1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of incorporating a camera into a terminal and mobile electronic equipment with a camera, and in particular, to a method of incorporating a camera into a terminal which can be made smaller and which appropriately resists shocks as well as mobile electronic equipment with a camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mobile electronic equipment such as a mobile phone terminal with a camera is in common use. In such mobile electronic equipment, a camera IC is mounted on a ceramic substrate together with other chip parts, the camera IC having a photoelectric conversion element such as a CCD and a lens integrated with the element. The camera IC and a main substrate in the apparatus main body are connected together through a flexible cable, thus constituting a camera unit. However, with a camera unit having such a configuration, it is difficult to meet all requirements for shock resistance and the accurate adjustment of the optical axis of the lens. Accordingly, this camera unit has various technical problems to be solved.
More specifically, conventional camera units are configured, for example, as shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, a camera IC 41 is mounted on a ceramic substrate 42 and installed on a main substrate 43 in the apparatus main body. In the structure shown in FIG. 4, installation plates in each of which an insertion guide for the ceramic substrate 42 is formed are fixed to the main substrate 43. A shock-absorbing rubber member 45 fixed to the main substrate 43 is arranged between each installation plate 44 and the main substrate 43. The camera IC 41 has been pushed into a recess in the shock-absorbing rubber member 45 so that the ceramic substrate 42 is locked in the insertion guides in the installation plates 44 to turn a photographing lens toward the outside of the apparatus. The ceramic substrate 42 is covered with a sponge 46 that is a shock absorbing member. Thus, the ceramic substrate 42, which is not resistant to mechanical shocks, is protected from external shocks. Furthermore, to allow the ceramic substrate 42 to be freely arranged relative to the installation plates 44, the ceramic substrate 42 is wrapped in the rubber and sponge shock-absorbing members 45 and 46. In such a structure, the rubber and sponge shock-absorbing members 45 and 46 absorb external shocks to protect the camera IC 41 and the ceramic substrate 42.
The camera IC 41, the ceramic substrate 42, and the main substrate 43 are covered with an enclosure 47 of the apparatus main body. The lens of the camera IC is arranged opposite a lens cover 48 set in the enclosure 47. A connector 49 is provided on the main substrate 43 so that the main substrate 43 and the ceramic substrate 42 are connected together by a flexible cable 50 via the connector 49. In a normal structure, the relative positional relationship between the main substrate 43 and the enclosure 47 is fixed.
In the layout shown in FIG. 4, a force F0 (shown by the hollow arrow in the figure) caused by the flexibility of the flexible cable 50 acts to push the ceramic substrate 42 and the camera IC, mounted on the ceramic substrate 42, rightward in this figure. The camera IC 41 is mechanically supported by the rubber shock-absorbing member 45 and the sponge shock-absorbing member 46. Accordingly, the above force may shift the ceramic substrate 42 and the camera IC 41 rightward to prevent the optical axis of the camera (shown by the alternate long and short dash line in the figure) from aligning with the central axis of the lens cover 48. In the worst case, this shifting may hinder an image pickup function.
The configuration shown in FIG. 4 is only an example, and a mounting method using shock absorbing members for ceramic substrates is not necessarily applied to such a structure. However, normally, if a camera must be incorporated into certain equipment, it is difficult to achieve this operation accurately as described above (misalignment of the optical axis), regardless of the structure of the camera. Furthermore, a space is required to install shock absorbing members, thus limiting a size reduction. Moreover, it is disadvantageously impossible to reduce the number of required parts.
To solve this problem, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-314857 discloses a proposal for improving the accuracy for camera incorporation without increasing the number of required parts. In the structure disclosed in pages 2 to 4 and FIG. 1 of Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-314857, a camera IC is held by a holding member formed integrally with a case of a mobile phone. With this structure, the accuracy for camera incorporation can be improved with a reduced number of parts compared to the provision of a separate holding member.
When an incorporated camera is built into equipment, it is desirable not only to reduce the number of required parts but also to minimize the complicity of the shape and structure of the equipment main body into which the camera is incorporated. However, the structure disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-314857 does not require any separate holding members but forms the holding member integrally with the case. Thus, disadvantageously, the shape and structure of the shape are complicated. Furthermore, shock absorbing members are still required to obtain shock resistance. Therefore, a reduction in the number of required parts is also limited.