CN1722456B - Image sensor package and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

An assembly method of an image sensor package includes: providing a substrate on which a plurality of image sensors are mounted; providing a housing strip having a plurality of housings; after attaching the housing strip to the substrate, attaching a transparent cover sheet to seal the holes of the plurality of housings on the housing strip; and sequentially cutting the transparent cover sheet, the housing strip, and the substrate to separate the image sensor packages from each other. Assemble the sleeve on the separate image sensor package. Wherein separating the image sensor package comprises: utilizing a first blade to cut a first portion of the transparent cover, dividing the transparent cover into a plurality of windows, each window sealing one of the corresponding holes of the corresponding housing and exposing the first portion of the housing strip; and A second blade having an effective cutting width narrower than the first blade cuts the first portion of the skin bar and the substrate therebelow. A step is thus formed between the window and the housing strip, which step can be used as an alignment pin when mounting the sleeve and/or lens group.

Description

Image sensor package and manufacturing method thereof

technical field

The invention relates to a package for electronic components, in particular to an image sensor package (image sensor package) and a manufacturing method thereof.

Background technique

An image sensor is a semiconductor device that converts light information into electrical signals. Image sensors are generally classified into Charge Coupled Device (CCD) image sensors, or Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors. The image sensor is packaged to protect the photoelectric system of the image sensor and to allow light to act on the light receiving surface or active surface of the image sensor.

A typical image sensor package thus includes a housing and a window through which light is transmitted to a light-receiving active surface. The image sensor package may also include a lens supported by a lens holder in proper alignment with the active surface of the image sensor. In this example, the lens holder is mounted on a hole formed in the housing.

An example of one such image sensor package is discussed in U.S. Patent No. 6,492,774 B1, issued November 19, 2002 to Webster, entitled "MOLDED IMAGE SENSORPACKAGE HAVING LENS HOLDER" , which has a lens and a lens holder. In the image sensor package disclosed therein, threads are formed on the outer circumference of a circular lens holder, and the housing is equipped with a circular hole into which the lens holder is inserted. Threads are also formed on the inner periphery of the hole so that the lens holder can be threadedly coupled in the hole. This mounting process must be repeated for each image sensor package. It probably goes without saying that such installations are laborious, time consuming and costly.

Unsatisfactorily, friction occurs between mating threads when the lens holder is screwed into the housing bore. Due to this thread friction, mating threads are prone to wear. This wear creates free particles within the housing bore. Such free particles block the optical path and generate irreparable errors during image sensing operations. Furthermore, it is difficult to precisely control the screwing of the lens holder into the hole. As a result, the focus of the lens needs to be adjusted later in order to achieve optimal optical alignment and imaging performance.

Therefore, there is a need for an image sensor package that prevents the generation of undesirable free particles during the manufacturing process. There is also a need for a manufacturing method in which multiple image sensors can be assembled into corresponding packages simultaneously.

Contents of the invention

The present invention provides, among other aspects, a method of manufacturing a plurality of image sensor packages while effectively preventing the generation of free particles that may contaminate the optical path and affect image quality. The present invention also provides an image sensor package manufactured by this method.

In the image sensor package assembly method according to one embodiment of the present invention, multiple casings and/or multiple barrels are simultaneously assembled on the corresponding image sensors regularly arranged on the substrate.

First, multiple image sensors are mounted on a substrate in a regular array. A strip of identically arranged shells is then mounted on the substrate. Each housing includes an opening, such as a hole aligned with the active surface of the corresponding image sensor, and a peripheral cap for snapping over the peripheral edge of the image sensor.

Next, a transparent cover plate for sealing the hole is pasted on the housing strip on which the substrate is mounted. Next, the transparent cover, housing strip, and substrate are sequentially cut to separate the resulting image sensor packages from each other.

A sleeve is assembled on each separate image sensor package, and a lens group is inserted into each sleeve. Each lens group includes one or more lenses and one or more spacers disposed between the lenses and the cover plate and/or between the lenses. Alternatively, a barrel strip having a plurality of interconnected barrels is attached to the housing strip and/or the cover plate before the image sensor package is separated. The sleeve strip is formed by injection molding, and the long axis of the sleeve is arranged vertically on the transparent cover plate.

In one embodiment of the invention, the sleeve includes a smooth, rounded inner surface that smoothly and simply accommodates the lens set that slides into it.

In another embodiment, a method for assembling an image sensor package includes: providing a substrate on which a plurality of image sensors are mounted; providing a housing strip comprising a plurality of housings corresponding to the substrate on the substrate. Arranged in an arrangement of a plurality of image sensors, each of the plurality of housings includes a hole corresponding to an active surface of a corresponding one of the plurality of image sensors, and a cavity for at least part of the affixing the housing strip to the substrate; attaching a transparent cover to seal holes of the plurality of housings on the housing strip; and cutting the transparent cover The board, the housing strip, and the substrate separate the plurality of image sensor packages from one another.

Preferably, the separating of the plurality of image sensor packages includes cutting the cover plate to expose a portion of the housing bar and cutting the exposed portion of the substrate and the housing bar.

More preferably, the cutting of the cover plate and the cutting of the exposed portion of the housing strip and the substrate is performed such that the cut surface of the cover plate can be located further inward than the cut surfaces of the exposed portion of the housing strip and the substrate. Furthermore, the cutting of the cover plate and the cutting of the exposed portion of the housing strip and the substrate are performed such that the cut surface of the cover plate is on the same plane as the cut surfaces of the exposed portion of the housing strip and the substrate. Furthermore, the cutting of the cover can be carried out in such a way that the separate cover is dimensioned to cover the hole when it is arranged on the housing strip.

In yet another embodiment, a method for assembling an image sensor package includes: mounting a plurality of image sensors on a substrate; attaching a housing strip to the substrate, which has a plurality of housings, the housing corresponding to the plurality of Arranged in an arrangement of image sensors, each of the plurality of housings has a hole corresponding to an active surface of a corresponding one of the plurality of image sensors and a cavity for at least partially receiving therein a respective one of the plurality of image sensors; attaching a transparent cover to seal the holes of the plurality of housings on the housing strip; cutting a first portion of the transparent cover with a first blade to separate the transparent cover forming a plurality of windows sealing the apertures of the corresponding shells so as to expose the first portion of the shell strip; attaching a sleeve strip to the exposed first portion of the shell strip, the sleeve strip comprising a plurality of sleeves, the Each of the plurality of sleeves is connected to at least one other; and cutting through the sleeve strip and the first portion of the substrate using a second blade having an effective cutting width narrower than the first blade, whereby the plurality of Image sensor packages are separated from each other.

Preferably, the cutting of the casing strip is performed such that the casing strip and the substrate arranged below the casing strip can be cut in a single operation, so that the cutting of the casing strip, casing strip and substrate The surfaces can lie on the same plane.

Preferably, a portion of the cover is cut away such that the separate transparent cover covers the aperture when the separate transparent cover is placed on the housing strip.

In yet another embodiment, a method for assembling an image sensor package includes: providing a substrate on which a plurality of image sensors are mounted; Arranged for the arrangement of the plurality of image sensors, each of the plurality of housings has a hole corresponding to an active surface of a corresponding one of the plurality of image sensors, and a cavity for wherein a corresponding one of the plurality of image sensors is at least partially received; a transparent cover is attached to seal the holes of the plurality of housings on the housing strip; a sleeve strip is attached to the transparent cover, the sleeve The tube bar has a plurality of sleeves connected to each other; and a cutting process is performed along a wide area in the middle of the sleeve bar to separate the plurality of image sensor packages from each other.

Preferably, the assembling method of the image sensor package may further include, before the sleeve strip is attached to the transparent cover, cutting the cover.

In another embodiment, a method for assembling an image sensor package includes: providing a substrate on which a plurality of image sensors are mounted; attaching a housing strip to the substrate, the housing strip having a plurality of housings, the The casings are arranged corresponding to the arrangement of the plurality of image sensors on the substrate, at least one of the plurality of casings has a hole for surrounding a corresponding one of the plurality of image sensors; and separate individual (individual ) The transparent cover plate is pasted in at least one hole of the plurality of shells. The method may further include cutting the housing strip and substrate to provide a plurality of individual image sensor packages.

Additionally, the method further includes assembling a sleeve on each individual image sensor package, the sleeve having an opening aligned with the aperture of a corresponding one of the plurality of housings. Finally, the method may further include inserting a lens set into the opening of each ferrule.

Description of drawings

The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1A and 1B are a cross-sectional view and a perspective view, respectively, of a substrate on which a plurality of image sensor packages are regularly arranged according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2A and 2B are cross-sectional and perspective views, respectively, of a housing strip for an image sensor package according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an image sensor package cover according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4A and 4B are perspective and cross-sectional views, respectively, of a process for assembling a housing bar and a cover plate on a substrate mounted with multiple image sensors according to one embodiment of the present invention.

5A and 5B are cross-sectional views illustrating a two-step process for separating image sensor packages from each other according to one embodiment of the present invention.

6A and 6B are cross-sectional views of an alternative embodiment of an assembled image sensor package in accordance with the present invention.

7A and 7B illustrate cross-sectional views of a two-step process for assembling a lens group onto a stand-alone image sensor package, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a sleeve bar for image sensor packaging according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process for preparing an image sensor package assembly to mount a sleeve strip thereon according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process for installing a sleeve strip on a prepared image sensor package assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.

11 is a cross-sectional view of a process for separating a sleeve-equipped image sensor package according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an image sensor package equipped with a sleeve according to one embodiment of the present invention.

13 to 16 illustrate a process for assembling separate transparent cover panels to a housing strip assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

The present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. However, the invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey to those skilled in the art Idea of the present invention.

In one embodiment of the present invention, an image sensor package includes an image sensor mounted on a substrate, a housing protecting the image sensor and equipped with a hole, and a window mounted on the hole. A method for its assembly is also disclosed. In another embodiment of the invention, the image sensor is equipped with a sleeve attached to said window and/or said housing. A method for its assembly is also disclosed. The lens pack that fits into the sleeve includes one or more lenses and spacers that adjust and maintain the distance between the lenses and the active surface of the image sensor and between the lenses themselves.

The housing, window, and/or sleeve may be assembled such that a plurality of regularly arranged image sensors are mounted and aligned on the substrate. It is also possible to perform a process of inserting the lens groups into corresponding sleeves so that the image sensor is mounted and aligned on the substrate. In other words, a packaging process or a component mounting process may be performed such that the image sensor is attached and aligned on the substrate.

In order to simultaneously package a plurality of image sensors, a housing strip is provided in which the plurality of housings of the respective image sensors are connected to each other. Furthermore, it is not necessary to provide separate windows for each image sensor. Instead, a single large infrared (IR) filter glass window is attached to the housing strip to cover all image sensors regularly arranged on the substrate. After the assembly process is completed, the image sensors covered by the glass windows can be individually cut.

Furthermore, a bushing strip is attached to the window and/or the housing, in which bushings for the respective image sensor are connected to each other, and after completion of the assembly process, the bushings are separated from each other segmentation. When the ferrule strips are assembled and/or the ferrules are separated from each other, the lens group with one or more lenses and one or more spacers is inserted and affixed into the window by sliding.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1A and 1B illustrate a substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention, on which a plurality of image sensor packages are regularly arranged.

A plurality of image sensors 200 are preferably arranged in a regular orthogonal array on the substrate 100 with their active surfaces 201 facing upward. The image sensor 200 may be formed of a CCD image sensor or a CMOS image sensor in which a pyroelectric ceramic is used on a CMOS device. The substrate 100 may be formed of a chip-carrying substrate, such as a printed circuit board (PCB), an aluminum-based ceramic board, a plastic-glass laminate substrate, a tape-based substrate, or a flexible PCB (FPCB). Connection terminals 105 may be provided on the rear surface of the substrate 100, to which the FPCB or socket is electrically connected.

In order to attach a plurality of image sensors 200 on the substrate 100, an adhesive layer (not shown) is provided between the substrate 100 and each image sensor 200. The image sensors 200 are soldered on the interconnect pad 101 The bonding wire 103 is electrically connected to the substrate 100. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and within the spirit and scope of the present invention, variations may be made by utilizing any suitable connection technique, such as flip-chip technology. When in When aligning and attaching the image sensor 200 on the substrate 100, but before the substrate 100 is cut into multiple parts for the corresponding image sensor 200, subsequent packaging and assembly processes, such as housing assembly process, window assembly process, sleeve assembly process, etc. Assembly process, lens assembly process, etc.

2A and 2B illustrate a housing strip of an image sensor package according to one embodiment of the present invention.

For assembling the housing 310 protecting the respective image sensor 200 , a housing strip 300 is used, on which the housings of the respective image sensor 200 are connected to each other. By mounting the housing bar 300 (including the housings 310 connected to each other) on the substrate 100 , a plurality of housings 310 are simultaneously assembled around the image sensor 200 on the substrate 100 . Such a casing strip 300 having casings 310 connected to each other may be formed by an injection molding process. Thus, the housing strip 300 is formed such that it can be attached to the portion of the substrate 100 defined between the image sensors 200 while allowing the housing 310 to enclose the corresponding image sensor 200 . As can be seen from FIGS. 2A and 2B , each housing 310 has a hole 311 corresponding to the active surface 201 of the corresponding image sensor 200 .

Preferably, housing 310 is configured as a rim-shape, or as a circumferential cap, which snaps or latches to the edge of image sensor 200 as will be seen. The housing bar 300 is formed by connecting the frames to each other. A gap is formed between housing 310 and image sensor 200 , thereby defining a recess or cavity 312 that accommodates said image sensor 200 . In other words, the image sensor package of the embodiment is basically formed in an air cavity type package. The inner height of the casing 310 is designed to be larger than the image sensor 200 , so that if the image sensor 200 is electrically connected to the substrate 100 using wire bonding technology, the coil height of the welding wire 103 is slightly smaller than the height of the casing 310 . The housing strip 300 may be formed from a plastic or ceramic material suitable for an injection molding process.

As shown in FIG. 2B , since the housing bar 300 is formed as a simple structure connecting housings each having a cavity 312 and a hole 311 , it is easy to form the housing bar 300 through an injection molding process.

FIG. 3 shows a cover plate for an image sensor packaging window according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A window is provided to seal the hole 311 , thereby protecting the image sensor 200 disposed in the housing 310 while allowing light to be incident on the active surface of the image sensor 200 through the hole 311 . In this embodiment, a cover plate 400 is provided for the window. The cover plate 400 is installed on the shell bar 300 . In other words, for this embodiment, the windows are not individually assembled on the corresponding image sensor, but instead, the large-sized cover plate 400 is assembled on the housing bar 300 to simultaneously seal all the holes 311 of the corresponding housing 310 .

In image sensor packaging technology, a window is usually formed from a glass substrate, which acts as an infrared filter. Accordingly, the cover plate 400 may be formed from an IR filter glass substrate with dimensions covering substantially all of the substrate 100 shown in FIG. 1A .

As described above, the housing bars 300 are aligned and mounted on the substrate 100 such that the housings 310 can be aligned with the corresponding image sensors 200 arranged on the substrate 100 . The cover plate 400 is attached on the housing bar 300 to seal all holes 311 of the corresponding housing 310 . That is, the upper surface 303 of the housing bar 300 (refer to FIG. 2A ) contacts the cover plate 400 , while the lower surface 304 of the housing bar 300 contacts the substrate 100 . This can be better understood with reference to Figures 4A and 4B.

4A and 4B illustrate a process for assembling a housing bar and cover plate onto a substrate on which a plurality of image sensors are arrayed, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The substrate 100, the housing strip 300 and the cover plate 400 are adhered to each other by a suitable method, such as an adhesive. For example, as shown in FIG. 4B , a first adhesive layer 510 is applied to the lower surface 304 of the housing strip 300 (see FIG. 2A ) and then adhered to the substrate 100 . Since the lower surface 304 corresponds to the exposed portion of the substrate 100 defined in the middle of the image sensor 200, the first adhesive layer 510 formed on the lower surface 304 adheres to the exposed portion of the substrate 100, thereby providing a seal.

The first adhesive layer 510 can be made of epoxy resin. Preferably, the epoxy resin is in the B-stage rather than the A-stage, the B-stage being a gel and the A-stage being a liquid. Typically, as is well known, the epoxy is in the B-stage and not in the A-stage. The curing process of temperature epoxy resin is converted from stage A to stage B. Similarly, the epoxy resin is further transformed from stage B to stage C through the curing process of appropriate temperature, and stage C is a solid.

By forming the first adhesive layer 510 with a B-staged epoxy, handling of the housing strip 300 is made easier. This is the opposite of what would be the case with an A-staged epoxy. When the housing strip 300 is attached to the substrate 100 through the first adhesive layer 510 made of semi-solid epoxy resin, a temperature curing process is performed for the first adhesive layer 510, whereby the first adhesive is cured. The mixture layer 510 and firmly attach the shell strip 300 to the substrate 100 .

A second adhesive layer 520 (refer to FIG. 4B ) is applied to the upper surface of the housing bar 300 and the cover plate 400 is pasted to the second adhesive layer 520 . The second adhesive layer 520 is also made of B-staged epoxy. After the cover plate 400 is attached to the second adhesive layer 520 , a temperature curing process is performed to cure the second adhesive layer 520 . Those skilled in the art will understand that, in addition to two different temperature curing processes, only one temperature curing may be performed after the substrate 100 and the cover plate 400 are attached to the first and second adhesive layers 510 and 520, respectively. process.

At this time, the temperature curing process may include a vacuuming process and a heat pressing process. If air or gas is present in the cavity 312, the image sensor package may rupture due to expansion of the air or gas during heat pressing. In order to prevent this, an evacuation process is performed to evacuate air or gas in the cavity of the housing 310 before performing the heat press process. As described above, the image sensor 200 is completely enclosed by the assembly of the substrate 100 , housing bar 300 and cover plate 400 .

5A and 5B illustrate a two-step process for separating image sensor packages from each other according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Those skilled in the art will understand that the image sensor package assembly 600 of the substrate, housing bar and cover plate has been fabricated. However, in order to utilize a single image sensor package in a useful manner, it is then cut, sawed, scribed, broken, or programmed to dispense individual image sensors. As known, the cutting process may be a step cutting process in which multiple cutting processes are performed, or a single cutting process in which only one cutting process is performed.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5A , the first blade 610 may be used to cut the cover plate 400 so that the windows 401 may be separated from each other. The first blade 610 removes the portion of the cover plate 400 defined between the windows 401 so that the gap between the windows 401 can be wider. As a result, as shown, a portion of the housing strip 300 attached to the cover plate 400 is exposed.

As shown in FIG. 5B , the second blade 620 is then used to cut the middle portion of each exposed portion of the shell strip 300 to separate the shells 310 from each other. A gap between the windows 401 formed by the first cutting process using the first blade 610 is wider than a gap formed by the second blade 620 so that a part of the upper surface of the separated case 310 is exposed. That is, the cutting width of the first blade 610 is greater than that of the second blade 620 , so a step can be formed between the window 401 and the housing 310 supporting the window 401 . This step can be used as an alignment key if a sleeve and/or lens set is mounted on window 401 . The features of the lens group and sleeve will be described in detail below.

As described above, the image sensor packages on the assembly 600 are separated from each other through the above-mentioned cutting process or another suitable singulation process. In addition, since the dicing process is performed on the entire substrate 100 to produce a plurality of discrete image sensor packages, processing efficiency is improved, thereby reducing costs.

According to the present embodiment, the cutting of the cover plate 400 and the cutting of the exposed portion of the housing bar 300 and the substrate 100 are performed such that the cut surface of the cover plate 400 can be closer to the cut surface of the exposed portion of the housing bar 300 and the substrate 100. inside. Furthermore, the cutting of the cover plate 400 can be performed in such a way that the separate cover plate or window 401 can cover the hole 311 when the separate cover plate 401 is arranged on the housing strip 300 . Split cover 401 may be smaller than split housing 310 but larger than hole 311 .

6A and 6B illustrate an assembled image sensor package according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The image sensor package separated from the assembly 600 includes a substrate 100 as a chip carrier, an image sensor 200 disposed on the substrate 100, a case 310 disposed on the substrate 100 to snap the peripheral edge of the image sensor 200, and a seal of the case 310. Window 401 of hole 311 .

The assembly method of the image sensor package described with reference to FIGS. 1A to 5B can be easily and simply applied to the two-chip package shown in FIG. 6B and the single-chip package shown in FIG. 6A .

As shown in FIG. 6B, the two-chip package differs from the single-chip package in that two chips 200 and 210 are stacked on top of each other.

For example, a digital signal processor 210 is mounted on the substrate 100 and forms the bonding wire 104 . The image sensor 200 is stacked on the digital signal processor 210 using a die adhesive layer 250 . Then, as described and illustrated, the housing strip 300 and cover plate 400 are assembled, and the layers are cut and dispensed to provide the discrete, two-chip package shown in FIG. 6B.

Those skilled in the art will understand that the image sensor package 601 or 602 can be electrically connected to the PCB or FPCB through the connection terminal 105 . Applications of the image sensor package of the present invention include various imaging applications such as barcode readers, scanners, cameras, and the like. Importantly, the image sensor package of the present invention is of higher quality and lower cost than conventional image sensor packages.

The above-mentioned assembly method of the image sensor package can also be used to manufacture the image sensor package in which the lens group is aligned on the infrared filter window.

7A and 7B illustrate a two-step process for assembling a lens group onto a discrete image sensor package according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 6A , 7A, and 7B collectively, a sleeve 810 is mounted on the image sensor package 601 shown in FIG. 6A . Sleeve 810 is affixed to exposed upper surface 303 of housing 310 by an adhesive layer (not shown). Alternatively, the sleeve 810 may be attached to the window 401 by an adhesive layer, which may also be attached to the exposed upper surface 303 and the window 401 at the same time. The adhesive layer may be made of a suitable adhesive such as an epoxy-based material capable of being hardened by light such as ultraviolet (UV) light. As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B , the package shown in FIG. 6A may also be equipped with a step formed between the upper surface 303 of the housing 310 and the window 401 . The step can be used as an alignment pin when aligning the sleeve 810 over the window 401 .

The sleeve 810 has a hole 811 aligned with the active surface 201 of the corresponding image sensor 200 . The sleeve 810 may be made of plastic through an injection molding process. In this way, although the sleeve tube 810 is assembled on the image sensor package 601, as shown in FIGS. superior.

Next, the lens group 700 is assembled into the hole 811 of the sleeve 810 . Lens assembly 700 includes one or more lenses 710 and 715 and one or more spacers 730 and 735 disposed between lenses 710 and 715 and/or between lens 710 and window 401 . In other words, the first lens 710 is aligned on the first spacer 730 , the second spacer 735 is aligned on the first lens 710 , and the second lens 715 is aligned on the second spacer 735 . Lens inlet piece 737 is aligned over second lens 715 .

Such a lens group 700 is smoothly and slidably inserted into the hole 811 of the sleeve 810. The outer diameters of all elements constituting the lens group 700 are designed to match the inner diameter of the hole 811 of the sleeve 810. Since the sleeve 810 has a smooth The inner wall of the lens group 700 can slide smoothly into the sleeve tube 810. Inserting the lens part 700 into the hole 811 of the sleeve tube 810 can be achieved by a vacuum device. Because the lens group of the present invention is inserted into the sleeve tube of the present invention There is no threading or interference fit or torsion or other friction in the hole, so the insertion process can be performed without any free particles or other optical obstructions that plague prior art image sensors.

The components of lens group 700 may be inserted into sleeve 810 one by one. Alternatively, lens assembly 700 may be pre-assembled, its components bonded to each other with adhesive, and then the entire unitary assembly may be inserted into sleeve 810 at once.

Spacers 730 and 735 maintain a gap between active surface 201 and lenses 710 and 715 according to a preset focal length. In other words, the thickness of the first spacer 730 is set to maintain a first predetermined gap between the first lens 710 and the effective surface 201 . As is well known, the first predetermined gap is set with reference to the desired focal length.

Since the inner wall of the sleeve 810 is formed smoothly, relative positions between the spacers 730 and 735 and the lenses 710 and 715 may be uniformly maintained in the sleeve 810 .

When the height of the housing 310 , the height of the active surface 201 of the image sensor 200 , and the thickness of the window 401 are fixed, the focal length basically depends only on the thickness of the first spacer 730 . Therefore, the back focal length (ie, the length between the window 401 and the active surface 201 ) is fixed, and the focal point is simply and directly adjusted by the thickness of the first spacer 730 . When the thickness of the first spacer 730 is uniformly maintained at a given desired focal length, the height of the first lens 710 on the effective surface 201 can be uniformly maintained because the first spacer 730 is aligned on the window 401 .

As a result, even when the sleeve 810 and the lens group 700 are assembled on the image sensor package 601, the distance between the active surface 201 and the lenses 710 and 715 can be uniformly maintained to achieve a desired focal length. This means that any additional focus adjustment process required by prior art image sensors can be omitted during assembly, thereby further simplifying the assembly process.

A lens inlet piece 737 is provided to prevent movement of the lens assembly 700 inserted into the sleeve 810, and is preferably made of ink carbon black or metal. To this end, after inserting the lens portion 700 into the sleeve 810, the lens inlet piece 737 is bonded to the sleeve 810, preferably by adhesive. Since the sleeve 810 is formed in a right cylindrical shape, the lens inlet 737 may be formed in a ring shape corresponding to the cylindrical sleeve 810 . In this way, the lens inlet piece 737 also acts as a shield, preventing light from entering through the edge of the second lens 715 . Those skilled in the art will appreciate that lens inlet piece 737 effectively acts as a fixed-opening iris for the camera.

The image sensor package 601 shown in FIG. 7B is realized by inserting the lens group 700 into the sleeve 810 and bonding the lens group 700 to the sleeve 810 with an adhesive.

As described above, sleeves 810 may be individually assembled on discrete image sensor packages 601 as shown in FIG. 7A . Alternatively, a sleeve strip with a plurality of sleeves 810 attached thereon may be assembled on the cover plate 400 so that the sleeves 810 may be attached to the window 401 and/or the housing 310 . In this case, the sleeve strips by injection molding process should be pre-prepared.

FIG. 8 illustrates a ferrule strip for an image sensor package according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The bushing strip 800 includes a plurality of periodic and orthogonal arrays of bushings 810 shown in FIG. 7A connected to each other. Such a casing strip 800 may be made by an injection molding process. As is well known, the sleeve strip 800 is preferably made of a plastic material suitable for injection molding processes, such as polycarbonate and polyphenylene sulfide. The sleeve strip 800 is formed such that the hole 811 of the sleeve 810 is aligned with the hole 311 of the housing 310 of the housing strip 300 shown in FIG. 2A . Likewise, as shown in FIG. 7B , the lower end of the casing 810 is provided with a recess, in which a window 401 with a width slightly smaller than that of the housing 310 is installed.

FIG. 9 illustrates a process for preparing an image sensor package assembly on which a sleeve strip will be assembled, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First prepare the assembly 600 of the substrate 100 (refer to FIGS. 5A and 5B ), the housing bar 300 and the cover plate 400, wherein the image sensor 200 is arranged on the assembly 600. Then, the cover plate 400 is cut into a plurality of corresponding image sensors 200 For example, a portion of the cover plate 400 defined between the image sensors 200 is removed by sawing or other suitable operation using the first blade 610, thereby exposing a portion of the upper surface 303 of the housing bar 300.

The steps between the exposed upper surface 303 of the housing strip 300 and the split window 401 act as alignment pins for aligning the sleeve 810 on the active surface 201 of the image sensor 200 . In other words, the casing strip 800 is aligned on the assembly 600 where the windows 401 have been spaced apart.

FIG. 10 illustrates a process for assembling a sleeve strip onto an image sensor package assembly in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

The lower surface of the casing strip 800 is aligned and affixed to the exposed upper surface 303 of the casing strip 300 from which the windows 401 have been separated. At this time, the bushing strip 800 is attached to the casing strip 300 with an adhesive layer, which may be made of ultraviolet-curable thermosetting resin or epoxy resin, for example.

11 illustrates a process for separating image sensor packages each having a sleeve from a sleeve strip, according to an embodiment of the invention.

Portions of the sleeve strip 800 defined between the sleeves 810 are cut with the second blade 620 during which the substrate 100 is also cut into multiple parts, thereby separating the sleeve-equipped image sensor packages from each other.

On the other hand, although not shown, according to an aspect of the present invention, the cutting of the casing strip 800 can be performed such that the casing strip 300 and the substrate 100 disposed below the casing strip 800 can be cut in a single cutting process. Cutting so that the cut surfaces of the casing strip 800, the casing strip 300 and the substrate 100 may lie on the same plane. Similarly, although also not shown, the cutting of the cover plate 400 and the cutting of the exposed portion of the housing strip 300 and the substrate 100 can be performed such that the cut surface of the cover plate 400 can be aligned with the exposed portion of the housing strip 300 and the substrate 100. The cutting surfaces of 100 lie on the same plane.

FIG. 12 illustrates an image sensor package with a sleeve according to an embodiment of the invention.

As shown with reference to FIG. 11 , the image sensor packages 601 each having a sleeve 810 are separated from each other. The lens group 700 is assembled on the separate image sensor package 601 through the process described above with reference to FIG. 7A , thereby completing the image sensor package shown in FIG. 7B .

When the sleeve bar 800 is used as described above, since a plurality of image sensor packages each having the sleeve 810 are assembled at the same time, productivity can be increased and tolerance between image sensor packages can be significantly improved.

13 to 16 illustrate a process for assembling separate transparent cover panels to a housing strip assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 13 , as described with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B , a plurality of image sensors 1200 are bonded and arranged on a substrate 1100 such that the active surfaces of the image sensors 1200 face upward. In addition, as described with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B , a plurality of housings 1310 each having a hole 1311 are connected to each other to define the housing bar assembly 1300 .

The housing strip assembly 1300 is adhered to the substrate 1100 as described with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B . As described with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B , as shown in FIG. 14 , a plurality of discrete transparent covers 1401 are arranged and pasted within corresponding holes 1311 .

As shown in FIG. 14, a support protrusion 1315 may be formed on the inner periphery of each hole 1311, on which a corresponding transparent cover 1401 is adhered.

Referring to FIG. 15 , as described with reference to FIG. 5B , the housing 1310 on which the corresponding transparent cover plate 1401 is assembled is separated by using the third blade 630 , thereby completing the fabrication of a plurality of individual image sensor packages 605 .

Referring to FIG. 16, as described with reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B, a sleeve 810 is assembled on each image sensor package 605, and the lens group 700 is assembled within the hole 811 of the sleeve 810. As a result, a lens assembly with the lens group 700 can be formed. Image sensor package 605.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an image sensor package such as an air cavity type ceramic leaded chip carrier can be miniaturized, and yield can be improved.

In a typical CCD, since the ceramic package has steps, there are limitations in reducing its size and cost. Also, the process is complicated because the ceramic package is handled piece by piece. In addition, particles may be generated in the sleeve part, thus affecting the image quality, and lens focus must be adjusted through additional process steps. The present invention solves these problems specific to prior art devices.

According to another aspect of the invention, since the lens is assembled into the ferrule by a smooth, frictionless slide, the generation of free particles or other contaminants is prevented.

Furthermore, since the lens assembly is simply inserted into the sleeve, the spacer of the lens assembly is set by reference to the window, i.e. the given back focal length for which the IR filter is fixed, there is no generation of particles due to screw threads or other press fits, and An additional focus adjustment step can be omitted.

Since the cover plate with a plurality of infrared filter windows is assembled on the housing bar, compared with the case of assembling the infrared filter windows on the housing one by one, the processing efficiency can be improved.

A series of processes for forming an image sensor package is completed through a multi-strip assembly. In other words, after the components are assembled with each other, the individual image sensor packages are separated from each other by sawing, or cutting, or scribe breaking, or programmed singulation process. Therefore, mass production of image sensor packages is possible.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the invention may be made in the form of and various changes in details.

This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2004-0042501 filed on Jun. 10, 2004 and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2005-0037018 filed on May 3, 2005 at the Korean Intellectual Property Office , the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Claims (19)

1. An assembly method for image sensor packaging, comprising: providing a substrate on which a plurality of image sensors are mounted; attaching to the substrate a housing strip comprising a plurality of housings arranged to correspond to an arrangement of a plurality of image sensors on the substrate, each of the plurality of housings comprising holes and cavities, the aperture corresponds to an active surface of a respective one of the plurality of image sensors, the cavity for at least partially receiving therein a respective one of the plurality of image sensors; affixing a transparent cover to seal the plurality of housing apertures on the housing strip; sequentially cutting the attached transparent cover, the housing strip and the substrate to separate the image sensor packages from each other; assembling a sleeve on the separate image sensor package, the sleeve having a sleeve aperture corresponding to the aperture of the housing; inserting a lens set into the sleeve; and sealing the entry region of the sleeve to secure the lens assembly within the sleeve, Where separate the image sensor package includes: cutting a first portion of the transparent cover with a first blade, dividing the transparent cover into a plurality of windows, each window sealing a corresponding one of the corresponding holes of the housing and exposing the first portion of the housing strip; and The first portion of the shell strip and the substrate therebelow are cut with a second blade having an effective cutting width narrower than the first blade. 2. The method for assembling the image sensor package according to claim 1, wherein the attaching of the transparent cover comprises: depositing a gel-type adhesive on the interface between the substrate and the transparent cover; and The gel-type adhesive is hardened by heat pressing the substrate and transparent cover against the shell strip. 3. The assembling method of an image sensor package according to claim 2, further comprising performing a vacuuming process during hardening of the gel type adhesive. 4. The method of assembling an image sensor package as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sleeve is formed in a cylindrical shape having a smooth right-cylindrical inner surface and is vertically oriented with respect to a horizontal surface of said transparent cover plate . 5. The assembly method of the image sensor package as claimed in claim 1, wherein inserting the lens group comprises: providing a lens to be inserted into the cannula; aligning a spacer between the lens and the transparent cover; aligning an aperture on said lens; inserting the lens, spacer and aperture into the sleeve; and The aperture is bonded to the upper edge surface of the sleeve using a first adhesive. 6. The assembling method of an image sensor package as claimed in claim 5, further comprising adhering the spacer, the lens, and the aperture to each other using a second adhesive. 7. The assembly method of the image sensor package as claimed in claim 5, wherein inserting the lens group further comprises: aligning a second spacer over the lens; and A second lens is aligned on the second spacer. 8. A method of assembling an image sensor package, comprising: providing a substrate on which a plurality of image sensors are mounted; providing a housing strip having a plurality of housings each having an aperture corresponding to an active surface of a respective image sensor; attaching the shell strip and the transparent cover on the substrate; sequentially cutting the attached transparent cover, the housing strip and the substrate to separate the image sensor packages from each other; assembling a sleeve on the separate image sensor package, the sleeve having an aperture corresponding to an aperture of a respective one of the plurality of housings; and inserting and sticking the lens group in the hole of the sleeve, Where separate said image sensor packages include: cutting a first portion of the transparent cover with a first blade, dividing the transparent cover into a plurality of windows, each window sealing a corresponding one of the corresponding holes of the housing and exposing the first portion of the housing strip; and The first portion of the shell strip and the substrate therebelow are cut with a second blade having an effective cutting width narrower than the first blade. 9. A method of assembling an image sensor package, comprising: mounting multiple image sensors on a substrate; Affixing to the substrate a housing strip having a plurality of housings arranged corresponding to the arrangement of the plurality of image sensors, each of the plurality of housings having holes and cavities, the holes corresponding to on an active surface of a respective one of the plurality of image sensors, the cavity for at least partially receiving therein a respective one of the plurality of image sensors; affixing a transparent cover to seal the plurality of housing apertures on the housing strip; cutting the first portion of the transparent cover plate with a first blade, dividing the transparent cover plate into a plurality of windows sealing the holes of the corresponding shells, so as to expose the first portion of the shell strip; attaching a sleeve strip to the exposed first portion of the housing strip, the sleeve strip comprising a plurality of sleeves, each of the plurality of sleeves connected to at least one other; and The plurality of image sensor packages are separated from each other by cutting through the sleeve strip and the first portion of the substrate with a second blade having an effective cutting width narrower than the first blade. 10. The method of assembling an image sensor package as claimed in claim 9, wherein the sleeve strip is formed by an injection molding process. 11. The method of assembling an image sensor package as claimed in claim 9, wherein the attaching of the sleeve strip comprises coating an adhesive between the sleeve strip and the housing strip or between the sleeve strip and the window. agent. 12. The assembly method of image sensor package as claimed in claim 9, it further comprises: inserting a lens group into the bore of each ferrule, the lens group inserted in optical alignment with a corresponding one of the plurality of image sensors; and The entrance to each ferrule is sealed to secure the respective lens group. 13. The method for assembling an image sensor package as claimed in claim 9, wherein a part of the cover plate is cut off, so that when the separate transparent cover plate is arranged on the housing bar, the separate transparent cover plate can Cover the hole. 14. A method of assembling an image sensor package, comprising: providing a substrate on which a plurality of image sensors are mounted; Attaching to the substrate a housing strip having a plurality of housings arranged corresponding to the arrangement of the plurality of image sensors, each of the plurality of housings having a hole and a cavity, the holes corresponding to an active surface of a respective one of the plurality of image sensors, the cavity for at least partially receiving therein a respective one of the plurality of image sensors; affixing a transparent cover to seal the plurality of housing apertures on the housing strip; attaching a sleeve strip on the transparent cover, the sleeve strip has a plurality of sleeves connected to each other; and performing a cutting process along a wide area in the middle of the sleeve strip to separate the plurality of image sensor packages from each other, Wherein the cover plate is cut before the sleeve strip is attached to the transparent cover plate, and the cutting of the cover plate and the cutting of the exposed portion of the shell strip and the substrate are performed such that the cutting of the cover plate The surface can be further inward than the exposed portion of the shell strip and the cut surface of the substrate. 15. The method of assembling an image sensor package as claimed in claim 14, wherein the sleeve strip is formed by an injection molding process. 16. The assembling method of the image sensor package as claimed in claim 14, wherein the cutting of the cover plate is performed such that when the separated parts obtained by cutting the cover plate are arranged on the housing bar, the separated parts The hole can be covered. 17. The method of assembling an image sensor package as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the cutting of the sleeve strip is performed such that the housing strip and the substrate disposed below the sleeve strip can be cut in a single process, thereby The cut surfaces of the sleeve strip, casing strip and substrate can lie on the same plane. 18. The assembling method of an image sensor package as claimed in claim 14, wherein the divided transparent cover is smaller than the divided case but larger than the hole. 19. A method of assembling an image sensor package, comprising: providing a substrate on which a plurality of image sensors are mounted; mounting a housing strip on the substrate, the housing strip having a plurality of housings each having an aperture corresponding to an active surface of a respective one of the plurality of image sensors; attaching the shell strip and the transparent cover on the substrate; A sleeve strip is installed on the transparent cover, the sleeve strip includes a plurality of sleeves aligned with the holes of the corresponding housing, and the sleeves are used to receive the corresponding lens groups therein; separating the plurality of image sensor packages from one another; and inserting the plurality of lens groups into the plurality of sleeves of the separate plurality of image sensors, Wherein the cover plate is cut before the sleeve strip is mounted on the transparent cover plate, and the cutting of the cover plate and the cutting of the exposed portion of the shell strip and the substrate are performed such that the cut surface of the cover plate Can be further inward than the exposed portion of the shell strip and the cut surface of the substrate.

Images