Integrated lens and chip assembly for a digital camera

#1. Field of the Invention

#The present invention relates generally to the field of digital camera devices, and more particularly to a novel combined array chip and lens apparatus. The predominant current application for the inventive integrated lens and chip assembly is in the production of low cost cameras, wherein the ability to produce high quality pictures without expensive or complicated camera assemblies is an important factor.

#2. Description of the Background Art

#FIG. 1 is a cross sectional side elevational view of an example of an integrated camera and lens assembly according to the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a partially assembled integrated camera and lens assembly according to the present invention;

#FIG. 3 is a top plan view of another example of a PCB assembly according to the present invention;

#This invention is described in the following description with reference to the Figures, in which like reference numbers represent the same or similar elements. While this invention is described in terms of modes for achieving this invention's objectives, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that variations may be accomplished in view of these teachings without deviating from the spirit or scope of the present invention. The embodiments and variations of the invention described herein, and/or shown in the drawings, are presented by way of example only and are not limiting as to the scope of the invention. Unless otherwise specifically stated, individual aspects and components of the invention may be omitted or modified, or may have substituted therefore known equivalents, or as yet unknown substitutes such as may be developed in the future or such as may be found to be acceptable substitutes in the future. The invention may also be modified for a variety of applications while remaining within the spirit and scope of the claimed invention, since the range of potential applications is great, and since it is intended that the present invention be adaptable to many such variations.

#In the following description, details of some well known and/or commonly commercially available component parts have not been specifically discussed in detail, so as to avoid unnecessary complexity which might obscure disclosure of the true nature of the present invention. It should be noted that the diagrammatic representations in the drawings accompanying this description are not necessarily drawn in the scale and proportion which might be used in the actual practice of the invention. Rather the drawings are intended only to demonstrate the relative arrangement of certain aspects of the invention and to assist in the understanding of the important inventive aspects.

#A known mode for carrying out the invention is an integrated camera module. The inventive integrated camera module is depicted in a side elevational view in FIG. 1 and is designated therein by the general reference character 10. The integrated camera module 10 has a camera chip 12 which is, in and of itself, not different from other camera chips such as are now in use or such as might be developed in the future. One skilled in the art will recognize that the camera chip 12 will have thereon a sensor array area 14 and will also contain many of the additional components (timing, and the like) necessary or desirable for causing the sensor array area 14 to capture an image. In the example of FIG. 1 the camera chip 12 is attached (as will be discussed in greater detail hereinafter) to a printed circuit board (“PCB”) 16. The camera chip 12 is electrically connected to the PCB 16 by a plurality (only two of which are visible in the view of FIG. 1) of wire bond attachment wires 17.