US-12619051-B2 - Zoom drive actuator

US12619051B2US 12619051 B2US12619051 B2US 12619051B2US-12619051-B2

Abstract

Provided herein is a zoom drive actuator comprising a first carrier movable along an optical axis, a second carrier capable of moving anterior or posterior to the first carrier along the optical axis, a housing enclosing the first and second carriers, a first coil unit; and a second coil unit, in which the first carrier comprises a first mount equipped with a first lens assembly, a first support to which a first magnet is attached, and a first guide placed on the side of the first mount opposite to the first support, in which the second carrier comprises a second mount equipped with a second lens assembly, a second support to which a second magnet is attached, and a second guide placed on the side of the second mount opposite to the second support and in which the first coil unit faces the first magnet and the second coil unit faces the second magnet and where the first carrier comprises a first space forming a corridor to allow the second guide to make a passage through it and the second carrier comprises a second space forming a corridor to allow the first guide to make a passage through it.

Inventors

Hee Seung Kim
Kyu Min LEE

Assignees

JAHWA ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20210909
Priority Date: 20201112

Claims (7)

1 . A zoom drive actuator, said zoom drive actuator comprising: a first carrier movable along an optical axis; a second carrier capable of moving anterior or posterior to the first carrier along the optical axis; a housing enclosing the first and second carriers; a first coil unit; and a second coil unit; wherein the first carrier comprises a first mount equipped with a first lens assembly, a first support placed on a side of the first mount and having a first magnet attached thereto, and a first guide placed on the side of the first mount opposite to the first support, said the first guide extending further along the optical axis than the first mount; wherein the second carrier comprises a second mount equipped with a second lens assembly, a second support placed on a side of the second mount and having a second magnet attached thereto, and a second guide placed on the side of the second mount opposite to the second support, said the second guide extending further along the optical axis than the second mount; wherein the first coil unit faces the first magnet and the second coil unit faces the second magnet and the first guide and the second guide have a shape of a bar extending in the direction of the optical axis; and wherein the first carrier comprises a first hole forming a corridor into which the second guide is inserted and the second carrier comprises a second hole forming a corridor into which the first guide is inserted.
2 . The zoom actuator according to claim 1 , wherein the first space is formed between the first mount and the first support.
3 . The zoom actuator according to claim 1 , wherein the second space is formed between the second mount and the second support.
4 . The zoom actuator according to claim 1 , wherein the zoom actuator further comprises: a yoke equipped to the housing, said yoke generating an attractive force towards the first magnet; and a first balancing magnet attached to the first guide, said first balancing magnet generating an attractive force towards the yoke.
5 . The zoom actuator according to claim 1 , wherein the zoom actuator further comprises: a yoke equipped to the housing, said yoke generating an attractive force towards the second magnet; and a second balancing magnet attached to the second guide, said second balancing magnet generating an attractive force towards the yoke.
6 . The zoom drive actuator according to claim 1 , wherein the first support comprises a first rail facing a first guide rail formed on the housing, said first rail extending further along the optical axis than the first mount; wherein the first guide comprises a second rail facing a second guide rail formed on the housing, and wherein the zoom drive actuator further comprises a plurality of balls; with at least one of said plurality of balls positioned between the first rail and the first guide rail and at least one of said plurality of balls positioned between the second rail and the second guide rail.
7 . The zoom actuator according to claim 6 , wherein the second support comprises a third rail facing a third guide rail formed on the housing, said third rail extending further than the second mount in a direction opposite to the first support along the optical axis; wherein the second guide comprises a fourth rail facing a fourth guide rail formed on the housing, and wherein the zoom drive actuator further comprises a plurality of balls; with at least one of said plurality of balls positioned between the third rail and the third guide rail and at least one of said plurality of balls positioned between the fourth rail and the fourth guide rail.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a zoom drive actuator. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a zoom drive actuator capable of reliably enhancing driving performance over extended strokes. BACKGROUND ART As the hardware technology for image processing has been developed and the user needs for image shooting have increased, functions such as autofocus (AF) and optical image stabilization (OIS) have been applied to a camera module or the like, mounted to a portable terminal such as a cellular phone and a smart phone as well as an independent camera device. Recent years have seen actuators for zoom lens that supports variable adjustment features including the object size by tuning the focal length through such functions as zoom-in and zoom-out. In certain models of actuators, further diversification in implementing zoom has been attainable through combinations in the relative positions among multiple lenses (lens assemblies). Since zoom lenses have longer or extended distances of movement along the optical axis (also referred to as stroke) than ordinary lenses, the actuators used for driving zoom lens should be designed to exert correspondingly strong driving force. Actuator design known in the art, however, simply resorted to repetitions of the physical substructure responsible for driving carriers for the purpose of securing independent movement for each of the multiple carriers. This approach accordingly led to inflated actuator dimensions and this complicated the use of prior art actuators in applications such as smart phones where size or volume was a significant issue. DISCLOSURE Technical Problem The present disclosure has been contemplated to solve the aforementioned problems of the related art in the context mentioned above. It is a technical goal herein to provide a more stably maintained driving of each carrier. Furthermore, it is another technical goal herein to achieve a more effective utilization of space within the actuator. These and other objects and advantages of the present disclosure may be understood from the following detailed description and will become more fully apparent from the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Also, it will be easily understood that the objects and advantages of the present disclosure may be realized by the means shown in the appended claims and combinations thereof. Technical Solution To achieve the technical goals mentioned above, in one aspect of the present disclosure is provided a zoom drive actuator comprising a first carrier movable along an optical axis, a second carrier capable of moving anterior or posterior to the first carrier along the optical axis, a housing enclosing the first and second carriers, a first coil unit; and a second coil unit, in which the first carrier comprises a first mount equipped with a first lens assembly, a first support to which a first magnet is attached, and a first guide placed on the side of the first mount opposite to the first support, in which the second carrier comprises a second mount equipped with a second lens assembly, a second support to which a second magnet is attached, and a second guide placed on the side of the second mount opposite to the second support and in which the first coil unit faces the first magnet and the second coil unit faces the second magnet. Here the first carrier can be configured to comprise a first space forming a corridor to allow the second guide to make a passage through it and the second carrier can be configured to comprise a second space forming a corridor to allow the first guide to make a passage through it. In a particular embodiment, the first support may comprise a first rail facing a first guide rail formed on the housing, with the first rail extending further along the optical axis than the first mount. The first guide may comprise a second rail facing a second guide rail formed on the housing, in which case the zoom drive actuator may further comprise a plurality of balls; with at least one of said plurality of balls positioned between the first rail and the first guide rail and at least one of said plurality of balls positioned between the second rail and the second guide rail. In addition, the second support may comprise a third rail facing a third guide rail formed on the housing in which the third rail has a shape extending further along the optical axis than the second mount in a direction opposite to the first support. The second guide may comprise a fourth rail facing a fourth guide rail formed on the housing, in which case the zoom drive actuator further comprises a plurality of balls; with at least one of said plurality of balls positioned between the third rail and the third guide rail and at least one of said plurality of balls positioned between the fourth rail and the fourth guide rail. In a preferable embodiment, the first space is formed between the first mount and the first support and the second space is formed betw