Samsung patents camera design that bends light to fit in thinner phones
Samsung has been granted a patent for a camera module that uses a mirror to bend light at a right angle before it hits the sensor. This design allows the camera to be packed into a thinner space by splitting the lens system into two separate groups.
In the filing’s own words
A camera module and an electronic device include the camera module having a first lens group including at least one lens, a reflection member configured such that light incident from the first lens group in a first direction is reflected by the reflection member in a second direction crossing the first direction, a second lens group arranged in the second direction and including at least three lenses, and an image sensor configured to receive an optical signal passing through the second lens group and generate an electrical signal related to an image based on the optical signal, wherein the camera module satisfies 1.2<|f1/f|<3, where f1 refers to a focal length of the first lens group, and f refers to a total focal length of an optical system including the first lens group and the second lens group.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A camera module comprising: a first lens group comprising at least one lens; a reflection member configured such that light incident from the first lens group in a first direction is reflected by the reflection member in a second direction that crosses the first direction; a second lens group comprising at least three lenses; and an image sensor configured to receive an optical signal passing through the second lens group and generate an electrical signal related to an image based on the optical signal, wherein the camera module satisfies 1.2<|f1/f|<3, where f1 is a focal length of the first lens group, and f is a total focal length of an optical system comprising the first lens group and the second lens group, and wherein the second lens group comprises: a third lens disposed adjacent to the reflection member, the third lens having negative refractive power; a fourth lens having positive refractive power; and a fifth lens having positive refractive power.
Facts
- Company
- Samsung (SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.)
- Official title
- Camera module and electronic device including same
- Patent number
- US12771939B2
- Application number
- 18784383
- Filed
- Jul 25, 2024
- Granted
- Oct 20, 2026
- Inventors
- 8
- Claims
- 17
Classified under
H04N 23/687 Electricity & electronicsG02B 13/0045 Physics & computingG02B 13/0065 Physics & computingG02B 13/009 Physics & computingG02B 13/02 Physics & computingG02B 15/142 Physics & computingMore from Samsung in Cameras & imaging
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.