Patent ID: 7626776

Claim:
A camera module, comprising: a housing; a lens unit which constitutes an optical system of the camera module; a holder which houses the lens unit and is displaceable between a first position and a second position along an optical axis direction of the lens unit, the holder having an outer peripheral cylindrical portion; a magnetic member provided on the outer peripheral cylindrical portion of the holder; a coil provided on the outer peripheral cylindrical portion of the holder at a position close to or adjacent to the magnetic member for magnetizing the magnetic member; a first magnet having one pole, having a cylindrical shape and provided inside the housing so that the one pole of the first magnet faces the magnetic member when the holder is in the first position; a second magnet which is a different magnet from the first magnet, the second magnet having the other pole which is opposite to the one pole of the first magnet, having a cylindrical shape and provided inside the housing so that the other pole faces the magnetic member when the holder is in the second position, the second magnet provided along the optical axis direction of the lens unit so as to be in contact with the first magnet; and an imaging element provided below the lens unit; wherein the holder with the lens unit, the magnetic member and the coil are positioned radially inside the first and second magnets and displaceable axially through a predetermined spacing with respect to the first and second magnets, and wherein the camera module is configured so that: (1) when in a state that the holder is in the first position a positive or negative DC is supplied to the coil to generate a magnetic field in the coil to thereby magnetize the magnetic member to have a polarity that is repelled to the one pole of the first magnet but attracted to the other pole of the second magnet, the holder is displaced to the second position from the first position along the optical axis direction; (2) when the supply of the DC to the coil is stopped after the holder has been displaced to the second position, the holder is held at the second position due to the magnetic member being attracted by the magnetic force of the second magnet; (3) when in the state that the holder is in the second position a negative or positive DC is supplied to the coil to generate a magnetic field in the coil to thereby magnetize the magnetic member to have the opposite polarity that is repelled to the other pole of the second magnet but attracted to the one pole of the first magnet, the holder is displaced to the first position from the second position along the optical axis direction; and (4) when the supply of the DC to the coil is stopped after the holder has been displaced to the second position, the holder is held at the first position due to the magnetic member being attracted by the magnetic force of the first magnet.