Google llc (20250097553). Camera Module with Electrostatic Discharge Protection
Camera Module with Electrostatic Discharge Protection
Organization Name
Inventor(s)
Jingyu Huang of Santa Clara CA US
Liang Ching Tseng of Taipei City TW
Tsung-Dar Cheng of Taipei City TW
Alexander P. Wroblewski of San Francisco CA US
Weifeng Pan of Palo Alto CA US
Warwick Ka Kui Wong of Palo Alto CA US
Camera Module with Electrostatic Discharge Protection
This abstract first appeared for US patent application 20250097553 titled 'Camera Module with Electrostatic Discharge Protection
Original Abstract Submitted
the present document describes a camera module with electrostatic discharge (esd) protection. in particular, the camera module includes a lightning rod structure, which guides an esd current to a safe location (e.g., system ground) when a lens retainer of the camera module is hit by an esd spark. due to the impact on camera focus tuning and the risk of audio rub and buzz, the lightning rod structure does not physically touch the lens retainer. as such, a gap separates the lightning rod structure from the lens retainer. when the lens retainer is stressed by an esd spark, the gap is broken down and a conductive path is established to guide the esd current to the safe location through the lightning rod structure. in this way, the esd current flows along a controlled path instead of jumping to arbitrary locations, which protects nearby susceptible circuitry.