An internally aligned camera for use in a vehicle and a manufacturing method thereof

Field The present disclosure relates to an internally aligned camera and a method of manufacture of said internally aligned camera, in particular for applications in the automotive industry.

Background The current generation of cameras in the automotive industry use an optical alignment process for the lens as the image sensor is fixed to the camera housing along with the printed circuit board on which the image sensor is mounted. This externalises the optical tolerances of the lens and the mechanical tolerances of the housing and printed circuit board assemblies, as the lens mechanism of the camera has to be moved to align the image sensor to the lens. Such a scenario is disclosed in Chinese Patent Publication Number CN207150702U. The larger positional tolerances of the lens relative to the camera body increases the complexity of the holder which holds the camera. This may also require a large clearance between the camera lens and a surface of the vehicle which in turn has a negative impact on product styling and NVH (Noise Vibration and Harshness) for the manufacturer of the camera or the original equipment manufacturer.

Further, laser welding is used to join and seal the lens holder to the rear housing of the camera. And the variation in the overlap of these components has an impact on the quality of the weld joint between the rear housing and the lens holder (as shown in FIG. 1 , the rear housing and the lens holder do not overlap and thereby cause a non-reliable joint), for example as disclosed in US patent number US9,565,342.

Laser welding cannot be achieved if there is an overhang of the rear housing (as shown in FIG. 2) and there is a greater risk of this occurring in a camera having multiple printed circuit boards as the tolerance of each printed circuit board stacks up. Thus there is an unresolved and unfulfilled need for an internally aligned camera, which overcomes the above problems of the art. Summary

The present invention relates to an internally aligned camera. More specifically, the present invention relates to an internally aligned camera using a floating connector and method of manufacture of said internally aligned camera, as set out in the appended claims.

In one embodiment the invention provides an internally aligned camera device comprising a lens holder assembly, a first printed circuit board, a second printed circuit board and a rear housing. The first printed circuit board comprises an image sensor. The image sensor is optically aligned with the lens holder assembly and the first printed circuit board attached to the lens holder assembly by a first fastening means. The second printed circuit board is electrically coupled to the first printed circuit board using a floating connector. The rear housing assembly is attached to the second printed circuit board by a second fastening means where the lens holder assembly is centrally aligned with the rear housing assembly and where the lens holder assembly and the rear housing assembly is attached using a third fastening means.

The floating connector comprises a plug attached to the second printed circuit board and a receptacle attached to the first printed circuit board, where the receptacle is configured to mate with the plug within a predetermined alignment tolerance.

In an embodiment the receptacle comprises a metal shell and where the metal shell is attached to said first printed circuit board using a fourth fastening means. In an embodiment the fourth fastening means comprises laser soldering. In an embodiment the first fastening comprises laser soldering the first printed circuit board to one or more of studs of the lens holder assembly. In one embodiment, the second fastening comprises barbed rivets.

In one embodiment, the third fastening comprises laser welding.

In one embodiment, the rear housing assembly comprises a machined pocket to accommodate the second printed circuit board.

In one embodiment, the predetermined tolerance is less than about 0.4 millimetres.

In another embodiment there is provided a method for manufacturing of an internally aligned camera comprises the steps of: optically aligning an image sensor mounted on a first printed circuit board with a lens holder assembly, the first printed circuit board having a receptacle and the receptacle having a metal shell; fastening the first printed circuit board to the lens holder assembly using a first fastening means to constrain the first printed circuit board with respect to the lens holder assembly after the step of optical alignment of the image sensor with the lens holder assembly; fastening a second printed circuit board to a rear housing assembly using a second fastening means, where the second printed circuit board comprises a plug; and assembling the lens holder assembly and the rear housing assembly using a third fastening means, where while assembling said receptacle is mated with said plug within a predetermined alignment tolerance and where the lens holder assembly is centrally aligned with the rear housing assembly.

In one embodiment there is provided the additional step of fastening said metal shell to said first printed circuit board by a fourth fastening means to constrain the receptacle in position after said assembling of the lens holder assembly and the rear housing assembly. In one embodiment, the first fastening means comprises laser soldering said first printed circuit board with one or more studs of said lens holder assembly. In one embodiment, the second fastening means comprises barbed rivets.

In one embodiment, the third fastening means comprises laser welding.

In one embodiment, the fourth fastening means comprises laser soldering at least a part of the metal shell to said first printed circuit board.

In one embodiment the mating of the plug and said receptacle electrically couples the first printed circuit board to the second printed circuit board. Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of an embodiment thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- FIG. 1 exemplarily illustrates a sectional view of a camera module as known in the art;

FIG. 2 exemplarily illustrates another sectional view of a camera module as known in the art;

FIG. 3 exemplarily illustrates a sectional view of a first printed circuit board assembled on a lens holder assembly of the internally aligned camera in accordance with some of the embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 4 exemplarily illustrates a perspective view of the first printed circuit board assembled on the lens holder assembly of the internally aligned camera in accordance with some of the embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 5 exemplarily illustrates a top view of a rear housing assembly of the internally aligned camera in accordance with some of the embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 6 exemplarily illustrates a blown up view of a second printed circuit board and a rear housing assembly of the internally aligned camera in accordance with some of the embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 7 exemplarily illustrates a top view of the second printed circuit board assembled within the rear housing assembly of the internally aligned camera in accordance with some of the embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 8 exemplarily illustrates a sectional view prior to assembly of the lens holder assembly having the first PCB and rear housing assembly having the second PCB of the internally aligned camera in accordance with some of the embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 9 exemplarily illustrates a sectional view of a fully assembled internally aligned camera in accordance with some of the embodiments of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 exemplarily illustrates a sectional view of the floating connector (along the broken line as shown in FIG. 9), while the internally aligned camera is fully assembled in accordance with some of the embodiments of the present invention. Detailed Description of the Drawings

The present invention relates to an internally aligned camera. More specifically, the present invention relates to an internally aligned camera using a floating connector and method of manufacture of said internally aligned camera.

The method for manufacturing of the internally aligned camera comprises the following steps. FIG. 3 exemplarily illustrates a sectional view of a first printed circuit board assembled on a lens holder assembly of the internally aligned camera in accordance with some of the embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 4 exemplarily illustrates a perspective view of the first printed circuit board assembled on the lens holder assembly of the internally aligned camera in accordance with some of the embodiments of the present invention.

The first printed circuit board (PCB) 306 which comprising an image sensor 309 is optically aligned with the lens holder assembly 307. The first PCB 306 comprises a receptacle 302 having a metal shell 304 and a receptacle housing 303. The receptacle 302 accepts a tooling 301 to power the image sensor 309 and the associated components in the first PCB 306 to enable alignment of the image sensor with the lens holder assembly 307. A gripper is used to position the first PCB 306 such that the image sensor 309 is aligned to the image plane of the lens elements 308 of the lens holder assembly 307. After the first PCB 306 is aligned the first PCB 306 is soldered on to one or more studs 305 of the lens holder assembly 307 using laser soldering to constrain the first PCB 306 in the aligned position.

In other words, after the step of optical alignment of the image sensor 309 with the lens holder assembly 307, the first PCB 306 is fastened to the lens holder assembly 307 using a first fastening means to constrain the first PCB 306 with respect to the lens holder assembly 307. The first fastening means being laser soldering the first PCB 306 to the studs 305 of the lens holder assembly 307. The alignment means operating the gripper may be used to limit the X axis, Y axis and Z axis movement of the first PCB 306 such that no damage is caused to the receptacle 302, the metal shell 304 and the receptacle housing 303. It will be appreciated that after the optical alignment is completed and the first PCB 306 is fixed in place the floating connector 901 is fixed in place also. In this way the first PCB 306 is positioned relative to the lens and the connector 901 relative to the camera body.

Thereafter, the metal shell 304 is fastened to the first PCB 306 by a fourth fastening means to constrain the receptacle 302 in position after said assembling of the lens holder assembly 307 and the rear housing assembly 501 . In other words, the metal shell 304 is fastened to the first PCB 306 by laser soldering (fourth fastening means) at least a part of the metal shell 304 to the first PCB 306 to constrain the receptacle from moving 302 after mating with the plug 602 during assembly. FIG. 9A exemplarily illustrates a sectional view (along the broken line as shown in FIG. 9) of the floating connector 901 comprising the plug 602 mated with the receptacle 302, while the internally aligned camera is fully assembled in accordance with some of the embodiments of the present invention.

Thereafter, a second printed circuit board 603 is attached to a rear housing assembly 501 using a second fastening means. FIG. 5 exemplarily illustrates a top view of a rear housing assembly 501 of the internally aligned camera in accordance with some of the embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 6 exemplarily illustrates a blown up view of the second PCB 603 and a rear housing assembly 501 of the internally aligned camera in accordance with some of the embodiments of the present invention; and FIG. 7 exemplarily illustrates a top view of the second PCB 603 assembled within the rear housing assembly 501 of the internally aligned camera in accordance with some of the embodiments of the present invention. More specifically, the second PCB 603 is aligned to be received in a machined pocket or a groove of the rear housing assembly 501 and the second PCB 603 is retained in said position using barbed rivets 601 as a second fastening means. Further as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the second PCB 603 comprises a plug 602 which is configured to be accepted by receptacle 302. Thereafter, the lens holder assembly 307 attached to the first PCB 306 and the rear housing assembly 501 attached to the second PCB 603 are assembled. FIG. 8 exemplarily illustrates a sectional view prior to assembly of the lens holder assembly 307 having the first PCB 306 and rear housing assembly 501 having the second PCB 603 of the internally aligned camera in accordance with some of the embodiments of the present invention; and FIG. 9 exemplarily illustrates a sectional view of a fully assembled internally aligned camera in accordance with some of the embodiments of the present invention. During assembly, said receptacle 302 is mated with said plug 602 within a predetermined alignment tolerance. A person skilled in the art would appreciate that, at this assembly stage, the receptacle 302 may be moved with respect to the plug 602 to align the receptacle 302 to the plug 602 such that the receptacle 302 accepts the plug 602. Therefore, the receptacle 302 may be mated with the plug 602 if the alignment of the plug 602 is within the tolerance range (movement range) of the receptacle 302. Also, the mating of the plug 602 and said receptacle 302 electrically couples the first PCB 306 to the second printed circuit board 603.

Further, during assembly, the lens holder assembly 307 is attached to the rear housing assembly 501 using a third fastening means, where the lens holder assembly 307 is centrally aligned with the rear housing assembly 501 using alignment means. In a preferred embodiment, at least some of the edges/surfaces of the lens holder assembly 307 comes in contact to the rear housing assembly 501 as a result of centrally aligning the lens holder assembly 307 and the rear housing assembly 501 with each other. Thereafter, the surfaces/edges of the lens holder assembly 307 and the rear housing assembly 501 are laser welded (third fastening means). FIG. 9 exemplarily illustrates a sectional view of a fully assembled internally aligned camera in accordance with some of the embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 9 exemplarily illustrates a sectional view of a fully assembled internally aligned camera device in accordance with some of the embodiments of the present invention; and FIG. 10 exemplarily illustrates a sectional view (along the broken line as shown in FIG. 9) of the floating connector 901 comprising the plug 602 mated with the receptacle 302, while the internally aligned camera is fully assembled in accordance with some of the embodiments of the present invention.

The internally aligned camera device comprises a lens holder assembly 307, a first printed circuit board (PCB) 306, a second printed circuit board (PCB) 603 and a rear housing assembly 501. The first PCB 306 comprises an image sensor 309. The image sensor 309 is optically aligned with the lens holder assembly 307 and the first PCB 306 is attached to the lens holder assembly 307 by a first fastening means. In an embodiment, the first fastening means comprises laser soldering the first PCB 306 to one or more of studs 305 of the lens holder assembly 307.

The second PCB 603 is electrically coupled to the first PCB 306 using a floating connector 901. The floating connector 901 comprises a plug 602 attached to the second PCB 603 and a receptacle 302 attached to the first PCB 306, where the receptacle 302 is configured to mate with the plug 602 within a predetermined alignment tolerance. In an embodiment, the predetermined tolerance is less than about 0.4 millimetres.

The rear housing assembly 501 is attached to the second PCB 603 by a second fastening means and where the lens holder assembly 307 is centrally aligned with the rear housing assembly 501 and where the lens holder assembly and the rear housing assembly is attached using a third fastening means. In an embodiment, the second fastening means comprises barbed rivets. In an embodiment, the third fastening means comprises laser welding. In an embodiment, the rear housing assembly 501 comprises a machined pocket to accommodate the second PCB 603. In an embodiment, the receptacle 302 comprises a metal shell 304 and where the metal shell 304 is attached to said first PCB 306 using a fourth fastening means. In an embodiment, the fourth fastening means comprises laser soldering. FIG. 9 further illustrates the alignment tolerance 902 between the first PCB 306 and the second PCB 603 when the internally aligned camera device is fully assembled. In an embodiment the maximum alignment tolerance is around 0.4 millimetre.

In the specification the terms "comprise, comprises, comprised and comprising" or any variation thereof and the terms “include, includes, included and including" or any variation thereof are considered to be totally interchangeable and they should all be afforded the widest possible interpretation and vice versa.

A person skilled in the art would appreciate that the above invention provides a robust and economical solution to the problems identified in the prior art.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described but may be varied in both construction and detail.