Patent ID: 11874593
Assignee: MAGNA ELECTRONICS INC.
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G  H

Claim 20:
21. A vehicular camera assembly, the vehicular camera assembly comprising:
a housing having a first portion and a second portion that are joined together;
an imager printed circuit board (imager PCB), wherein the imager PCB comprises a first side and a second side opposite the first side and separated from the first side by a thickness of the imager PCB, wherein an imager is disposed at the first side of the imager PCB;
wherein the imager comprises a two dimensional imaging array having at least one million photosensors arranged in rows and columns;
a lens barrel accommodating at least (i) an outer lens element, (ii) a first intermediate lens element with a first space between the first intermediate lens element and the outer lens element, (iii) a second intermediate lens element disposed between the first intermediate lens element and the imager with a second intermediate space between the first intermediate lens element and the second intermediate lens element, and (iv) an inner lens element disposed between the second intermediate lens element and the imager with a third intermediate space between the second intermediate lens element and the inner lens element;
wherein the lens barrel is disposed at the first portion of the housing such that the imager is aligned with the lens barrel, and wherein the inner lens element is disposed closer to the imager than the outer lens element;
wherein a first sealing ring is circumferentially disposed at an inner surface of the lens barrel at the first intermediate lens element, and wherein a second sealing ring is disposed at the inner surface of the lens barrel at the second intermediate lens element, and wherein a third sealing ring is disposed at the inner surface of the lens barrel at the inner lens element;
wherein the first sealing ring has a first gap, the second sealing ring has a second gap, and the third sealing ring has a third gap so that (i) the first space fluidly communicates with the second space via the first gap, (ii) the second space fluidly communicates with the third space via the second gap, and (ii) the third space fluidly communicates with an inner cavity of the housing between the first and second portions of the housing via the third gap;
wherein the first gap of the first sealing ring and the second gap of the second sealing ring are circumferentially offset from one another about the inner surface of the lens barrel so that the first and second gaps are not axially aligned with one another along the lens barrel, and wherein the second gap of the second sealing ring and the third gap of the third sealing ring are circumferentially offset from one another about the inner surface of the lens barrel so that the second and third gaps are not axially aligned with one another along the lens barrel; and
wherein, with the imager aligned with the lens barrel, light passing through (i) the outer lens element, (ii) the first intermediate lens element, (iii) the second intermediate lens element, and (iv) the inner lens element is imaged by the imager.