Image taking lens unit with frame member for positioning lens and substrate

• US 6,559,439 B1
• Filed: 12/15/1999
• Issued: 05/06/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Olympus Optical Company Ltd. (Olympus Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Olympus Optical Company Ltd. (Olympus Corporation)
• Inventors: Tsuchida, Hirofumi, Nakajoh, Yasuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Allen, Stephone B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): SPEARS, ERIC J
• Application Number:
  US09/460,801
• Time in Patent Office: 1,238 Days
• Field of Search: 250/208.1, 250/216, 250/239, 250/201.1, 250/201.2, 359/811, 359/819
• US Class Current: 250/239
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 7/026 using retaining rings or springs G02B7/027 takes precedence

Abstract

An image taking optical unit comprises an image taking optical system including a lens, an image pick-up element mounting substrate on which an image pick-up element chip is mounted, and a frame member for retaining the both. The frame member comprises a lens positioning face and a substrate positioning face, both of which cooperate to align centers of the lens and chip and position them with a suitable distance. The lens positioning face comprises a vertically lens positioning section for determining a vertical lens position and a horizontally lens positioning section for determining a horizontal lens position. The substrate positioning face comprises a vertically substrate positioning section for determining a vertical substrate position and a horizontally substrate positioning section for determining a horizontal substrate position. The vertically substrate positioning section comprises z direction positioning portion against which an upper surface of the substrate is pressed and the horizontally substrate positioning section comprises x and y direction positioning portions against which side faces of the substrate are pressed.

Claims

1. An image taking optical unit, comprising:

an image taking optical system adapted to form an image of an object;

an image pick-up element mounting substrate having an image pick-up element chip adapted to receive light from the object; and

a frame member structured to retain both the image taking optical system and the image pick-up element mounting substrate, wherein

the image taking optical system includes a lens which has an entrance optical surface on an object side and an exit optical surface proximate the image pick-up element chip, the entrance and exit optical surfaces facing each other;

the frame member has a lens positioning face adapted to position the lens and a substrate positioning face adapted to position the image pick-up element mounting substrate;

the frame member has at least a substrate retaining portion which retains the substrate from an underside in a vertical direction, and is set in the vertical direction such that the substrate positioning face and the substrate retaining portion sandwich and fix the substrate, and

the lens positioning face and the substrate positioning face cooperate to align a center of the lens and a center of the image pick-up element chip and position the lens and the image pick-up element chip thereby reserving a distance therebetween.

3. The image taking optical unit according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the substrate positioning face comprises a portion of an inner wall surface of the frame member.

4. The image taking optical unit according to claim 3,

wherein the image pick-up element mounting substrate has a plurality of side faces, and the substrate positioning face comprises a horizontally substrate positioning section against which the side faces of the substrate are pressed so that a horizontal position, a position in an x direction and/or y direction, of the substrate is determined.

5. An image taking optical unit according to claim 4, wherein the image pick-up element mounting substrate has a rectangular configuration and hence four side faces, and the horizontally substrate positioning section comprises four horizontally substrate positioning portions against which the four side faces of the rectangular substrate are pressed.

6. An image taking optical unit according to claim 5, wherein the image pick-up element mounting substrate has a rectangular configuration having one pair of opposite side faces longer than the other pair of opposite side faces.

7. The image taking optical unit according to claim 3,

wherein the image pick-up element mounting substrate comprises terminals for outputting an electric signal obtained by a photoelectric conversion with the image pick-up element chip, the terminals being at a single pair of opposite sides, +x and −

x sides or +y and −

y sides.

8. The image taking optical unit according to claim 7,

wherein the image pick-up mounting substrate comprises a single pair of opposite side faces from which the terminals project, and the horizontally positioning section has a pair of horizontally positioning portions for partially contacting with the opposite side faces except for areas from which the terminals project.

9. The image taking optical unit according to claim 8,

wherein the image pick-up element mounting substrate comprises a second pair of side faces from which no terminals project, and the horizontally positioning section have a second pair of horizontally positioning portions for wholly contacting with the second pair of side faces.

10. The image taking optical unit according to claim 3,

wherein the image pick-up element mounting substrate has an upper surface on which the image pick-up element chip is mounted and the substrate positioning face has a vertically substrate positioning section contacting with the upper surface of the substrate to determine a vertical position, a position in a z direction, of the substrate.

11. The image taking optical unit according to claim 10,

wherein the image pick-up element mounting substrate comprises terminals for outputting an electric signal obtained by a photoelectric conversion with the image pick-up element chip, the terminals being at a single pair of opposite sides, +x and −

x sides or +y and −

y sides.

12. The image taking optical unit according to claim 11,

wherein the image pick-up mounting substrate comprises a single pair of opposite side faces from which the terminals project, and the horizontally positioning section has a pair of horizontally positioning portions for partially contacting with the opposite side faces except for areas from which the terminals project.

13. The image taking optical unit according to claim 12,

wherein the image pick-up element mounting substrate comprises a second pair of side faces from which no terminals project, and the horizontally positioning section have a second pair of horizontally positioning portions for wholly contacting with the second pair of side faces.

14. The image taking optical unit according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the lens positioning section comprises a portion of an inner wall surface of the frame member.

15. An image taking optical unit according to claim 14, wherein the lens positioning face has a vertically substrate positioning section contacting with the entrance optical surface of the lens so that a vertical position, a position in a z direction, of the lens is determined.

16. The image taking optical unit according to claim 14,

wherein the lens has a side face, and the lens positioning face comprises a horizontally substrate positioning section against which the side face of the lens is pressed so that a horizontal position, a position in an x direction and/or y direction, of the lens is determined.

17. The image taking optical unit according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the frame member comprises a projection defining a stop of the optical system.

18. The image taking optical unit according to claim 1 or claim 2,

wherein the frame member has a projection,

the substrate retaining portion is formed on the projection, and

the projection comprises a tapered portion which allows the image pick-up element mounting substrate to be easily passed into an inside of the frame member beyond the projection having the substrate retaining portion.

19. The image taking optical unit according to claim 18,

wherein the projections having the tapered portion are gradually bent from an inside to an outside on inserting the substrate into the frame member.

20. The image taking optical unit according to claim 1 or 2,

wherein the image pick-up element mounting substrate comprises terminals for outputting an electric signal obtained by a photoelectric conversion with the image pick-up element chip, the terminals being at a single pair of opposite sides, +x and −

x sides or +y and −

y sides.

21. The image taking optical unit according to claim 20,

wherein the image pick-up mounting substrate comprises a single pair of opposite side faces from which the terminals project, and the horizontally positioning section has a pair of horizontally positioning portions for partially contacting with the opposite side faces except for areas from which the terminals project.

22. The image taking optical unit according to claim 21,

wherein the image pick-up element mounting substrate comprises a second pair of side faces from which no terminals project, and the horizontally positioning section have a second pair of horizontally positioning portions for wholly contacting with the second pair of side faces.

23. An image taking device having an image taking optical unit recited in any one of claims 1 and 2, the image taking device comprising:

a processing device arranged independently and separately from the image taking optical unit,

wherein the processing device is configured to process an electronic signal obtained by photoelectric conversion with the image pick-up element chip of the image taking optical unit.

24. An image processing device having an image taking optical unit recited in any one of claims 1 and 2, the image processing device comprising:

a processing device, an input member, a display element and a recording medium which are arranged independently and separately from the image taking optical unit,

wherein the processing device is configured to process an electronic signal obtained by photoelectric conversion with the image pick-up element chip of the image taking optical unit,

the input member is configured to input an information signal which an operator intends to input to the display element via the processing device,

the display element is configured to display, as an image, via the processing device, the information signal and the electronic signal, and

the recording medium is configured to record the information signal and/or the electronic signal via the processing device.

25. A personal computer device having an image taking optical unit recited in any one of claims 1 and 2, the personal computer device comprising:

a processing device, an input member, a display element and a recording medium which are arranged independently and separately from the image taking optical unit,

wherein the processing device is configured to process an electronic signal obtained by photoelectric conversion with the image pick-up element chip of the image taking optical unit,

the input member is configured to input an information signal which an operator intends to input to the display element via the processing device and the input member comprises a keyboard,

the display element is configured to display, as an image, via the processing device, the information signal, and

the recording medium is configured to record the information signal and/or the electronic signal via the processing device.

26. A telephone device having an image taking optical unit recited in any one of claims 1 and 2, the telephone device comprising:

a processing device, an input member and an antenna which are arranged independently and separately from the image taking optical unit,

wherein the processing device is configured to process an electronic signal obtained by photoelectric conversion with the image pick-up element chip of the image taking optical unit,

the antenna is configured to transmit and receive a telephone signal, and the input member is configured to input a telephone number by an operator and to send a signal of the telephone number from the antenna via the processing device.

27. An information reproducing device having an image taking optical unit recited in any one of claims 1 and 2, the information reproducing device comprising:

a processing device, an illumination member and a sound generation member which are arranged independently and separately from the image taking optical unit,

wherein the processing device is configured to process an electronic signal obtained by photoelectric conversion with the image pick-up element chip of the image taking optical unit,

the illumination member is configured to illuminate an object which expresses a speech signal in at least one of a barcode and dot-like form;

the processing device is configured and arranged to make a recognized speech signal from an image of at least one of the barcode and dot-like form,

the sound generation member is constructed and arranged to transmit the recognized speech signal as a sound to the ears of an operator.

28. An electronic camera having an image taking optical unit recited in any one of claims 1 and 2, the electronic camera comprising:

a processing device, a display element and a recording medium which are arranged independently and separately from the image taking optical unit,

wherein the processing device is configured to process an electronic signal obtained by photoelectric conversion with the image pick-up element chip of the image taking optical unit,

the display element is constructed and arranged to display an image taken by the image taking optical unit,

the electronic camera can hold, therein, the recording medium configured and arranged to record an image taken by the image taking optical unit, and

the processing device comprises a function of displaying, on the display, the image imaged on the image pick-up element chip and a function of recording the taken image on the recording medium.

2. An image taking optical unit comprising:

an image taking optical system adapted to form an image of an object;

an image pick-up element mounting substrate having an image pick-up element chip adapted to receive light from the object; and

a frame member structured to retain both the image taking optical system and the image pick-up element mounting substrate, wherein

the image taking optical system includes a lens which has an entrance optical surface on the object side and an exit optical surface proximate the image pick-up element chip, the entrance and exit optical surfaces facing each other;

the frame member has a lens positioning face adapted to position the lens and a substrate positioning face adapted to position the image pick-up element mounting substrate;

the frame member has at least a lens retaining portion which retains the lens from an underside in a vertical direction, and is set in the vertical direction such that the lens positioning face and the lens retaining portion sandwich and fix the lens; and

the lens positioning face and the substrate positioning face cooperate to align a center of the lens and a center of the image pick-up element chip and position the lens and the image pick-up element chip thereby reserving a distance therebetween.

29. An image taking optical unit comprising:

an image taking optical system adapted to form an image of an object;

an image pick-up element mounting substrate having an image pick-up element chip adapted to receive light from the object; and

a frame member structured to retain both the image taking optical system and the image pick-up element mounting substrate, wherein

the image taking optical system includes a lens which has an entrance optical surface on the object side and an exit optical surface proximate the image pick-up element chip, the entrance and exit optical surfaces facing each other;

the frame member has a lens positioning face adapted to position the lens and a substrate positioning face adapted to position the image pick-up element mounting substrate;

the substrate positioning face is configured to have a space portion formed on an image taking optical system side; and

the lens positioning face and the substrate positioning face cooperate to align a center of the lens and a center of the image pick-up element chip and position the lens and the image pick-up element chip thereby reserving a distance therebetween.