KR20100025966A - Camera module and digital image processing apparatus therewith - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a camera module including a semi-finished product module that can quickly respond to various image processing apparatus and a digital image processing apparatus having the same. The present invention, the housing is formed empty space from one side to the other side; A common substrate having one surface coupled to the other side of the housing; An imaging device attached to a portion of the other surface of the common substrate and converting an input image into an electrical signal; And a dedicated substrate coupled to an area where the image pickup device on the other surface of the common substrate is not attached.

Description

Camera module and digital image processing apparatus having same

The present invention relates to a camera module and a digital image processing apparatus including the same, and more particularly, to a camera module for receiving an image input through a lens by an imaging device mounted on a circuit board, and a digital image processing apparatus having the same. It is about.

Typically, the digital image processing apparatus includes all devices that process images such as a digital camera, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a phone camera, a PC camera, or use an image recognition sensor. The digital image processing apparatus may be provided with a camera module that receives an image.

The camera module may receive an image through a lens, the input image may be formed on the image pickup device, and the image may be obtained and stored as an image file by a circuit structure connected to the image pickup device.

To this end, the conventional camera module may include a structure in which the lens module is coupled to the housing, and the housing and the printed circuit board on which the imaging device is mounted are coupled. In this case, the camera module may be manufactured in a chip on board (COB) type. The camera module of the COB type may be manufactured by attaching a flexible or rigid printed circuit board and the back surface of the image sensor chip with a die adhesive and then connecting with a gold bonding wire.

In this case, productivity is high because a process similar to the conventional semiconductor production process is used. However, there is a problem that the size of the module can be increased because a space for wire bonding is required.

An object of the present invention is to provide a camera module including a common semi-finished product module that can quickly respond to various image processing apparatus and a digital image processing apparatus having the same.

The present invention,

A housing in which an empty space is formed from one side to the other side;

A common substrate having one surface coupled to the other side of the housing;

An imaging device attached to a portion of the other surface of the common substrate and converting an input image into an electrical signal; And

Provided is a camera module having a dedicated substrate coupled to an area where the imaging device on the other surface of the common substrate is not attached.

By receiving an image from the outside, it may further include a lens unit coupled to the one side of the housing.

A through hole may be provided in a central portion of the common substrate so that an imaging surface receiving an image of the imaging device is exposed to an empty space of the housing.

The housing may be coupled to the common substrate so as to surround the one surface of the common substrate and to separate the image pickup device and the lens unit at regular intervals.

The housing may comprise an engineering plastic or a super engineering plastic.

It may further include an infrared cut filter directly attached to the surface facing the housing of the imaging device.

The imaging device may be attached to the common substrate by flip chip bonding.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a digital image processing apparatus including the camera module.

According to the camera module and the digital image processing apparatus including the same according to the present invention, since the semi-finished module which can be used as a common product can be used as a component, the camera module can easily cope with the specification and shape change of the camera.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing a camera module 100 as a preferred embodiment according to the present invention. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the camera module 100 of FIG. 1. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III of the camera module 100 of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the camera module 100 includes a lens unit 110; A housing 120; Common substrate 130; Imaging device 140; And a dedicated substrate 150.

The lens unit 110 includes a lens 110a that refracts light input from the outside and collects the light in the imaging device 140, and an image is input from the outside through the lens unit 110. The housing 120 has an empty space formed from one side to the other side.

One side of the common substrate 130 is coupled to the other side of the housing. The imaging device 140 is attached to a partial region of the other surface, which is the other surface of the common substrate, and converts an input image into an electrical signal.

The dedicated substrate 150 is coupled to a region where the image pickup device on the other surface of the common substrate is not attached.

The through hole is provided at the central portion of the common substrate 130 so that the imaging surface receiving the image of the imaging device is exposed to the empty space of the housing. In addition, the housing 120 is coupled to the common substrate 130 to surround one surface of the common substrate 130 and to separate the imaging device 140 and the lens unit 110 at regular intervals.

Meanwhile, FIG. 4 schematically illustrates one surface 131 of the common substrate 130 in the camera module 100 of FIG. 1. In addition, FIG. 5 schematically illustrates the other surface 132 of the common substrate 130 in the camera module 100 of FIG. 1.

The through hole 130a is provided at the central portion of the common substrate 130 so that the imaging surface of the imaging device can be exposed toward the lens unit 110, the imaging device 140 is bonded to the common substrate 130, and the imaging device The infrared blocking filter 160 may be attached to the exposed area without the image pickup surface of the 140 being covered by the common substrate 130.

At this time, one surface 131 of the common substrate 130 is coupled to the housing coupling portion 131a of the common substrate 130 on the other surface on which the lens unit 110 of the housing 120 is mounted. 130 may be coupled to the housing 120.

In addition, the other surface 132 of the common substrate 130 is provided with a first coupling portion 132a with the imaging device 140 around the through hole 130a for exposing the imaging surface of the imaging device 140. 140 may be bonded to the first coupling portion 132a of the common substrate 130. In addition, a second coupling part 132b for coupling with the dedicated substrate 150 may be provided on the other surface 132 of the common substrate 130 to surround the first coupling part 132a.

As a result, the imaging device 140 is positioned in an empty space provided on the dedicated substrate 150, and the dedicated substrate 150 is bonded to the second coupling part 132b of the common substrate 130, thereby allowing the common semifinished product module to be bonded. A dedicated substrate 150 may be attached to 100a.

The imaging device 140 may be attached to the common substrate 130 by flip chip bonding. That is, the camera module 100 may be manufactured in a chip on film (COF) type in which a thin module may be manufactured, and the imaging device 140 may be attached to the common substrate 130 by flip chip bonding.

In this case, in the camera module 100 according to the present invention, the housing 120, the common substrate 130, and the imaging device 140 may be manufactured as the common semifinished product module 100a. That is, the camera module 100 is standardized to the common semifinished product module 100a including the housing 120, the common substrate 130, and the imaging device 140, and the lens suited to the characteristics and conditions of the image processing apparatus to be applied. The unit 110 and the dedicated substrate 150 may be combined with the common semifinished product module 100a to manufacture a camera module 100 to be used in a specific image processing apparatus.

In this case, the common substrate 130 may have any shape so as to be applied to standardization. The housing and common substrate 130 may be fabricated in a variety of cross-sectional shapes, including square or circular.

Meanwhile, the dedicated substrates 150 may be electrically bonded to the common semifinished product module 100a by bonding or solder bonding using an anisotropic conductive film (ACF). In this case, the dedicated substrate 150 may be bonded to the common substrate 130, and thus may be bonded to the common semifinished product module 100a.

At this time, the dedicated substrate 150 should have an empty space of the size of the imaging device 140 in order to avoid interference with the imaging device 140 at the time of bonding with the common semifinished product module 100a. That is, an empty space is provided in the dedicated substrate 150 so that the dedicated substrate 150 may be bonded to the common semifinished product module 100a without being interfered with the imaging device 140.

On the other hand, the housing 120 preferably comprises an engineering plastic or a super engineering plastic. This is to prevent other defects, such as cracks or deformations, from occurring during the electrical bonding of two or more flexible or rigid printed circuit boards to the housing 120.

That is, since engineering plastics or super engineering plastics have sufficient flexibility, heat resistance, and strength, when bonding two or more flexible or rigid printed circuit boards to the housing 120, a crack or deformation in the housing 120 is required. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of other defects, including the like.

In particular, the housing 120 is preferably formed of a super engineering plastic such as Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) or Poly Amid 6T (Pa6T), which may have sufficient heat resistance and flexibility.

Meanwhile, as another embodiment, the lens unit 110 may be fastened in advance to manufacture a common semifinished product module 100a. In addition, after bonding the common semifinished product module 100a and the dedicated substrate 150, a side fill may be further provided to protect the imaging device 140. In addition, the shape of the common substrate 130 may have any of a variety of shapes for common use, standardization.

Since the camera module 100 according to the present invention can pre-produce a standardized and commonly used common semifinished product module 100a in advance, it can quickly respond to various types of cameras and maximize productivity.

In addition, since COF (Chip On Film) type module can be standardized and shared, it is possible to quickly manufacture thin and small camera modules in terms of size.

In addition, by using the semi-finished module that can be used as a component, it can quickly respond to the specification and shape change of the camera, it is possible to minimize the loss due to unused inventory can reduce the manufacturing cost.

On the other hand, the image is incident in the form of light through the lens unit 110. Therefore, the housing 120 blocks the light so that the image incident through the lens unit 110 can reach the imaging device 140 without external interference.

To this end, the lens 110a provided in the lens unit 110 should be formed to be transparent to allow light to pass therethrough, but the housing 120 is manufactured to be able to block light without transmitting light incident from the outside. desirable.

In this case, the housing 120 may be manufactured by coating with a material of black or white or other color that can effectively block the light incident from the outside.

In this case, the distance between the image pickup device 140 that is in focus and the lens 110a of the lens unit 110 may be obtained, and the housing 120 may be manufactured by reflecting the distance. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the housing 120 has a cylindrical portion and a coupling portion with the lens 110, and may have a rectangular box shape having an open lower surface. However, the shape of the housing 120 in the present invention is not limited thereto, and may have various shapes such as a cylindrical shape.

Meanwhile, the imaging device 140 may convert light input through the lens unit 110 into an electrical analog signal. To this end, the imaging device 140 may include a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS). The common substrate 130 may include an analog-to-digital converter including circuit elements (eg, CDS-ADC, Correlation Double Sampler and Analog-to-Digital Converter).

The analog-digital converter may process the analog signal from the image pickup device 140, remove the high frequency noise, adjust the amplitude, and convert the analog signal into a digital signal. In addition, the common substrate 130 may include a digital signal processor (DSP), and the digital signal processor (DSP) may control a timing circuit to control operations of the imaging device 140 and the analog-digital converter. Can be.

The infrared cut filter 160 may be directly attached to a surface of the imaging device 140 facing the housing 120. In this case, a separate space between the infrared cut filter 160 and the imaging device 140 may be eliminated.

The camera module 100 according to the present invention may further include an infrared cut filter 160 directly attached to a surface of the imaging device facing the housing. At this time, the infrared cut filter 150 may block the infrared component of the incident light.

When there is a separate space between the infrared cut filter 160 and the imaging device 140, a separate anti-reflection filter for reflecting light reflected from the space may be required. However, in the present invention, since the infrared cut filter 160 is directly attached to the imaging device 140, and there is no separate space between the infrared cut filter 160 and the imaging device 140, the anti-phase filter may be eliminated.

The dedicated substrate 150 may include a first substrate 151, a second substrate 152, and a flexible substrate 153. The first substrate 151 may be coupled to the common substrate 130 and may be coupled to the housing 120 through the common substrate 130. The second substrate 152 may be disposed spaced apart from the first substrate 151 by a predetermined interval.

The flexible substrate 153 may be disposed between the first substrate 151 and the second substrate 152 to interconnect the first substrate 151 and the second substrate 152. In this case, the first substrate 151 and the second substrate 152 may be a hard printed circuit board (HPCB) having no flexibility, and the flexible substrate 153 may include the first substrate 151 and the second substrate. The flexible printed circuit board may be a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) to flexibly connect the substrates 152. In another embodiment, the first substrate 151 and the second substrate 152 may also be formed by a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB).

In the embodiment illustrated in the drawing, the dedicated substrate 150 includes a first substrate 151, a second substrate 152, and a flexible substrate 153. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the exclusive substrate 150 may include only the first substrate 151 coupled to the housing 120 through the common substrate 130.

On the other hand, the camera module 100 according to the present invention is a process for attaching the imaging device 140 by flip chip bonding to the common board 130, the process of attaching the housing 120 to the common board 130 Through the semi-finished product module 100a can be produced.

At this time, the common semifinished product module 100a is prepared in advance, and then attaches the dedicated substrate 150 to the common semifinished product module 100a which is prepared in advance when the dedicated camera module used in the specific image processing apparatus is manufactured. I can make it.

6 schematically illustrates a camera phone 10, which is an embodiment of a digital image processing apparatus in which the camera module 100 of FIG. 1 is mounted. The camera module 100 according to the present invention may be mounted on the cellular phone main body 200 of the camera phone 10.

Since the camera module 100 can be manufactured in advance, the common semi-finished product module 100a, which is standardized and commonly used, can quickly respond to various types of cameras, and thus, a camera phone including the camera module 100 according to the present invention. 10) can quickly respond to changes in the specification and shape of the camera.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to one embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, this is merely exemplary, and various modifications and equivalent other embodiments may be made by those skilled in the art. You will understand. Accordingly, the true scope of protection of the invention should be defined only by the appended claims.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing a camera module as a preferred embodiment according to the present invention.

2 is an exploded perspective view of the camera module of FIG. 1.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III of the camera module of FIG. 1.

4 is a view schematically illustrating one surface of a common substrate in the camera module of FIG. 1.

5 is a view schematically illustrating the other surface of the common substrate in the camera module of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically illustrating a camera phone as an embodiment of a digital image processing apparatus equipped with the camera module of FIG. 1.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: digital image processing apparatus, 100: camera module,

110: lens, 120: housing,

130: common substrate, 140: imaging device,

150: dedicated substrate, 160: infrared cut filter.

Claims (9)

A housing in which an empty space is formed from one side to the other side; A common substrate having one surface coupled to the other side of the housing; An imaging device attached to a portion of the other surface of the common substrate and converting an input image into an electrical signal; And And a dedicated substrate coupled to an area to which the imaging device on the other surface of the common substrate is not attached. The method of claim 1, Receiving an image from the outside, the camera module further comprises a lens unit coupled to the one side of the housing. The method of claim 1, The through-hole is provided in the central portion of the common substrate so that the imaging surface receiving the image of the image pickup device is exposed to the empty space of the housing. The method of claim 2, And the housing is coupled to the common substrate such that the housing surrounds the one surface of the common substrate and the imaging device and the lens unit are spaced at regular intervals. The method of claim 1, And the housing comprises an engineering plastic or a super engineering plastic. The method of claim 1, And an infrared cut filter directly attached to a surface of the image pickup device facing the housing. The method of claim 1, The dedicated substrate, A first substrate coupled to the common substrate; A second substrate spaced apart from the first substrate by a predetermined distance, and And a flexible substrate disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate. The method of claim 1, And the imaging device is attached to the common substrate by flip chip bonding. The camera module of any one of claims 1 to 8; And a main body having a main body.

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