Olympus Imaging Corporation

Olympus Corporation

Junya Harada

Koji Okano

Kazuhiro Morisaki

A lens driving device includes a lens frame that holds a lens, a rack provided pivotally with respect to the lens frame around a pivot shaft along an optical axis of the lens, a lead screw provided along the optical axis, a spring that makes the rack pivot around the pivot shaft, pushes the rack against the lead screw, and engages a tooth of the rack with a tooth of the lead screw, a driving unit that rotates the lead screw, and a nut that includes an end surface facing the rack along the optical axis with a gap C being included therebetween, that engages with the lead screw with backlash being included therebetween, and that is provided un-rotatably with respect to the lens frame. In a case where a half pitch of the tooth of the lead screw is A and the backlash along the optical axis between the lead screw and the nut is B, A&#x3e;B+C is satisfied.

Lens driving device

A lens apparatus includes a lens housing, driven member that is driven in a first direction. A lens barrel body that includes a lens, is separated from the driven member upon receiving an impact including a component of a second direction and can move. A drive section drives the driven member in the first direction. When the lens housing receives an impact including a component of the first direction, the drive member and the driven member are separated apart, and the driven member and the lens barrel body move together in the first direction, and when the lens housing receives an impact including the component of the second direction, the drive member prevents the driven member from moving in the second direction, the driven member and the lens barrel body are separated apart, and the lens barrel body moves.

Lens apparatus

A lens frame drive apparatus for an image pickup apparatus includes: a first lens frame that moves along a plurality of guide shafts; a second lens frame that moves along the plurality of guide shafts; and a drive shaft with a cam portion for driving the first lens frame, a nut for driving the second lens frame, a feed screw portion threadably connected to the nut, and a driven portion that upon receipt of a driving force from a motor, simultaneously rotates the cam portion and the feed screw portion, formed thereon, wherein the cam portion and the feed screw portion are driven by the nut so that a total amount of movement of the second lens frame is extremely smaller than a total amount of movement of the first lens frame and the second lens frame corrects the amount of movement of the first lens frame.

Growing community of inventors

Hachioji, Japan

Junya Harada