IMAGE ACQUIRING DEVICE

• US 20190320098A1
• Filed: 08/09/2018
• Published: 10/17/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: KANG, Hyungjoo, Lee, Dongryeol, Ji, Salkmann, Hong, Samnyol
• Granted Patent: US 10,911,652 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: F03G 7/06 using expansion or contraction of bodies due to heating, cooling, moistening, drying or the like using thermal expansion of non-vaporising liquids F01K
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 3/12 Fluid-filled or evacuated lenses
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 3/14 of variable focal length
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 7/023 permitting adjustment
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/296 Synchronisation thereof; Control thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/54 Mounting of pick-up tubes, electronic image sensors, deviation or focusing coils
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/55 Optical parts specially adapted for electronic image sensors; Mounting thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/56 provided with illuminating means
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/62 Control of parameters via user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/67 Focus control based on electronic image sensor signals

Abstract

Disclosed is an image acquiring device, including a liquid lens having a shape changed by pressurization, a membrane provided to one surface of the liquid lens, the membrane forming a pressurization surface, a pressurizing member provided to an outside of the membrane, and a support wire provided across a prescribed region of an outer surface of the pressurizing member, the support wire moving the pressurizing member toward the membrane by contracting by conduction, the support wire moving the pressurizing member toward an opposite side of the membrane by expanding. Accordingly, the present invention solves a problem of a mismatched focus in a close-up photo and minimizes an increasing volume of the image acquiring device.

Claims

1. An image acquiring device, comprising:

a liquid lens having a shape varied by pressurization;

a membrane provided to one surface of the liquid lens so as to form a pressurization surface;

a pressurizing member provided to an outside of the membrane; and

a support wire provided across a prescribed region of an outer surface of the pressurizing member, the support wire moving the pressurizing member toward the membrane by contracting by conduction, the support wire moving the pressurizing member toward an opposite side of the membrane by expanding.

2. The image acquiring device of claim 1, wherein the support wire includes shape-memory-alloy having a length contracting in response to application of current.

3. The image acquiring device of claim 2, wherein the pressurizing member is provided onto the one surface of the liquid lens so as to form a ring shape, wherein a pair of insertion recesses parallel to each other are formed on both sides of the one surface of the ring shape, and wherein the support wire is fitted into the pair of the insertion recesses so as to pressurize the both sides of the pressurizing member.

4. The image acquiring device of claim 3, wherein the pair of the insertion recesses are provided in form of parallel straight lines.

5. The image acquiring device of claim 3, wherein the support wire is fixed in a polygonal shape including at least 6 line segments.

6. The image acquiring device of claim 3, wherein the support wire is provided as a single body so as to pass through the pair of the insertion recesses.

7. The image acquiring device of claim 6, wherein an anode having one end of the support wire connected thereto and a cathode having the other end of the support wire connected thereto are provided to one side of the pair of the insertion recesses.

8. The image acquiring device of claim 7, further comprising:

a case having the liquid lens installed therein; and

a fixing portion provided to the case, the fixing portion provided to each of both sides of a pair of the insertion recesses,

wherein the fixing portion comprises a first fixing member fixing one end and the other end of the support wire and a second fixing member fixing a prescribed region of a center of the support wire.

9. The image acquiring device of claim 8, further comprising an elastic member provided to the case so as to form a restoration force for spacing the pressurizing member apart from the liquid lens.

10. The image acquiring device of claim 1, wherein the pressurizing member is formed of metal material.

11. The image acquiring device of claim 1, further comprising:

at least one lens located in rear of an optical path of the liquid lens; and

a lens body tube fixing the at least one lens.

12. An image acquiring device, comprising:

a liquid lens having a refractive index varied by pressurization;

a membrane provided to one surface of the liquid lens so as to form a pressurization surface;

a pressurizing member provided to an outside of the membrane;

a support wire provided across a prescribed region of an outer surface of the pressurizing member, the support wire moving the pressurizing member toward the membrane by contracting by conduction, the support wire moving the pressurizing member toward an opposite side of the membrane by expanding; and

a lens controller controlling the support wire to contract or expand in a manner of applying a current to the support wire or interrupting the current,

wherein the lens controller applies the current to the support wire in response to a first external signal for decreasing a focal distance.

13. The image acquiring device of claim 12, further comprising:

at least one lens located in rear of an optical path of the liquid lens; and

an image sensor located in rear of the optical path of the at least one lens,

wherein the lens controller applies a current strength to the support wire step by step in response to a second external signal for a 3D image and controls the image sensor to acquire a plurality of images in response to a state that the current strength is changed step by step.