# US 2019/0379266 A1 · Actuator and coil unit > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2019/0379266 A1 - Document ID: US20190379266A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/088,426 - Filed: 2017-03-21 - Published: 2019-12-12 - Earliest claimed: 2016-03-30 - Assignees: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Teruyuki TAKIZAWA; Hironori TOMITA; Tsutomu SHIMOMURA; Masakazu KOBAYASHI; Yasuaki KAMEYAMA; Hirohide ICHIHASHI - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190379266A1 ## CPC - G02B 7/02: for lenses {(supports for magnifying lenses G02B25/002)} - H02K 41/0354: {Lorentz force motors, e.g. voice coil motors} - G03B 17/561: {Support related camera accessories} - H02K 3/46: Fastening of windings on the stator or rotor structure - H02K 11/215: Magnetic effect devices, e.g. Hall-effect or magneto-resistive elements - H04N 23/54: Mounting of pick-up tubes, electronic image sensors, deviation or focusing coils - G03B 2205/0069: using electromagnetic actuators, e.g. voice coils - H02K 2201/18: Machines moving with multiple degrees of freedom - H02K 2203/12: Machines characterised by the bobbins for supporting the windings - G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS - H02K: DYNAMO-ELECTRIC MACHINES (dynamo-electric relays H01H53/00; conversion of DC or AC input power into surge output power {H03K3/53}) - G03B: APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OR FOR PROJECTING OR VIEWING THEM; APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS EMPLOYING ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR (optical parts of such apparatus G02B; photosensitive materials or processes for photographic purposes G03C; apparatus for processing exposed photographic materials G03D) - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION ## Abstract In an actuator (camera driver) according to the present invention, when a movable unit is in a neutral position in which the movable unit has rotated around neither an axis nor an axis, a first synthetic vector and a second synthetic vector are directed toward an object to be driven with respect to a plane including the both axes. The first synthetic vector is defined by synthesizing together two first vectors, pointing toward a pair of magnetic yokes, of magnetic attraction forces between a pair of first driving magnets and the pair of magnetic yokes. The second synthetic vector is defined by synthesizing together two second vectors, pointing toward a pair of magnetic yokes, of magnetic attraction forces between a pair of second driving magnets and the pair of magnetic yokes. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An actuator comprising: a movable unit configured to hold an object to be driven thereon; a fixed unit having a second loosely fitting face to be fitted into a first loosely fitting face of the movable unit; and a driving unit configured to make the movable unit electromagnetically drivable and rotatable with respect to the fixed unit, one of the first loosely fitting face or the second loosely fitting face having a recess, the other of the first loosely fitting face or the second loosely fitting face having a raised spherical face, a center of rotation of the movable unit being located on a fitting direction in which the raised spherical face is fitted into the recess, the driving unit including: a pair of first driving magnets provided for the movable unit on a first plane including a first axis and the fitting direction, the first axis being perpendicular to the fitting direction and passing through the center; a pair of first magnetic yokes facing the pair of first driving magnets and provided for the fixed unit such that a distance from the first magnetic yokes to the center is longer than a distance from the first driving magnets to the center; a pair of first drive coils wound around the pair of first magnetic yokes; a pair of second driving magnets provided for the movable unit on a plane including a second axis and the fitting direction, the second axis being perpendicular to the fitting direction and the first axis and passing through the center; a pair of second magnetic yokes facing the pair of second driving magnets and provided for the fixed unit such that a distance from the second magnetic yokes to the center is longer than a distance from the second driving magnets to the center; and a pair of second drive coils wound around the pair of second magnetic yokes, when the movable unit is in a neutral position in which the movable unit has rotated around neither the first axis nor the second axis, a first synthetic vector and a second synthetic vector being directed toward the object to be driven with respect to a second plane including the first axis and the second axis, the first synthetic vector being defined by synthesizing together two first vectors, pointing toward the first magnetic yokes, of magnetic attraction forces between the pair of first driving magnets and the pair of first magnetic yokes, the second synthetic vector being defined by synthesizing together two second vectors, pointing toward the second magnetic yokes, of magnetic attraction forces between the pair of second driving magnets and the pair of second magnetic yokes. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The actuator of claim 1, further comprising a detecting unit including: a position detecting magnet held by the movable unit; and a magnetic sensor configured to detect rotation of the movable unit based on a variation in magnetism caused by allowing the position detecting magnet to rotate as the movable unit rotates, the detecting unit being provided opposite from the object to be driven with respect to the second plane. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The actuator of claim 1, wherein in a range where the movable unit is rotatable around both of the first axis and the second axis, the first synthetic vector and the second synthetic vector are both directed toward the object to be driven with respect to the second plane. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The actuator of claim 1, wherein when the movable unit is in the neutral position, respective directions of the two first vectors and respective directions of the two second vectors are tilted with respect to the second plane. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The actuator of claim 1, wherein each of respective faces of the pair of first driving magnets and the pair of first magnetic yokes that face each other is an arc-shaped curved face with a center of arc defined by the center of rotation, and each of respective faces of the pair of second driving magnets and the pair of second magnetic yokes that face each other is an arc-shaped curved face with a center of arc defined by the center of rotation. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The actuator of claim 1, wherein the fixed unit includes a stopper member configured to prevent the movable unit from falling off, the stopper member being provided opposite from the object to be driven with respect to the second plane. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The actuator of claim 6, wherein the stopper member is non-magnetic. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The actuator of claim 1, wherein the movable unit includes a body provided with a plurality of arms to mount the pair of first driving magnets and the pair of second driving magnets thereon, and the body includes a counterweight provided opposite from the object to be driven with respect to the second plane. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The actuator of claim 8, wherein the counterweight is non-magnetic. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The actuator of claim 1, wherein a third drive coil configured to rotate the movable unit around the fitting direction is wound around each of the pair of first magnetic yokes and each of the pair of second magnetic yokes. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The actuator of claim 1, wherein the object to be driven includes an optical element. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The actuator of claim 1, wherein the object to be driven is a camera unit including a lens and a photodetector, the actuator further includes a plurality of cables, each having a first end thereof electrically connected to the camera unit and a second end thereof electrically connected to an external circuit, the plurality of cables is grouped into at least two bundles of cables, each of the at least two bundles of cables includes a flexible portion between the first end and the second end, the respective flexible portions of the at least two bundles of cables are arranged at equal intervals around a circumference of a circle, of which a center is defined by the center of rotation of the movable unit, and the respective flexible portions of the at least two bundles of cables have an equal length. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The actuator of claim 12, wherein each of the at least two bundles of cables is comprised of two or more cables, each of the at least two bundles of cables is provided with a first clamp and a second clamp, the first clamp being configured to bind each said bundle of cables at one end of the flexible portion of the bundle of cables and secured to the movable unit, the second clamp being configured to bind each said bundle of cables at the other end of the flexible portion and secured to the fixed unit, and between the first clamp and the second clamp of each of the at least two bundles of cables, the two or more cables that form each said bundle of cables are separate from each other. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The actuator of claim 13, wherein in the at least two bundles of cables, the flexible portion is provided outside of the movable unit and the fixed unit and bent. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The actuator of claim 14, wherein the fixed unit includes at least two ribs configured to respectively hold the second clamps of the at least two bundles of cables, and the at least two ribs are tilted toward a direction in which the camera unit is arranged with respect to a plane intersecting at right angles with an optical axis of the camera unit when the movable unit is in the neutral position. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The actuator of claim 15, wherein in each of the at least two bundles of cables, the second clamp provided for each said bundle of cables includes a movement regulating portion configured to regulate movement of each said bundle of cables in inserting and removing directions with respect to the fixed unit by abutting on the ribs. ### Claim 17 (depends on 13) The actuator of claim 13, wherein the movable unit includes an outer peripheral guide portion configured to guide, along an outer periphery of the movable unit, a part of a portion, running from the first end through the first clamp, of one or more of the at least two bundles of cables. ### Claim 18 A coil unit comprising: a coil bobbin having a first curved face and a second curved face, which are curved in an arc direction and which face each other; and a coil wound around the coil bobbin in the arc direction, the coil on the first curved face having the same pitch as the coil on the second curved face. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The coil unit of claim 18, wherein either the first curved face and the second curved face or both edges, perpendicular to a winding direction of the coil, of the first curved face and both edges, perpendicular to the winding direction of the coil, of the second curved face have a plurality of grooves. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The coil unit of claim 19, wherein either the first curved face and the second curved face, or both edges of the first curved face and both edges of the second curved face, have the plurality of grooves formed thereon by continuously providing, in the arc direction, a plurality of projections, each of the projections being defined by a first plane parallel to the winding direction of the coil and a second plane perpendicular to the winding direction. ### Claim 21 (depends on 19) An actuator comprising: the coil unit of claim 19; and a driving magnet facing the first curved face and configured to be electromagnetically driven in rotation with respect to the coil unit around an axis of rotation so as to define a circle, of which a circumference is the arc direction.