera module including the dual actuator can further improve the space utilization of the apparatus by constituting the driving unit for linearly moving the two lenses while maintaining the driving of each lens as it is. It is possible to further optimize the weight reduction and miniaturization.

Further, the present invention can reduce the number of the two driving units and the driving modules required in the conventional actuator to one, thereby enhancing the cost competitiveness of the dual lens actuator and further improving the efficiency of the manufacturing process .

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, an actuator capable of minimizing the influence of tilting, tilting, and shaking of a moving body by linearly moving the moving body at the center of gravity of the moving body can be realized.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention and, together with the detailed description of the invention given below, serve to better understand the technical idea of the invention, And shall not be construed as limited to such matters.
1 is a view showing a configuration of a conventional dual lens actuator,
2 is a view showing a single actuator for a dual lens according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 3 is an exploded view showing a detailed configuration of a single actuator for a dual lens according to the present invention shown in FIG. 2;
4 is an exploded view showing a detailed structure of a carrier, a magnet, and a driving unit according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention,
5 is a view showing a single actuator for a dual lens according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Prior to this, terms and words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed as limited to ordinary or dictionary terms, and the inventor should appropriately interpret the concepts of the terms appropriately It should be construed in accordance with the meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention based on the principle that it can be defined.

Therefore, the embodiments described in the present specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are merely the most preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to represent all of the technical ideas of the present invention. Therefore, various equivalents It should be understood that water and variations may be present.

2, a single actuator for a dual lens (hereinafter referred to as 'actuator') 100 according to the present invention includes two lens modules 121 and 123, one housing 110 and an outer case 170, Input / output interfacing of a control signal, a video signal, and the like is performed through the FPCB 155 from the outside through the FPCB 155, and the two lens modules 121 and 123 are connected to one And AF (Auto Focus, AF) and the like are performed by controlling the linear movement thereof through the driving unit.

As will be described later, the driving unit 150 of the present invention performs signals and data input / output with other components of the device (smart phone or the like) to which the power source of the present invention is applied and the actuator 100 of the present invention is mounted, It is preferable that a part of the (flexible) circuit board 155 provided in the driving unit 150 is exposed to the outside of the housing 110 for effective interfacing of power, signals, data and the like.

Hereinafter, the detailed configuration and functions of the actuator 100 according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

The actuator 100 of the present invention includes a housing 110 and first and second lens assemblies 121 and 123, a carrier 130, a magnet 140, and a driving unit 150, .

The housing 110 of the present invention provides an inner space 111 or the like on which the other structures of the present invention described later are mounted or coupled to function as an outer case of the actuator 100. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, And an inner case 160 for guiding the position of the first lens assembly 121 and the second lens assembly 123.

The present invention includes two lenses, that is, a first lens assembly 121 and a second lens assembly 123, as shown in FIG. 3, as an actuator 100 for controlling two dual lenses with one driving unit.

Although not shown in the drawing, the lower surface or the upper surface of the first lens assembly 121 and the second lens assembly 123 may include a CMOS, a CMOS, and the like for converting a light signal input through a lens into an electrical signal, An image sensor such as a CCD), and an image processor. If the optical axis directions of the lens assemblies 121 and 123 are the same, the image sensor and the processor will be positioned in the same direction, and if the optical axis directions are opposite to each other, the image sensor and the like are also positioned in the opposite direction.

The first and second lens assemblies 121 and 123 are assemblies each comprising at least one lens, an optical mechanism, a barrel, and the like. The first and second lens assemblies 121 and 123 linearly move in the optical axis direction through the drive control of the present invention, And the AF function is realized.

3, the first mounting space 131 in which the first lens assembly 121 is mounted or coupled with the second mounting assembly 131 in which the second lens assembly 123 is mounted or coupled is formed in the carrier 130 of the present invention. A space 133 is formed together.

In the prior art, the carrier 130 of the present invention is provided with the first and second mounting spaces 131 and 133 as shown in the figure, while the structure corresponding to the carrier of the present invention is individually provided for each lens assembly. And the first lens assembly 121 and the second lens assembly 123 are mounted on the first and second mounting spaces 131 and 133 at the same time.

The dual lens of the present invention corresponds to a lens portion of a front camera and a rear camera installed in a mobile terminal such as a smart phone. Typically, the front-side camera of a smartphone is used to directly photograph a user's own image, such as a self-camera, and the rear-side camera is mainly used to photograph a subject other than his or her own, such as a background or an image.

 Therefore, when the front camera and the rear camera are driven at the same time, it can be said that there is practically no existence. However, since the prior art is provided with the driving unit and the driving unit that respectively drive the front camera and the rear camera without considering the driving characteristics, the price competitiveness and space utilization of the apparatus are low.

On the other hand, in the case of a dual camera in which two lenses have the same view direction, a plurality of images are generated through a lens having a different focal length or a view angle, It is possible to process various application processing such as image processing by depth depth, distance sense recognition, image enhancement of the edge of the object, 3D rendering, panoramic image generation, and the like, And can be variously applied.

Even in such a case, since it is extremely low when the user directly and independently adjusts the focal length and the like of the two lenses, it is unnecessary to provide a plurality of driving parts for AF of the two lenses as in the conventional case.

As described above, the first and second lens assemblies 121 and 123 are mounted on a single carrier 130 at the same time, as described above, in order to effectively express the practical use or driving characteristics of the dual lens or dual camera. And the first and second lens assemblies 121 and 123 move together when the carrier 130 linearly moves through drive control as described later.

The driving unit 150 mounted on the groove 114 of the housing 110 generates an electromagnetic force by an applied power source and the electromagnetic force generated by the driving unit 150 is applied to the magnet 140 in a relative relation with the magnet 140 mounted on the carrier 130 140, the magnet 140 moves upward or downward.

The first and second lens assemblies 121 and 123 are mounted on the carrier 130 so that the magnet 140 is coupled to the carrier 130 and the first and second lens assemblies 121 and 123 are mounted on the carrier 130, The electromagnetic force causes the first and second lens assemblies 121 and 123 to linearly move with respect to the optical axis, and the AF is realized by such linear reciprocating or diverging linear movement.

4, the driving unit 150 includes a coil 151, a chip module electronic device 153 integrated with a Hall sensor and a drive module, and a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) 155 And a yoke plate 157 may be further included according to the embodiment.

When the power is applied through the FPCB 155 or the like, the coil 151 generates electromagnetic force corresponding to the applied power, and the direction, magnitude, and the like of the generated electric power are a function of the magnitude and direction of the current applied to the coil Will be affected.

The hall sensor senses the position of the carrier 130 using a Hall effect and outputs a sensed value. The drive module of the present invention detects a sensed value of the hall sensor And controls the size or direction of the power applied to the coil 151. [ The Hall sensor and the drive module may be implemented in various forms and designs as well as one chip module type 153 as illustrated in FIG. 3 or 4, for example, by combination or integration of electric, electronic devices, .

The actuator including the coil, the Hall sensor, and the drive module may be referred to as an encoding type actuator. Such an encoding type actuator can have higher driving precision because it confirms the current position of the carrier (lens assembly) and employs a driving mechanism in which the magnitude and direction of the current applied to the coil is controlled based on the identified position.

The optical or mechanical movement position range of the carrier 130 to the lens assemblies 121 and 123 is referred to as a full position at a zero position. In an embodiment of the present invention, If the assembly 121 and the second lens assembly 123 are configured to be in different directions, one for the front and the other for the rear, the reference position and the maximum displacement position, The position control can be performed by a simple software method of switching between the reference position and the maximum displacement position when the driving of the other lens is activated.

Meanwhile, the present invention may further include a metal yoke plate 157 provided at a position opposite to the magnet 140.

The yoke plate 157 of the present invention functions to concentrate the electromagnetic force generated in the coil in the magnet 140 direction and to shield the electromagnetic force that leaks to minimize influence on other elements. In order to enhance the concentration of force and the efficiency of the manufacturing process, the coil 151, the chip module 153 having the Hall sensor and the drive module implemented therein are preferably mounted on the (flexible) circuit board 155 , And the yoke plate 157 is disposed on the back surface of the (flexible) circuit board 155. [

In addition, according to the embodiment, the carrier 130 may include a guiding line 137, and the guiding line 137 may be provided with guiding means such as a guiding ball or a guiding roller And a guide rail 113 may be provided on the housing 110 according to the present invention.

The guiding means 135 guiding the carrier 130 to move up and down or forward and backward along the optical axis direction flexibly and maintains a constant distance from the yoke plate 157 do.

The guiding unit 135 is provided in the guiding line 137 in such a manner that a part thereof is received and a part of the guiding unit 135 is exposed to the outside so as to form a point contact or a line contact The carrier 130 minimizes the noise and frictional force generated when the carrier 130 moves up and down in the optical axis direction.

According to the embodiment, the guiding means 135 can be realized in the form of a bearing by a needle pin, and the number of the guiding means is made to be an odd number in order to align the rotational direction of the guiding means and reduce rolling friction. And the size of the middle guiding means 135 is preferably smaller than the size of adjacent guiding means which are in point (line) contact.

As described above, since the yoke plate 157 is made of a metal and has magnetism, it generates attraction force to the magnet 140 mounted on the carrier 130. The attracted attraction pulls the magnet 140 and the magnet 140 is fixed to the carrier 130 so that attraction between the yoke plate 157 and the magnet 140 pulls the carrier 130, The guide 130 is provided between the housing 110 and the housing 110 while maintaining the distance corresponding to the size of the guide unit 135 .

3 and 4, the magnet 140 may be mounted on the carrier 130 such that the carrier 130 can be physically moved up and down more flexibly and the attractive force with respect to the yoke plate 157 can be effectively evenly distributed. The yoke plate 157 is mounted on one side of the first mounting space 131 and the second mounting space 133 of the yoke plate 130 and the groove portion 114 on which the yoke plate 157 is mounted is disposed opposite to the magnet 140 As shown in FIG.

Hereinafter, another preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 5, the carrier 130 of the present invention includes a first mounting space 131 and a second mounting space 133, (139) may be further formed.

The magnet 140 of the present invention is mounted on the inner surface of the intermediate space 139 and includes a driving unit 150 including a yoke plate 157 for generating an electromagnetic force and generating an attractive force with respect to the magnet 140 Is disposed at a position opposite to the magnet 140 and is formed at a central portion of the bottom surface of the housing 110 as shown in FIG.

The driving unit 150 including the yoke plate 157 is configured to pass through the medial space 139 as shown in FIG. 5 so that the vertical movement of the carrier 130 is ensured. It is preferable to provide a column member 115 on the bottom surface of the housing 110 on which the driving unit 150 is mounted by sliding fitting.

5, the guiding line 137 including the guiding means 135 described above is provided in a direction opposite to the yoke plate 157, and the magnet 140 ) On both sides.

In the embodiment in which the guiding line 137 is provided in the medium space 139 of the carrier 130, the column member 115 is provided with guiding rails having a shape or shape corresponding to the guiding lines 137 113 may be provided.

5, since the magnet 140, the driving unit 150, the yoke plate 157, and the like, to which the electromagnetic force is actually applied, are positioned at the center of gravity of the carrier 130, The action of the force due to the magnetic force is not biased, so that the phenomenon of carrier shake, clearance, tilting, tilting and the like can be minimized.

Since the magnet 140 is mounted on one side of the medium space 139, the position, shape and the like of the medium space 139 in the carrier 130 are determined in consideration of the weight of the magnet 140.

In the above description of the present invention, the first and second modifiers are merely terms of a tool concept used for relatively separating the components of each other, so that they are used to indicate a specific order, priority, etc. It should be interpreted that it is not a terminology.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the details thereof and that various changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. And various modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the appended claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. It should be understood that various modifications may be made in the ordinary skill in the art.

100: Single actuator for dual lens
110: housing 111: inner space
113: guiding rail 114: groove
115:
121: First lens assembly 123: Second lens assembly
130: carrier 131: first mounting space
133: second mounting space 135: guiding means
137: Guiding line 139: Parameter space
140: Magnet 150:
151: coil 153: chip module
155: (flexible) circuit board 157: yoke plate

Claims (7)

A housing having an inner space formed therein;
First and second lens assemblies;
A carrier having a first mounting space in which the first lens assembly is coupled and a second mounting space in which the second lens assembly is coupled together and moving along an optical axis in an inner space of the housing;
A magnet mounted on the carrier; And
And a driving unit for generating an electromagnetic force in the magnet by the applied electric power to move the carrier up and down. The driving apparatus according to claim 1,
A coil generating an electrifying force by an applied power source;
A Hall sensor for sensing a position of the carrier; And
And a drive module for controlling a size of a power source applied to the coil according to a sensed value of the hall sensor. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2,
Further comprising a yoke plate made of a metal and provided at a position opposite to the magnet. 4. The magnetron according to claim 3,
A carrier mounted on one side of the carrier,
The housing includes:
Wherein a groove portion in which the driving portion is mounted is provided at a position facing the magnet. 4. The apparatus of claim 3,
An intermediate space is formed between the first and second mounting spaces,
Wherein the magnet is mounted on an inner surface of the intermediate space,
The driving unit includes:
And is provided at a central portion of the housing so as to face the magnet. 6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein a guiding line including guiding means is provided in a direction opposite to the yoke plate, and the guiding line is provided on an inner surface of the intermediate space. A camera module comprising the single actuator for a dual lens according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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