Actuators for providing an extended two-degree of freedom rotation range
Actuators for providing an extended two-degree of freedom rotation range to an optical path folding element (OPFE) such as a prism or mirror in mobile devices such as smartphones, comprising a yaw sub-assembly having a yaw rotation axis, a pitch sub-assembly carrying the OPFE, the pitch sub-assembly including a pivot rotation mechanism and having a pitch rotation axis; and a stationary sub-assembly, wherein the actuator is operative to rotate the OPFE in two rotation directions, a first rotation for yaw around the yaw rotation axis and a second rotation for pitch around the pitch rotation axis, and wherein the rotation for pitch includes rotation using the pivot rotation mechanism.
1 . An actuator, comprising:
an optical path folding element (OPFE) having a light entering surface and a light exiting surface, wherein the light exiting surface is perpendicular to the light entering surface;
a yaw sub-assembly; and
a stationary sub-assembly,
wherein the actuator is operative to rotate the OPFE for yaw rotation around a yaw rotation axis formed by yaw rotation axis rails,
wherein the yaw rotation axis rails are located at a side of the OPFE that is opposite to the light entering surface of the OPFE, and
wherein the yaw rotation of the OPFE is actuated by a single driving coil located at a side of the OPFE that is opposite to the light exiting surface of the OPFE.
2 . The actuator of claim 1 , further comprising a pitch sub-assembly, wherein the pitch sub-assembly includes a pivot rotation mechanism having a pitch rotation axis, and wherein the actuator is operative to rotate the OPFE for pitch rotation around the pitch rotation axis.
3 . The actuator of claim 2 , wherein the pivot rotation mechanism includes a pivot ball-guide mechanism formed by a first socket in the pitch sub-assembly that corresponds to a respective second socket in the yaw sub-assembly, with a first ball positioned in the first and the second sockets, and a third socket in the pitch sub-assembly corresponding to a fourth socket in the yaw sub-assembly, with a second ball positioned in the third and the fourth sockets.
4 . The actuator of claim 2 , wherein the actuator is included in a folded camera.
5 . The actuator of claim 2 , wherein the yaw sub-assembly and the pitch sub-assembly form a master-slave arrangement, and wherein the yaw sub-assembly acts as the master and the pitch sub-assembly acts as the slave.
6 . The actuator of claim 2 , wherein the pivot rotation mechanism includes a pitch driving coil and a magnet, wherein the pitch driving coil surrounds the yaw rotation axis, and wherein the pitch rotation is sensed by at least one Hall sensor.
7 . The actuator of claim 6 , wherein the at least one Hall sensor includes 3 Hall sensors.
8 . The actuator of claim 1 , wherein the yaw sub-assembly includes at least one groove-ball mechanism.
9 . The actuator of claim 8 , wherein grooves of the at least one groove-ball mechanism are concentrically curved and have a center of the curvature on the yaw rotation axis.
10 . The actuator of claim 8 , wherein balls of the at least one groove-ball mechanism are guided by groove pairs that include each a groove on the yaw sub-assembly and a groove on the stationary sub-assembly.
11 . The actuator of claim 8 , wherein the at least one groove-ball mechanism includes at least 3 balls.
12 . The actuator of claim 8 , wherein balls of the at least one groove-ball mechanism are located in a plane that is perpendicular to the yaw rotation axis.
13 . The actuator of claim 8 , wherein the yaw rotation is sensed by at least one Hall sensor located beneath the yaw sub-assembly and fixedly coupled to the stationary sub-assembly.
14 . The actuator of claim 13 , wherein the yaw rotation is sensed by 4 Hall sensors.
15 . The actuator of claim 1 , wherein the yaw rotation is by an actuation mechanism including the single driving coil and a yaw driving magnet, and wherein the yaw driving magnet is concentrically curved.
16 . The actuator of claim 15 , wherein the yaw driving magnet is fixedly coupled to the yaw sub-assembly and the single driving coil is fixedly coupled to the stationary sub-assembly.
17 . The actuator of claim 15 , wherein the yaw driving magnet has two different magnet polarization directions that are perpendicular to the yaw rotation axis.
18 . The actuator of claim 1 , wherein the OPFE is a prism.
19 . The actuator of claim 1 , wherein the actuator is included in a smartphone.