Camera module with compact sponge absorbing design

Abstract

An interior housing of a compact camera module is insulated from external shocks in a direction along the optical path to an external housing that is spaced from the interior housing by a compression distance of one or more shock absorbing sponges that are disposed between the outer housing and the interior housing and that are configured to compress to absorb external physical shocks in two or three spatial dimensions.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A compact optical module configured for coupling with an image sensor component of an auto focus digital camera module, the compact optical module comprising:
 an optical train comprising multiple lenses including at least one movable lens and a lens actuator configured to move the at least one movable lens along an optical path to focus a subject onto an image sensor that is disposed at a focal plane of the optical train;   an interior housing configured to align the optical train and image sensor;   an outer housing at least partially surrounding the interior housing and the optical train, the outer housing being configured to shield the optical train and the image sensor from external physical shocks;   one or more pieces of shock absorbing material that are disposed between the outer housing and the interior housing and that are configured to compress to absorb external physical shocks in three spatial dimensions;   wherein one or more compression gaps are defined between the external housing and the interior housing to permit relative movement without contact in a direction of the optical path of the exterior housing towards the interior housing as said one or more pieces of shock absorbing material are compressed.   
     
     
         2 . The compact optical module of  claim 1 , wherein the optical train includes at least one movable lens and a lens actuator that comprises a pair of lens actuator control pads for receiving lens actuator control signals from a printed circuit coupled to the image sensor along a pair of conductive traces that electrically connect the printed circuit to the pair of lens actuator bond pads. 
     
     
         3 . The compact optical module of  claim 2 , wherein the outer housing comprises an interior framework and the conductive trace is formed along said interior framework. 
     
     
         4 . The compact optical module of  claim 2 , further comprising a bracket forming an interior framework within the outer housing, and wherein the conductive trace is formed on or along said bracket. 
     
     
         5 . The compact optical module of  claim 1 , further comprising a lens barrel containing therein one or more of the multiple lenses including the at least one movable lens. 
     
     
         6 . The compact optical module of  claim 1 , wherein the outer housing provides electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding for the optical module components. 
     
     
         7 . The compact optical module of  claim 1 , wherein the outer housing comprises a conductive or semiconductive material that provides EMI shielding for the optical module components. 
     
     
         8 . The compact optical module of  claim 6 , further comprising a light leak baffle that has a baffle aperture defined therein that overlaps the optical path and that includes EMI shield material that partially overlaps a focus adjustment aperture outside of an autofocus range of the optical train. 
     
     
         9 . The compact optical module of  claim 8 , wherein the conductive material of the light leak baffle comprises carbon. 
     
     
         10 . The compact optical module of  claim 8 , further comprising a conductive glue for coupling the light leak baffle to the outer housing. 
     
     
         11 . The compact optical module of  claim 8 , wherein the light leak baffle is disposed outside the outer housing. 
     
     
         12 . The compact optical module of  claim 1 , further comprising a pair of conductive traces inside the outer housing configured for electrically connecting a pair of contact pads of said actuator with a pair of contact pads on a flexible printed circuit (FPC) when a sensor component is coupled to the compact optical module to form a compact camera module and is also electrically coupled to the FPC. 
     
     
         13 . The compact optical module of  claim 12 , wherein an open side wall is defined in the compact optical module that is configured to be enclosed by a folded FPC segment adjacent the segment to which the sensor is coupled. 
     
     
         14 . The compact optical module of  claim 1 , wherein the actuator comprises a pair of contact pads configured to electrically connect to a pair of contact pads on a flexible printed circuit (FPC) extension segment when a sensor segment of the FPC that is spaced apart from the FPC extension segment is coupled to a sensor end of a compact camera module formed by coupling a sensor module with the compact optical module, and the FPC is folded around the compact camera module and the FPC extension segment is coupled to an object end of the camera module. 
     
     
         15 . The compact optical module of  claim 14 , further comprising a light leak baffle that is coupled to the FPC extension segment, wherein an aperture is defined in the light leak baffle that overlaps an aperture defined in the FPC extension segment, and wherein the overlapping light leak baffle and FPC extension segment apertures partially overlap a focus adjustment aperture that is defined in the housing, to permit extension of the at least one movable lens outside of an auto-focus range of the optical train, and thereby more fully blocks unwanted light from entering the camera module through the focus adjustment aperture in the housing. 
     
     
         16 . The compact optical module of  claim 15 , wherein an open side wall is defined in the compact optical module that is configured to be enclosed by a folded middle FPC segment, between the sensor segment and the FPC extension segment, when the FPC is folded around said compact camera module to couple the FPC extension segment to the object end of the camera module. 
     
     
         17 . The compact optical module of  claim 1 , wherein said one or more pieces of shock absorbing material do not overlap the optical train in a direction of the optical path, and thereby compress to absorb Z-shocks without adding Z-height to the optical train. 
     
     
         18 . The compact optical module of  claim 17 , wherein said one or more pieces of shock absorbing material also do not overlap the interior housing in the direction of the optical path, and thereby said sponges also compress to absorb Z-shocks without adding Z-height to the interior housing. 
     
     
         19 . The compact optical module of  claim 17 , wherein the one or more compression gaps do not overlap the interior housing in the direction of the optical path, and thereby do not add Z-height to the optical train. 
     
     
         20 . The compact optical module of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more compression gaps are defined, to a shock absorbing material compression depth, between one or more area portions of the internal housing and the external housing that overlap in a direction of the optical path. 
     
     
         21 . The compact optical module of  claim 20 , wherein the one or more overlapping area portions are defined by an outer contour within a range between an outermost radius of an overlapping area of the interior housing and an inner wall of a radially-adjacent piece of shock absorbing material, and by an inner contour an inner radius of an external housing annulus that defines a focus adjustment aperture, that is defined in the housing to permit extension of the optical train through the housing to reach an outer boundary of an auto-focus range of a compact camera module formed by coupling and aligning an image sensor module to the compact optical module. 
     
     
         22 . The compact optical module of  claim 1 , wherein a second compression gap is defined, to a sponge compression depth, to include an area between at least the inner and outer surface contours of the side walls of the housing along one or more segments to permit independent movement, without contact, of the side walls of the external housing in a direction of the optical path. 
     
     
         23 . The compact optical module of  claim 22 , wherein the second compression gap is defined at least partially by a side wall section of the external housing that is configured to overlap a flexible printed circuit FPC to which a compact camera module that includes the compact optical module is configured to be coupled. 
     
     
         24 . The compact optical module of  claim 23 , wherein the second compression gap also is at least partially defined by one or more further side wall sections of the external housing determined to overlap one or more other obstructions to the independent movement of the external housing in the direction of the optical path. 
     
     
         25 . The compact optical module of  claim 23 , wherein the second compression gap completely overlaps contours of the inner and outer surfaces of the side walls of the external housing.