Patent ID: 7298562

Claim:
A lens drive unit comprising: a moving lenticular body equipped with a lens; a driving mechanism to move said moving lenticular body in the optical axis direction of the lens; and a fixed body that supports said moving lenticular body so as to make it movable in the optical axis direction of the lens; wherein: said driving mechanism is provided with a magnet magnetized in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction of the lens, and multiple coils arranged so that at least one coil of said multiple coils is arranged on one side in the optical axis direction with respect to said magnet and at least another one coil of said multiple coils is arranged on the other side in the optical axis direction with respect to said magnet, and said magnet is relatively moved so as to move towards and away from said one coil or said another one coil in the optical axis direction; either one of said magnet and said multiple coils is installed in said moving lenticular body, and the other in said fixed body; and said driving mechanism is provided with a controlling means to control the movement of said moving lenticular body caused by the electromagnetic force when a current is supplied to said multiple coils to generate said electromagnetic force.