Patent Application
20220099488
The present invention relates to the field of optical sensing instruments, in particular to a multi-channel array type optical sensing device and its manufacturing method with the features of low cost and easily extended application.
Since each element has its own unique spectrum, substances can be identified and their chemical composition can be determined based on their spectrum, and this is called spectral analysis. In recent years, electronics, medicine, optoelectronics and other fields are booming, and the demand for the use of spectrometers to analyze photophysical and photochemical phenomena of materials is increasing.
Spectrometer is a scientific instrument with a main function of decomposing complex light into spectral lines and capable of measuring the light reflected from a surface of an object, the penetrating light penetrating the object, and the light absorbed by the object. Although the conventional spectrometer has the function of optical analysis, the spectrometer is mainly composed of components including prisms and diffraction gratings, so that the cost is high, the volume is large, and the application is impractical.
To lower the cost of optical analysis, there are micro-spectrometers on the market, and a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) process for semiconductors is used to miniaturize the optical structure. Although both cost and volume can be reduced, the micro-spectrometers applied to home testing still have cost barriers to market entry.
Regardless of the conventional spectrometer or the (MEMS) spectrometer for semiconductors, these spectrometers have a continuous full spectrum (UV-VIS) specification, and thus the manufacturing cost is relatively high and uneasy to be introduced into home applications.
In the market, another non-continuous sensor is developed and produced by manufacturing a photodiode array on a silicon wafer to work with a filter array. Although the production cost of the non-continuous sensors can be reduced by mass production, the manufacturing cost of the silicon wafers is very high and fails to reduce the manufacturing cost effectively if a specific production yield has not been reached. Therefore, it is an important subject for related optical sensor manufacturers to satisfy the requirements of improving the photosensitivity, decreasing the quantity of optical components, and lowering the development and production costs, and expanding the application of the optical analysis to general home-based testing.
In view of the drawbacks of the prior art, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a multi-channel array type optical sensing device and its manufacturing method with the features of low cost and easily extended application for optical inspections.
To achieve the aforementioned and other objectives, the present invention discloses a multi-channel array type optical sensing device, comprises: an encapsulating housing, having at least one electrical contact installed on a side of the encapsulating housing; a filter array, installed in the encapsulating housing, for receiving an external incident light, and converting the external incident light into a multi-channel optical signal with a non-continuous wavelength; a light receiving unit, encapsulated into the encapsulating housing, and disposed under the filter array, for receiving the multi-channel optical signal; and a printed circuit board, encapsulated into the encapsulating housing and electrically coupled between the light receiving unit and the at least one electrical contact, for transmitting the multi-channel optical signal to the outside through the at least one electrical contact.
In the multi-channel array type optical sensing device, the filter array is an array type glass filter unit having a plurality of filters with different wavelengths installed the filter array.
In the multi-channel array type optical sensing device, the filter array is comprised of a plurality of filters of different wavelengths.
In the multi-channel array type optical sensing device, the light receiving unit is a photodiode array.
The multi-channel array type optical sensing device further comprises a reflective light shielding layer installed between the filter array and the light receiving unit, for limiting a stray light distribution of the multi-channel optical signal.
The multi-channel array type optical sensing device further comprises a transparent protective layer disposed above the filter array.
The present invention further provides a manufacturing method of a multi-channel array type optical sensing device, and the method comprises the steps of: providing an encapsulating housing, and installing at least one electrical contact on a side of the encapsulating housing; installing a filter array in the encapsulating housing, and using the filter array to receive an external incident light and convert the external incident light into a multi-channel optical signal with a non-continuous wavelength; installing a light receiving unit under the filter array to receive the multi-channel optical signal; and electrically coupling a printed circuit board between the light receiving unit and the at least one electrical contact to transmit the multi-channel optical signal to the outside through the at least one electrical contact.
In the manufacturing method of a multi-channel array type optical sensing device, wherein the filter array is an array type glass filter unit having a plurality of filters of different wavelengths installed on the filter array.
In the manufacturing method of a multi-channel array type optical sensing device, wherein the filter array is comprised of a plurality of filters of different wavelengths.
In the manufacturing method of a multi-channel array type optical sensing device, wherein the light receiving unit is a photodiode array.
The manufacturing method of a multi-channel array type optical sensing device further comprises the step of: providing reflective light shielding layer installed between the filter array and the light receiving unit to limit a stray light distribution of the multi-channel optical signal.
The manufacturing method of a multi-channel array type optical sensing device further comprises the step of providing a transparent protective layer disposed above the filter array.
To make it easier for our examiner to understand the objective of the invention, its structure, innovative features, and performance, we use a preferred embodiment together with the attached drawings for the detailed description of the invention.
The directional terms and their similar terms used in the specification of the present invention such as “front”, “rear”, “left”, “right” “up (top)”, down (bottom)”, “inside”, “outside”, “side”, etc. are primarily used by referring the directions of the attached drawings, and the directional terms, or their similar terms just only used for assisting the description and illustration of each embodiment of the present invention, but not intended for limiting the scope of the present invention.
With reference to
The encapsulating housing 11 comprises a printed circuit board 14, a light receiving unit 13 and a filter array 12. The filter array 12 is an array type glass filter unit for receiving external incident light. With reference to
The light receiving unit 13 is a photodiode array electrically coupled to the printed circuit board 14. In other embodiments, the light receiving unit ‘3 can be fixed onto the printed circuit board 14 for receiving a multi-channel optical signal with a non-continuous wavelength. The multi-channel optical signal is transmitted by the light receiving unit 13 to the printed circuit board 14, and the printed circuit board 14 transmits the multi-channel optical signal to the outside through the at least one electrical contact 15.
With reference to
The multi-channel array type optical sensing device 10 of the present invention further comprises a reflective light shielding layer 16 installed between the filter array 12 and the light receiving unit 13 for limiting a stray light distribution of the multi-channel optical signal to avoid the output of stray light from affecting the testing result.
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
By using the filter array formed by the filters of different wavelengths for the division of light, and the non-continuous light division method for the biological test, the manufacturing cost of the multi-channel array type optical sensing device of the present invention can be reduced significantly, and the light characteristics of the testing object can be used for the configuration of the wavelength of the filters of the filter array. In addition, the stacked structure of the optical components of the multi-channel array type optical sensing device of the present invention is not complicated, so as to achieve the effects of miniaturizing the optical structure, simplifying the assembling process, reducing the consumption of materials, lowering the level of difficulty, and also providing easily extended applications for various spectral analyses (such as the sweetness of fruits, pesticide detection of vegetables, analysis of biomedical samples and application and development of photoelectric technology, etc.), which assists general home/life testing and overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art.
While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.
