Apple patents camera aperture blades that stay tight to prevent wobble
Apple describes a camera component that adjusts the size of the light opening using moving blades. The design includes a small spring-like part that keeps the blades firmly against a guide pin to stop them from shaking or moving loosely.
In the filing’s own words
A camera includes an optical assembly having one or more lenses. The camera also includes an image sensor. The camera further includes a variable aperture assembly positioned along a light path extending from an object side of the one or more lenses of the optical assembly and to the image sensor. The variable aperture assembly includes a rotor, a stator, a plurality of blades configured to vary a diameter of the aperture when the rotor rotates relative to the stator. The respective blades of the plurality of blades include a slot to receive pin extending from the stator. The variable aperture assembly also includes a rotor connection member for each of the plurality of blades for fixedly attaching the respective blade to the rotor. The variable aperture assembly further includes, for each of the respective blades, a biasing member configured to hold the pin against a side of the slot.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A camera, comprising: an optical assembly having one or more lenses; an image sensor; and a variable aperture assembly positioned along a light path extending from an object side of the one or more lenses of the optical assembly and to the image sensor, wherein the variable aperture assembly comprises: a rotor, a stator, a plurality of blades configured to vary a diameter of an aperture when the rotor rotates relative to the stator, wherein respective blades of the plurality of blades comprise a slot to receive a pin extending from the stator, a rotor connection member for each of the respective blades for fixedly attaching the respective blades to the rotor, and a biasing member for each of the respective blades for biasing the pin of the respective blades against a side of the slot of the respective blades.
Facts
- Company
- Apple (Apple Inc.)
- Official title
- Variable Aperture Assembly with Anti-Backlash Blades
- Publication number
- US20260319332A1
- Application number
- 19177276
- Filed
- Apr 11, 2025
- Published
- Oct 15, 2026
- Inventors
- 2
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
G03B 9/06 Physics & computingH04N 23/55 Electricity & electronicsMore from Apple 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.