US 12,219,255 B1
Ball bearing sensor shift arrangement for camera with fixed magnets
Bin Xu, Sunnyvale, CA (US); Xu Wang, San Jose, CA (US); and Aurelien R Hubert, San Jose, CA (US)
Assigned to Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US)
Filed by Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US)
Filed on Sep. 14, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/932,254.
Int. Cl. H02K 41/035 (2006.01); H04N 23/54 (2023.01); H04N 23/55 (2023.01); H04N 23/68 (2023.01)
CPC H04N 23/687 (2023.01) [H02K 41/0354 (2013.01); H04N 23/54 (2023.01); H04N 23/55 (2023.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A camera, comprising:
a lens group;
an image sensor;
one or more voice coil motor (VCM) actuators, comprising:
fixed magnets;
optical image stabilization (OIS) coils; and
at least one autofocus (AF) coil; and
a ball bearing sensor shift arrangement coupled with the image sensor, wherein the ball bearing sensor shift arrangement comprises:
one or more OIS carrier frames coupled with the OIS coils, wherein the OIS coils are positioned proximate the fixed magnets such that, when driven with an electric current, the OIS coils are capable of electromagnetically interacting with the fixed magnets to move the image sensor in directions orthogonal to an optical axis of the camera; and
an AF carrier frame coupled with the at least one AF coil, wherein the at least one AF coil is positioned proximate the fixed magnets such that, when driven with an electric current, the at least one AF coil is capable of electromagnetically interacting with the fixed magnets to move the image sensor in at least one direction parallel to the optical axis;
wherein the one or more OIS carrier frames and the AF carrier frame are configured to move on ball bearings so as to enable motion of the image sensor in three degrees-of-freedom (DOF).