US-12627871-B2 - Camera module for vehicles and method of assembling the same

US12627871B2US 12627871 B2US12627871 B2US 12627871B2US-12627871-B2

Abstract

Disclosed are a camera module for vehicles and a method of assembling the same, wherein the camera module includes a lens module configured to allow a lens to be mounted therein, a circuit board including an image sensor, a front body configured to allow the lens module to be assembled to the front thereof and to allow the circuit board to be assembled thereto inward from the rear, a rear body assembled to the rear of the front body, a side weld portion formed on a side surface of the front body so as to protrude therefrom, and a flange portion formed so as to extend forwardly of the rear body, a leading edge of the flange portion being in contact with the side weld portion.

Inventors

Rak Beom KWON
Sung Hoon Hwang
Jong Joo BAE
Jae Hoon Jung
Hyun Ho BAN

Assignees

SEKONIX CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20230719
Priority Date: 20220721

Claims (10)

1 . A camera module for vehicles, the camera module comprising: a lens module configured to allow a lens to be mounted therein; a circuit board comprising an image sensor configured to convert an image received through the lens into an electrical signal; a front body configured to allow the lens module to be assembled to a front thereof and to allow the circuit board to be assembled thereto inward from a rear, the front body being manufactured using a metal injection molding (MIM) method; a rear body assembled to the rear of the front body, the rear body being manufactured using the metal injection molding (MIM) method; a side weld portion formed on a side surface of the front body so as to protrude therefrom, the side weld portion being coupled to the rear body by laser welding; and a flange portion formed so as to extend forwardly of the rear body, a leading edge of the flange portion being in contact with the side weld portion, wherein the contact parts are welded using a laser to couple the front body and the rear body to each other.
2 . The camera module according to claim 1 , wherein in order to weld the contact parts of the side weld portion and the flange portion, the camera module is rotated 360° in a state in which the front body and the rear body are pre-assembled and welding is performed through a laser beam fixed above, whereby sealing and assembly of the front body and the rear body are completed.
3 . The camera module according to claim 1 , wherein the side weld portion comprises: a projection portion having a contact surface in contact with the leading edge of the flange portion, the projection portion being formed so as to extend in a direction orthogonal to a central axis of the camera module; and an insertion portion formed so as to extend rearward from the projection portion, the insertion portion being received in the rear body, the insertion portion being in contact with an inner surface of the flange portion to form a press-fit surface.
4 . The camera module according to claim 3 , wherein a plurality of guide ribs is formed on an outer surface of the insertion portion so as to protrude therefrom such that no gap occurs from the inner surface of the flange portion.
5 . The camera module according to claim 3 , wherein an outer surface of the insertion portion is formed as a tapered surface such that a size of a lateral shape of the insertion portion gradually decreases toward a rear.
6 . The camera module according to claim 1 , wherein a weld surface at which the contact parts of the side weld portion and the flange portion are welded has a chamber shape or a step shape in consideration of a depth of a heat-affected zone (HAZ) due to laser welding such that no bead is generated during the laser welding.
7 . The camera module according to claim 1 , wherein welding between the front body and the rear body is performed at a side surface of the camera module, whereby disposition of a bracket is easy due to availability of a rear space of the rear body.
8 . The camera module according to claim 7 , wherein the bracket is formed at each of two or more positions comprising rear left and right corners of the rear body.
9 . A method of assembling a camera module for vehicles comprising a lens module configured to allow a lens to be mounted therein, a circuit board comprising an image sensor configured to convert an image received through the lens into an electrical signal, and a front body and a rear body manufactured using a metal injection molding (MIM) method, the method comprising: assembling the circuit board to the front body inward from a rear to assemble a front assembly; adjusting an optical axis while assembling the lens module assembled to a front of the front assembly and performing bonding; vertically pre-assembling the rear body to a rear of the front assembly to which the lens module is assembled; and radiating a laser beam fixed above in a vertical direction while rotating the pre-assembled front assembly and rear body by 360° to perform side welding such that the front assembly and the rear body are sealed.
10 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein in the step of assembling the front assembly, the circuit board is two-point fixed to the front body at two positions using screws, and pre-alignment is performed by aligning concentricity of a lens unit of the front body, an optical axis of the image sensor, and a rotate when the screws are tightened.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a national stage of International Application No. PCT/KR2023/010350, filed Jul. 19, 2023, which claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 10-2022-0090002, filed Jul. 21, 2022, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a camera module for vehicles and a method of assembling the same, and more particularly to a camera module for vehicles, wherein each of a front body and a rear body of the camera module is manufactured by metal injection molding (MIM) so as to have a relatively small thickness while having a complex shape, weld quality of the front body and the rear body is guaranteed, and the disposition of bracket is easy due to availability of a rear space, and a method of assembling the same. BACKGROUND ART In recent years, a camera for vehicles has become an essential component for an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) and autonomous driving. Examples of the ADAS include Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), Forward Collision Assist (FCA), Forward Collision Warning (FCW), Lane Keep Assist (LKA), Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Lane Following Assist (LFA), Lane Keeping Assistant System (LKAS), Active Blind Spot Detection (ABSD), Around View Monitoring (AVM), Low Beam Assist (LBA), Driver Attention Warning (DAW), and Smart Cruise Control (SCC), and a plurality of cameras for vehicles is applied to these systems. A camera for vehicles is supplied in the form of a module in which an image sensor and a lens are assembled. It is preferable for a camera module for vehicles to have a small size in consideration of a limited installation space. The camera module has a complex shape, including a shape in which a lens, a circuit board including an image sensor, and a connector are coupled to each other, and is generally injection-molded from a plastic material. Meanwhile, since the camera module for vehicles has a structure in which complete sealing is performed by welding or the like after a body is assembled, the camera module is unable to dissipate heat from the inside to the outside. In addition, the image sensor tends to generate more heat as the amount of data to be processed increases as the resolution increases. Conventionally, therefore, a camera module capable of efficiently dissipating heat from a camera for vehicles to the outside was disclosed. Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2018-0059063 discloses a camera module in which a conductive member made of a metal material is molded into a housing of the camera by insert injection molding. This prior art document has a structure in which a conductive member made of a metal material is molded into an upper housing or a lower housing by insert injection molding and the conductive member is exposed to an inner space and an outer space to dissipate heat in the camera. However, this prior art document has the disadvantage that the housing is not made of a metal material, but the conductive member of the metal material is molded into each of the upper housing and the lower housing, which is made of a plastic material with poor heat conduction performance, by insert injection molding, which limits dissipation of heat from the housing. DISCLOSURE Technical Problem The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a camera module for vehicles configured such that each of a front body and a rear body constituting a housing of the camera module is made of a metal material, thereby greatly improving heat dissipation performance. It is another object of the present invention to provide a camera module for vehicles configured such that each of a front body and a rear body of the camera module is manufactured by metal injection molding (MIM) so as to have a relatively small thickness while having a complex shape, whereby a large space can be allocated to a PCB disposed therein. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a camera module for vehicles configured such that a front body and a rear body of the camera module are welded at a side surface of the camera, whereby the disposition of a bracket is easy due to availability of a rear space, and welding is performed with a laser beam fixed above while the camera is rotated, whereby welding is relatively easy and weld quality is guaranteed. Technical Solution In order to accomplish the above objects of the present invention, the present invention provides a camera module for vehicles, the camera module including a lens module configured to allow a lens to be mounted therein, a circuit board including an image sensor configured to convert an image received through the lens into an electrical signal, a front body configured to allow the lens module to be assembled to the front thereof and to allow the circuit board to be assembled thereto inward from