CN100366057C - Lens retracting mechanism and its retracting method - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a lens retracting mechanism and a corresponding retracting method for retracting a lens from a shooting state to a storage space in an inclined plane retracting manner. The lens retracting mechanism includes a seat, which includes a base plate, a guide track arranged on the base plate and the storage space; a frame that can move relative to the seat along the photographic optical axis of the lens; one end is connected to the frame and is not opposite to the A guide shaft for frame movement; and a lens group support for holding a lens group, which includes a sliding part that can move along the guide track. When the lens retracts, the frame pulls the guide shaft to move close to the substrate along the direction of the photographic optical axis, and the lens group support moves along the guide track under the joint action of the guide shaft and the guide track, and at the same time moves relative to the guide shaft, and finally falls into the deviation In the storage space of the optical axis. This lens retracting mechanism retracts smoothly and is not prone to failure.

Description

Lens retracting mechanism and its retracting method

【Technical field】

The invention relates to a retractable lens that can be installed on optical photography equipment such as a camera, video camera, etc., especially a lens retracting mechanism and a retracting method thereof.

【Background technique】

In order to allow users to use the same camera to take pictures of different far and near scenes, current optical photography equipment such as digital cameras and digital video cameras are equipped with zoom lenses. All can be accurately imaged on the imaging component. For the aforementioned optical photography equipment, the larger the zoom factor, the longer the extension length of the lens barrel, but users usually do not mind the length of the lens when shooting, but care about whether the camera (video camera) after the lens retracts is enough Thin and short for easy portability.

The conventional lens retracting mechanism is shown in Fig. 1, and the lens includes a lens barrel 9 and a first lens group 91, a second lens group 92 and a third lens group 93 accommodated in the lens barrel 9, the three groups of lens groups 91, 92, and 93 are all stored in a certain space along the optical axis Z0. Due to the limitation of the thickness of each lens group in this storage structure, the storage thickness of the lens must be greater than the total thickness of the three groups of mirror groups. Therefore, it is difficult to control the thickness of the corresponding optical photography equipment along the optical axis.

In order to reduce the thickness of the lens after storage, some cameras on the market have adopted a storage structure and a storage method that can retract the lens group away from the optical axis, such as the Caplio R1 digital camera of Ricoh Company, in which when the lens retracts, the lens The front lens group is retracted into the fuselage along the axis, while the rear lens group is stretched away from the axis to both sides of the fuselage, so that the multiple lens groups are not "arranged" in the direction of the optical axis, thereby reducing the thickness of the lens storage.

Another example is the Pentax Optio S50 digital camera recently released by Pentax, which adopts a sliding lens group design. When the camera is turned off, the lens will retract toward the body, and the central lens group will rise when retracting. At the same time, it avoids the front and rear lens groups that retract along the optical axis, so the thickness of the lens overlap can be greatly reduced when the lens is stored.

Similar lens retraction technology can also refer to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-317943, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-361657, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-361921 and US Patent Application Publication No. 20040228626. Among them, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20040228626 discloses a lens retraction mechanism, the lens can perform telescopic movement between the shooting state and the storage state, and it includes three sets of mirror groups, which are respectively the front mirror group, the rear mirror group and the adjusting mirror group. Focus group. When the lens moves from the shooting state to the storage state, the lens retracting mechanism allows at least one group of lens groups to retract from the optical axis to a direction away from the optical axis to a storage space; when the lens moves from the storage state to the shooting state, the lens retraction mechanism The lens retracting mechanism makes at least one lens group accommodated away from the optical axis protrude onto the optical axis. In one embodiment, the lens retracting mechanism discloses the retracting process of the rear mirror group, that is, a driving gear and a driven gear are driven to rotate by interlocking with each other through the rotation of the driving gear arranged on the stepping motor, Because the driven gear is installed on a rear mirror group support for holding the rear mirror group, the rotation of the driven gear drives the rear mirror group support to move away from the optical axis, so that the mirror group mounted on the rear mirror group support moves The rear mirror group retracts from the optical axis into the accommodation space deviated from the optical axis. Because the lens retracting mechanism uses multiple gears, the structure is quite complicated, and it must be ensured that the driving gear and the driving gear and between the driving gear and the driven gear are tightly meshed and the movement is synchronized, as long as one tooth of one gear appears problem, then the lens retraction mechanism just cannot realize its function. In addition, the gears will inevitably wear out after a long period of movement, and it is easy to cause a matching error between the two gears that cooperate with each other.

In view of the above reasons, it is very necessary to provide a simple and durable lens retracting mechanism and a corresponding retracting method to solve the above problems.

【Content of invention】

The object of the present invention is to provide a lens retracting mechanism and a corresponding retracting method that perform retracting motion in a slope retreat manner.

According to the above object of the present invention, the present invention provides a lens retracting mechanism and a corresponding retracting method capable of retracting the lens from the shooting state into the storage space. The lens includes at least one lens group, the lens retracting mechanism includes a seat, a frame that can move relative to the seat along the photographic optical axis of the lens, and a lens group seat connected to the frame and used to hold the lens group, Wherein the seat includes a base plate perpendicular to the photographic optical axis, the base plate of the seat is provided with a guide wall perpendicular to the base plate, the guide wall is provided with a first guide track, and the first guide The track includes a slope, the two ends of the slope are not at the same height from the surface of the substrate, and a storage space for storing the retracted lens group support is formed on the substrate; the lens retraction mechanism also includes an end connected to the frame and connected to the The frame does not move relative to the second guide track; the lens group support is slidably connected to the second guide track, and the lens group support includes a sliding part that slides along the slope of the first guide track , when the lens retracts, the lens group will leave the optical axis driven by the lens group support, and use the sliding part to slide along the slope to the storage space.

The retracting method of the lens retracting mechanism of the present invention includes: the frame receives a driving force and moves toward the substrate along a direction parallel to the photographic optical axis; the guide shaft is moved toward the substrate along a direction parallel to the photographic optical axis by the pulling force of the frame; and the lens group support Under the joint force of the guide track and the guide shaft, it moves along the inclined surface in a direction close to the substrate and away from the photographic optical axis, and then moves along the vertical plane towards the substrate, finally making the second lens group retract out of the center of the photographic optical axis, into the storage space.

Compared with the prior art, the lens retracting mechanism of the present invention performs the retraction movement in the way of retreating the inclined plane, and the sliding part and the inclined plane, as well as between the lens group support and the guide shaft, are all matched in a sliding manner, and the cooperation is simple. And it is reliable, and it is not easy to break down in the process of relative movement, so it can ensure that the lens retracting mechanism retracts smoothly and has a long service life.

【Description of drawings】

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional lens in a storage state.

Fig. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the lens of the present invention in a shooting state.

Fig. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the lens of the present invention in a storage state.

Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the retracting mechanism of the second lens group of the lens of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a simplified perspective view of the retracting mechanism of the second lens group when the lens of the present invention is in the shooting state.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a retraction process, mainly showing the positions A, B, and C that the lens group support successively experiences during the retraction process of the lens of the present invention from the shooting state to the storage state.

Fig. 7 is similar to Fig. 6, showing the retraction process of the lens group support from another angle.

【Detailed ways】

The lens retracting mechanism of the present invention is applied to retractable lenses in optical photography devices such as cameras and video cameras. Taking a camera as an example, when the camera is turned off, the lens is in the storage state; when the camera is turned on, the lens is extended to the normal use state; adjusting the lens focal length in the normal use state can make the lens extend forward along the photographic optical axis to Telephoto mode or back to macro mode. The "lens retraction" referred to in the present invention refers to the retraction of the lens from the general use state, the telephoto state, the macro state and other shooting states to the storage state. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the lens 100 of the present invention in a shooting state, and FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the lens 100 of the present invention in a storage state.

Please refer to FIG. 2 , the retractable lens 100 of the present invention includes an optical system and a mechanism for accommodating, holding, connecting, and pulling the optical system. The optical system mainly includes an imaging component (such as a charge coupling device CCD) 120 located on the photographic optical axis Z1, and a first lens group 111 arranged from far to near along the photographic optical axis Z1 according to the distance from the imaging component 120, The second lens group 112 and the third lens group 113 . During the movement of the lens 100 between different shooting states such as general shooting state, telephoto state and macro state, the second lens group 112 is used to adjust the focal length, and the third lens group 113 is used to change the focus position. According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the machine is turned off, the retraction actions of the first lens group 111 and the third lens group 113 are performed along the direction of the photographing optical axis Z1, both of which belong to the prior art, so details will not be repeated here. The following mainly introduces the mechanism part of the present invention for retracting the second lens group 112 away from the optical axis.

Please refer to FIG. 4, the second lens group retraction mechanism 130 of the present invention includes a seat 131, a lens group support 132 for holding the second lens group 112, and a shutter that can be depressively connected to the lens group support 132. 133, the frame 134 that can move toward or away from the bearing 131 along the photographic optical axis Z1, the guide shaft 135 for connecting the lens group support 132 and the frame 134, the cover body 136 for protecting the second lens group 112, and the The connecting component 138 is used to hold and connect the lens group support 132 , the frame 134 and the seat 131 .

Please refer to FIG. 5 . FIG. 5 is a simplified schematic diagram of the second lens group retracting mechanism 130 , where only main components of the second lens group retracting mechanism 130 are shown. The seat 131 includes a base plate 1311 perpendicular to the direction of the photographing optical axis and two parallel guide walls 1312 vertically extending upward from the base plate. The substrate 1311 is used to hold the imaging component 120 , and a receiving space 1315 is defined on its upper surface for receiving the retracted lens group holder 132 . Each guide wall 1312 has an inclined surface 1313 , two ends of which are at different heights from the surface of the substrate 1311 , and a vertical surface 1314 connecting the bottom of the inclined surface (the end of the inclined surface 1313 closest to the substrate 1311 ) and the surface of the substrate 1311 . The aforementioned "direction of the photographing optical axis" refers to a general term for directions parallel to the photographing optical axis Z1, and in FIG. 5 is the up-and-down direction of the drawing.

Please refer to FIG. 4 and FIG. 7 together, the lens group holder 132 includes a main body 1321 and a hook 1322 extending outward from the main body 1321 . The main body 1321 is provided with a housing cavity 1323 for housing the second lens group 112 , and the position of the housing cavity 1323 corresponds to the imaging component 120 when the lens is in a shooting state. The two sides of the main body 1321 are respectively provided with narrow and long grooves 1324 along the direction parallel to the plane where the base plate 1311 is located, for accommodating the guide shaft 135. The surfaces cooperate so that the lens group holder 132 can slide along the surface of the guide shaft 135 from the second end 1352 to the first end 1351 of the guide shaft. On the side wall of the lens group support 132, under the two grooves 1324, there is an approximately cylindrical sliding part 1325 respectively protruding in the direction away from the photographing optical axis Z1. The length of the sliding part 1325 is just right Can ride on the slope 1313. Below the lens group support 132 , there are respectively connected a compression spring (not shown) at positions close to the two sliding parts 1325 , which can provide elastic force along the direction of the photographing optical axis.

The frame 134 includes a top wall 1348 and an annular side wall 1349 . A first light hole 1341 is opened on the top wall 1348 at a position corresponding to the second lens 112 in the shooting state (that is, a position corresponding to the imaging component 120 ), and a first light hole 1341 is opened at a position corresponding to the second lens 112 in the storage state. The second light hole 1342 . A fracture 1343 is defined on the annular sidewall 1348 , and two through holes 1344 are defined at symmetrical positions on both sides of the fracture 1342 for receiving the first end 1351 of the guide shaft 135 . The annular side wall 1348 surrounds the lens group holder 132 through the guide shaft 135 . The extension direction of the guide shaft 135 , that is, its axial direction, is parallel to the plane where the base plate 1311 is located.

FIG. 5 shows the cooperation between the lens group support 132 and the frame 134 , and FIGS. 6 and 7 show the movement process of the lens group support 132 and the guide shaft 135 . The shutter 133 can be fixed with the lens group support 132, that is, move together with the lens group support 132; it can also be separated from the lens group support 132, that is, when the lens group support 132 moves, the shutter 133 does not move.

When the lens 100 is in the shooting state as shown in FIG. 2, the lens group support 132 and the guide shaft 135 are in the position A shown in FIGS. (the end on the slope 1313 farthest from the base plate 1311 ), the second end 1352 of the guide shaft 135 is accommodated in the groove 1324 . When the user turns off the camera, the lens retracts from the shooting state. The retracting method of the lens retracting mechanism of the present invention mainly includes the following steps: firstly, the frame 134 starts to move toward the substrate 1311 along the direction of the photographic optical axis by the driving force from the inside of the camera, and drives two guide shafts 135 with one end fixed thereon. Move toward the base plate 1311, so the guide shaft 135 exerts a pulling force towards the base plate 1311 on the lens group support 132, and the lens group support 132 accepts the supporting force from the vertical slope 1313 of the slope 1313 through the sliding part 1325. Under the resultant force of the pulling force and supporting force, the lens group support 132 generally moves downward along the inclined surface 1313. During this movement, the lens group support 132 moves closer to the base plate 1311 following the guide shaft 135 on the one hand, On the other hand, it also moves toward the first end 1351 of the guide shaft 135 relative to the guide shaft 135 by the component force given by the inclined surface 1313, so that the second lens group 112 retreats beyond the center of the photographing optical axis Z1, reaching the position when the lens is stored. The purpose of lens thickness reduction. When the frame 134 moves down to a certain position, the sliding part 1325 slides down to the bottom of the slope 1313 , and the lens group support 132 is close to the first end 1351 of the guide shaft 135 , please refer to position B in FIGS. 6 and 7 . Afterwards, the frame 134 continues to pull the guide shaft 135 to move close to the base plate 1311, and the sliding part 1325 continues to move towards the base plate 1311 along the vertical surface 1314 of the guide wall 1312, but no longer occurs between the lens group support 132 and the guide shaft 135. Relative displacement until the frame 134 and the lens group support 132 fall into the receiving space 1315 of the substrate 1311 , please refer to position C in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 . During the movement of the lens group holder 132 from the B position to the C position, the compression spring connected under the lens group holder 132 is compressed between the lens group holder 132 and the substrate 1311 . When the lens 100 is stretched out, the compression spring will provide elastic force along the direction of the photographic optical axis for the lens group support to bounce up and move along the vertical surface 1314 and the inclined surface 1313 away from the base plate 1311 and close to the direction of the photographic optical axis Z1. The extending process of 100 is opposite to the retracting process, and will not be repeated here.

In the lens retracting mechanism and retracting method of the present invention, the lens group support 132 uses the guide track (mainly the inclined surface 1313) on the bearing 131 to retreat and retract in a sliding manner, between the sliding part 1325 and the inclined surface 1313 and Both the lens group support 132 and the guide shaft 135 cooperate in a sliding manner, and this cooperation is simple and reliable. The above-mentioned retracting mechanism and retracting method are also applicable to the first lens group 111 and the third lens group 113, even any lens group in a lens containing more than three lens groups, and are also applicable to two groups or more than two groups of lenses. The groups retract simultaneously. The shutter 133 can retreat together with the lens group support 132 to achieve the purpose of ultra-thin lens.

Claims (21)

1. camera lens cam mechanism that can make camera lens retract to accommodation space from shooting state, described camera lens comprises at least one set of lenses, this camera lens cam mechanism comprises bearing, the framework that moves along the camera axis direction of camera lens of bearing relatively, and be connected on the framework and be used for the set of lenses bearing of the described set of lenses of fixing, wherein said bearing includes the substrate perpendicular to camera axis, it is characterized in that: the substrate of described bearing is provided with the guiding walls perpendicular to substrate, guiding walls is provided with first guide rails, described first guide rails comprises the inclined-plane, the two ends, inclined-plane are not contour apart from substrate surface, also are formed with an accommodation space that is used to take in the set of lenses bearing behind the retraction on the described substrate; This camera lens cam mechanism also includes an end and is connected in framework and with framework second guide rails of relative motion does not take place; Described set of lenses bearing is connected in second guide rails slidably, described set of lenses bearing includes the slipping part that slides along the inclined-plane of first guide rails, when camera lens bounces back, described set of lenses will be left optical axis under the drive of set of lenses bearing, and will utilize described slipping part to slide into accommodation space along the inclined-plane.

2. camera lens cam mechanism as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that: described first guide rails also comprises perpendicular with substrate and is connected the vertical plane of inclined-plane and substrate.

3. camera lens cam mechanism as claimed in claim 2 is characterized in that: offer the groove that is parallel to substrate on the sidewall of described set of lenses bearing, be used to accommodate second guide rails.

4. camera lens cam mechanism as claimed in claim 3, it is characterized in that: the sidewall of described set of lenses bearing outwards is equipped with described slipping part, when slipping part when the inclined-plane moves, the set of lenses bearing moves with respect to second guide rails, when slipping part when vertical plane moves, do not have relative motion between the set of lenses bearing and second guide rails.

5. camera lens cam mechanism as claimed in claim 4 is characterized in that: described second guide rails is a guide shaft, and it is axially perpendicular to the camera axis direction.

6. camera lens cam mechanism as claimed in claim 1 or 2 is characterized in that: be fixed with image-forming assembly in the described bearing, this image-forming assembly is positioned on the camera axis.

7. camera lens cam mechanism as claimed in claim 6 is characterized in that: described framework comprises annular sidewall, offers the through hole that is used to accommodate the guide shaft end on it.

8. camera lens cam mechanism as claimed in claim 7 is characterized in that: described framework comprises a roof, offers first light hole with the corresponding position of image-forming assembly on it.

9. camera lens cam mechanism as claimed in claim 6, wherein the below of set of lenses bearing is equipped with the compression spring.

10. camera lens cam mechanism, this camera lens cam mechanism comprises bearing; The framework that can move relative to bearing; But be arranged on the framework and the set of lenses bearing of fixing camera lens set of lenses; And be arranged at guiding device between bearing and the framework, it is characterized in that: described guiding device comprises the guide rails that is arranged at the relative camera axis inclination on the bearing, and its direction that tilts along relative camera axis in order to guiding camera lens set of lenses is slided and set of lenses is moved apart this camera axis.

11. camera lens cam mechanism as claimed in claim 10 is characterized in that: described guide rails is an inclined-plane.

12. camera lens cam mechanism as claimed in claim 11 is characterized in that: described set of lenses bearing is provided with the slipping part that can slide along the inclined-plane.

13. camera lens cam mechanism as claimed in claim 10 is characterized in that: described guiding device comprises the guide shaft of connecting frame and set of lenses bearing.

14. camera lens cam mechanism as claimed in claim 13 is characterized in that: described guide shaft be axially perpendicular to camera axis.

15. the retraction method of a camera lens cam mechanism, this camera lens cam mechanism comprises bearing, framework, is arranged at the guiding device between bearing and the framework, and be connected in the set of lenses bearing that framework is used to accommodate the camera lens set of lenses, it is characterized in that: described guiding device comprises the guide rails that is arranged at the relative camera axis inclination on the bearing, described camera lens retraction method comprises the steps: that framework moves towards close bearing along optical axis direction, and the drive lens group bearing is shifted to bearing and moved apart optical axis along the guide rails that guiding device provided.

16. the retraction method of camera lens cam mechanism as claimed in claim 15 is characterized in that: described camera lens cam mechanism also comprises the guide shaft of connecting frame and set of lenses bearing, guide shaft is subjected to the pulling force of framework and moves to close bearing along the camera axis direction.

17. the retraction method of camera lens cam mechanism as claimed in claim 16 is characterized in that: described set of lenses bearing slides in the acting in conjunction power lower edge of guiding device and guide shaft guide rails.

18. the retraction method of camera lens cam mechanism as claimed in claim 17 is characterized in that: described set of lenses bearing is in also guide shaft slip relatively when guide rails is slided.

19. the retraction method of camera lens cam mechanism as claimed in claim 16, it is characterized in that: described guiding device comprise the axial vertical plane of directional light and with optical axis direction inclined-plane in a certain angle, the set of lenses bearing be provided with can be successively along the inclined-plane and the slipping part that moves of vertical plane.

20. the retraction method of camera lens cam mechanism as claimed in claim 19 is characterized in that: in the process that described slipping part moves along the inclined-plane, the set of lenses bearing moves with respect to guide shaft.

21. the retraction method of camera lens cam mechanism as claimed in claim 20 is characterized in that: in the process that described slipping part moves along vertical plane, the set of lenses bearing is guide shaft motion relatively.

Images