JP2021158555A - Imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To implement more effective heat dissipation countermeasures while attaining coming-off prevention without providing a spacer between oppositely disposed boards by realizing space saving inside of a housing and apparatus downsizing by using a board-to-board connector in a circuit board configuration in an imaging apparatus.SOLUTION: An imaging apparatus comprises: a housing in which a lens unit is supported; a first board which is supported within the housing and in which an image sensor defining an imaging surface of the lens unit as a light-receiving surface is mounted; a second board connected to the first board by a board-to-board connector which is provided inside of the housing near a peripheral edge; and a metal plate which is disposed inside of the housing so as to surround at least the second board. The metal plate includes a support piece which is bent inside at a position away from the board-to-board connector so as to support a surface of the second board at the side opposed to the first board.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an imaging device.

In recent years, with the improvement of the performance of image sensors, image pickup devices have been used in various fields. In particular, in-vehicle image pickup devices are used not only for acquiring internal and external images (drive recorders, etc.) for safety measures and security measures, but also for digital mirror cameras, authentication cameras, etc., high-performance image pickup devices are used. ing.

An image pickup device that uses a high-performance image sensor with a large number of pixels inevitably consumes a large amount of power and generates a large amount of heat from electronic components. In order to maintain the performance of the sensor, it is indispensable to take measures to dissipate heat from the driving electronic components. In particular, in-vehicle imaging devices are in high demand for miniaturization and are obliged to be used in a high temperature environment. Therefore, the above-mentioned heat dissipation measures are particularly important.

As a measure to dissipate heat from electronic components in an imaging device, a substrate on which an image sensor is mounted and a substrate on which electronic components that generate a large amount of heat during operation (for example, FPGA: Field-Programmable Gate Array) are fixed are separated. , Each substrate is arranged face-to-face in a state of being spatially separated.

In the prior art described in Patent Document 1 below, an FPGA board on which an FPGA is fixed, a connector board on which a connector for electrically connecting to an external device is fixed, and an image sensor are mounted in an imaging device. The sensor board is arranged face-to-face in the housing of the imaging device, the FPGA board and the connector board are connected by the first flexible board, and the connector board and the sensor board are connected by the second flexible board, and the FPGA serving as a heat source is connected. Is shown to abut on the inner wall of the housing to dissipate heat.

JP-A-2010-74665

According to the above-mentioned prior art, since a flexible substrate is used for the connection between the facing substrates, it is necessary to connect the flexible substrate and the rigid substrate arranged facing each other separately from the work at the time of assembly. There is a problem that the accompanying work becomes complicated. In addition, a space for handling the flexible substrate is required in the housing, and a relatively large space must be provided between the substrates arranged facing each other via the flexible substrate, so that the required space inside the housing becomes large. It becomes difficult to cope with the miniaturization of the image pickup device.

For this, it is conceivable to use a board-to-board (B to B) connector to connect the boards to be arranged face-to-face. However, on the board on which the image sensor is mounted, the image sensor is arranged in the center of the board, and in consideration of the connection with the image sensor, a large area is also centered on the back surface side of the board on which the image sensor is mounted. Since the electronic components that occupy the above are arranged, the board-to-board connector must be arranged near the peripheral edge of the board.

When the board-to-board connector is arranged near the peripheral edge of the board, if a force is applied to a place away from the portion where the connector is provided, the board is tilted and the connector is likely to come off. In order to avoid this, it is necessary to interpose a spacer for preventing disengagement between the facing substrates. However, if the spacer is provided, the mounting space for electronic components on the substrate surface is reduced and additional components are added. Causes a problem of high cost.

When a board-to-board connector is used, space can be saved as compared with the case where a flexible board is used as in the conventional technique described above, but the distance between the facing boards becomes shorter, so that the case is opposed to this. Effective heat dissipation measures are required.

The present invention has been proposed to address such problems. That is, in the circuit board configuration of the imaging device, by using the board-to-board connector, space saving inside the housing and miniaturization of the device are realized, and disconnection is prevented without providing a spacer between the boards arranged facing each other. It is an object of the present invention to make it possible to realize more effective heat dissipation measures while trying.

In order to solve such a problem, the present invention has the following configurations.

A housing in which the lens unit is supported, a first substrate on which an image sensor supported in the housing and having an image forming surface of the lens unit as a light receiving surface are mounted, and a housing provided in the housing in the vicinity of a peripheral edge portion. A second substrate connected to the first substrate by a substrate-to-board connector is provided, and a metal plate arranged in the housing so as to surround at least the periphery of the second substrate. An imaging device characterized by having a support piece bent inward at a position away from the substrate-to-board connector so as to support the surface of the second substrate facing the first substrate. ..

External perspective view of the image pickup apparatus. An exploded perspective view (rear view) of the imaging device. An exploded perspective view (front view) of the image pickup apparatus. Front view of the image pickup device. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. Explanatory view of the metal plate ((a) is a plan view, (b) is a side view). Explanatory drawing which shows the contact piece of a metal plate. Explanatory view (plan view) of the vehicle provided with the image pickup apparatus.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same reference numerals in different figures indicate parts having the same function, and duplicate description in each figure will be omitted as appropriate.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the image pickup apparatus 1 includes at least a lens unit 2, a housing 3, a first substrate 11, a second substrate 12, and a metal plate 5.

The lens unit 2 is an imaging optical system that forms an image on the light receiving surface of the image sensor 10 mounted on the first substrate 11. The housing 3 supports the lens unit 2 and houses the first substrate 11, the second substrate 12, and the metal plate 5 inside. The lens unit 2 is attached to the housing 3 via the seal ring 8, and the rear housing 4 is coupled to the rear of the housing 3 via the seal ring 8.

The image sensor 10 is mounted on the surface of the first substrate 11 supported in the housing 3 on the side facing the lens unit 2. The image sensor 10 is attached to the central portion of the first substrate 11, and the imaging surface of the lens unit 2 is used as the light receiving surface. Various electronic components connected to the image sensor 10 are attached to the back surface side of the first substrate.

The second substrate 12 arranged in the housing 3 is attached with electronic components and the like constituting the drive circuit of the image sensor 10, and is arranged facing the first substrate 11. The second substrate 12 is connected to the first substrate 11 by a substrate-to-board connector 20. The "board-to-board connector" may be simply referred to as a "connector".

The board-to-board connector 20 has a female terminal attached near the peripheral edge of the second substrate 12, and a male connector terminal 21 connected to the female terminal is attached near the peripheral edge of the first substrate 11. Various electronic components are attached to the front surface side of the second substrate 12 facing the first substrate 11, and various electronic components are also attached to the back surface side of the second substrate 12.

Inside the housing 3, a metal plate 5 is arranged along the inner wall so as to surround at least the periphery of the second substrate 12. In the illustrated example, the metal plate 5 is arranged so as to surround both the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 12, and is configured to function as a shield plate.

In the illustrated example, both the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 12 have a polygonal shape (octagonal shape) in a plan view, and the metal plate 5 arranged around the polygonal plate 5 is as shown in FIG. , A strip-shaped refracting plate having a refracting portion 5B corresponding to a peripheral corner portion of the first substrate 11 or the second substrate 12, and having a plurality of sides 5C between the refracting portions 5B.

In such an image pickup apparatus 1, the first substrate 11 on which the image sensor 10 is mounted is positioned and supported by the housing 3 so that the light receiving surface of the image sensor 10 becomes the image plane of the lens unit 2. ing. On the other hand, the second substrate 12 connected to the first substrate 11 via the substrate-to-board connector 20 is made of metal so that the portion separated from the substrate-to-board connector 20 does not approach the first substrate 11 side. It is supported by the support piece 5A of the plate 5. The metal plate 5 is formed into a polygonal shape in a plan view by bending one plate. However, in another embodiment, the metal plate 5 may be formed by forming a cylinder having a polygonal shape in a plan view and cutting it into round slices.

The support piece 5A is bent inward with a part of the metal plate 5 at a position away from the substrate-to-board connector 20 so as to support the surface of the second substrate 12 facing the first substrate 11. Is formed of. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the support piece 5A is formed on three sides 5C, and the substrate-to-board connector 20 is located near the side 5C without the support piece 5A.

More specifically, in the example shown in FIG. 7, one support piece 5A is provided on the side 5C facing the side 5C near the board-to-board connector 20, and further facing each other in a different direction. A pair of support pieces 5A are provided on the side 5C.

By providing such a support piece 5A, the second substrate 12 connected to the first substrate 11 by the substrate-to-board connector 20 is prevented from tilting so as to approach the first substrate 11. Even if a spacer for preventing disengagement is not provided between the 1st substrate 11 and the 2nd substrate 12, the disengagement of the substrate-to-board connector 20 can be suppressed. Since the above-mentioned spacer for preventing disengagement is not provided, the electronic components can be deployed by effectively using the areas of the back surface side of the first substrate 11 and the front surface side of the second substrate 12. Further, instead of providing the spacer, the metal plate 5 that functions as a shield plate is processed to form the support piece 5A, so that the board-to-board connector 20 can be prevented from coming off at low cost without increasing the number of parts. can do.

Then, as a heat dissipation measure, the image pickup apparatus 1 arranges a heat dissipation sheet 6 between the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 12. The heat radiating sheet 6 is an elastic member having high heat radiating properties (for example, a silicon resin plate), and by connecting the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 12 with a substrate-to-board connector 20, the first substrate 11 can be connected. The electronic components on the back surface side and the electronic components on the front surface side of the second substrate 12 are arranged so as to be in contact with each other. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the heat radiating sheet 6 is supported by sandwiching the end portion between the support piece 5A of the metal plate 5 and the second substrate 12.

When such a heat radiating sheet 6 is arranged between the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 12, the heat generated by the electronic components can be dissipated even when the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 12 are in close proximity to each other. It can be transmitted to the metal plate 5 via the metal plate 5, and heat can be dissipated to the periphery of the housing 3 via the metal plate 5.

At this time, the metal plate 5 is provided with a contact piece 5D so as to elastically project to the periphery, and as shown in FIG. 8, the contact piece 5D is the inner wall of the housing 3 around the metal plate 5. In contact with the elastically pressed state. As a result, the heat transferred to the metal plate 5 can be efficiently dissipated to the surroundings.

In such an imaging device 1, first, as a circuit board configuration, the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 12 are connected via a substrate-to-board connector 20, so that the space between the substrates is narrowed to save space. By doing so, it is possible to realize the miniaturization of the image pickup apparatus 1. At that time, by utilizing the metal plate 5 that functions as a shield plate and supporting the second substrate 12, the substrate-to-board connector 20 is prevented from coming off, so that reliability is not increased without increasing the number of parts. High electrical connection can be realized. Further, by not interposing a spacer, it is possible to effectively utilize the substrate surfaces of the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 12 to deploy electronic components.

Then, since the heat radiating sheet 6 is arranged between the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 12 and the end portion thereof is in contact with the support piece 5A of the metal plate 5, the space between the substrates is narrowed. However, an effective heat dissipation effect can be obtained, and further, since the heat dissipation sheet 6 substantially functions as a spacer between the substrates, in addition to enhancing the heat dissipation effect, the substrate pair The reliability of the connection of the board connector 20 can be improved.

As a result, the imaging device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention can realize space saving and miniaturization of the device inside the housing 3 by using the board-to-board connector 20, and further, the board-to-board pair. It is possible to realize more effective heat dissipation measures while increasing the reliability of the connection in the board connector 20.

FIG. 9 shows a vehicle 100 that uses the above-mentioned imaging device 1 as a side camera 101 and a rear camera 102. Such a vehicle 100 can acquire a peripheral image of the vehicle 100 by using an image pickup device 1 which has high performance and effective heat dissipation measures. By using the image pickup device 1, the vehicle 100 can ensure high safety and good driving operability.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments, and the design changes, etc. within the range not deviating from the gist of the present invention, etc. Even if there is, it is included in the present invention. Further, each of the above-described embodiments can be combined by diverting the technologies of each other as long as there is no particular contradiction or problem in the purpose and configuration thereof.

1: Imaging device, 2: Lens unit, 3: Housing, 4: Rear housing,
5: Metal plate (shield plate), 5A: Support piece,
5B: Bent part, 5C: Side, 5D: Contact piece,
6: Heat dissipation sheet, 7: Coupling member, 8: Seal ring,
10: Image sensor, 11: 1st board, 12: 2nd board,
20: Board-to-board connector, 21: Connector terminal,
100: Vehicle, 101: Side camera, 102: Rear camera

Claims (5)

The housing that supports the lens unit and
A first substrate supported in the housing and on which an image sensor having an image plane of a lens unit as a light receiving surface is mounted.
In the housing, a second board connected to the first board by a board-to-board connector provided near the peripheral edge, and
A metal plate arranged so as to surround at least the periphery of the second substrate in the housing is provided.
The metal plate has a support piece that is bent inward at a position away from the substrate-to-board connector so as to support the surface of the second substrate that faces the first substrate. An imaging device as a feature. Between the first substrate and the second substrate, a heat radiating sheet in which the electronic components attached to the first substrate and the second substrate are in contact with each other is provided.
The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the end portion of the heat radiating sheet is sandwiched and supported between the support piece and the second substrate. The second substrate has a polygonal shape in a plan view, and has a polygonal shape in a plan view.
The metal plate has a plurality of sides having a refracting portion corresponding to a peripheral corner portion of the second substrate.
The imaging device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the support pieces are provided in pairs on opposite sides. The imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the metal plate has a contact piece that elastically contacts the surrounding housing. A vehicle provided with the imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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