KR20130124673A - Camera module - Google Patents

Abstract

A camera module by the present invention comprises a printed circuit board in which an image sensor is installed; a base which is disposed on the printed circuit board and supports a structure of the camera module; a lens holder which is combined with the base and installs at least one lens inside; an actuator which is installed on the lens holder; and a pattern surface which is integrally formed with the lens holder and has an electronic circuit pattern layer electrically connected to the actuator and the printed circuit.

Description

Camera module {Camera Module}

The present invention relates to a camera module.

It is difficult to apply the VCM technology, which was used in the conventional camera module, to the camera module for the ultra-small and low power consumption, and related researches have been actively conducted.

Recently, a camera module that performs auto focusing using an actuator is developed. In order to drive the actuator, the actuator may be electrically connected to the anode AF terminal (Auto Focus Terminal) and the PCB AF pad (PCB Auto Focus Pad).

It is an object of the present invention to provide a camera module having an improved structure to extend an electronic circuit pattern layer formed on a surface of a lens holder and to be connected to a terminal portion of a printed circuit board.

A camera module according to the present invention includes a printed circuit board on which an image sensor is installed; A base disposed on the printed circuit board and supporting the structure of the camera module; A lens holder coupled to the base and installing at least one lens therein; An actuator installed above the lens holder; And a pattern surface formed integrally with the lens holder, one end of which is electrically connected to the actuator, and the other end of which is formed with an electronic circuit pattern layer that is electrically connected to the printed circuit board.

The pattern surface is preferably formed on the sidewall surface of the lens holder, the end of which extends to the bottom surface of the lens holder.

In addition, the pattern surface may be provided flat, and may protrude from the sidewall surface of the lens holder in a cylindrical shape.

The printed circuit board and the electronic circuit pattern layer may be electrically connected or directly connected to each other by a connection part formed of a conductive material such as a conductive material, soldering, and Ag dot bond.

The electronic circuit pattern layer may be formed on the pattern surface and the image side surface of the lens holder, and may be formed in a ring shape, and an actuator may be directly installed on the image side surface.

In addition, the electronic circuit pattern layer may be formed on the lower surface of the lens holder, a metal layer coated and plated with a conductive material laminated on the exposed surface; may further include.

The actuator may automatically adjust the focus of the image, and may be configured to move the outermost one lens.

Preferably, the actuator includes at least one of an auto focusing function, a shutter function, and a zoom function.

The actuator may be configured of any one of a MEMS actuator, a non-MEMS actuator, a silicon-type actuator, and a liquid lens that move by using electrostatic force, piezoelectric force, or the like, or at least two of them may be configured in combination.

The base may include a groove having a shape complementary to the pattern surface such that the pattern surface formed on the lens holder may directly contact the printed circuit board.

The present invention provides a control signal and power to the actuator through the configuration of extending the electronic circuit pattern layer formed on the lens holder to be directly connected to the printed circuit board, thereby minimizing the connection part, thereby simplifying the assembly of the camera module. .

1 is a front view showing an embodiment of a camera module according to the present invention, and
2 is a perspective view of FIG. 1.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 is a front view of an embodiment of a camera module according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of FIG. 1.

As shown, the camera module according to the present invention, a printed circuit board 10, the base 20 is coupled to the upper side of the printed circuit board 10, the lens holder 30 including at least one lens therein ) And the actuator 40.

 A plurality of terminal parts 11 may be provided on the printed circuit board 10, and the first terminal parts 11 are connected to the actuator 40 so as to be capable of transmitting signals, and the printed circuit board 10 is not shown. Image sensor can be mounted. In this case, the terminal parts 11 may be electrically connected to the electronic circuit pattern layer 31 formed on the pattern surface 32 formed on the sidewall of the lens holder 30. In this case, the terminal parts 11 and the electronic circuit pattern layer 31 may be electrically connected to each other through a conductive connection part W. The conductive connection part W may be a conductive material such as a conductive material, Ag dot bond, soldering, or the like. The terminal part 11 and the conductive pattern layer 31 may be directly connected to each other without the conductive connecting member.

The base 20 may be injection molded from a resin material such as plastic, and an infrared cut filter may be installed on a surface corresponding to the image sensor. In addition, an upper side of the base 20, a lens holder having a plurality of lenses and an actuator for performing auto focusing, zooming, anti-shake (OIS), shutter function, etc. may be installed.

The base 20 is composed of the lens holder 30 and a separate component, and serves to seal the external foreign material while protecting the image sensor installed in the printed circuit board 10 coupled to the lower side. Can be. In addition, the base 20 may include a groove portion 21 which is formed to be concave in a shape complementary to the position corresponding to the pattern surface 32. The groove portion 21 is configured such that the end of the pattern surface 32 can be directly connected to the printed circuit board 10.

The lens holder 30 may be provided with a plurality of lenses therein to form an optical path, and is preferably injection molded into one body. In this case, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lens holder 30 may be formed on an exposed surface of the electronic circuit pattern layer 31.

The electronic circuit pattern layer 31 is formed to have a wiring pattern on the surface of the lens holder 30. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the electronic circuit pattern layer 31 may be formed on the top and sidewalls of the lens holder 30. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in Figure 2, the actuator 40 is mounted on the ring-shaped electronic circuit pattern layer 31 formed on the upper surface of the lens holder 30, the pattern on the side wall The surface 32 is protruded, but the pattern surface 32 may be provided to be flat. Although not shown, the electronic circuit pattern layer 31 may be formed on the bottom surface side of the end of the pattern surface 32 of the lens holder 30.

In this case, the pattern surface 32 preferably extends to the surface of the lens holder 30 facing the printed circuit board 10. According to this configuration, the end of the pattern surface 32 may be in direct contact with the printed circuit board 10.

On the other hand, the electronic circuit pattern layer 31 is preferably formed using a so-called MID technology (Molded Interconnect Device Technology).

This MID technology can be divided into three technologies.

First, the 2S method (2S method) is a patterning method through the double molding, a method of injection molding the parts constituting the lens holder 30 and the parts constituting the electronic circuit pattern layer 31 with a synthetic resin of different materials. . That is, the lens holder 30 is injected with an insulating material, and the portion to form the electronic circuit pattern layer 31 is injected using conductive synthetic resin, or the metal plating work on the portion to form the electronic circuit pattern layer 31. After injection using the easy synthetic resin, the lens holder 30 may be injection molded, and the electronic circuit pattern layer 31 may be completed in a subsequent process such as a plating operation.

The laser direct structuring method (LDS) is injection molding the lens holder 30 in a state in which the lens holder 30 contains impurities reacting with light and heat, and laser exposure to the injection molded lens holder 30. Through the surface patterning operation, a wiring pattern is formed where the electronic circuit pattern layer 31 is to be formed. When the electronic circuit pattern layer 31 is formed in this way, the electronic circuit pattern layer 31 itself has a property of being energized, so that the surface mounting component SMD or the accessory electronic component can be mounted immediately.

The MIPTEC method is a method of etching and patterning a non-circuit portion after front metallization, and metallizing the entire surface of the lens holder 30, leaving only a portion to form the electronic circuit pattern layer 31, and remaining portions of the lens holder 30. Is etched to form the electronic circuit pattern layer 31 integrally on the surface of the lens holder 30.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 2, the electronic circuit pattern layer 31 provided by the MID technology may be formed on the exposed surface of the lens holder 30, and may be formed on the exposed surface of the outside and the non-exposed surface of the inside. It may be formed. This is to select the arrangement of the electronic circuit pattern layer 31 on one side or both sides depending on the degree of wiring required for component mounting. Therefore, when a large number of electronic components need to be mounted, the electronic circuit pattern layer 31 is formed by the above-described method not only on the surface of the lens holder 30 but also on the inner surface of the lens holder 30. The parts can be installed. When the electronic circuit pattern layer 31 is installed on the surface of the lens holder 30 as described above, when assembling electronic products, which are miniaturized, there is an advantage that the installation space required for component installation can be reduced.

Actuator 40 is installed to be concentric with the central axis of the optical path consisting of a plurality of lenses installed in the lens holder 30, to automatically adjust or zoom the focus of the image formed in the image sensor not shown, OIS, aperture and shutter functions can be implemented. The actuator 40 may be configured in various ways. As an example, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a camera module having an actuator capable of adjusting focus by moving a single outermost lens 41.

On the other hand, the actuator 40 is a MEMS actuator (MEMS actuator), MEMS Piezo actuator (MEMS Piezo actuator), MEMS bimorph actuator, MEMS thermal actuator (MEMS thermal) actuators, MEMS magnetic actuators, MEMS liquid actuators, non-MEMS actuators, silicone actuators, liquid lenses, etc., or any combination of these as long as possible Any one may be used as a substitute, and may be formed to have a voice coil motor (VCM) structure that is generally used.

Among the actuators 40, the MEMS actuator may be provided as a comb actuator using a constant power. The comb actuator is a pair of combs having a structure projecting perpendicular to the flat surface and fitted into each other. The electrostatic force generated between the two combs by applying a voltage to the comb is configured to exert a constant force against the relative movement between the combs. According to this configuration, according to the method of restraining the direction of freedom of the pair of comb teeth, when configured to be shifted back and forth with respect to the optical axis can implement the anti-shake function, it is configured to move up and down with respect to the optical axis The auto focusing function can be implemented.

An actuator using a voice coil motor has an elastic spring wound around an outer circumferential surface of a lens holder for supporting a plurality of lenses, and elastically supported on upper and lower sides of the lens holder, and on an inner circumferential surface side of a shield can corresponding to the coil. By arranging the yoke and the magnet, the auto focusing function may be realized by raising and lowering the lens holder upward and downward in accordance with the electromagnetic interaction between the magnet and the coil.

MEMS piezo actuators and MEMS bimorph actuators, when a certain amount of voltage is applied to a piezoelectric element, deforms a thin plate of a translucent material, such as a glass membrane, to transmit light by using a source of displacement of the piezoelectric element. By adjusting the refractive index of the auto focusing function can be implemented.

MEMS thermal actuator is an actuator using displacement difference moving according to thermal expansion. It changes the temperature of the member by using heating source such as electric resistance and adjusts the refractive index of light transmitted through the deformation formed by the difference of thermal expansion. The functionality can be implemented.

In addition to the MEMS actuators described above, the actuator 40 may be configured by a non-MEMS type actuator, a silicon type actuator, a liquid lens, or the like, and these actuators move a single lens to perform functions such as auto focusing and image stabilization. It is possible to implement

As described above, in order to implement functions such as a shutter function, a zoom function, auto focusing, and image stabilization using the actuator 40, it is necessary to perform a shifting, tilting, and lifting control of the lens by receiving power from the outside. In order to control the same movement, the actuator 40 is electrically connected to the printed circuit board 10, and may receive power and a control signal.

The present invention, as described above, in order to transmit power and control signals to the actuator 40, on the surface of the pattern surface 32 formed integrally with the lens holder 30, instead of forming a separate wiring member The electronic circuit pattern layer 31 may be formed, and the end of the pattern surface 32 may be directly connected to the terminal portion 11 provided on the printed circuit board 10.

According to such a configuration, the lens holder 30 and the base 20 can be molded into a simple shape, thereby minimizing defects that may occur due to these parts being molded incorrectly during the injection process.

In addition, since the groove 21 is formed in the base 20 concave, and the end of the pattern surface 32 is configured to directly contact the printed circuit board 10 instead of the base 20, the pattern surface ( An end of the electronic circuit pattern layer 31 formed on the surface of the substrate 32 may directly contact the terminal portion 11 of the printed circuit board 10. If the ends of the terminal portion 11 and the pattern layer 31 may be connected to the connecting portion W at one time by a conductive material, soldering, Ag dot bond, or the like, the process may be omitted, and the terminal portion 11 and the pattern layer may be omitted. The end of 31 can also be connected directly.

In addition, as described above, when the base 20 is composed of a separate component separated from the lens holder 30, the base 20 is configured on the surface of the electronic circuit pattern surface 31 using MID or the like. Since there is no need to do so, it is possible to simply inject into a plastic material having excellent injection properties, thereby reducing manufacturing costs, improving assembly performance, and freely changing the shape according to the shape of the camera module.

In addition, the lens holder 30 is directly connected to the printed circuit board when the lens holder 30 is connected to the base 20 and the base 20 is connected to the printed circuit board 10. Since the structure that can be electrically connected to the (10) is provided, the number of the connection portion (W) is reduced compared to the conventional, the operator can reduce the number of times of wiring connection work such as soldering can be shortened the assembly time.

The embodiments of the present invention described above and shown in the drawings should not be construed as limiting the technical idea of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention is limited only by the matters described in the claims, and those skilled in the art will be able to modify the technical idea of the present invention in various forms. Accordingly, such improvements and modifications will fall within the scope of the present invention as long as they are obvious to those skilled in the art.

10; A printed circuit board 20; Base
21; Groove 30; Lens holder
31; Electronic circuit pattern layer 32; Pattern cotton
40; Actuator

Claims (16)

A printed circuit board on which an image sensor is installed;
A base disposed on the printed circuit board and supporting the structure of the camera module;
A lens holder coupled to the base and installing at least one lens therein;
An actuator installed above the lens holder; And
And a pattern surface formed integrally with the lens holder, one end of which is electrically connected to the actuator and the other end of which is formed on an electronic circuit pattern layer that is electrically connected to the printed circuit board. The method of claim 1, wherein the pattern surface,
The camera module is formed on the side wall surface of the lens holder, the end extends to the bottom surface of the lens holder. 3. The method of claim 2,
The end of the pattern surface is in direct contact with the printed circuit board. The method of claim 2, wherein the pattern surface,
The camera module is provided flat, protruding in a direction perpendicular to the side wall surface of the cylindrical lens holder. The method of claim 1,
And the printed circuit board and the electronic circuit pattern layer are electrically connected to each other by a connection part formed of a conductive material such as a conductive material, soldering, and Ag dot bond. The method of claim 1,
The printed circuit board and the electronic circuit pattern layer, the camera module is directly connected to enable electricity. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic circuit pattern layer
The camera module is formed on the upper side of the lens holder. The method of claim 7, wherein the electronic circuit pattern layer,
Camera module is formed in a ring shape on the upper surface of the lens holder. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic circuit pattern layer
The camera module is formed on the lower side of the lens holder. The electronic circuit pattern layer of any one of claims 7 to 9,
And a metal layer coated and plated with an electrically conductive material laminated on the exposed surface. 10. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9,
And the actuator is positioned on the electronic circuit pattern layer. 2. The actuator according to claim 1,
Camera module to move the outermost one lens. 2. The actuator according to claim 1,
A camera module having at least one of an anti-shake function, an auto focusing function, a shutter function, and a zoom function. 2. The actuator according to claim 1,
Camera module composed of any one of MEMS actuators, non-MEMS actuators, silicon-type actuators and liquid lenses that move by using electrostatic force or piezoelectric force. 2. The actuator according to claim 1,
A camera module comprising at least two of a MEMS actuator, a non-MEMS actuator, a silicon type actuator, and a liquid lens that are moved by using electrostatic force or piezoelectric force. The method of claim 1, wherein the base,
And a groove having a shape complementary to the pattern surface such that the pattern surface formed on the lens holder is in direct contact with the printed circuit board.

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