Nidec Sankyo Corporation

Nidec Corporation

Nidec Instruments Corporation

Kimura Chemical Plants Co., Ltd.

B Food Science Co., Ltd.

Tsutomu Arai

Takeshi Sue

Shinji Minamisawa

Tomohiro Egawa

Genki Tanaka

Takayuki Iwase

Shogo Kasahara

Kazuhiro Sazai

Shinji Hatano

Tadashi Takeda

Kwun-Yao Ho

Shinri Ono

Soichiro Kimura

Toshiyuki Watanabe

Tsungting Hsieh

Yoshihiko Amano

Satoshi Makishima

Hirofumi Ikeda

Yousuke Yamakawa

Nobuaki Sato

Takashi Kanai

A case to hold a movable unit, which is provided with an optical module and a flexible circuit board having one end connected to the optical module, in a swingable manner that the optical module is swingable, is provided. The case includes: a holder, swingable together with the optical module to house the optical module; a fixing portion, provided at the holder to fix the flexible circuit board; and a pedestal, provided at the holder and having a placing face along which the flexible circuit board is disposed at a side opposite to a side of the one end with respect to an area fixed to the fixing portion in the flexible circuit board, and the pedestal is provided in a configuration in which a swing center of the optical module is positioned on an extended line of the placing face.

Case and optical unit

In an optical unit with a shake correction function, a cylindrical holder having an inner peripheral side on which a camera module is fixed is composed of metal. In the optical unit with a shake correction function, a case-side protrusion projecting toward the inner peripheral side of a cylindrical case surrounding the outer peripheral surface of the holder is formed on the inner peripheral side of the case. When a movable body moves relative to a fixed body while the optical axis of a camera module tilts the most, portions of the holder farther inside in the optical axis direction than edges formed on the outer peripheral surface of the holder before the edges come into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the case.

Optical unit with shake correction function

An optical unit includes: a reflective portion that reflects, on a reflective surface, an incident light flux incident from the outside in a reflection direction toward an imaging element from an incident direction; a movable body to which the reflective portion is fixed; and a fixed body. In the movable body, emboss processing is applied to at least one of a reflective surface contact surface in contact with the reflective surface, and a side surface contact surface in contact with a side surface of the reflective portion on a side of an intersecting direction intersecting with the incident direction and the reflection direction.

Optical unit

A case includes a movable body to which an optical module having a first flexible wiring board is to be attached, a fixed body, and a second flexible wiring board with which the first flexible wiring board is to be connected. The movable body is swingably held by the fixed body, and the second flexible wiring board is structured to be resiliently bent easier than the first flexible wiring board.

An optical unit includes: a reflection portion which reflects an incident light flux from an incident direction on the outside in a reflection direction toward an imaging element; a movable body including the reflection portion; a fixed body; a movable mechanism which allows the movable body to move relative to the fixed body; and a gimbal mechanism including a first support portion which supports the movable body swingably about a first axis, and including a second support portion which is swingably supported by the fixed body about a second axis intersecting the first axis direction.

In an optical unit with a shake correction function, a frame-shaped holder to which a camera module is fixed to an inner periphery being structured of a metal portion formed of a metal material, and a resin portion formed of a resin material and integrated with the metal portion by insert molding. The metal portion includes magnet fixing portions formed of a magnetic material and to which a driving magnet is fixed, and spherical body contact portions in contact with a spherical body made of metal and serving as a fulcrum for pivotal movement of the holder.

An optical unit including a reflection portion, a movable body, a fixed body; and a rotation support mechanism that rotates the movable body with respect to the fixed body in an axial direction as a rotation axis, in which the rotation support mechanism has a U-shaped spring member disposed between the fixed body and the movable body in the axial direction and applies a force in a direction that widens the space between the fixed body and the movable body, the spring member has a rotation-axis first forming member, the movable body has a rotation-axis second forming member, and the rotation-axis first forming member and the rotation-axis second forming member are arranged at positions where a rotation axis passes through a center of gravity position of the movable body.

An optical unit according to one embodiment including: a reflection portion which reflects an incident light flux, which is made incident from outside, in a reflection direction toward an imaging element from an incident direction; a movable body provided with the reflection portion; a fixed body; a movable mechanism which allows the movable body to move relative to the fixed body; a gimbal mechanism provided with a first support portion which supports the movable body swingably about a first axis; and a bearing mechanism which supports the gimbal mechanism swingably relative to the fixed body about a second axis intersecting the first axis direction.

An optical unit with a shake correction function includes a movable body having an optical element, a swing support mechanism swingably supporting the movable body, a fixed body supporting the movable body through the swing support mechanism, and a magnetic drive mechanism structured to swing the movable body. The magnetic drive mechanism includes a coil fixed to one of the movable body and the fixed body, and a magnet fixed to the other of the movable body and the fixed body. The swing support mechanism includes a first plate spring connecting an end part of the movable body on one side in an optical axis direction with the fixed body, and a second plate spring connecting the other end part of the movable body in the optical axis direction with the fixed body. The magnet and the coil are disposed between the first plate spring and the second plate spring.

An optical unit includes: a reflection portion that reflects an incident light flux incident from outside on a reflection surface in a reflection direction from an incident direction toward an imaging element; a movable body having the reflection portion and a holder supporting the reflection portion; a fixed body; a rotation support mechanism that causes the movable body to rotate with respect to the fixed body with an axial direction as a rotation axis; and a drive mechanism having a magnet and a coil and causing the movable body to rotate with respect to the fixed body. The magnet is provided at a position not contacting the reflection portion in the holder and on a back side of the reflection surface, and has a parallel surface parallel to the reflection surface. The coil is provided at a position opposing the magnet in the fixed body.

An optical assembly includes a movable body that includes an optical module, a frame body radially outward of the movable body, and support portions that swingably support the movable body with respect to the frame body. Each of the support portions includes a guide portion between the movable body and the frame body to support the movable body, and a preload portion that pushes the guide portion toward the movable body. A radially inner end portion of the preload portion is connected to a radially outer end portion of the guide portion. A radially outer end portion of the preload portion is supported by the frame body. One of the movable body and the guide portion includes a first convex surface, and the other includes a first concave surface in contact with the first convex surface.

Optical assembly with shake correction function

An optical unit includes a movable body including an optical module, a fixed body, a support mechanism, a flexible printed circuit board, and a fixing part. The fixing part is superposed on a bent part formed by bending the flexible printed circuit board. At least a part of the fixing part is fixed to the bent part of the flexible printed circuit board.

A shake correction optical unit with a shake correction function may cause a movable body including an optical module to swing around an X axis and a Y axis that are perpendicular to an optical axis L. A flexible printed board may include a second folded portion drawn from the movable body in a +Y direction, and bent in a direction of the optical axis L and folded once; and a first folded portion bent to extend from the second folded portion in the +Y direction and folded once. At least one of the second folded portion or the first folded portion may be thus easily bendable when the movable body swings in either direction around the X axis or around the Y axis.

Optical unit with shake correction function and method of producing optical unit with shake correction function

An optical unit with an image stabilization function includes a movable body having an annular holder for holding a camera module, a swing support mechanism for swingably supporting the movable body, and a fixing body for supporting the movable body with the swing support mechanism interposed between them. The holder includes three or more of a plurality of protrusions that project radially. The fixing body includes a plurality of arc surfaces that come into contact with each of the plurality of protrusions from the outer peripheral side. The swing support mechanism includes the plurality of protrusions and the plurality of arc surfaces. The arc surface is a concave curved surface obtained by transferring part of a virtual spherical surface centered on a preset swing center point.

Optical unit with image stabilization function

An optical unit may include a movable body, a turning support mechanism turnably supporting the movable body around an optical axis, a gimbal mechanism turnably supporting the turning support mechanism, and a fixed body. The turning support mechanism includes a plate roll fixed to the movable body, a plate holder having a facing part facing the plate roll in the optical axis direction and is turnably supported by the gimbal mechanism, spherical bodies disposed between the plate roll and the facing part, and a magnetic attraction mechanism for generating an attraction force so that the plate roll and the facing part approach each other in the optical axis direction. The magnetic attraction mechanism includes an attraction part provided in one of the plate roll and the plate holder and an attracted part provided in the other, and the attraction part includes a magnet.

Growing community of inventors

Nagano, Japan

Tsutomu Arai