US 12,449,715 B2
Shape memory alloy actuator
Robin Eddington, Cambridge (GB); James Howarth, Cambridge (GB); Konstantinos Pantelidis, Cambridge (GB); Stephen Matthew Bunting, Cambridge (GB); Daniel John Burbridge, Cambridge (GB); Oliver Hart, Cambridge (GB); Joshua Carr, Cambridge (GB); Peter Van Wyk, Cambridge (GB); and Stephen Kindness, Cambridge (GB)
Assigned to CAMBRIDGE MECHATRONICS LIMITED, Cambridge (GB)
Appl. No. 17/912,654
Filed by CAMBRIDGE MECHATRONICS LIMITED, Cambridge (GB)
PCT Filed Mar. 26, 2021, PCT No. PCT/GB2021/050741
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Sep. 19, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/191626, PCT Pub. Date Sep. 30, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 2004435 (GB), filed on Mar. 26, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0213836 A1, Jul. 6, 2023
Int. Cl. G03B 5/00 (2021.01); H04N 23/55 (2023.01); H04N 23/68 (2023.01)
CPC G03B 5/00 (2013.01) [H04N 23/55 (2023.01); H04N 23/685 (2023.01); G03B 2205/0007 (2013.01); G03B 2205/0076 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A shape memory alloy (SMA) actuator for a camera assembly, comprising:
a support structure for supporting an electronic component extending along a plane orthogonal to a primary axis, wherein the electronic component is susceptible to interference caused by magnetic flux;
a moveable part moveable relative to the support structure;
one or more lengths of SMA wire connected between the moveable part and the support structure, wherein the one or more lengths of SMA wire are configured to, on contraction, drive movement of the moveable part;
a first electrical path and a second electrical path defined between, and/or including, each of the one or more lengths of SMA wire and respective electrical terminals; and
wherein the first and second electrical paths of each of the one or more lengths of SMA wire are configured to, at least in part, extend adjacently to and in parallel with each other, and enabling the majority of electrical current in the respective paths to flow in opposite directions, so as to reduce or minimise combined magnetic flux from the first and second electrical paths into the electronic component.