A VEHICLE CAMERA CIRCUIT BOARD

Abstract

A vehicle camera circuit board (110) having a first main side (111) and a second main side (112). The first main side (111) includes an imaging sensor (113) and a contact area (114) that is adapted to face a contact part (115) of a lens assembly (101), and the second main side (112) forms an attachment area (116a, 116b, 116c) adapted to receive a first connector part (117). The attachment area (116a, 116b, 116c) is partly overlapping the contact area (114) when seen against a main side (111, 112).

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle camera circuit board having a first main side and a second main side. The first main side includes an imaging sensor and a contact area that is adapted to face a contact part of a lens assembly.

The present disclosure also relates to a vehicle camera module comprising such a vehicle camera circuit board.

BACKGROUND

Many vehicle environment detection systems comprise one or more sensors such as for example radar sensor, LIDAR sensors, ultrasonic sensors and digital camera devices. These are used for collecting data used for safety arrangements as well as for driver assistance systems. A camera device is adapted to collect images of the surroundings, and may be used to identify landmarks.

For a digital camera device that can be in the form of, or comprised in, a vehicle imaging system, a camera module is mounted to a camera housing. The camera module comprises a lens assembly and a PCB to which an image sensor and associated components are mounted.

Efficient production of digital camera devices is desired, where essential imaging components are the lens and the image sensor, and these need to be mounted firmly and securely to each other. This can be done by various methods, e.g., by gluing, soldering or screwing. The image sensor is generally mounted on a flat substrate that allows electric connection between the image sensor and a peripheral connector, typically a FR-4 PCB backplate that constitutes a vehicle camera circuit board. The vehicle camera circuit board can be positioned and attached to the lens by active alignment or just by passively fitting the parts together. The mechanical interface between the lens and the vehicle camera circuit board is here defined as the supporting interface.

Typically, a vehicle camera device is placed in an upper center part of the windshield among other sensors (such as Rain Sensors, Lidar, etc.) within a confined volume encapsulated by a protective shroud. In order to have a camera device that is not occupying too much of the available volume, it is important that the design allows for a small and compact solution.

A vehicle camera device is a precise measuring tool for determining the position and velocity of external objects in relation to the equipped vehicle. A particularly sensitive part of the camera device is the mechanics that determine the lens versus image sensor distance. This distance must be kept within a very small region of variations throughout the lifetime and temperature conditions of the vehicle. It is therefore very important that external forces adding to the environmental and aging effects are as small as possible.

The common set-up for a vehicle camera device is that it communicates and is power-supplied via one harness that for example comprises a shielded cable terminated by a multi pin connector, or coaxial bi-polar connector. Any motion and/or weight load transferred from the harness must be absorbed by the mating connector and strain relief of the vehicle camera device to avoid disturbances of the images produced by the vehicle camera device.

In order to overcome the effect of motion and/or weight load transferred from the harness, the image sensor and the external connector have previously been mounted to two separate circuit boards with flexible electrical and mechanical connections between them. This design introduces higher material costs, higher assembly costs and larger dimensions.

It is therefore an object of the present disclosure to overcome the effect of motion and/or weight load transferred to the vehicle camera circuit board from the harness while providing compact dimensions.

SUMMARY OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The above-described object is achieved by means of vehicle camera circuit board comprising a first main side and a second main side. The first main side comprises an imaging sensor and a contact area that is adapted to face a contact part of a lens assembly. The second main side comprises an attachment area adapted to receive a first connector part. The attachment area is partly overlapping the contact area when seen against a main side.

In this way, the attachment area enables the first connector part to be placed at a mechanically favorable position on the vehicle camera circuit board; close to and on the opposite side of the supporting surface, the contact area, where the lens assembly is adapted to be attached. The lens assembly is typically made out of metal or hard glass reinforced plastics, and can therefore serve a mechanically rigid support for the vehicle camera circuit board in certain bending situations for the first connector part. This counteracts the negative impact of image disturbances from external forces through a harness via the first connector part.

According to some aspects, the contact area comprises an adhesive that is adapted to attach to the contact part.

In this way, the contact area can be securely attached to the contact part in a sealed manner.

According to some aspects, the attachment area is positioned mainly within the circumference of the contact area.

According to some aspects, the attachment area is positioned mainly outside the circumference of the contact area.

According to some aspects, the attachment area is positioned where the circumference of the contact area performs a change of direction along its extension.

According to some aspects, the attachment area is positioned where the circumference of the contact area follows a straight extension direction.

This means that there exist many ways to position the attachment area within the scope of the present disclosure.

This object is also achieved by means of vehicle camera modules, vehicles and methods associated with the above advantages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will now be described more in detail with reference to the appended drawings, where:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic cut-open part of a vehicle with a camera device;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic perspective front view of a vehicle camera module;

FIG. 3 shows a first exploded perspective view of the vehicle camera module;

FIG. 4 shows a second exploded perspective view of the vehicle camera module;

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a vehicle camera circuit board without connector part mounted;

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a vehicle camera circuit board with first connector part mounted;

FIG. 7A shows a side view of a vehicle camera circuit board with first connector part mounted;

FIG. 7B shows a first main side view of a vehicle camera circuit board with first connector part mounted;

FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of a first connector part;

FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of a vehicle camera circuit board with both connector parts mounted;

FIGS. 10 and 11 show a first main side view of a vehicle camera circuit board without connector part mounted according to different examples; and

FIG. 12 shows a flowchart for methods according to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. The different devices, systems, computer programs and methods disclosed herein can, however, be realized in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the aspects set forth herein. Like numbers in the drawings refer to like elements throughout.

The terminology used herein is for describing aspects of the disclosure only and is not intended to limit the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a cut-open part of a vehicle 10, where the vehicle 10 comprises a vehicle camera arrangement 14 attached to a vehicle windscreen 11. The vehicle camera arrangement 14 is arranged for capturing images of the surroundings outside the vehicle 10 by means of a certain field of view 12. The vehicle camera arrangement 14 can also, or alternatively, be arranged for capturing images of a driver 13, where these images, which may include eye movements, for example can be used for detecting a degree of driver drowsiness.

FIG. 2 shows a side perspective view of a vehicle camera module 100 that is comprised in the vehicle camera arrangement 14, and FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show exploded perspective views of the vehicle camera module 100.

The vehicle camera module 100 comprises a lens assembly 101. According to some aspects, the vehicle camera module 100 comprises a lens barrel 102, a lens aperture 103, a gasket 119 and a cover part 104 that is adapted to be mounted to the lens assembly 101, where the gasket 119 is adapted to provide sealing between the lens assembly 101 and the cover part 104.

The vehicle camera module 100 further comprises a vehicle camera circuit board 110, and a connector assembly 117, 118. The connector assembly in turn comprises a first connector part 117 and a second connector part 118, where the first connector part 117 is attached to an attachment area 116a, 116b and the lens assembly 101 is attached to the vehicle camera circuit board 110 such that a contact part 115 of the lens assembly 101 faces the contact area 114.

According to some aspects, the contact part 115 is formed in a flange part 121 (shown in FIG. 8) that is adapted to be mounted to the cover part 104.

A forward direction F is directed from the cover part 104 towards the lens aperture 103, and a backward direction B is directed in the opposite direction as indicated in FIG. 2-4.

The vehicle camera circuit board 110 will now be described more in detail, with reference also to FIG. 5-8. FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a vehicle camera circuit board without the connector part mounted, FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a vehicle camera circuit board with connector part mounted, FIG. 7A shows a side view of a vehicle camera circuit board with connector part mounted, FIG. 7B shows a first main side view of a vehicle camera circuit board with connector part mounted, and FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of a connector part.

The vehicle camera circuit board 110 comprises a first main side 111 and a second main side 112, where the first main side 111 comprises an imaging sensor 113 and a contact area 114 that is adapted to face the contact part 115 of the lens assembly 101. The second main side 112 comprises an attachment area 116a, 116b, 116c adapted to receive a first connector part 117. According to the present disclosure, the attachment area 116a, 116b 116c is partly overlapping the contact area 114 when seen against a main side 111, 112.

In this way, the attachment area 116a, 116b 116c enables the first connector part 117 to be placed at a mechanically favorable position on the vehicle camera circuit board 110; close to and on the opposite side of the supporting surface, the contact area 114, where the lens assembly 101 is adapted to be attached. The lens assembly 101 is typically made out of metal or hard glass reinforced plastics, and can therefore serve a mechanically rigid support for the vehicle camera circuit board 110 in certain bending situations for the first connector part 117. This counteracts the negative impact of image disturbances from external forces through a harness via the first connector part 117.

According to some aspects, the first connector part 117 will to some defined distance be adapted to absorb the assembly tolerance in a controlled way, and have the main fixation in a mechanically robust cover that encapsulates the vehicle camera circuit board 110.

This means that imaging stability is improved by reduced mechanical interference. Furthermore, since no separate printed circuit board is needed for mounting the first connector part 117, there is a reduced number of parts in the associated Bill of Materials (BOM), a reduced number of assembly process steps, reduced dimensions and weight of the complete vehicle camera module 100.

The positive effect by the positioning of the attachment area 116a, 116b 116c is due to the fact that by placing a load on a flat membrane far from supporting elements, e.g., in the center of a drum head, will deflect the membrane more than placing the load close to the support, i.e., near the rim of the drum head.

This is a fact for all kinds of loads, straight or by torque. As vehicle camera circuit board 110 typically can be modeled as a membrane of certain dimensions, having a thickness, width and length with usually a supporting interface close to the outer boundaries or perimeter of the membrane, it is therefore possible to identify areas where an external force is more prone to deflect the vehicle camera circuit board 110, and thus affect the imaging sensor 113, than others.

The attachment area can be constituted by one coherent area or, as in this case, several separate sub-areas 116a, 116b, and 116c. According to some aspects the attachment area 116a, 116b 116c forms a so-called footprint.

According to some aspects, the contact area 114 comprises an adhesive 120 that is adapted to attach to the contact part 115.

According to some aspects, the adhesive 120 is a separate item, where the vehicle camera module 100 comprises the adhesive 120, where the lens assembly 101 is attached to the vehicle camera circuit board 110 by means of the adhesive 120.

FIG. 8 shows the first connector part 117 that comprises interface area 121a, 121b, 121c that is adapted to be attached to the attachment area 116a, 116b, 116c, for example by means of soldering or gluing with electrically conducting glue. Normally, the interface area 121a, 121b, 121c is intended to be electrically connected to the attachment area 116a, 116b, 116c such that some sub-areas 116a, 116b of the attachment area correspond to ground sub-areas 121a, 121b of the interface area and a another sub-area 116c of the attachment area corresponds to a signal conductor sub-area 121c of the interface area.

FIG. 9 shows a simplified perspective view of the first connector part 117 that is attached to the vehicle camera circuit board 110 (no other components shown). Furthermore, the second connector part 118 is attached to the first connector part 117. FIG. 9 thus illustrates how a force from a cable 122 (only schematically indicated) is transferred to the second connector part 118, to the first connector part 117 and to the vehicle camera circuit board 110. According to some aspects, the cable 122 is inserted mainly in the forward direction F.

A few examples of how the attachment area can be positioned according to some aspects of the present disclosure follow below with reference to FIGS. 10A-11B.

FIG. 10A, FIG. 10B, FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B show the first main side 112 of the vehicle camera circuit board 110A, 110B, 110C, 110D, without the connector part mounted.

FIG. 10A shows a first placement of the attachment area 116A and FIG. 10B shows a second placement of the attachment area 116B. For both these placements the attachment area 116A, 116B is positioned mainly within the circumference of the contact area 114.

FIG. 11A shows a third placement of the attachment area 116C and FIG. 11B shows a fourth placement of the attachment area 116D. For both these placements the attachment area 116C and 116D are positioned mainly outside the circumference of the contact area 114.

For the first and third placement of the attachment area 116A, 116C, the attachment area 116A, 116C is positioned where the circumference of the contact area 114 performs a change of direction along its extension.

For the second and fourth placement of the attachment area 116B, 116D, the attachment area 116B, 116D is positioned where the circumference of the contact area 114 follows a straight extension direction.

These examples are only to show a few different placements, the attachment area can of course be positioned in a large number of ways while partly overlapping the contact area 114 when seen against a main side 111, 112.

With reference to FIG. 12, the present disclosure also relates to a method for mounting a vehicle camera module 100 comprising providing at step S100 a camera circuit board 110 according to the above, providing at step S200 a lens assembly 101, and providing at step S300 a connector assembly 117, 118 with a first connector part 117. The method further comprises attaching at step S400 the first connector part 117 to the attachment area 116a, 116b, 116c, attaching at step S500 the lens assembly 101 to the vehicle camera circuit board 110 such that a contact part 115 of the lens assembly 101 faces the contact area 114, and mounting at step S600 a cover part 104 to the lens assembly 101.

According to some aspects, the attachment area 116A, 116B is positioned mainly within the circumference of the contact area 114.

According to some aspects, the attachment area 116C, 116D is positioned mainly outside the circumference of the contact area 114.

According to some aspects, the attachment area 116A, 116C is positioned where the circumference of the contact area 114 performs a change of direction along its extension.

According to some aspects, the attachment area 116B, 116D is positioned where the circumference of the contact area 114 follows a straight extension direction.

The present disclosure is not limited to the examples above, but may vary freely within the scope of the appended claims.

While the above description constitutes the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the proper scope and fair meaning of the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. A vehicle camera circuit board comprising a first main side and a second main side, where the first main side comprises an imaging sensor and a contact area that is adapted to face a contact part of a lens assembly, and where the second main side comprises an attachment area adapted to receive a first connector part wherein the attachment area is partly overlapping the contact area when seen against the main side.

2. The vehicle camera circuit board according to claim 1, wherein the contact area comprises an adhesive that is adapted to attach to the contact part.

3. The vehicle camera circuit board according to claim 1, wherein the attachment area is positioned mainly within the a circumference of the contact area.

4. The vehicle camera circuit board according to any one of the claims 2, wherein the attachment area is positioned mainly outside the a circumference of the contact area.

5. The vehicle camera circuit board according to claim 1, wherein the attachment area is positioned where the a circumference of the contact area performs a change of direction along an extension thereof.

6. The vehicle camera circuit board according to claim 1, wherein the attachment area is positioned where a circumference of the contact area follows a straight extension direction.

7. A vehicle camera module comprising the vehicle camera circuit board according to claim 1, further comprising the first connector part is attached to the attachment area and where the lens assembly is attached to the vehicle camera circuit board such that a contact part of the lens assembly faces the contact area.

8. The vehicle camera module according to claim 7, wherein the vehicle camera module comprises an adhesive, and where the lens assembly is attached to the vehicle camera circuit board by means of the adhesive.

9. A method for mounting a vehicle camera module comprising the steps of; providing a camera circuit board having a first main side and a second main side, where the first main side comprises an imaging sensor and a contact area that is adapted to face a contact part of a lens assembly, and where the second main side comprises an attachment area adapted to receive a first connector part wherein the attachment area is partly overlapping the contact area when seen against the main side;providing a connector assembly with the first connector part;attaching the first connector part to the attachment area;attaching the lens assembly to the vehicle camera circuit board such that a contact part of the lens assembly faces the contact area; andmounting a cover part to the lens assembly.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the attachment area is positioned mainly within the a circumference of the contact area.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the attachment area is positioned mainly outside a circumference of the contact area.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein the attachment area is positioned where the a circumference of the contact area performs a change of direction along an extension thereof.

13. The method according to claim 9, wherein the attachment area is positioned where a circumference of the contact area follows a straight extension direction.

14. A vehicle comprising the vehicle camera module according to claim 7.