JP5529782B2 - In-vehicle camera with washer nozzle and cleaning system for in-vehicle camera - Google Patents

Description

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

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique for displaying an image captured by an in-vehicle camera (for example, a rear view camera) that captures a situation around a vehicle on a monitor for car navigation or the like is known. Since the in-vehicle camera is mounted on the vehicle body outside the vehicle, the lens often becomes dirty with rain, mud, or the like. Therefore, a configuration is known in which dirt such as a cleaning liquid is sprayed on a lens of an in-vehicle camera to remove dirt (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2007-53448 A

  However, in the cleaning system as in Patent Document 1 described above, the cleaning liquid sprayed toward the lens of the in-vehicle camera flows downward after landing on the lens, wraps around the lower side of the camera housing, and adheres to the vehicle body. There is a problem that the vehicle body becomes dirty with the cleaning liquid trace.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle camera with a washer nozzle and a cleaning system for an in-vehicle camera that can suppress the adhesion of liquid to the vehicle body. is there.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, an invention according to claim 1 is directed to an in-vehicle camera with a washer nozzle mounted outside a vehicle, a camera main body having a housing and a lens provided in the housing, and directed toward the lens. And a nozzle part for supplying liquid, and a draining projection is provided at a lower part in the vertical direction than the lens to prevent the liquid flowing from the lens side from going around to the lower side of the housing. It is characterized by.

  In the present invention, it is suppressed that the liquid supplied from the nozzle is guided by the draining protrusion after the lens is cleaned and wraps around the lower side of the housing. For this reason, it can suppress that the liquid supplied from the nozzle part goes around to the lower side of a housing, and adheres to a vehicle body.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the in-vehicle camera with a washer nozzle according to the first aspect, the draining protrusion protrudes in a direction away from the body of the vehicle.

  In this invention, the liquid supplied from the nozzle part is guided in the direction away from the vehicle body by the draining protrusion after the lens is washed, so that the liquid adhesion to the vehicle body can be more reliably suppressed.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the in-vehicle camera with the washer nozzle according to the first or second aspect, a check valve is provided in the nozzle portion on the upstream side of the discharge port for supplying the liquid. And

  According to the present invention, the liquid remaining in the nozzle portion is prevented from leaking from the discharge port due to acceleration due to the start of the vehicle or the like, and the responsiveness of the liquid supply due to air entering the flow path is prevented. be able to.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an in-vehicle camera with a washer nozzle having a housing and a camera body having a lens provided in the housing and a nozzle portion for supplying liquid toward the lens is mounted outside the vehicle. In the on-vehicle camera cleaning system, a drainage protrusion is provided at a lower portion in the vertical direction than the lens to prevent the liquid flowing from the lens side from flowing down to the lower side of the housing. And

  In this invention, it is suppressed that the liquid supplied from the nozzle part is guided by the draining protrusion after the lens is washed and wraps around the lower side of the housing. For this reason, it can suppress that the liquid supplied from the nozzle part goes around to the lower side of a housing, and adheres to a vehicle body.

  Therefore, according to the above-described invention, adhesion of liquid to the vehicle body can be suppressed.

It is a schematic block diagram of the vehicle washer apparatus in 1st Embodiment. (A) is an external appearance perspective view of the vehicle-mounted camera with a washer nozzle of 1st Embodiment, (b) is the sectional drawing. (A) is an external appearance perspective view of the vehicle-mounted camera with a washer nozzle of 2nd Embodiment, (b) is the sectional drawing. (A) is an external appearance perspective view of the vehicle-mounted camera with a washer nozzle of another example, (b) is the sectional drawing. The top view which shows the attachment aspect of the washer nozzle of another example. Sectional drawing of the vehicle-mounted camera with a washer nozzle of another example. Sectional drawing of the vehicle-mounted camera with a washer nozzle of another example. Sectional drawing of the vehicle-mounted camera with a washer nozzle of another example.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below 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.

  In addition, 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 with a washer nozzle (hereinafter simply referred to as a vehicle 2). An external image of the rear lower part of the vehicle photographed by C) is displayed on the monitor 9 when the vehicle moves backward, for example.

  As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the camera C of this embodiment includes a camera body 10 and a camera washer nozzle (camera nozzle) 11 that is integrally attached to the camera body 10. The camera nozzle 11 discharges the cleaning liquid W in order to remove foreign matters such as raindrops and mud adhering to the imaging surface 10 a of the camera body 10.

  The camera body 10 includes a housing H having a substantially cubic shape, and includes an imaging element 10 c and a lens 10 d inside the housing H. One surface of the housing H is configured as a photographing surface 10a having a circular photographing window portion 10b facing the imaging element 10c inside through the lens 10d.

  The camera nozzle 11 includes a nozzle main body portion 13 positioned at the upper portion of the camera main body 10 and a holding portion 12 that holds the camera main body 10 so that the photographing surface 10 a is exposed, with respect to the holding portion 12. The camera body 10 is detachably held. The holding unit 12 includes a side surface portion 12 a that extends from the nozzle body portion 13 and covers both side surfaces in the width direction of the camera body 10, and a bottom surface portion 12 b that covers the bottom surface of the camera body 10.

  The nozzle main body portion 13 is provided with a substantially cylindrical insertion portion 14 protruding from the back side (the front side of the vehicle 2 when the vehicle 2 is attached). In the camera nozzle 11, 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 is inserted into the insertion portion 14 and the cleaning liquid W is introduced. The flow path 15 of the cleaning liquid W formed inside the insertion portion 14 extends linearly from the back side to the front side (from the front side to the rear side of the vehicle 2) in the nozzle main body 13. The nozzle main body 13 extends to the discharge section 16 (up to an internal injection hole 18 to be described later) provided on the front side of the nozzle body 13 (the rear side of the vehicle 2).

  A check valve 17 is provided in the middle of the flow path 15. The check valve 17 opens based on the supply of the cleaning liquid W due to the operation of the pump device 4, communicates with the discharge unit 16 to supply the cleaning liquid W, and closes and discharges when the pump device 4 stops operating. The communication with the part 16 side is cut off, and the supply of the cleaning liquid W to the discharge part 16 side is stopped. That is, leakage of the cleaning liquid W from the discharge unit 16 is prevented when the pump device 4 is stopped.

  At the end of the flow path 15, that is, at the boundary portion with the discharge portion 16, a circular internal injection hole 18 having an opening diameter sufficiently smaller than the inner diameter of the flow path 15 is provided at a substantially central portion of the cross section of the flow path 15. ing. From the internal injection hole 18, the cleaning liquid W with an increased flow velocity is injected so as to diffuse toward the discharge unit 16.

  The discharge unit 16 is provided so as to slightly protrude from the imaging surface 10 a of the camera body 10. The discharge part 16 is located in the upper part of the camera main body 10 (shooting window part 10b) in a front view of the camera main body 10, and has a discharge port 19 on the lower surface (lower side in the direction of gravity). The discharge port 19 has a rectangular shape that is long in the width direction, and is provided without a step difference from the photographing surface 10 a so that one side of the long side coincides with the photographing surface 10 a of the camera body 10. The discharge port 19 has an opening length L1 in the width direction set substantially equal to the diameter L2 of the circular imaging window portion 10b on the imaging surface 10a of the camera body 10. Incidentally, the opening length L3 of the discharge port 19 on the side orthogonal to the width direction is set to be sufficiently smaller than the opening length L1 in the width direction, and the discharge port 19 has no step with the photographing surface 10a of the camera body 10. Since it is provided, the protrusion of the discharge part 16 is sufficiently small.

  The flow path 20 formed in the discharge unit 16 communicates the discharge port 19 and the internal injection hole 18 and has the same rectangular cross-sectional shape (rectangular space) as the opening shape of the discharge port 19. ing. The flow path 20 in the discharge part 16 is orthogonal to the extending direction of the flow path 15 in the nozzle body part 13 extending from the insertion part 14 to the internal injection hole 18, in this case, with the internal injection hole 18. The facing surface 20a extends so as to form a plane perpendicular to the injection direction at the center of the injection hole 18. Further, the flow path 20 in the discharge section 16 extended in this way is parallel to the imaging surface 10a of the camera body 10, and the plane 20b on the inner injection hole 18 side of the flow path 15 is a camera body. 10, the discharge port 19 is configured with no difference in level from the imaging surface 10a of the camera body 10 as described above. Further, the flow path 20 is slightly extended to the side opposite to the discharge port (upper side) than the internal injection hole 18 portion.

  In such a camera C, a slope-shaped draining projection 12c is formed at the vehicle rear side end portion of the bottom surface portion 12b of the holding portion 12. As shown in FIG. 2 (b), the draining protrusion 12 c extends so as to be separated from the vehicle body B as it goes downward from the bottom surface part 12 b, and the leading end of the draining protrusion 12 c is formed on the camera body 10. It is located on the vehicle rear side with respect to the imaging surface 10 a and the discharge port 19 of the nozzle body 13. Further, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), the draining protrusion 12c is formed over the entire width direction of the bottom surface part 12b, and the width direction length L4 of the draining protrusion 12c is the diameter of the photographing window part 10b. It is set larger than L2.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.
The camera C is attached to the rear portion of the vehicle 2 with one end of the hose 7 c inserted into the insertion portion 14 of the camera nozzle 11. When the cleaning liquid W is supplied to the camera nozzle 11 together with the rear nozzle 6 by the operation of the pump device 4, the check valve 17 in the nozzle body 13 is opened, and the discharge unit 16 side passes through the internal injection hole 18. To be supplied.

  At this time, the cleaning liquid W ejected from the internal ejection hole 18 is restricted to the opening shape from the ejection port 19 while being accumulated in the flow path 20 in the ejection unit 16 so as to once contact the opposing surface 20a in the ejection unit 16. Discharged in a discharged state. That is, the flow path 20 is extended in a direction intersecting the injection direction from the internal injection hole 18, and the cleaning liquid W discharged from the discharge port 19 of the flow path 20 is fast along the imaging surface 10 a of the camera body 10. It is discharged substantially in parallel with a width that at least covers the imaging window 10b at a flow rate. Then, foreign matters such as raindrops and mud on the photographing surface 10a of the camera body 10 with the photographing window portion 10b as the center are suitably washed away.

  Then, the cleaning liquid W discharged from the discharge port 19 is washed down the imaging surface 10a, then flows downward in the vertical direction, and reaches the draining protrusion 12c. Then, as shown in FIG. 2B, the cleaning liquid W is guided in a direction away from the vehicle body B along the inclined shape of the draining protrusion 12c, and falls without adhering to the vehicle body B from the draining protrusion 12c. To do. Thus, the cleaning liquid W discharged from the discharge port 19 is prevented from flowing around the imaging surface 10a and then adhering to the vehicle body B around the bottom surface portion 12b of the holding portion 12. .

Next, characteristic effects of the present embodiment will be described.
(1) In this embodiment, the camera C includes a camera body 10 having a housing H and a lens 10d provided in the housing H, and a camera nozzle that supplies the cleaning liquid W toward the photographing window portion 10b (lens 10d). 11 (nozzle part). A draining projection 12c is provided at a lower portion in the vertical direction than the lens 10d to prevent the cleaning liquid W flowing from the lens 10d side from flowing down to the lower side of the housing H. For this reason, it can suppress that the washing | cleaning liquid W supplied from the nozzle main-body part 13 wraps around the lower side of the housing H, and adheres to the vehicle body B. FIG.

  (2) In this embodiment, since the draining protrusion 12c protrudes in the direction away from the vehicle body B, the cleaning liquid W supplied from the nozzle main body 13 cleans the lens 10d and then the vehicle body B by the draining protrusion 12c. Therefore, the adhesion of the cleaning liquid W to the vehicle body B can be more reliably suppressed.

  (3) In the present embodiment, the nozzle body 13 is provided with the check valve 17 on the upstream side of the discharge port for supplying the cleaning liquid W. Therefore, the cleaning liquid W remaining in the nozzle main body 13 is prevented from leaking from the discharge port 19 due to acceleration caused by the start of the vehicle 2 and the supply of the cleaning liquid W due to air entering the flow path 15. It is possible to prevent the deterioration of responsiveness.

(Second Embodiment)
Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The camera C of the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the structure for fixing the nozzle body 13 and the camera body 10. Therefore, in the following, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the nozzle body 13 of the camera C of the present embodiment includes a flange portion 30 extending from the lower end portion to both sides in the width direction, and four fourth portions respectively formed on the flange portion 30. It has the 1 latching claw 31a and the 2nd latching claw 31b. Two first locking claws 31 a are formed at each of both end portions in the width direction of the flange portion 30, and two second locking claws 31 b are respectively formed at both end portions in the front-rear direction of the flange portion 30. Yes. The first and second locking claws 31 a and 31 b have an elastic shape and are locked to the housing H of the camera body 10. Specifically, the first locking claw 31a is locked to the side surfaces 10f on both sides in the width direction of the housing H, and the second locking claw 31b is locked to the imaging surface 10a of the housing H and the end surface on the vehicle rear side. ing. The camera body 10 and the nozzle body 13 are fixed to each other by the locking of the first and second locking claws 31a and 31b.

  Further, the draining protrusion 32 having the same shape as that of the first embodiment is bonded to the bottom surface 10e of the housing H of the camera body 10 of the present embodiment. The draining protrusion 32 plays a role similar to that of the first embodiment, and this embodiment can also obtain the same effects as those of the first embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, since the camera body 10 and the nozzle body 13 are fixed to each other by the locking of the first and second locking claws 31a and 31b, the nozzle body 13 can be easily attached to and detached from the camera body 10. It has become. Thereby, it is possible to easily configure a cleaning system retrofit to a vehicle-mounted camera in which the camera nozzle 11 is not set. In addition, it is possible to keep the vertical dimension small compared to the configuration in which the camera body 10 is held so as to be held like the holding unit 12 of the first embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, the first locking claw 31a is locked to the side surface 10f in the width direction of the housing H of the camera body 10 and the second locking claw 31b is locked to the end surface of the housing H in the front-rear direction. For this reason, the nozzle body 13 and the camera body 10 can be positioned in the width direction and the front-rear direction.

In addition, you may change embodiment of this invention as follows.
In the first embodiment, the draining protrusion 12c is integrally formed with the holding part 12. However, the present invention is not particularly limited to this. For example, the draining protrusion 12c may be bonded and fixed to the holding part 12. You may comprise so that attachment or detachment with respect to the holding | maintenance part 12 is possible.

  In the second embodiment, the camera body 10 and the nozzle body 13 are fixed to each other by the locking of the first and second locking claws 31a and 31b. However, the present invention is not particularly limited to this. It is good also as a structure as shown to Fig.4 (a) (b) and FIG. In the configuration shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B and FIG. 5, elastic locking portions 41 extending from the vehicle rear side end portion of the nozzle main body portion 13 to the front side are respectively provided on both sides in the width direction of the nozzle main body portion 13. Is formed. The elastic locking portions 41 are respectively locked to two standing locking portions 10h formed on the upper surface 10g of the housing H of the camera body 10, whereby the camera body 10 and the nozzle body 13 are fixed to each other. Has been.

  In the example shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the photographing window portion 10b of the camera body 10 slightly protrudes from the photographing surface 10a, and the peripheral edge thereof has a tapered slope that decreases in diameter as the distance from the photographing surface 10a increases. Part 10i is formed. And the lower end part of the extension part 42 extended to the lower side (camera main body 10 side) from the vehicle rear side edge part of the nozzle main-body part 13 is contact | abutting to the upper part of the inclination part 10i of the imaging | photography window part 10b to an up-down direction. Thereby, the vertical positioning of the nozzle main body 13 is performed.

  Further, as in the second embodiment and the example shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the camera main body 10 and the nozzle main body 13 are connected by the locking of the first and second locking claws 31 a and 31 b or the elastic locking portion 41. The camera main body 10 and the nozzle main body 13 may be fixed by bonding instead of fixing them together.

  In the example shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the camera nozzle 11 and the camera body 10 are fixed to each other by the locking of the elastic locking portion 41 and the standing locking portion 10h. It is not limited to. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the extending portion 42 at the vehicle rear side end portion of the nozzle main body portion 13 and the locking claw extending from the vehicle front side end portion of the nozzle main body portion 13 to the lower side (camera main body 10 side). The camera nozzle 11 and the camera body 10 may be fixed to each other by locking the portion 43 to the housing H of the camera body 10.

  In each of the above embodiments, the draining protrusions 12c and 32 are sloped and extend so as to be separated from the vehicle body B, but are not particularly limited thereto. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the shape may extend downward in parallel with the vehicle body B, and as shown in FIG. 7, the lower end extends downward in parallel with the vehicle body B and extends to the vehicle rear side. The overall configuration may be L-shaped. Even in such a configuration, it is possible to obtain substantially the same operational effects as in the above embodiments.

  In each of the above embodiments, the draining protrusions 12c and 32 are provided over the entire width direction of the holding portion 12 or the housing H. However, the embodiment is not particularly limited to this, and rather than the holding portion 12 or the housing H. You may comprise small in the width direction.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the draining protrusion 12c is provided on the bottom surface portion 12b of the holding portion 12 or the bottom surface 10e of the housing H of the camera body 10. For example, it may be provided on the imaging surface 10a.

  In each of the above embodiments, the camera body 10 is detachably attached to the camera nozzle 11. However, the camera nozzle 11 may be integrally formed with the housing H of the camera body 10.

  In the above embodiment, the flow path 20 in the discharge unit 16 is extended in a direction orthogonal to the injection direction of the central portion of the internal injection hole 18, but obliquely intersects the injection direction at a predetermined angle other than a right angle. The flow path 20 may be configured as described above, and the cleaning liquid W may be applied obliquely to the facing surface 20a of the flow path 20.

  In each of the above embodiments, the flow path 20 in the discharge unit 16 is parallel to the imaging surface 10a of the camera body 10. However, the flow path 20 in the discharge unit 16 is inclined with respect to the imaging surface 10a of the camera body 10. The cleaning liquid W may be ejected obliquely with respect to the imaging surface 10a. Further, there may be a slight step between the discharge port 19 and the imaging surface 10 a of the camera body 10. Further, the cleaning liquid W is discharged from the discharge port 19 downward in the gravity direction, but the discharge direction may be changed.

  In each of the above embodiments, the cleaning liquid W is ejected from the ejection port 19 in parallel with the diameter L2 of the imaging window 10b in the front view of the camera C. However, the cleaning liquid W is ejected to be wide, for example. May be. Further, the cleaning liquid W from the discharge port 19 may not be discharged with the same width as the diameter L2 of the photographing window portion 10b.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the check valve 17 is provided in the nozzle main body 13. However, the check valve 17 may be omitted if the check valve 17 is not provided if water stoppage is sufficient.

  In each of the above embodiments, the hose 7c is simply branched from the hose 7b toward the rear nozzle 6 and connected to the camera nozzle 11, and at the same time as the cleaning liquid W is ejected from the rear nozzle 6, the cleaning liquid W is discharged from the camera nozzle 11. However, the present invention is not particularly limited thereto. For example, the pump device 4 may be individually provided for the rear nozzle 6 and the camera nozzle 11 or may be operated independently using a switching valve for switching the flow path between the rear nozzle 6 and the camera nozzle 11. Good.

  In each of the embodiments described above, the present invention is applied to the rear viewing camera C, but may be applied to other in-vehicle cameras such as a side viewing camera for side viewing and a front view camera for front viewing.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Car-mounted camera washing | cleaning system, 2 ... Vehicle, 10 ... Camera body, 10d ... Lens, 12c, 32 ... Water drain protrusion, 11 ... Camera washer nozzle (nozzle part), 17 ... Check valve, 19 ... Discharge port, C ... In-vehicle camera with washer nozzle, H ... housing, W ... cleaning liquid.

Claims (4)

In the in-vehicle camera with washer nozzle mounted outside the vehicle,
A camera body having a housing and a lens provided in the housing; and a nozzle portion for supplying a liquid toward the lens;
A vehicle-mounted camera with a washer nozzle, characterized in that a draining projection is provided at a lower portion in the vertical direction than the lens to prevent the liquid flowing from the lens side from wrapping around to the lower side of the housing. In the vehicle-mounted camera with a washer nozzle according to claim 1,
The in-vehicle camera with a washer nozzle, wherein the draining protrusion protrudes in a direction away from the vehicle body. In the vehicle-mounted camera with a washer nozzle according to claim 1 or 2,
An on-vehicle camera with a washer nozzle, wherein the nozzle portion is provided with a check valve upstream of an outlet for supplying the liquid. In the in-vehicle camera cleaning system in which an in-vehicle camera with a washer nozzle including a housing and a camera body having a lens provided in the housing and a nozzle portion for supplying liquid toward the lens is mounted outside the vehicle,
An in-vehicle camera cleaning system, characterized in that a drain protrusion is provided at a lower portion in the vertical direction than the lens to prevent the liquid flowing from the lens side from flowing down to the lower side of the housing.

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