CN219904250U - Front view camera and front windshield cleaning system applied to vehicle and vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

The disclosure provides a front view camera and a front windshield cleaning system applied to a vehicle, and the vehicle, relates to the technical field of vehicles, and particularly relates to the technical field of automatic driving vehicles. The front view camera includes: a lens; the lens hood is used for enclosing with the inner wall of the front windshield of the vehicle to form a cavity, and comprises a side wall and a first bottom wall, wherein the first bottom wall is provided with a first ventilation part, and the lens is arranged on the side wall and faces the front windshield; the bottom shell is arranged below the first bottom wall and comprises a second bottom wall which is arranged at intervals with the first bottom wall, the second bottom wall is provided with a second ventilation part, and the orthographic projection of the first ventilation part on the second bottom wall is not overlapped with the second ventilation part; and the fan is arranged between the first bottom wall and the second bottom wall, and when the fan is started, air flow sequentially passes through the second ventilation part and the first ventilation part and enters the cavity. According to the technical scheme, the frosting and fogging phenomena of the front area of the lens of the front-view camera can be improved, so that the shooting quality of the front-view camera is improved.

Description

Front view camera and front windshield cleaning system applied to vehicle and vehicle

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to the technical field of vehicles, in particular to the technical field of automatic driving vehicles, and specifically relates to a front-view camera and a front windshield cleaning system applied to a vehicle, and the vehicle.

Background

The automatic driving vehicle can realize the driving of the vehicle by means of cooperation of artificial intelligence, visual calculation, radar, a monitoring device, a global positioning system and the like without actually controlling the vehicle on site by people, and is one of the main development directions of future intelligent traffic.

How to improve the frosting and fogging phenomena of the front area of the lens of the front-view camera of the vehicle, thereby improving the shooting quality of the front-view camera and the driving safety of the vehicle is a technical problem to be solved urgently at present.

The approaches described in this section are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the technical means described in this section are prior art only as they were included in this section. Similarly, the problems mentioned in this section should not be considered as having been recognized in any prior art unless otherwise indicated.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure provides a front view camera and a front windshield cleaning system applied to a vehicle, and a vehicle.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a front view camera applied to a vehicle, the front view camera including: a lens; the lens hood is used for enclosing with the inner wall of the front windshield of the vehicle to form a cavity, and comprises a side wall and a first bottom wall, wherein the first bottom wall is provided with a first ventilation part, and the lens is arranged on the side wall and faces the front windshield; the bottom shell is arranged below the first bottom wall and comprises a second bottom wall which is arranged at intervals with the first bottom wall, the second bottom wall is provided with a second ventilation part, and the orthographic projection of the first ventilation part on the second bottom wall is not overlapped with the second ventilation part; and the fan is arranged between the first bottom wall and the second bottom wall, and when the fan is started, air flow sequentially passes through the second ventilation part and the first ventilation part and enters the cavity.

In some embodiments, the second ventilation portion is closer to the front windshield than the first ventilation portion.

In some embodiments, the first ventilation portion is a vent or a ventilation grille and the second ventilation portion is a vent or a ventilation grille.

In some embodiments, the front-view camera further comprises: the first ventilation shading layer is attached to the first ventilation part, and/or the second ventilation shading layer is attached to the second ventilation part.

In some embodiments, the lens cover and the bottom shell are each made of a black shading material.

In some embodiments, the bottom shell is fixedly connected to a body of the vehicle; alternatively, the bottom case and the lens cover are detachably connected.

In some embodiments, the bottom shell and the lens cover are clamped and/or fixedly connected by a fastener.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a front windshield cleaning system applied to a vehicle, including: a front-view camera according to the foregoing aspect; the air conditioning system comprises a front windshield defrosting mode and a front windshield defogging mode in the working mode; an electric wiper; and a controller connected with the fan of the front view camera, the air conditioning system and the electric wiper and configured to control the working states of the fan, the air conditioning system and the electric wiper based on the photographed image of the front view camera.

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to determine a cleanliness of the front windshield based on a captured image of the front-view camera, and

under the condition that the cleanliness of the front windshield is zero, controlling the fan, the air conditioning system and the electric windscreen wiper to be closed; under the condition that the cleanliness of the front windshield is primary, controlling the start of a fan, the closing of an air conditioning system and the closing of an electric windscreen wiper; under the condition that the cleanliness of the front windshield is two-stage, controlling the fan to be started, the air conditioning system to be in a defogging mode and the electric windscreen wiper to be closed; under the condition that the cleanliness of the front windshield is three-level, controlling the start of a fan, the air conditioning system to be in a defrosting mode and the electric windscreen wiper to be closed; and controlling the start of the fan, the defrosting mode of the air conditioning system and the start of the electric windscreen wiper under the condition that the cleanliness of the front windscreen is four-stage.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a vehicle including: the front view camera or the front windshield cleaning system according to the foregoing aspect is applied to a vehicle.

In some embodiments, the vehicle comprises an autonomous vehicle.

According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the blooming and fogging phenomenon of the front area of the lens of the front view camera may be improved, thereby improving the photographing quality of the front view camera and improving the safety of vehicle driving.

It should be understood that the description in this section is not intended to identify key or critical features of the embodiments of the disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following specification.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together with the description, serve to explain exemplary implementations of the embodiments. The illustrated embodiments are for exemplary purposes only and do not limit the scope of the claims. Throughout the drawings, identical reference numerals designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.

Fig. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a front view camera mounted to a front windshield according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a front view camera mounted to a front windshield according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a front view camera mounted to a front windshield according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

fig. 4 is a block diagram of a front windshield cleaning system for a vehicle according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Reference numerals:

100-front view camera

110-lens

120-lens cover

201-cavity

200-front windshield

21-sidewall

22-first bottom wall

220-first ventilation part

130-bottom case

32-a second bottom wall

320-second ventilation part

140-fan

150-first breathable light-shielding layer

160-second breathable light-shielding layer

300-vehicle body

800-front windshield cleaning system

400-air conditioning system

500-electric wiper

600-controller

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, only certain exemplary embodiments are briefly described. As will be recognized by those of skill in the pertinent art, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

In order to enable an autonomous vehicle to quickly recognize the surrounding environment, surrounding environment information needs to be acquired by using sensing equipment such as a radar, a camera and the like, so that actions such as driving and parking on a road can be safely and efficiently completed. The main function of the front-view camera is to acquire the front image information. Based on the front image information, the vehicle-mounted computer can analyze the state of the traffic light in front, whether an obstacle or a pedestrian exists in front, and the like. The front view camera is mostly arranged on the inner side of the front windshield and clings to the inner wall of the front windshield.

Mist is well known as a water vapor condensate consisting of small water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere, and frost is a white crystal that condenses upon cooling of water vapor in the air. In the related art, due to rainwater, environmental temperature and humidity changes, etc., a front area of a lens of a front view camera of an autonomous vehicle is easily frosted or fogged, which may seriously affect the photographing effect of the front view camera, thereby reducing the safety of the vehicle driving.

Based on the above, the embodiment of the disclosure provides a front view camera and a front windshield cleaning system applied to a vehicle, and the vehicle, so as to improve the frosting and fogging phenomena of the front region of the lens of the front view camera, thereby improving the shooting quality of the front view camera and improving the driving safety of the vehicle.

As shown in fig. 1, a front view camera 100 applied to a vehicle according to some embodiments of the present disclosure mainly includes: a lens 110, a lens cover 120, a bottom case 130, and a fan 140. The lens cover 120 is used for enclosing with the inner wall of the front windshield 200 of the vehicle to form a cavity 201, the lens cover 120 comprises a side wall 21 and a first bottom wall 22, the first bottom wall 22 is provided with a first ventilation part 220, and the lens 110 is arranged on the side wall 21 and faces the front windshield 200. The bottom case 130 is disposed below the first bottom wall 22, the bottom case 130 includes a second bottom wall 32 spaced from the first bottom wall 22, the second bottom wall 32 is provided with a second ventilation portion 320, and an orthographic projection of the first ventilation portion 220 on the second bottom wall 32 does not overlap with the second ventilation portion 320 (i.e. there is no facing portion between the first ventilation portion 220 and the second ventilation portion 320). The fan 140 is disposed between the first bottom wall 22 and the second bottom wall 32, and when the fan 140 is activated, airflow sequentially passes through the second ventilation portion 320 and the first ventilation portion 220 into the cavity 201.

According to the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure, since the second ventilation part 320 and the first ventilation part 220 have no facing portions, ambient light is hardly injected into the cavity 201 through the second ventilation part 320 and the first ventilation part 220, so that the lens 110 is not substantially disturbed to normally acquire a front image. When the fan 140 is started, the air flow sequentially passes through the second ventilation part 320 and the first ventilation part 220 and enters the cavity 201, so that the air exchange between the inside and outside of the front view camera 100 can be utilized to improve the frosting and the fogging of the front area of the lens 110, further improve the shooting quality of the front view camera 100 and improve the safety of the vehicle running.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, a direction closer to the vehicle head is defined as "front", and a direction farther from the vehicle head is defined as "rear" or "back". For example, the front windshield 200 is closer to the vehicle head than the side windshield and the rear windshield of the vehicle.

The number of lenses 110 included in the front view camera 100 is not limited, and may be designed as a single lens front view camera or a multi-lens front view camera according to photographing needs, which is not particularly limited in the present disclosure.

Fig. 1 to 3 are schematic cross-sectional structures of a front view camera 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure mounted on a front windshield 200, and thus, a lens cover 120 is only shown in the cross-sectional structures. In the disclosed embodiment, the lens cover 120 may define a cavity 201 in front of the lens 110 with the inner wall of the front windshield 200 by its structural design. For example, the overall shape of the lens cover 120 may be in a dustpan shape, which not only can be adapted to the shape of the front windshield 200, but also is advantageous in reducing the thickness dimension of the front view camera 100, making its installation in a vehicle more attractive and saving space.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the lens cover 120 and the bottom case 130 are made of black light shielding materials, so that the materials of the lens cover 120 and the bottom case 130 themselves have shielding effects on stray light or light of unnecessary viewing angles, thereby having less interference with the acquisition of front images by the lens 110. In some embodiments, the lens cover 120 may be mounted on the inner wall of the front windshield 200 by a bracket (not shown), and in other embodiments, the lens cover 120 may be directly adhered to the inner wall of the front windshield 200, which is not specifically limited in the present disclosure.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first ventilation part 220 and the second ventilation part 320 are each designed as a mesh-shaped ventilation grid. In other embodiments of the present disclosure, the first ventilation part 220 and the second ventilation part 320 may also be designed as ventilation holes. The specific structural forms of the first ventilation part 220 and the second ventilation part 320 are not limited in this disclosure.

As shown in fig. 2, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the front view camera 100 further includes a first breathable light-shielding layer 150 that is attached to the first ventilation portion 220, and/or a second breathable light-shielding layer 160 that is attached to the second ventilation portion 320.

The first and second ventilation light-shielding layers 150 and 160 may be a light-shielding sponge or a light-shielding cloth, and may be selectively provided as needed. The first ventilation and light shielding layer 150 may be disposed on one of the side surfaces of the first bottom wall 22 (e.g., a side surface near the cavity 201 or a side surface near the fan 140), and the second ventilation and light shielding layer 160 may be disposed on one of the side surfaces of the second bottom wall 32 (e.g., a side surface near the first bottom wall 22 and a side surface far from the first bottom wall 22). The first and second ventilation shielding layers 150 and 160 may reduce stray light or light of an unnecessary viewing angle from the ventilation part into the interior of the front view camera 100, thereby further reducing interference with the acquisition of a front image by the lens 110.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the second ventilation part 320 is closer to the front windshield 200 than the first ventilation part 220. When the air conditioning system of the vehicle is in the defrosting mode or the defogging mode, the air flow basically flows against the inner wall of the front windshield 200, and the second ventilation part 320 is arranged close to the front windshield 200, so that the air flow can more smoothly enter the inside of the front view camera 100, thereby being beneficial to quickly eliminating frost or fog in the front area of the lens 110, improving the efficiency of removing frost and fog, and being beneficial to saving energy consumption.

The bottom case 130 may include side walls for supporting the first bottom wall 22 and the second bottom wall 32 at intervals, in addition to the second bottom wall 32. As shown in fig. 1 and 2, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the bottom shell 130 is fixedly coupled to a body 300 (e.g., an interior trim structure) of a vehicle.

As shown in fig. 3, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the bottom case 130 may also be detachably connected to the lens cover 120. In this way, the bottom chassis 130 and the lens cover 120 may be assembled as one body and then mounted on the inner side of the front windshield 200, so that the mounting of the front view camera 100 is more convenient.

The detachable connection mode of the bottom case 130 and the lens cover 120 is not limited in this disclosure, for example, the two may be clamped and/or fixedly connected by a fastener (such as a screw or a bolt assembly, etc.), so that cleaning and maintenance on the fan 140 and other components are facilitated.

As shown in fig. 4, the embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a front windshield cleaning system 800 applied to a vehicle, including the front view camera 100, the air conditioning system 400, and the electric wiper 500 of any of the foregoing embodiments. The operation modes of the air conditioning system 400 include a front windshield defrost mode and a front windshield defogging mode. The controller 600 is connected to the fan 140 of the front view camera 100, the air conditioning system 400, and the electric wiper 500, and is configured to control the operation states of the fan 140, the air conditioning system 400, and the electric wiper 500 based on the photographed image of the front view camera 100.

The identification of frost and/or fog based on a captured image of the front-view camera 100 has been applied in some related arts. For example, the controller 600 performs a sharpness analysis on the photographed image of the front-view camera 100, and obtains the cleaning condition of the front windshield, such as the cleaning level of the front windshield, according to the sharpness and the preset sharpness threshold.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the controller 600 is configured to determine the cleanliness of the front windshield based on the photographed image of the front-view camera 100, and,

in the case where the cleanliness of the front windshield is zero, the control fan 140, the air conditioning system 400, and the electric wiper 500 are all turned off; in the case that the cleanliness of the front windshield is at one stage, the fan 140 is controlled to be turned on, the air conditioning system 400 is turned off, and the electric wiper 500 is turned off; in the case that the cleanliness of the front windshield is two-stage, the fan 140 is controlled to be turned on, the air conditioning system 400 is in a defogging mode, and the electric wiper 500 is turned off; in the case that the cleanliness of the front windshield is three-stage, the fan 140 is controlled to be turned on, the air conditioning system 400 is in a defrost mode, and the electric wiper 500 is turned off; and controlling the fan 140 to be started, the air conditioning system 400 to be in a defrost mode, and the electric wiper 500 to be started in the case that the cleanliness of the front windshield is four-stage.

The lower the cleaning degree grade level of the front windshield is, the better the cleaning degree of the front windshield is, otherwise, the higher the cleaning degree grade level of the front windshield is, the worse the cleaning degree of the front windshield is, and frost and fog cleaning needs to be carried out as soon as possible.

In some embodiments, the controller 600 may also be integrated with the control unit of the air conditioning system 400.

The windshield cleaning system 800 of the above embodiment can automatically start or close one or more of the fan 140, the air conditioning system 400 and the electric wiper 500 based on visual analysis, and can quickly improve the frosting and fogging phenomena of the front area of the lens 110 of the front view camera 100 with a high degree of response time, accuracy and intelligence.

The disclosed embodiments also provide a vehicle including the forward-looking camera 100 of any of the foregoing embodiments applied to a vehicle, or the front windshield cleaning system 800 of any of the foregoing embodiments applied to a vehicle. The design of the front view camera 100 can improve the blooming and fogging phenomenon of the front area of the lens 110, thereby improving the photographing quality of the front view camera 100 and the safety of the vehicle running.

The specific type of vehicle is not limited and may be an autonomous vehicle or a non-autonomous vehicle. Embodiments of the present disclosure are particularly applicable to autonomous vehicles that require the use of computer vision. The types of products of the autopilot vehicle are not limited, and may be, for example, an autopilot bus, an autopilot taxi, an autopilot business car, an autopilot sightseeing car, and the like.

It should be understood that in this specification, terms such as "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", etc., refer to an orientation or positional relationship or dimension based on that shown in the drawings, which are used for convenience of description only, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a particular orientation, be configured and operated in a particular orientation, and thus should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," "third," and the like are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying a relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defining "a first", "a second", or a third "may explicitly or implicitly include one or more such feature. In the description of the present disclosure, the meaning of "a plurality" is two or more, unless explicitly defined otherwise.

In the present disclosure, unless explicitly specified and limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," "secured," and the like are to be construed broadly, and may be, for example, fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally formed; the device can be mechanically connected, electrically connected and communicated; can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and can be communicated with the inside of two elements or the interaction relationship of the two elements. The specific meaning of the terms in this disclosure will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art as the case may be.

In this disclosure, unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, a first feature being "above" or "below" a second feature may include both the first and second features being in direct contact, as well as the first and second features not being in direct contact but being in contact with each other by way of additional features therebetween. Moreover, a first feature being "above," "over" and "on" a second feature includes the first feature being directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or simply indicating that the first feature is higher in level than the second feature. The first feature being "under", "below" and "beneath" the second feature includes the first feature being directly under and obliquely below the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is less level than the second feature.

The specification provides many different embodiments or examples that can be used to implement the present disclosure. It should be understood that these various embodiments or examples are purely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure in any way. Various changes and substitutions will occur to those skilled in the art based on the disclosure of the specification and these are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure should be determined by the following claims.

Claims (11)

1. A front-view camera for use in a vehicle, the front-view camera comprising:

a lens;

the lens hood is used for enclosing with the inner wall of the front windshield of the vehicle to form a cavity, the lens hood comprises a side wall and a first bottom wall, the first bottom wall is provided with a first ventilation part, and the lens is arranged on the side wall and faces the front windshield;

the bottom shell is arranged below the first bottom wall and comprises a second bottom wall which is arranged at intervals with the first bottom wall, the second bottom wall is provided with a second ventilation part, and the orthographic projection of the first ventilation part on the second bottom wall is not overlapped with the second ventilation part; and

the fan is arranged between the first bottom wall and the second bottom wall, and when the fan is started, air flow sequentially passes through the second ventilation part and the first ventilation part and enters the cavity.

2. The front-view camera of claim 1, wherein the camera comprises a lens,

the second ventilation part is closer to the front windshield than the first ventilation part.

3. The front-view camera of claim 1, wherein the camera comprises a lens,

the first ventilation part is a ventilation hole or a ventilation grid, and the second ventilation part is a ventilation hole or a ventilation grid.

4. A front-view camera according to claim 3, characterized in that the front-view camera further comprises:

a first ventilation shading layer attached to the first ventilation part, and/or

And the second ventilation shading layer is attached to the second ventilation part.

5. The front-view camera of claim 1, wherein the camera comprises a lens,

the lens cover and the bottom shell are made of black shading materials.

6. The front view camera according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that,

the bottom shell is fixedly connected with a vehicle body of the vehicle; or alternatively

The bottom shell is detachably connected with the lens hood.

7. The front view camera according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that,

the bottom shell and the lens cover are clamped and/or fixedly connected through a fastener.

8. A front windshield cleaning system for a vehicle, the front windshield cleaning system comprising:

the front-view camera according to any one of claims 1 to 7;

the working modes of the air conditioning system comprise a front windshield defrosting mode and a front windshield defogging mode;

an electric wiper; and

and the controller is connected with the fan, the air conditioning system and the electric windscreen wiper of the front-view camera and is configured to control the working states of the fan, the air conditioning system and the electric windscreen wiper based on the shot images of the front-view camera.

9. The front windshield cleaning system of claim 8, wherein,

the controller is configured to determine cleanliness of the front windshield based on a captured image of the front-view camera, and

controlling the fan, the air conditioning system and the electric windscreen to be closed under the condition that the cleanliness of the front windscreen is zero level;

under the condition that the cleanliness of the front windshield is one level, controlling the fan to be started, the air conditioning system to be closed and the electric windscreen to be closed;

under the condition that the cleanliness of the front windshield is two-stage, controlling the fan to be started, the air conditioning system to be in a defogging mode and the electric windscreen wiper to be closed;

under the condition that the cleanliness of the front windshield is three-level, controlling the fan to be started, the air conditioning system to be in a defrosting mode and the electric windscreen wiper to be closed; and

and under the condition that the cleanliness of the front windshield is four-stage, controlling the fan to start, the air conditioning system to be in a defrosting mode and the electric windscreen wiper to start.

10. A vehicle, characterized by comprising:

a front view camera according to any one of claims 1 to 7 for use in a vehicle; or alternatively

A front windshield cleaning system for a vehicle according to claim 8 or 9.

11. The vehicle of claim 10, wherein the vehicle is further characterized by,

the vehicle includes an autonomous vehicle.