LENS DRIVE DEVICE AND IMAGING APPARATUS USING THE SAME

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lens drive device that allows a reduction in the thickness of an optical unit and to provide an imaging apparatus that satisfies a demand for a reduction in its thickness. SOLUTION: The lens drive device includes: a plurality of lens holding means that hold a lens structure body and are movable in the direction of an optical axis within a lens barrel; drive devices that are provided for and drive the corresponding lens holding means; lead screws that are rotated by the drive devices and provided for the corresponding lens holding means such that the direction of the optical axis and the axial direction substantially coincide; a moving means that screws with each of the lead screws, thereby moving the corresponding lens holding means in the direction of the optical axis by the rotation of each lead screw. The drive devices that drive the lens holding means are parallelly arranged in the direction of the optical axis. The drive shafts are disposed substantially perpendicular to the axial directions of the corresponding lead screws. The drive shafts and the corresponding lead screw are connected by skew gears. COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT