Patent Application
20240181997
The present invention relates to a camera nozzle assembly including an air duct and a fluid spray nozzle for cleaning a lens surface of a camera or a camera sensor.
Exterior cameras are widely used to enhance a driver's situational awareness and to improve safety. In addition to back-up cameras, which are required in the U.S. and Europe for newly manufactured vehicles, front-bumper cameras and side-view cameras allow the driver to see obstacles on a dashboard-mounted display screen. These cameras are typically mounted unobtrusively and are incorporated into existing features where possible to do so.
Exposure to the elements can affect the output of exterior cameras. For example, dust, mud, snow, ice, and salt can collect on the exterior surface of a camera lens and can affect how the driver perceives the exterior environment. The camera lens (typically a wide-angle lens) can be manually cleaned, but the camera lens may become obscured between departure and destination. Accordingly, it is generally desired to provide an automated system to periodically remove foreign matter from the exterior surface of a camera lens. Particularly as newer vehicles require continuous sensing from multiple cameras for semi-autonomous and autonomous operation, it is generally desired to provide a camera cleaning system that is compact and that is visually unobtrusive for ridding the exterior surface of a camera lens of foreign matter.
A camera nozzle assembly for cleaning a camera lens is provided. The camera nozzle assembly includes a bracket mount and a nozzle assembly. The bracket mount includes a camera aperture for the camera lens and can be mounted to a vehicle. The nozzle assembly is joined to the bracket mount and includes a spray nozzle and an air duct. The spray nozzle discharges a cleaning liquid, and the air duct discharges compressed air, each being discharged at a shallow angle relative to a camera lens. The cleaning liquid and the compressed air cooperate to remove foreign matter from the exterior surface of the camera lens, optionally for front-bumper cameras, side-view cameras, back-bumper cameras, and cameras for semi-autonomous and autonomous operation of passenger vehicles, trucks, buses, and commercial vehicles.
In one embodiment, the camera nozzle assembly includes a nozzle assembly joined to a bracket mount. The nozzle assembly includes an upper nozzle body and a lower nozzle body. The upper nozzle body and the lower nozzle body cooperate to define the air duct. The upper nozzle body also includes a fluid spray nozzle for discharging a cleaning liquid onto the camera lens, the fluid spray nozzle being angularly offset from the air duct. The camera or a portion thereof is housed within the bracket mount, which includes a snap fit attachment or a fastener attachment for connection to a variety of interchangeable nozzle assemblies.
In some embodiments, the fluid spray nozzle is laterally offset from the air duct. The air duct directs compressed air along a first transverse axis, and the fluid spray nozzle directs a cleaning liquid along a second transverse axis, the second transverse axis being different from the first transverse axis. In still another embodiment, the fluid spray nozzle is centrally disposed within the air duct. The nozzle assembly can include a pass-through air conduit protruding from left and right sides of the lower nozzle body, and the upper nozzle body can be ultrasonically welded to the lower nozzle body. The nozzle assembly is removably attached to the bracket mount, such that it can be readily replaced with nozzle assemblies having a center orientation, left orientation, and/or right orientation. The nozzle assembly includes an optional heated nozzle outlet and includes an optional inline check valve for the fluid spray nozzle.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the accompanying description of the invention, when viewed in accordance with the accompanying drawings and appended claims.
Before the embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the details of operation or to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention may be implemented in various other embodiments and of being practiced or being carried out in alternative ways not expressly disclosed herein. In addition, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including” and “comprising” and variations thereof is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items and equivalents thereof. Further, enumeration may be used in the description of various embodiments. Unless otherwise expressly stated, the use of enumeration should not be construed as limiting the invention to any specific order or number of components. Nor should the use of enumeration be construed as excluding from the scope of the invention any additional steps or components that might be combined with or into the enumerated steps or components.
As discussed herein, the current embodiments are directed to a camera nozzle assembly for cleaning the exterior surface of a camera lens. The camera nozzle assembly generally includes a bracket mount and a nozzle assembly. The bracket mount provides a housing for a camera and functions to join the nozzle assembly to a vehicle structure. The nozzle assembly includes a spray nozzle and an air duct. The spray nozzle discharges a cleaning liquid, and the air duct discharges compressed air, each being discharged at a shallow angle (e.g., less than 30 degrees) relative to the exterior surface of a camera lens. Each such feature of the camera nozzle assembly is discussed below.
Referring first to
As noted above, the nozzle assembly 120 is supported by the bracket mount 110. The nozzle assembly 120 may be supported by the bracket mount 110 in a variety of ways. As depicted in
The nozzle assembly 120 may be configured to provide an air duct and a spray nozzle to clean a lens surface. The nozzle assembly 120 can include an upper nozzle body 130 joined to the lower nozzle body 140. In one embodiment, the upper nozzle body 130 may be fixedly joined to the lower nozzle body 140. For example, the upper nozzle body 130 may be ultrasonically welded to the lower nozzle body 140. In one embodiment, the upper nozzle body 130 can be removably joined to the lower nozzle body 140. For example, the upper nozzle body 130 may be joined to the lower nozzle body 140 through at least one fastener that may be removed. In one embodiment, the nozzle assembly 120 can have a center orientation, a right orientation, or a left orientation. The lower nozzle body 140 can define a camera aperture 146 to at least partially surround the perimeter of a camera lens or other surface to be cleaned. In one embodiment, the camera aperture 146 may fully surround the perimeter of the surface to be cleaned. References are made throughout the disclosure to a camera lens, but it will be noted that this is intended to refer to any target surface to be cleaned.
As depicted in
The upper nozzle body 130 may include a fluid spray nozzle 160 for discharging a cleaning liquid onto the camera lens. The cleaning liquid can alternately be referred to as a cleaning fluid. As depicted in
In one embodiment, compressed air from the air duct 150 may be used to clean the camera lens. In another embodiment, the cleaning liquid from the fluid spray nozzle 160 may be used to clean the camera lens. In another embodiment, both the air from the air duct 150 and the cleaning liquid from the fluid spray nozzle 160 can be used to clean the camera lens. The air duct 150 directs compressed air along a first transverse axis, and the fluid spray nozzle 160 directs a cleaning liquid along a second transverse axis. The second transverse axis is different from the first transverse axis, such that the air duct 150 and the fluid spray nozzle 160 are angularly offset from each other. For example, the second transverse axis can be angularly offset from the first transverse axis by between 20 and 90 degrees, inclusive, further optionally by between 30 degrees and 60 degrees, inclusive. The first transverse axis and the second transverse axis are oriented toward a geometric center of the camera aperture. When both the air duct 150 and the fluid spray nozzle 160 act to clean the camera lens, the air duct 150 and the fluid spray nozzle 160 may act in concert, sequentially, or a combination of both. In one embodiment, the nozzle assembly 120 can be configured to change the cleaning characteristics including air pressure, cleaning liquid pressure, discharge time, and discharge frequency.
Each of the embodiments described herein may contain some of the same or similar elements except where otherwise denoted. It will be noted that features described with respect to one embodiment can be included in other embodiments.
Referring now to
Referring now to
The upper nozzle body 530 is joined to the lower nozzle body 540. The upper nozzle body 530 may be joined to the lower nozzle body 540 by any suitable means. As depicted, the upper nozzle body 530 is joined to the lower nozzle body 540 via a mating surface 542. In one embodiment, the lower nozzle body 540 is configured to support the upper nozzle body 530. The upper nozzle body 530 can define the air duct 550. The air duct 550 includes an air inlet 552 and an air outlet 554 through which air is discharged over a camera lens.
The upper nozzle body 530 may include a fluid spray nozzle 560. The fluid spray nozzle 560 includes a fluid inlet 562 and a fluid outlet 564 through which cleaning liquid is discharged over the camera lens. As depicted, the fluid spray nozzle 560 is disposed within the air duct 550. Put another way, the fluid spray nozzle 560 is concentric with the air duct 550. In one embodiment, the fluid spray nozzle 560 may be integrated into the air duct 150. The fluid spray nozzle 560 guides cleaning liquid from the fluid inlet 562 to the fluid outlet 564. As depicted, the fluid inlet 562 is disposed lower than the fluid outlet 564.
Referring now to
The above description is that of current embodiments of the invention. Various alterations and changes can be made without departing from the spirit and broader aspects of the invention as defined in the appended claims, which are to be interpreted in accordance with the principles of patent law including the doctrine of equivalents. This disclosure is presented for illustrative purposes and should not be interpreted as an exhaustive description of all embodiments of the invention or to limit the scope of the claims to the specific elements illustrated or described in connection with these embodiments. For example, and without limitation, any individual element(s) of the described invention may be replaced by alternative elements that provide substantially similar functionality or otherwise provide adequate operation. This includes, for example, presently known alternative elements, such as those that might be currently known to one skilled in the art, and alternative elements that may be developed in the future, such as those that one skilled in the art might, upon development, recognize as an alternative. Further, the disclosed embodiments include a plurality of features that are described in concert and that might cooperatively provide a collection of benefits. The present invention is not limited to only those embodiments that include all of these features or that provide all of the stated benefits, except to the extent otherwise expressly set forth in the issued claims. Features of various embodiments may be used in combination with features from other embodiments. Directional terms, such as “vertical,” “horizontal,” “top,” “bottom,” “front,” “rear,” “upper,” “lower,” “inner,” “inwardly,” “outer,” “outwardly,” “forward,” and “rearward” are used to assist in describing the invention based on the orientation of the embodiments shown in the illustrations. The use of directional terms should not be interpreted to limit the invention to any specific orientation(s). Any reference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” or “said,” is not to be construed as limiting the element to the singular.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 63/175,085, filed Apr. 15, 2021, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2022/053546 | 4/14/2022 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63175085 | Apr 2021 | US |
