IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,487,379
Granted Patent B2
US 12,487,379 · App. 17/723,672 · Granted Dec 2, 2025

Lens assembly and electronic device including the same

Inventors: Jeongyeol Lee (Gyeonggi-do, KR); Jungpa Seo (Gyeonggi-do, KR); Sungwook Choi (Gyeonggi-do, KR)
Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
G02B3/14G02B9/64G02B13/0045G02B13/18
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,487,379
App. No.
17/723,672
Granted
Dec 2, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

According to various embodiments disclosed herein, a lens assembly and/or an electronic device including the same may include at least four lenses which are sequentially arranged along an optical axis from an object side to a sensor side, and a tunable lens disposed between two lenses selected from among the at least four lenses and configured such that power or curvature thereof can be changed, wherein the lens assembly may satisfy Conditional Expression 1 below: 1.0=<( H tun_max)/( H tot_min)=<3.0  [Conditional Expression 1] where “Htun_max” represents a maximum height of marginal ray of the tunable lens, and “Htot_min” represents a minimum height of marginal ray of the entire lens assembly.

Claims (72)

1 . A lens assembly comprising:

a first lens, a second lens, a third lens, a fourth lens, a fifth lens, a sixth lens, and a seventh lens sequentially arranged along an optical axis from an object side to a sensor side; and

a tunable lens disposed between the second lens and third lens, the tunable lens configured to change power or curvature, and

wherein the lens assembly is configured to:

substantially align a central ray and a marginal ray without a focus deviation when a subject at one distance of 1 m or more is imaged, and

align the central ray and the marginal ray with a focus deviation of about 0.01 mm when a subject at one distance between 30 cm-1 m is imaged, and

wherein the lens assembly has a length between an object-side surface of the furthest lens among the at least four lenses and a sensor surface of an image sensor of about 7.83 mm, a field of view of about 82.34 degrees, and an F-number of 1.90.

2 . The lens assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first lens has a convex object-side surface and has positive power.

3 . The lens assembly of claim 1 , wherein the tunable lens has an effective diameter, Deff, that satisfies Conditional Expression 2 below:

1 mm≤Deff≤7.0 mm  [Equation 2].

4 . The lens assembly of claim 1 , wherein the tunable lens includes:

a transparent plate disposed as an object-side surface or a sensor-side surface;

a polymer plate disposed to face the transparent plate and having a changeable curvature;

a sealing member coupling the transparent plate and the polymer plate to each other, and sealing a space between the transparent plate and the polymer plate; and

a liquid or gel medium accommodated in the space between the transparent plate and the polymer plate,

wherein the tunable lens is configured to have each of a positive power, power of 0 (zero), and a negative power depending on the curvature of the polymer plate.

5 . The lens assembly of claim 4 , wherein the polymer plate is configured to deform in response to an external force, thereby changing a thickness of the tunable lens at least on the optical axis.

6 . The lens assembly of claim 4 , further comprising:

a pressing member configured to come into contact with the polymer plate, the pressing member having a ring-shape; and

an actuator configured to move the pressing member forward and backward along the optical axis,

wherein the pressing member is configured to move at least a portion of the polymer plate along the optical axis in response to an operation of the actuator.

7 . The lens assembly of claim 6 , wherein the polymer plate to partially move or deform by the pressing member thereby changing a thickness of the tunable lens, such that a thickness change of the tunable lens at a point where the polymer plate and the pressing member are in contact with each other is inversely proportional to a thickness change of the tunable lens on the optical axis.

8 . The lens assembly of claim 4 , wherein the medium has a refractive index that satisfies Conditional Expression 3 below:

1.25≤ n 1/ n 2≤1.7  [Conditional Expression 3]

where “n1” represents a refractive index of the medium, and “n2” represents a refractive index of another medium distributed in an outer space around the tunable lens.

9 . The lens assembly of claim 4 , wherein depending on the power of the tunable lens, a thickness of the tunable lens is changed to satisfy Conditional Expression 4 below:

Tn<T 0< Tp   [Conditional Expression 4]

where “Tn” represents thickness of the tunable lens on the optical axis when the tunable lens has negative power, “T0” represents thickness of the tunable lens on the optical axis when the tunable lens has power of 0 (zero), and “Tp” represents thickness of the tunable lens on the optical axis when the tunable lens has positive power.

10 . The lens assembly of claim 4 , wherein depending on the power of the tunable lens, a thickness of the tunable lens and an air gap are changed to satisfy Conditional Expression 5 below:

Tn/Tan<T 0/ Ta 0< Tp/Tap   [Conditional Expression 5]

where “Tn” represents thickness of the tunable lens on the optical axis when the tunable lens has negative power, “TO” represents thickness of the tunable lens on the optical axis when the tunable lens has power of 0 (zero), “Tp” represents thickness of the tunable lens on the optical axis when the tunable lens has positive power, “Tan” represents an air gap between the tunable lens and a lens facing the polymer plate among the at least four lenses on the optical axis when the tunable lens have negative power, “Ta0” represents the air gap between the tunable lens and the lens facing the polymer plate among the at least four lenses when the tunable lens has power of 0 (zero), and “Tap” represents the air gap between the tunable lens and the lens facing the polymer plate among the at least four lenses when the tunable lens has positive power.

11 . The lens assembly of claim 1 , wherein the tunable lens is disposed adjacent to a lens having a lowest peripheral ray height among the at least four lenses.

12 . An electronic device comprising:

a housing;

a display disposed on a first surface of the housing; and

at least one lens assembly according to claim 1 .

13 . The lens assembly of claim 1 , wherein:

1.0≤( H tun_max)/( H tot_min)≤1.08

where “Htun_max” represents a maximum height of marginal ray of the tunable lens, and “Htot_min” represents a minimum height of marginal ray of the entire lens assembly.

14 . A lens assembly comprising:

a first lens, a second lens, a third lens, a fourth lens, a fifth lens, a sixth lens, and a seventh lens sequentially arranged along an optical axis from an object side to a sensor side; and

a tunable lens disposed between the second and the third lens, the tunable lens configured to change a power of the tunable lens,

wherein the tunable lens includes:

a transparent plate disposed as an object-side surface or a sensor-side surface;

a polymer plate facing the transparent plate and configured to change curvature;

a sealing member coupling the transparent plate and the polymer plate to each other, and sealing a space between the transparent plate and the polymer plate; and

a liquid state or gel state medium accommodated in the space between the transparent plate and the polymer plate,

wherein the liquid state or gel state medium has a refractive index n1 that satisfies Conditional Expression 7 below:

1.25≤n1≤1.7,  [Conditional Expression 7]

wherein the lens assembly is configured to;

substantially align a central ray and a marginal ray without a focus deviation when a subject at one distance of 1 m or more is imaged, and

align the central ray and the marginal ray with a focus deviation of about 0.01 mm when a subject at one distance between 30 cm-1 m is imaged.

15 . The lens assembly of claim 14 , wherein the tunable lens has an effective diameter Deff that satisfies Conditional Expression 8 below:

1 mm≤Deff≤7.0 mm  [Conditional Expression 8].

16 . The lens assembly of claim 14 , wherein the tunable lens is disposed adjacent to a lens having a lowest peripheral ray height among the at least four lenses, and

the tunable lens has an effective diameter Deff that satisfies Conditional Expression 9 below:

1 mm≤Deff≤7.0 mm   [Conditional Expression 9].

17 . The lens assembly of claim 14 , further comprising:

a pressing member configured to come into contact with the polymer plate, the pressing member having a ring-shape; and

an actuator configured to move the pressing member forward and backward along the optical axis,

wherein the pressing member is configured to move at least a portion of the polymer plate along the optical axis in response to an operation of the actuator.

18 . The lens assembly of claim 17 , wherein the pressing member is configured to deform the polymer plate, thereby changing a thickness of the tunable lens, such that a thickness change of the tunable lens at a point where the polymer plate and the pressing member are in contact with each other is inversely proportional to a thickness change of the tunable lens on the optical axis.

19 . The lens assembly of claim 14 , wherein the first lens has a convex object-side surface and has positive power, and

the tunable lens has an effective diameter Deff that satisfies Conditional Expression 10 below:

1 mm≤Deff≤7.0 mm  [Conditional Expression 10].

20 . The lens assembly of claim 14 , wherein the lens assembly satisfies Conditional Expression 11 below:

1.0≤( H tun_max)/( H tot_min)≤3.0  [Conditional Expression 11]

where, “Htun_max” represents a maximum height of marginal ray of the tunable lens, and “Htot_min” represents a minimum height of marginal ray of the entire lens assembly.

21 . An electronic device comprising:

a housing;

a display disposed on a first surface of the housing; and

at least one lens assembly according to claim 12 .

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 19, 2022
From: LEE, JEONGYEOL; SEO, JUNGPA; CHOI, SUNGWOOK
To: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 059725/0683 →
Priority Claims (1)
KR 10-2021-0092649 · Jul 15, 2021 · national
Continuity (2)
Continuation PCTKR2022003749 · Mar 17, 2022
Related Publication 20230019936A1 · Jan 19, 2023
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