Sensor combination

• US 10,502,548 B2
• Filed: 05/09/2017
• Issued: 12/10/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Fordham, Paul Lynn, Lim, David Kyungtag
• Primary Examiner(s): Assouad, Patrick
• Assistant Examiner(s): Alejnikov, Jr., Robert P
• Application Number:
  US15/590,123
• Publication Number:
  US 20180328717A1
• Time in Patent Office: 945 Days
• Field of Search: 324644, 32420711, 324207, 324 13, 324260, 324658, 324662, 32420713
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/026 by measuring distance between sensor and object G01B11/0608 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 21/02 for measuring length, width, or thickness G01B21/10 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 7/023 for measuring distance between sensor and object G01B7/082 and G01B7/102 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/04 Systems determining presence of a target based on relative movement of target G01S13/56
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/04 Systems determining the presence of a target
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0304 Detection arrangements using opto-electronic means constructional details of pointing devices not related to the detection arrangement using opto-electronic means G06F3/033; optical digitisers G06F3/042
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0325 using a plurality of light emitters or reflectors or a plurality of detectors forming a reference frame from which to derive the orientation of the object, e.g. by triangulation or on the basis of reference deformation in the picked up image
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14601 Structural or functional details thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0264 for a camera module assembly
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0277 for a printed circuit board assembly
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion telephones including GPS signal receivers H04M2250/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/00 Cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors; Control thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/51 Housings
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/57 Mechanical or electrical details of cameras or camera modules specially adapted for being embedded in other devices

Abstract

A sensor system includes a housing having a front surface and a rear surface. The housing defines a bore that extends from the front surface toward the rear surface and that includes one or more lenses. The housing includes an image sensor adjacent at least a first lens and that is aligned with the bore. The system includes a proximity-sensing device mounted on the front surface of the housing. The system further includes a conductor element shared by the proximity-sensing device and the image sensor. The conductor element provides an electrical connection between (i) at least one circuit board of an electronic device and (ii) the proximity-sensing device and the image sensor.

Claims

1. A sensor system, comprising:

a housing having a front surface and a rear surface, the housing defining a bore that extends from the front surface, through the housing, and substantially toward the rear surface;

one or more lenses located within the bore;

an image sensor adjacent at least a first lens of the one or more lenses that are located within the bore, the image sensor being aligned with the bore and disposed between the first lens and the rear surface of the housing;

a proximity-sensing device mounted on the front surface of the housing, wherein the proximity-sensing device is mounted at a location on the front surface that is between a periphery of the bore and a sidewall of the housing that extends between the front surface of the housing and the rear surface of the housing; and

a plurality of conductor elements configured to provide an electrical connection between;

(i) at least one circuit board of an electronic device and the proximity-sensing device, and

(ii) the at least one circuit board of the electronic device and the image sensor.

2. The sensor system of claim 1, wherein the proximity-sensing device comprises at least one transceiver that:

(i) transmits a first wireless signal; and

(ii) receives a second wireless signal to detect presence of an object relative to the sensor system, the second wireless signal being received in response to transmission of the first wireless signal and being associated with the first wireless signal.

3. The sensor system of claim 2, wherein the at least one transceiver of the proximity-sensing device is:

disposed at least partially in a first depression of the housing; and

laterally offset from an axis that is traverse at least a second lens of the one or more lenses located in the bore.

4. The sensor system of claim 1, wherein the proximity-sensing device comprises:

(i) a transmitter that transmits a first wireless signal; and

(ii) a receiver that receives a second wireless signal to detect presence of an object relative to the sensor system, the second wireless signal being received in response to transmission of the first wireless signal and being associated with the first wireless signal.

5. The sensor system of claim 4, wherein the housing comprises:

six sides, the front surface accounting for at least a first side of the six sides and the rear surface accounting for at least a second side of the six sides; and

a depression configured to receive the transmitter of the proximity-sensing device or the receiver of the proximity-sensing device.

6. The sensor system of claim 5, wherein:

the transmitter is disposed at least partially in the depression of the housing and adjacent at least one side of the six sides of the housing; and

the receiver is disposed at least partially in a second depression of the housing and adjacent at least one side of the six sides of the housing.

7. The sensor system of claim 1, wherein the proximity-sensing device is one of:

(a) an electromagnetic wave sensing device;

(b) a capacitive sensing device;

(c) an inductive sensing device;

or

(d) an optical sensing device.

8. The sensor system of claim 1, wherein the sensor system is configured for placement within a housing of the electronic device, the electronic device including a front-facing camera and a rear-facing camera, and the sensor system is at least a portion of the front-facing camera.

9. The sensor system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of conductor elements:

(i) form an electrical connector having one or more signal paths to enable the proximity-sensing device to transmit one or more signals;

(ii) are disposed adjacent the rear surface of the housing; and

(iii) are disposed adjacent the sidewall of the housing that is between the front surface and the rear surface.

10. The sensor system of claim 9, wherein the electrical connector is a flexible flat electrical connector that includes multiple parallel electrical conductors.

11. The sensor system of claim 1, wherein the housing comprises:

a first set of conductor traces that provide one or more signal paths to enable the proximity-sensing device to receive electrical communications using one or more signals; and

a second set of conductor traces that provide one or more signal paths to indicate receipt of one or more signals received by the proximity-sensing device.

12. The sensor system of claim 11, wherein the housing is a molded interconnect device that:

includes the first set of conductor traces integrated with the housing, and

includes the second set of conductor traces integrated with the housing.

13. The sensor system of claim 12, wherein the first set of conductor traces and the second set of conductor traces were each generated using laser direct structuring.

14. The sensor system of claim 1, wherein the image sensor is part of at least one camera of a mobile device, and multiple lenses of the camera are optical elements for capturing an image using the at least one camera of the mobile device.

15. The sensor system of claim 1, wherein the sensor system is a dual-purpose sensing system configured to:

sense a proximity of an object using the proximity-sensing device; and

generate an optical image of the object using the image sensor.

16. The sensor system of claim 1, wherein:

a distance between the front surface of the housing and the rear surface of the housing is defined by a first distance; and

the bore extends from the front surface, through the housing at a central axis of the housing, and substantially toward the rear surface such that the bore extends beyond one-half of the first distance.

17. The sensor system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of conductor elements are further configured to provide an electrical connection between the proximity-sensing device and the image sensor.

18. A sensor system of an electronic device, comprising:

a housing having a front surface and a rear surface, the housing defining a bore that extends from the front surface, through the housing, and substantially toward the rear surface;

one or more lenses disposed in the bore and for capturing an image using the electronic device;

an image sensor positioned to receive light that passes through the one or more lenses, wherein the image sensor is aligned with the bore and disposed between the first lens and the rear surface;

a sensing device mounted on the front surface of the housing and that is capable of detecting the proximity of an object relative to the electronic device, wherein the proximity-sensing device is mounted at a location on the front surface that is between a periphery of the bore and a sidewall of the housing that extends between the front surface of the housing and the rear surface of the housing; and

a plurality of conductor elements adjacent the housing to provide an electrical connection between;

(i) a circuit board of the electronic device and sensing device;

(ii) the sensing device and the image sensor; and

(iii) the circuit board and image sensor.

19. The sensor system of claim 18, wherein the sensing device comprises at least one transceiver that:

(i) transmits a first wireless signal; and

(ii) receives a second wireless signal to detect presence of an object relative to the electronic device, the second wireless signal being received in response to transmission of the first wireless signal and being associated with the first wireless signal.

20. The sensor system of claim 19, wherein the at least one transceiver of the sensing device is:

disposed at least partially in a first depression of the housing, and

disposed adjacent at least one lens of the one or more lenses included in the bore.

21. The sensor system of claim 18, wherein the sensing device comprises:

(i) a transmitter that transmits a first wireless signal; and

(ii) a receiver that receives a second wireless signal to detect presence of an object relative to the electronic device, the second wireless signal being received in response to transmission of the first wireless signal and being associated with the first wireless signal.

22. The sensor system of claim 21, wherein:

the transmitter is disposed at least partially in a first depression of the housing and adjacent at least one side of the housing; and

the receiver is disposed at least partially in a second depression of the housing and adjacent at least one side of the housing.