The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 21, 2025
Filed:
Sep. 29, 2023
Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);
Ya-Wen Hsu, San Francisco, CA (US);
Aurelien R Hubert, San Jose, CA (US);
Jinjun Zhang, San Jose, CA (US);
Yazan Z Alnahhas, Stanford, CA (US);
Kevin Garrison, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Nitin Kumar Chennupati, Mountain View, CA (US);
Nicole Elizabeth Cazares, Yongsan-gu, KR;
Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);
Abstract
Various embodiments include a camera having a ball bearing voice coil motor (VCM) actuator for moving a carrier (and image sensor) and a flexure to supply a drive current to the ball bearing VCM actuator, allowing motion of the carrier relative to a stationary structure of the camera while maintaining an electrical connection. In embodiments, the camera may include a shield can coupled to a lens barrel (e.g., forming a seal to block particles and/or light), and the carrier is coupled with the image sensor. The ball bearing VCM actuator may include a coil coupled with the carrier, a magnet coupled with the shield can, and a ball bearing suspension arrangement to suspend the carrier from the shield can.