/Patent Tracker
SamsungPatent applicationCameras & imagingInterest 3/10

Samsung patents 5-lens camera design with specific spacing rules

Samsung has filed a patent for a camera lens assembly that uses at least five individual glass or plastic elements to focus light onto a sensor. The design specifies a particular order of lens shapes and sets strict mathematical limits on the air gaps between the third, fourth, and fifth lenses to control how light passes through.

Why it mattersThis is a routine hardware improvement that helps engineers fine-tune image quality and reduce distortion in future phones or cameras.

In the filing’s own words

An imaging device may include: an image sensor; and a lens assembly configured to focus or guide light to the image sensor and including at least five lenses sequentially aligned along an optical axis. The the at least five lenses may include: a first lens having a positive refractive power; a second lens between the first lens and the image sensor and having a negative refractive power; a third lens between the second lens and the image sensor and having a negative refractive power; a fourth lens having a meniscus shape convex toward the image sensor and a thickness thereof decreases toward the edge, wherein the fourth lens is between the third lens and the image sensor and has a positive refractive power; and a fifth lens having an object-side surface that is convex and a sensor-side surface that is concave in a central region.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. An image capturing device comprising: an image sensor; and a lens assembly configured to focus or guide light to the image sensor, the lens assembly comprising at least five lenses sequentially arranged along an optical axis, wherein the at least five lenses comprise: a first lens having a positive refractive power; a second lens between the first lens and the image sensor and having a first negative refractive power; a third lens between the second lens and the image sensor and having a negative refractive power; a fourth lens between the third lens and the image sensor, the fourth lens having a meniscus shape that is convex toward the image sensor, and having a thickness decreasing toward an edge of the fourth lens, and having a positive refractive power; and a fifth lens between the fourth lens and the image sensor, the fifth lens comprising a subject-side surface that is convex and a sensor-side surface that is concave in a chief region of the fifth lens, and having a negative refractive power, and wherein the lens assembly satisfies: 1.5 ≤ T ⁢ 34 + T ⁢ 45 T ⁢ 23 ≤ 3, where T23 is an air gap between the second lens and the third lens, measured on the optical axis, T34 is an air gap between the third lens and the fourth lens, measured on the optical axis, and T45 is an air gap between the fourth lens and the fifth lens, measured on the optical axis.

Facts

Company
Samsung (SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.)
Official title
IMAGING DEVICE AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE COMPRISING SAME
Publication number
US20260276953A1
Application number
19673348
Filed
May 11, 2026
Published
Sep 17, 2026
Inventors
2
Claims
15

Classified under

G02B 13/0045 Physics & computingG02B 9/60 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

More from Samsung in Cameras & imaging

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.