JP2013018404A - Washer nozzle for onboard camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a washer nozzle for onboard cameras with enhanced versatility.SOLUTION: The washer nozzle 20 for onboard cameras includes a fixed-side member 21 having an inlet 23a and a passage 23b for guiding washer fluid W introduced from the inlet 23. The washer nozzle 20 for onboard cameras includes a movable nozzle member 22 comprising: a slide part 41 having a communication path 41a leading to a communication path 23b, and provided to slide with respect to the fixed-side member 21 while the paths communicate with each other; and a nozzle part 42 that integrally operates with the slide part 41 and has a jet orifice 42a for jetting the washer fluid W supplied through the communication path 41a.

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle camera washer nozzle and an in-vehicle camera cleaning system.

  Some vehicles equipped with an in-vehicle camera that captures the situation around the vehicle support a driver's confirmation of the surroundings of the vehicle by displaying an external image captured by the in-vehicle camera on a monitor for navigation. This in-vehicle camera is often provided outside the vehicle, and foreign matters such as raindrops, mud, and dust may adhere to the front surface of the in-vehicle camera. And if a foreign substance adheres to the imaging surface of a vehicle-mounted camera, since the foreign substance will be reflected in the external image imaged with the said vehicle-mounted camera, there exists a problem that a clear external image cannot be obtained. Therefore, for example, as described in Patent Document 1, it is considered to include a cleaning system that cleans the imaging surface of the in-vehicle camera.

  In the cleaning system of Patent Document 1, a washer nozzle is provided on the upper part of the vehicle-mounted camera, and the washer nozzle discharge port extends to the vicinity of the imaging surface so as to face the imaging surface of the camera (front glass in Patent Document 1). I am letting. The cleaning liquid is sprayed from the discharge port of the washer nozzle onto the imaging surface to remove the contamination on the imaging surface.

JP 2001-171491 A

  However, in the cleaning system of Patent Document 1, it is necessary to set the discharge port of the washer nozzle very close to the imaging surface in order to suitably supply the cleaning liquid to the imaging surface. The special washer nozzles had to be designed according to the differences, and lacked versatility.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle camera washer nozzle and a vehicle camera cleaning system capable of improving versatility.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention described in claim 1 is an in-vehicle camera washer nozzle for injecting a cleaning liquid introduced from an introduction port onto an imaging surface of an in-vehicle camera attached to a vehicle body, wherein the introduction port And a fixed side member having a flow path for guiding the cleaning liquid introduced from the introduction port, and a communication path communicating with the flow path, and sliding relative to the fixed side member while maintaining the communication state. A movable nozzle member having a sliding portion provided so as to be movable, and a nozzle portion that is operable integrally with the sliding portion and has an ejection port that ejects the cleaning liquid fed through the communication path; It is characterized by having.

  In this invention, the movable nozzle member is configured so that the sliding portion and the nozzle portion can be integrally operated, and the sliding portion is slidably assembled to the fixed side member. It is possible to adjust so that the direction of the nozzle is directed to the imaging surface of the in-vehicle camera. As a result, the same washer nozzle can be obtained by adjusting the position of the movable nozzle member and changing the spray direction of the cleaning liquid with respect to various in-vehicle cameras having different positions and orientations of the imaging surface depending on the shape, size, mounting angle, etc. Can be applied, and versatility can be improved.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the in-vehicle camera washer nozzle according to the first aspect, the nozzle portion extends from the sliding portion toward the imaging surface and has the injection port at a tip portion. It is formed in the shape.

  In this invention, when changing the direction of the injection port of the movable nozzle member, it becomes possible to pick and move the pipe-shaped nozzle portion, and as a result, the injection direction of the cleaning liquid can be easily changed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the in-vehicle camera washer nozzle according to the first or second aspect, the nozzle portion is formed of a member different from the sliding portion.
In this invention, for example, when the cleaning liquid cannot be suitably jetted onto the imaging surface due to the shape or size of the in-vehicle camera, it is possible to change only the nozzle part and use the fixed side member and the sliding part in common. Therefore, the design change can be saved.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the in-vehicle camera washer nozzle according to any one of the first to third aspects, the fixed-side member includes at least a part of the garnish provided on the vehicle body and the vehicle body. It is arrange | positioned in the space formed between.

  In this invention, since at least a part of the washer nozzle is covered with garnish, it is difficult to visually recognize the washer nozzle that tends to be functional and poor in design, and the appearance design of the vehicle body is prevented from being damaged. be able to.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the in-vehicle camera washer nozzle according to the fourth aspect, the fixed side member is fixed to the garnish.
In the present invention, since the fixed side member is fixed to the garnish, the fixed side member can be easily assembled as compared with the configuration of fixing to the vehicle body side.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the in-vehicle camera washer nozzle according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the sliding portion has a spherical shape and is slid into a spherical concave portion provided in the fixed side member. It is characterized by being movably fitted.

  In this invention, since the sliding direction of the sliding portion with respect to the fixed side member (that is, the adjustment direction of the movable nozzle member) is not restricted to one direction, the injection direction of the movable nozzle member corresponding to more various on-vehicle cameras can be reduced. Adjustment is possible.

  Therefore, according to the above described invention, the versatility of the in-vehicle camera washer nozzle can be improved.

The schematic block diagram of the vehicle-mounted camera cleaning system of this embodiment. The fragmentary sectional view of a vehicle body rear part. The disassembled perspective view of the vehicle camera and the washer nozzle for vehicle cameras. The fragmentary sectional view for demonstrating the effect | action of the washer nozzle for vehicle-mounted cameras. The fragmentary sectional view for demonstrating the washer nozzle for vehicle-mounted cameras of another example.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the washer tank 3 of the in-vehicle camera cleaning system 1 of the present embodiment is installed in the engine room of the vehicle 2. In the washer tank 3, the cleaning liquid W is stored, and a pump device 4 is mounted on the side wall of the washer tank 3 with a cylindrical inlet (not shown) inserted into the washer tank 3. ing. The pump device 4 has a front washer nozzle (front nozzle) 5 for injecting the cleaning liquid W on the windshield 2a of the vehicle 2 and a rear washer nozzle (rear nozzle) 6 for injecting the cleaning liquid W on the rear glass 2b of the vehicle 2 respectively. They are connected via 7a and 7b. Then, the pump device 4 is operated based on the operation of the operation switch 8 disposed in the passenger compartment, and the cleaning liquid W sucked from the inlet of the pump device 4 is transferred from the front nozzle 5 to the windshield 2a, or from the rear nozzle 6 to the rear glass 2b. It is designed to be injected alternatively.

  Further, the vehicle 2 is equipped with a car navigation device, and a navigation monitor 9 for displaying a map or the like is provided in the vehicle interior, and an in-vehicle camera (hereinafter simply referred to as a camera) provided at the rear of the vehicle 2. ) The external image of the vehicle rear imaged at 10 is displayed on the monitor 9 when the vehicle is moving backward, for example.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the camera 10 of the present embodiment includes a base portion 11 fixed to a camera fixing portion Pa of a vehicle body P (body panel), and a substantially cubic housing 12 fixed to the base portion 11. have. A circular imaging surface 13 is formed on the front surface of the housing 12 so that an internal imaging device faces through a lens (both not shown). The camera fixing portion Pa of the vehicle body P is inclined such that the fixing surface to which the camera 10 is fixed is directed to the rear lower side of the vehicle body, and the housing 12 of the camera 10 fixed to the camera fixing portion Pa has a front imaging. The surface 13 is inclined so as to image the rear lower part.

  In addition, at the rear of the vehicle body P, an in-vehicle camera washer nozzle (hereinafter simply referred to as “washing nozzle”) that discharges a cleaning liquid W to remove foreign matters such as raindrops and mud adhering to the imaging surface 13 of the camera 10. (Referred to as a camera nozzle) 20 is arranged. 2 and 3, the camera nozzle 20 is fastened and fixed with screws S and nuts N to a garnish G provided at the rear of the vehicle body P so as to cover the base portion of the camera 10. A side member 21 and a movable nozzle member 22 assembled to the fixed side member 21 are provided.

  The stationary member 21 has a first clamping member 24 in which a connecting cylinder portion 23 connected to the hose 7c for feeding the cleaning liquid W is formed. The first clamping member 24 has a base portion 25 and a connecting cylinder portion 23 extending from the base portion 25. The distal end portion of the connecting cylinder portion 23 is an introduction port 23a for introducing the cleaning liquid W from the hose 7c, and the inner side of the connecting cylinder portion 23 is a flow passage 23b for guiding the cleaning liquid W. A substantially hemispherical holding recess 26 communicating with the flow passage 23b is formed in the end face 25a of the base 25 on the side opposite to the connecting cylinder. The first clamping member 24 is formed with fixing pieces 27 extending from the base portion 25 on both sides in the vehicle width direction, and each fixing piece 27 is formed with a screw insertion hole 27a. The base end side end face (the end face 25a of the base portion 25 and the end face of the fixed piece 27) of the first holding member 24 has a planar shape, and the second holding member 31 is in contact with the end face.

  The second clamping member 31 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the base end side end surface of the first clamping member 24, and has a pair of fixing pieces 32 that respectively contact the pair of fixing pieces 27 of the first clamping member 24. doing. Similarly to the fixed piece 27 of the first clamping member 24, each fixed piece 32 is formed with a screw insertion hole 32a. An extension 33 is formed at the center of the second clamping member 31 in the vehicle width direction, and a substantially hemispherical holding recess 34 is formed on the end surface of the extension 33 on the first clamping member 24 side. The extending portion 33 is in contact with the end surface 25a of the base 25, and the holding recess 34 holds the spherical sliding portion 41 of the movable nozzle member 22 with the holding recess 26 on the first holding member 24 side. ing. A space formed by the holding recesses 26 and 34 is a recess formed in a substantially spherical shape (spherical recess) to hold the spherical sliding portion 41, and the holding recesses 26 and 34 are slidable. The part 41 is slidably held. In addition, an opening 33 a communicating with the holding recess 34 is formed on the end surface of the extending portion 33 on the side opposite to the first clamping member.

  The end surface of the second clamping member 31 on the side opposite to the first clamping member is in contact with the garnish G. A pair of screws S are inserted into the garnish G and the screw insertion holes 32a and 27a, and nuts N are screwed into the screws S from the side opposite to the second clamping member 24 of the first clamping member 24. As a result, the first and second clamping members 24 and 31 are fastened and fixed inside the garnish G, whereby the camera nozzle 20 is placed in the space between the garnish G provided at the rear portion of the vehicle body P and the vehicle body P. It is arranged. Further, the camera 10 is configured such that the base portion including the base portion 11 is covered with the garnish G, and the tip portion including the imaging surface 13 protrudes from the opening Ga of the garnish G. Thus, since the camera nozzle 20 is covered with the garnish G, the camera nozzle 20 is hardly visible.

  With respect to such a fixed-side member 21, the movable nozzle member 22 has the sliding portion 41 and a pipe-like nozzle portion 42 assembled to the sliding portion 41. As described above, the sliding portion 41 is slidably held by the holding recesses 26 and 34 of the first and second holding members 24 and 31. The sliding portion 41 is formed with a communication passage 41a penetrating the sliding portion 41, and a base end portion of the nozzle portion 42 is inserted and fixed in the communication passage 41a.

  The nozzle portion 42 extends to the outside of the garnish G through the opening 33 a of the second clamping member 31 and the notch portion Gb of the garnish G, and the tip portion of the nozzle portion 42 is the imaging surface 13 of the camera 10. Is bent at a substantially right angle toward. The tip of the nozzle portion 42 facing the imaging surface 13 is an ejection port 42a that ejects the cleaning liquid W.

  In such a camera nozzle 20, one end of a hose 7 c branched and connected by a T joint or the like in the middle of the hose 7 b toward the rear nozzle 6 to the connection cylinder portion 23 of the fixed side member 21 (see FIG. 1). Is inserted and the cleaning liquid W is introduced. The hose 7 c is introduced into a space between the garnish G and the vehicle body P through a hose insertion hole Pb formed on the upper side of the camera fixing portion Pa in the vehicle body P, and is connected to the connection cylinder portion 23.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.
When the cleaning liquid W is introduced into the introduction port 23a of the connecting cylinder part 23 via the hose 7c by the operation of the pump device 4, the cleaning liquid W is connected to the flow path 23b of the connecting cylinder part 23 and the communication path of the sliding part 41. It is introduced into the nozzle part 42 through 41a. And it sprays toward the image pick-up surface 13 of the camera 10 from the jet nozzle 42a of the nozzle part 42, The foreign material, such as a raindrop and mud, of the image pick-up surface 13 is washed away with the washing | cleaning liquid W.

  Here, since the movable nozzle member 22 is assembled to the fixed member 21 so that the sliding portion 41 and the nozzle portion 42 can operate integrally, the direction of the injection port 42a (the injection direction of the cleaning liquid W) can be adjusted. It has become. The adjustable range of the movable nozzle member 22 is the movable range of the nozzle part 42 in the opening 33a, and the communication path 41a of the sliding part 41 is always in the adjustable range of the flow path 23b of the connecting cylinder part 23. It comes to communicate with.

  According to such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 4, when the camera nozzle 20 is applied to the camera 10a having a different shape, size, or assembly angle from the camera 10 of FIG. 2, the movable nozzle member 22 is moved. Thus, it is possible to adjust the direction of the ejection port 42a to face the imaging surface 13 of the camera 10a. FIG. 4 shows, as an example, a configuration in which the movable nozzle member 22 is rotated and adjusted in the anti-camera direction with the sliding portion 41 as an axis with respect to the configuration shown in FIG. According to such a configuration, the same camera nozzle 20 can be applied to various in-vehicle cameras having different positions and orientations of the imaging surface 13 depending on the shape, size, mounting angle, and the like, thereby improving versatility. Is possible.

  The sliding portion 41 of the movable nozzle member 22 is sandwiched between the first and second sandwiching members 24 and 31 by the fastening force of the screw S and the nut N, and vibration from the vehicle body P side or injection of the cleaning liquid W is performed. It is set so that the positional deviation does not easily occur due to the momentum.

Next, characteristic effects of the present embodiment will be described.
(1) The camera nozzle 20 includes a fixed-side member 21 having an introduction port 23a into which the cleaning liquid W is introduced and a flow passage 23b that guides the cleaning liquid W introduced from the introduction port 23a. In addition, the camera nozzle 20 has a communication passage 41a communicated with the flow passage 23b, and a sliding portion 41 provided so as to be slidable with respect to the stationary member 21 while maintaining the communication state. The movable nozzle member 22 includes a nozzle portion 42 that is operable integrally with the moving portion 41 and has an injection port 42a for injecting the cleaning liquid W fed through the communication passage 41a. That is, the movable nozzle member 22 is configured so that the sliding portion 41 and the nozzle portion 42 can be integrally operated, and the sliding portion 41 is slidably assembled to the fixed side member 21, so that the cleaning liquid W can be supplied. It becomes possible to adjust so that the direction of the injection port 42a of the nozzle part 42 to inject | pours faces the imaging surface 13 of the vehicle-mounted camera 10. FIG. Thus, the same camera nozzle can be obtained by adjusting the position of the movable nozzle member 22 and changing the spraying direction of the cleaning liquid W with respect to various in-vehicle cameras 10 having different positions of the imaging surface 13 depending on the shape, size, and the like. 20 can be applied, and versatility can be improved.

  (2) The nozzle part 42 is formed in a pipe shape extending from the sliding part 41 toward the imaging surface 13 and having an injection port 42a at the tip part. For this reason, when changing the direction of the injection port 42a of the movable nozzle member 22, the pipe-shaped nozzle portion 42 can be picked and moved, and as a result, the injection direction of the cleaning liquid W can be easily changed.

  (3) Since the nozzle part 42 is composed of a member different from the sliding part 41, for example, when the cleaning liquid W cannot be suitably jetted onto the imaging surface 13 due to the shape or size of the in-vehicle camera 10, the nozzle part 42. Only the fixed side member 21 and the sliding portion 41 can be shared and used, and as a result, the design change can be saved.

  (4) The stationary member 21 is disposed in a space formed between the garnish G provided on the vehicle body P and the vehicle body P at least a part thereof. Accordingly, since at least a part of the camera nozzle 20 is covered with the garnish G, the camera nozzle 20 that tends to be functional and poor in design is less likely to be visually recognized, and the appearance design of the vehicle body P is impaired. Can be suppressed.

(5) Since the fixed-side member 21 is fixed to the garnish G, the fixed-side member 21 can be easily assembled as compared with the structure fixed to the vehicle body P side.
(6) Since the sliding portion 41 has a spherical shape and is slidably fitted in the spherical concave portions (respective holding concave portions 26 and 34) provided in the fixed side member 21, the sliding portion 41 with respect to the fixed side member 21 is fitted. Since the sliding direction (that is, the adjustment direction of the movable nozzle member 22) is not restricted to one direction and the degree of freedom in adjusting the orientation is improved, the injection direction of the movable nozzle member 22 corresponding to more various in-vehicle cameras 10 can be improved. Adjustment is possible.

In addition, you may change embodiment of this invention as follows.
The structure for fixing the camera nozzle 20 to the garnish G may be changed, for example, as shown in FIG. In the configuration shown in FIG. 5, the fixed-side member 51 includes a fixed portion 52 fixed to the garnish G, a spherical recess 53 formed inside the fixed portion 52, and extends from the fixed portion 52 to the inside of the garnish G. The internal flow passage 23 b has a connection cylinder portion 23 that communicates with the spherical recess 53. The fixing portion 52 is formed with a slit portion 52a into which an end portion of the garnish G is fitted. The garnish G fitted into the slit portion 52a and the fixing portion 52 are screws 54 fastened from the inside of the garnish G. It is fixed at. On the other hand, the movable nozzle member 22 has the same configuration as that of the above-described embodiment, and the sliding portion 41 is slidably assembled to the spherical concave portion 53 of the fixed-side member 51, thereby the movable nozzle member 22. The position can be adjusted.

  With such a configuration, it is possible to obtain substantially the same operations and effects as in the above embodiment. Furthermore, in the same configuration, since the screw 54 is disposed inside the garnish G, the screw 54 can be configured not to be visually recognized. Further, it is not necessary to provide an insertion hole for inserting the screw 54 in the garnish G. As a result, it is possible to improve the appearance design in the vicinity of the camera nozzle 20.

In the above-described embodiment, the first clamping member 24 and the second clamping member 31 are configured as separate members, but are not particularly limited thereto, and may be integrally formed with the same member.
In the above embodiment, the fixed-side member 21 of the camera nozzle 20 is fixed to the garnish G. However, for example, it may be fixed to the vehicle body P (body panel).

  -In the movable nozzle member 22 of the said embodiment, although the sliding part 41 and the nozzle part 42 are comprised by another member, it is not specifically limited to this, The sliding part 41 and the nozzle part 42 are comprised. You may form integrally with the same member.

  The operation mode of the movable nozzle member 22 with respect to the fixed side member 51 is not limited to that of the above-described embodiment. For example, the movable nozzle member can be slid in the longitudinal direction of the connection cylinder portion 23 with respect to the fixed side member. It is good also as a structure in which expansion-contraction adjustment is possible.

-The imaging surface 13 of the said embodiment may be comprised with the lens, and does not need to be comprised with the lens.
In the above embodiment, the camera 10 is inclined so that the imaging surface 13 captures the lower rear part, but the present invention is not particularly limited thereto. For example, the camera 10 is configured so that the imaging surface 13 faces upward. May be.

In the camera nozzle 20 of the above embodiment, a check valve may be provided for preventing the cleaning liquid W from leaking from the injection port 42a when the pump device 4 is stopped.
In the above-described embodiment, the hose 7c is simply branched from the hose 7b toward the rear nozzle 6 and connected to the camera nozzle 20, and at the same time as the cleaning liquid W is sprayed from the rear nozzle 6, the cleaning liquid W is sprayed from the camera nozzle 20. Although implemented, it is not particularly limited to this. For example, the pump device 4 may be individually provided for the rear nozzle 6 and the camera nozzle 20 or may be operated independently using a switching valve for switching the flow path between the rear nozzle 6 and the camera nozzle 20. Good.

  In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the camera nozzle 20 that cleans the camera 10 for rearward viewing, but the camera that cleans other in-vehicle cameras such as a side view camera for lateral viewing and a front view camera for frontward viewing. It may be applied to a nozzle for use.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Car-mounted camera, 13 ... Imaging surface, 20 ... Car-mounted camera washer nozzle, 21, 51 ... Fixed side member, 22 ... Movable nozzle member, 23a ... Introduction port, 23b ... Flow path, 26, 34 ... Spherical recessed part Holding recess, 41 ... sliding portion, 41a ... communication path, 42 ... nozzle portion, 42a ... injection port, 53 ... spherical recess, G ... garnish, P ... car body, W ... cleaning liquid.

The present invention relates to a washer Nozzle-vehicle camera.

The present invention was made in order to solve the above problems, its object is to provide a washer Nozzle-vehicle camera capable of improving the versatility.

Claims (6)

An in-vehicle camera washer nozzle that sprays the cleaning liquid introduced from the introduction port onto the imaging surface of the in-vehicle camera attached to the vehicle body,
A stationary member having the introduction port and a flow passage for guiding the cleaning liquid introduced from the introduction port;
A sliding portion provided in communication with the flow passage, the sliding portion provided to be slidable with respect to the fixed-side member while maintaining the communication state, and operable integrally with the sliding portion; An in-vehicle camera washer nozzle comprising: a movable nozzle member having a nozzle portion having an injection port for injecting the cleaning liquid fed through the communication path. In the vehicle camera washer nozzle according to claim 1,
The in-vehicle camera washer nozzle, wherein the nozzle portion is formed in a pipe shape extending from the sliding portion toward the imaging surface and having the injection port at a tip portion. In the vehicle camera washer nozzle according to claim 1 or 2,
The in-vehicle camera washer nozzle, wherein the nozzle portion is formed of a member different from the sliding portion. In the in-vehicle camera washer nozzle according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The vehicle-mounted camera washer nozzle, wherein at least a part of the fixed-side member is disposed in a space formed between a garnish provided on the vehicle body and the vehicle body. In the in-vehicle camera washer nozzle according to claim 4,
The in-vehicle camera washer nozzle, wherein the fixed side member is fixed to the garnish. In the vehicle-mounted camera washer nozzle according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The in-vehicle camera washer nozzle, wherein the sliding portion has a spherical shape and is slidably fitted in a spherical recess provided in the fixed side member.

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