Camera with alignable image sensor
A camera has a lens mount and an image sensor for sensing images. A holder of the camera can captively hold the image sensor such that the image sensor is moveable relative to the lens mount when the image sensor is not attached to the holder. The holder is further operable to fixedly hold the image sensor such that the image sensor is unmoveable relative to the lens mount at an aligned position of the image sensor when the image sensor is attached to the holder. The image sensor may be attached to a printed circuit board. The holder may include first and second rails comprising first and second printed circuit boards, respectively. The holder is then operable to fixedly hold the image sensor by the printed circuit board being soldered to at least one of the first and second printed circuit boards.
1. A camera comprising:
(a) a lens mount;
(b) an image sensor for sensing images; and
(c) a holder for holding the image sensor, the holder being operable to captively hold the image sensor such that the image sensor is moveable relative to the lens mount when the image sensor is captively held and not attached to the holder, the holder being further operable to fixedly hold the image sensor such that the image sensor is unmoveable relative to the lens mount at an aligned position of the image sensor when the image sensor is attached to the holder.
2. The camera of claim 1 wherein the holder comprises first and second rails removably attachable to the lens mount at opposing sides of the lens mount.
3. The camera of claim 2 wherein the first and second rails comprise first and second printed circuit boards, respectively, the image sensor being attached to a printed circuit board, the holder fixedly holding the image sensor by solder extending between the printed circuit board and each of the first and second printed circuit boards.
4. The camera of claim 3 wherein the printed circuit board has a thickness selected such that a solder thickness of the solder is less than or equal to 0.5 mm.
5. The camera of claim 1 wherein the holder is a single-piece holder.
6. The camera of claim 1 further comprising a support for resiliently supporting the image sensor when the image sensor is captively held by the holder.
7. The camera of claim 6 wherein the support is made of an elastic material and is operable to seal the image sensor against dust ingress.
8. The camera of claim 7 wherein the support is made of a foam material.
9. The camera of claim 7 wherein the support is made of a rubber material.
10. A camera comprising:
(a) a lens mount;
(b) an image sensor for sensing images, the image sensor being attached to a printed circuit board; and
(c) a holder for holding the image sensor, the holder comprising first and second rails comprising first and second printed circuit boards, respectively, the holder being operable to fixedly hold the image sensor by the printed circuit board being soldered to at least one of the first and second printed circuit boards such that the image sensor is unmoveable relative to the lens mount at an aligned position of the image sensor subsequent to the image sensor having been aligned by gripping the image sensor,
wherein the holder is operable to captively hold the image sensor such that the image sensor is moveable relative to the lens mount when the image sensor is captively held and not attached to the holder, and wherein the holder is operable to fixedly hold the image sensor at said aligned position when the image sensor is attached to the holder.
11. The camera of claim 10 wherein the first and second rails are removably attachable to the lens mount at opposing sides of the lens mount.
12. The camera of claim 11 wherein the holder fixedly holds the image sensor by solder extending between the printed circuit board and each of the first and second printed circuit boards.
13. The camera of claim 12 wherein the printed circuit board has a thickness selected such that a solder thickness of the solder is less than or equal to 0.5 mm.
14. The camera of claim 10 wherein the holder is a single-piece holder.
15. The camera of claim 12 further comprising a support for resiliently supporting the image sensor when the image sensor is captively held by the holder.
16. The camera of claim 15 wherein the support is made of an elastic material and is operable to seal the image sensor against dust ingress.
17. The camera of claim 16 wherein the support is made of a foam material.
18. The camera of claim 16 wherein the support is made of a rubber material.