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SamsungPatent applicationCameras & imagingInterest 6/10

Samsung patents camera lens design that bends light to fit thin phones

Samsung describes a camera module that uses mirrors to fold the path of light, allowing the lens stack to be shorter than a traditional straight-line camera. The design mixes glass and plastic lenses with specific shapes to keep images sharp while saving space inside the device.

Why it mattersThis approach helps manufacturers keep phone cameras high-quality without making the device thicker, a common challenge in modern smartphone design.

In the filing’s own words

A lens assembly includes: a lens group including a plurality of lenses arranged along a part of an optical axis in a direction from a subject side to an image side; an image sensor including an image-forming surface on which an image is formed; and a reflective member between the lens group and the image sensor and configured to change a path of light having passed through the lens group once or twice. A first lens closest to the subject side includes a synthetic resin and has positive refractive power, and the subject-side surface of the first lens is convex toward the subject side. A second lens, which is the second closest lens to the subject side, has negative refractive power, the image-side surface of the second lens is concave toward the image side, and at least one of the subject-side and image-side surfaces of the second lens is aspherical.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. An electronic device comprising: a lens assembly, wherein the lens assembly comprises: a lens group comprising a plurality of lenses aligned along an optical axis in a direction from an object side toward an image side, an image sensor comprising an imaging plane on which an image is formed, and a reflective member between the lens group and the image sensor and configured to change a path of light passing through the lens group once or twice, wherein a first lens, which is closest to the object side among the plurality of lenses, comprises a synthetic resin and has positive refractive power, and an object side surface of the first lens is convex toward the object side, wherein a second lens, which is second closest to the object side among the plurality of lenses, has negative refractive power, an image side surface of the second lens is concave toward the image side, and at least one of an object side surface of the second lens or an image side surface of the second lens is aspherical, wherein a lens, which is closest to the image side among the plurality of lenses, has an object side surface that is convex toward the object side, and at least one of the object side surface or an image side surface of the lens is aspherical, wherein the lens assembly satisfies: 25< L 1Abbe− L 2Abbe<60, and L 3Abbe<21, and wherein L1 Abbe is an Abbe number of the first lens, L2 Abbe is an Abbe number of the second lens, and L3 Abbe is an Abbe number of the lens closest to the image side among the plurality of lenses.

Facts

Company
Samsung (SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.)
Official title
LENS ASSEMBLY AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE COMPRISING SAME
Publication number
US20260276950A1
Application number
19678743
Filed
May 15, 2026
Published
Sep 17, 2026
Inventors
3
Claims
20

Classified under

G02B 13/0035 Physics & computingG02B 13/0065 Physics & computingH04N 23/687 Electricity & electronicsG03B 5/00 Physics & computingG03B 13/34 Physics & computingG03B 2205/0007 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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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.