Panasonic Corporation

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.

Yoshiharu Araki

Naoto Yumiki

Hideo Onishi

Fumio Muramatsu

Masato Murayama

Daisuke Ito

Makoto Nakamura

Hironori Honsho

Tetsuya Kaneshiro

Hiroshi Kanchiku

A lens barrel includes a flexible printed circuit board, a moving unit, and a support frame. The moving unit is configured to support the flexible printed circuit board. The support frame is configured to allow the moving unit to move in an optical axis direction. The support frame is configured to house the moving unit. The support frame includes a guide groove for guiding the flexible printed circuit board. The moving unit includes a convex portion provided to its outer peripheral portion. At least part of the convex portion is disposed in the guide groove.

Lens barrel

A lens barrel includes a barrel body, an optical system disposed inside the barrel body, a zoom motor, a focus motor, a zoom lever switch disposed on the outer circumference of the barrel body and configured to transmit a user's operation instruction to the zoom motor, and a focus lever switch disposed on the outer circumference of the barrel body and configured to transmit a user's operation instruction to the focus motor. The zoom lever switch and the focus lever switch are arranged in a region formed of first and fourth quadrants of the lens barrel.

A lens barrel includes a lens mount, a fixed frame, and a movable frame. The lens mount includes an attachment part to which the fixed frame is attached, and a recessed part which is adjacent to the attachment part and is recessed toward the camera body, and into which an end part of the movable frame enters at least when the movable frame is positioned closest to the lens mount. Part of the attachment part close to the camera body has a tapered surface inclined relative to the optical axis. A counterbore in which a screw for attaching the fixed frame to the attachment part is disposed is formed at the tapered surface. Due to the tapered surface, part of the lens mount where the attachment part is formed has a thickness greater than that of another part of the lens mount where the recessed part is formed.

The lens barrel includes a first lens unit, a second lens unit, and a drive unit. The first lens unit includes a first lens element and a first lens support frame supporting the first lens element. The second lens unit includes a second lens element and a second lens support frame supporting the second lens element. The second lens unit is supported by the first lens unit to be movable in the optical axis direction of the first lens element with respect to the first lens unit. The drive unit is arranged to be used to drive the second lens unit with respect to the first lens unit, and is fixed to the first lens unit. When viewed in the optical axis direction, the drive unit is fixed to the first lens unit so that a first profile line formed by the first lens unit and the drive unit is substantially circular.

Lens barrel and imaging device

At an inner circumferential surface of a cam frame, second cam grooves and an inner gear are formed. A second lens group frame includes a base, extensions each extending from the base in an optical axis direction, and cam pins each outwardly protruding from a tip end part of a corresponding one of the extensions in a radial direction. In the extension, a stepped part is formed. The stepped part overlaps, when each cam pin moves according to a corresponding one of the second cam grooves, with the inner gear as viewed in the radial direction, and is recessed toward the inside in the radial direction as compared to a tooth tip of the inner gear so as not to overlap with the tooth tip of the inner gear as viewed in a circumferential direction.

An interchangeable lens unit comprises a second lens group unit, a focus lens unit, a fourth lens group unit, a zoom ring unit, and a focus motor. The zoom ring unit mechanically transmits operational force inputted to a zoom ring to the second lens group unit and the fourth lens group unit. The focus motor electrically drives the focus lens unit in the Z axis direction with respect to the second lens group unit. When the zoom ring is operated in a state in which no power is being supplied to the focus motor, a gap is always ensured in the Z axis direction between the focus lens unit and the second lens group unit.

A lens barrel is provided that includes an image optical system with an optical axis. The lens barrel has a first lens, a second lens, a guide shaft, and a driving unit, an adjusting mechanism, and a base frame. The adjusting mechanism is coupled to the guide shaft and has a first and a second portion. The first portion is deflectable and supports one end of the guide shaft. The second portion is configured to press against the first portion to deflect the first portion at an angle relative to the optical axis. The adjusting mechanism is configured to adjust the position of the guide shaft. The guide shaft is arranged to at least partially overlap the driving unit in the circumferential direction around the optical axis, and the first lens is arranged to at least partially overlap the adjusting mechanism in the radial direction relative to the optical axis.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Yoshiharu Araki