Patent ID: 7751132

Claim:
A lens barrel drive apparatus comprising: a holder adapted to hold an optical component, said holder having a sleeve portion; a guide member adapted to guide said holder along an optical axis direction by inserting itself into the sleeve portion; an arc shaped magnet having magnetized portions circumferentially and alternately magnetized to different poles on an outer peripheral surface thereof and a break formed portion extending along the optical axis direction, said arc shaped magnet being disposed on an outer peripheral side of the optical component so as to sandwich said guide member therewith at the break formed portion and to cause the sleeve portion to pass through outer side of the outer peripheral surface of said arc shaped magnet at the break formed portion; and a cylindrical rotor having magnetic pole portions formed of a soft magnetic material and disposed on the outer peripheral side of said arc shaped magnet so as to oppose the magnetic pole portions thereof to the magnetized portions of said arc shaped magnet, said cylindrical rotor further having an interlocking portion formed on an inner peripheral surface thereof so as to interlock the sleeve portion to be disposed rotatably with respect to said arc shaped magnet; a coil adapted to magnetize the magnetic pole portions of said cylindrical rotor and disposed at a location different in the optical axis direction from a location of said arc shaped magnet; a stator adapted to fix said arc shaped magnet and said coil by being disposed on the outer peripheral side of the optical component and holding the inner peripheral surface of said arc shaped magnet and inside of said coil, wherein rotating movements of said cylindrical rotor is converted into forward and backward movements of said holder along the optical axis direction by interlocking the sleeve portion with the interlocking portion.