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US 2022/0091430 A1Published application
Camera With a Multi-Material Base Structure
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsBin Xu, Aurelien R. Hubert
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A camera may include a multi-material base structure having at least a first portion and a second portion. The first and second portions of the base structure may include different materials. The base structure may be used with one or more actuators of the camera to implement various optical image stabilization (OIS) and/or autofocus (AF) functions.
Claims20
A camera, comprising:
- a lens group comprising one or more lens elements;
- an image sensor to capture image data based on light that passes through the lens group;
- a movable frame fixedly coupled with the lens group or the image sensor;
- an actuator for moving the movable frame;
- and
- a base structure that defines an end stop with respect to motion of the movable frame in one or more directions, wherein the base structure comprises:
- an inner portion formed of a first material, wherein the inner portion at least partially encircles the movable frame;
- and
- an outer portion formed of a second material that is different than the first material, wherein the outer portion at least partially encircles the inner portion.
6 more elements
A device, comprising:
- one or more processors;
- memory storing program instructions executable by the one or more processors to control operations of a camera;
- and
- the camera, comprising:
- a lens group comprising one or more lens elements;
- an image sensor to capture image data based on light that passes through the lens group;
- a movable frame fixedly coupled with the lens group or the image sensor;
- an actuator for moving the movable frame;
- a base structure that defines an end stop with respect to motion of the movable frame in one or more directions, wherein the base structure comprises:
- an inner portion formed of a first material, wherein the inner portion at least partially encircles the movable frame;
- and
- an outer portion formed of a second material that is different than the first material, wherein the outer portion at least partially encircles the inner portion.
9 more elements
A method, comprising:
- forming, using a multi-shot injection molding process, a base structure of a camera, wherein the base structure is configured to define an end stop with respect to motion of a movable frame of the camera in one or more directions, wherein the camera includes an actuator to move the movable frame in the one or more directions, and wherein the forming the base structure comprises:
- forming an inner shot portion and an outer shot portion in respective shots of the multi-shot injection molding process, wherein:
- the inner shot portion is configured to at least partially encircle the movable frame and is formed of a first material;
- and
- the outer shot portion is configured to at least partially encircle the inner shot portion and is formed of a second material that is different than the first material.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.