VEHICULAR CAMERA AND LENS ASSEMBLY AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SAME
First Claim
1. A method of assembling a vehicular camera, said method comprising:
- providing a lens assembly comprising a lens barrel and an attaching portion, said lens barrel including lens optics comprising a plurality of optical elements;
providing a front camera housing having an imaging array disposed thereat;
dispensing an adhesive bead in an uncured state at at least one of (i) said attaching portion of said lens assembly and (ii) said front camera housing;
mating said attaching portion of said lens assembly and said front housing member with said adhesive bead in its uncured state therebetween;
with said attaching portion of said lens assembly mated with said front housing member and with said adhesive bead in its uncured state therebetween, aligning said lens optics with respect to said imaging array;
wherein aligning said lens optics with respect to said imaging array utilizes a multi-axis positioning device;
after aligning said lens optics with respect to said imaging array, curing said adhesive bead to a first cure level via exposure of said adhesive bead to ultraviolet light to join said lens assembly and said front housing member;
moving said lens assembly and said front camera housing joined by said adhesive bead to a further curing station; and
at said further curing station, further curing said adhesive bead to a second cure level.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of assembling a vehicular camera includes providing a front camera housing and a lens assembly and dispensing an adhesive bead in an uncured state at at least one of (i) an attaching portion of the lens assembly and (ii) the front camera housing. The attaching portion and the front housing member are mated together with the adhesive bead therebetween. With the attaching portion and front housing member mated together, lens optics of the lens assembly are aligned with respect to an imaging array of the front camera housing. After such alignment, the adhesive bead is cured to a first cure level via ultraviolet light exposure to join the lens assembly and the front housing member. The lens assembly and front camera housing so joined are moved to a further curing station, where the adhesive bead is further cured to a second cure level.
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Citations
85 Claims
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1. A method of assembling a vehicular camera, said method comprising:
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providing a lens assembly comprising a lens barrel and an attaching portion, said lens barrel including lens optics comprising a plurality of optical elements; providing a front camera housing having an imaging array disposed thereat; dispensing an adhesive bead in an uncured state at at least one of (i) said attaching portion of said lens assembly and (ii) said front camera housing; mating said attaching portion of said lens assembly and said front housing member with said adhesive bead in its uncured state therebetween; with said attaching portion of said lens assembly mated with said front housing member and with said adhesive bead in its uncured state therebetween, aligning said lens optics with respect to said imaging array; wherein aligning said lens optics with respect to said imaging array utilizes a multi-axis positioning device; after aligning said lens optics with respect to said imaging array, curing said adhesive bead to a first cure level via exposure of said adhesive bead to ultraviolet light to join said lens assembly and said front housing member; moving said lens assembly and said front camera housing joined by said adhesive bead to a further curing station; and at said further curing station, further curing said adhesive bead to a second cure level. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A method of assembling a vehicular camera, said method comprising:
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providing a lens assembly comprising a lens barrel and an attaching portion, said lens barrel including lens optics comprising a plurality of optical elements; providing a front camera housing having an imaging array disposed thereat; dispensing an adhesive bead in an uncured state at at least one of (i) an annular surface of said attaching portion of said lens assembly and (ii) an annular surface of said front camera housing; mating said attaching portion of said lens assembly and said front housing member with said adhesive bead in its uncured state therebetween; wherein, when said attaching portion of said lens assembly and said front housing member are mated together, said lens barrel is partially received in a cylindrical opening of said front camera housing; wherein said annular surface of said attaching portion of said lens assembly opposes said annular surface of said front camera housing when said lens barrel is partially received in said cylindrical opening of said front camera housing; with said attaching portion of said lens assembly mated with said front housing member and with said adhesive bead in its uncured state therebetween, aligning said lens optics with respect to said imaging array; after aligning said lens optics with respect to said imaging array, curing said adhesive bead to a first cure level via exposure of said adhesive bead to ultraviolet light to join said lens assembly and said front housing member; moving said lens assembly and said front camera housing joined by said adhesive bead to a further curing station; at said further curing station, further curing said adhesive bead to a second cure level; and wherein curing said adhesive bead to the first cure level comprises exposure of said adhesive bead to ultraviolet light for a first time period, and wherein further curing said adhesive bead to the second cure level comprises further curing said adhesive bead for a second time period, and wherein the first time period for curing said adhesive bead to the first cure level is less than the second time period for further curing said adhesive bead to the second cure level. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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64. A method of assembling a vehicular camera, said method comprising:
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providing a lens assembly comprising a lens barrel and an attaching portion, said lens barrel including lens optics comprising a plurality of optical elements; providing a front camera housing having an imaging array disposed thereat; wherein said imaging array is disposed at a circuit board, and wherein said circuit board is attached at said front camera housing; dispensing an adhesive bead in an uncured state at at least one of (i) said attaching portion of said lens assembly and (ii) said front camera housing; mating said attaching portion of said lens assembly and said front housing member with said adhesive bead in its uncured state therebetween; with said attaching portion of said lens assembly mated with said front housing member and with said adhesive bead in its uncured state therebetween, aligning said lens optics with respect to said imaging array; after aligning said lens optics with respect to said imaging array, curing said adhesive bead to a first cure level via exposure of said adhesive bead to ultraviolet light to join said lens assembly and said front housing member; moving said lens assembly and said front camera housing joined by said adhesive bead to a further curing station; at said further curing station, further curing said adhesive bead to a second cure level; wherein curing said adhesive bead to the first cure level comprises exposure of said adhesive bead to ultraviolet light for a first time period, and wherein further curing said adhesive bead to the second cure level comprises curing said adhesive bead for a second time period, and wherein the first time period for curing said adhesive bead to the first cure level is less than the second time period for further curing said adhesive bead to the second cure level; attaching a rear camera housing to said front camera housing to encase said imaging array; and wherein said rear camera housing comprises an electrical connector configured to electrically connect to a wiring harness of a vehicle when said camera is mounted at the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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73. A method of assembling a vehicular camera, said method comprising:
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providing a lens assembly comprising a lens barrel and an attaching portion, said lens barrel including lens optics comprising a plurality of optical elements; providing a front camera housing having an imaging array disposed thereat; wherein said imaging array is disposed at a circuit board, and wherein said circuit board is attached at said front camera housing; dispensing an adhesive bead in an uncured state at at least one of (i) said attaching portion of said lens assembly and (ii) said front camera housing; providing a multi-axis positioning device; using said multi-axis positioning device, mating said attaching portion of said lens assembly and said front housing member with said adhesive bead in its uncured state therebetween; wherein, with said attaching portion of said lens assembly mated with said front housing member and with said adhesive bead in its uncured state therebetween, said multi-axis positioning device is operable to translationally move said lens assembly relative to said front housing along any one or more of x, y and z axes to align said lens optics with respect to said imaging array; wherein aligning said lens optics with respect to said imaging array utilizing said multi-axis positioning device comprises holding and moving said lens assembly relative to said imaging array while using said imaging array to capture images of a target object; curing said adhesive bead to a first cure level via exposure to ultraviolet light to join said lens assembly and said front housing member when the target object appears in suitable focus and at a suitable position relative to said imaging array; moving said lens assembly and said front camera housing joined by said adhesive bead to a further curing station; at said further curing station, further curing said adhesive bead to a second cure level; wherein curing said adhesive bead to the first cure level comprises exposure of said adhesive bead to ultraviolet light for a first time period, and wherein further curing said adhesive bead to the second cure level comprises further curing said adhesive bead for a second time period, and wherein the first time period for curing said adhesive bead to the first cure level is less than the second time period for further curing said adhesive bead to the second cure level; and wherein the first time period is less than ten seconds. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85)
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Specification