JP7205382B2 - In-vehicle sensor cleaning device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an in-vehicle sensor cleaning device.

Conventionally, some vehicles are equipped with an on-board sensor and an on-board sensor cleaning device. As an on-vehicle sensor cleaning device, there is one in which an injection port is provided toward the surface to be cleaned of the on-vehicle sensor, and a fluid is directly ejected from the ejection port to the surface to be cleaned to clean the surface to be cleaned (for example, , see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-240628

However, in recent years, for example, in-vehicle sensors such as Lidar may have a large and curved surface to be cleaned, which is an optical surface through which a laser is transmitted. Therefore, there is a need for an in-vehicle sensor cleaning device that can clean well.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle sensor cleaning apparatus capable of cleaning a curved surface to be cleaned satisfactorily.

An in-vehicle sensor cleaning device (20) for solving the above problems cleans the curved surface to be cleaned (11) of the in-vehicle sensor (10) by injecting a fluid (K) from an injection port (32a) to the surface to be cleaned. In the in-vehicle sensor cleaning device, the fluid is air, liquid, or a mixed fluid of air and liquid, and the injection port has a jetting direction range obtained by extending the range of the jetting port in the jetting direction (F) of the fluid. The apex (41) on the side of the surface to be cleaned is included in (H1), and the fluid flows along the surface to be cleaned so that the farther away from the apex in the ejection direction, the farther away from the range in the ejection direction. set.

According to this configuration, the injection port is arranged so that the top of the surface to be cleaned is included in the injection direction range obtained by extending the range of the injection port in the fluid injection direction, and is separated from the injection port in the injection direction. Since the fluid is set so as to flow along the surface to be cleaned that is more distant from the jetting direction range, the curved surface to be cleaned can be satisfactorily cleaned using the Coanda effect.

1 is a perspective view of a sensor system in one embodiment; FIG. 1 is a front view of a sensor system in one embodiment; FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sensor system without a cover according to one embodiment; FIG. FIG. 2 is a bottom view of a sensor system in one embodiment; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along line 5-5 of FIG. 2 with the cover removed;

An embodiment of the sensor system will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the sensor system 1 of the present embodiment includes an in-vehicle sensor 10 and an in-vehicle sensor cleaning device 20 that is stacked on the in-vehicle sensor 10 and cleans the optical surface 11 of the in-vehicle sensor 10 as a surface to be cleaned. have

The in-vehicle sensor 10 of the present embodiment is, for example, a lidar that emits an infrared laser and receives scattered light reflected from the object to measure the distance to the object, and has an optical surface 11 through which the laser can pass. The in-vehicle sensor 10 measures the distance to an object using, for example, an infrared laser, outputs the information to an external device, and can be used for an automatic braking system or the like.

The optical surface 11 of the in-vehicle sensor 10 has a curved shape in which the center in the width direction bulges forward in the second direction perpendicular to the vertical direction when viewed from the vertical direction as the first direction. The optical surface 11 has the same curved shape at all positions in the vertical direction when viewed in the vertical direction.

The in-vehicle sensor cleaning device 20 has a nozzle unit 21 stacked above the in-vehicle sensor 10 and an air pump 22 that supplies air as a fluid to the nozzle unit 21 .

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the nozzle unit 21 includes a housing 31 fixed above the in-vehicle sensor 10, a nozzle member 32 provided so that at least a portion thereof protrudes forward from the housing 31, A motor 33 is provided inside the housing 31 and rotates the nozzle member 32 about an axis extending in a direction intersecting the optical surface 11 . Inside the housing 31, there is also provided a power transmission mechanism (not shown) that drives and connects the motor 33 and the nozzle member 32 so that the motor 33 drives the nozzle member 32 to reciprocate. Further, the nozzle member 32 of the present embodiment is provided at a position shifted upward from the center of the optical surface 11 in the width direction, and rotates about an axis L1 along a direction perpendicular to the center of the optical surface 11 in the width direction. It is designed to The nozzle member 32 is formed in a substantially columnar shape and has an injection port 32a which is a rotating shaft and opens in a direction perpendicular to the axis L1. The injection port 32a is formed in a circular shape. The nozzle member 32 is configured to inject air K from an injection port 32 a when air is supplied from the air pump 22 . As shown in FIG. 2, the nozzle member 32 is driven by the motor 33 to reciprocate in a rotation range S1 in which the injection port 32a faces from one side of the optical surface 11 to the other side.

Here, as shown in FIG. 5, the injection port 32a is arranged so that the top portion 41 on the side of the optical surface 11 is included in the injection direction range H1 obtained by extending the range of the injection port 32a in the injection direction F of the air K. , and the air K is set to flow along the optical surface 11 away from the jetting direction range H1 as the distance from the top 41 in the jetting direction F increases.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the injection port 32a faces downward and is provided so as to partially overlap the optical surface 11 when viewed from below. In this embodiment, the ejection port 32a is provided so that about 1/3 to 1/4 of the ejection port 32a overlaps the optical surface 11 while facing downward.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3 , the housing 31 of the nozzle unit 21 has a side curved surface 31 a that extends upward from the side surface of the optical surface 11 on the side of the nozzle member 32 . That is, the side curved surface 31 a has the same shape as the side of the optical surface 11 when viewed from above.

The injection port 32a is within at least a partial range of the rotation angle of the nozzle member 32, and is a side range S2 (FIG. 2 ), and as shown in FIG. 5, it is provided so that the top portion 41 of the side curved surface 31a is included within the injection direction range H1. The top portion 41 is a portion that protrudes most forward (upward in FIG. 5) in the second direction. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 5, the top part 41 is curved. Further, the surface 31b closer to the injection port 32a than the top portion 41 is set to have a larger inclination angle with respect to the straight line along the injection direction F than the surface 31c closer to the injection direction F than the top portion 41 is. With such a structure, the injection port 32a is set so that the air K flows along the optical surface 11 that is farther away from the injection direction range H1 as the distance from the top 41 in the injection direction F increases.

Further, the nozzle unit 21 is provided at a position displaced upward from the optical surface 11, and serves to direct the forward (upward in FIG. 4) flow of the air K injected from the injection port 32a in the lateral range S2. A restraining cover 51 is provided. The cover 51 includes an upper portion 51a that covers the top of the nozzle member 32, a front cover portion 51b that curves along the curvature of the optical surface 11 and covers the front of the nozzle member 32 and the side curved surface 31a, and the front cover portion 51b. and the front cover portion 51b suppresses the forward flow of the air K. As shown in FIG.

Next, the operation of the in-vehicle sensor cleaning device 20 configured as described above will be described.
When the air pump 22 and the motor 33 are driven, the nozzle member 32 is rotated and air is jetted from the jet port 32a. In the side range S2 (see FIG. 2) where the injection port 32a faces the width direction of the optical surface 11, the top portion 41 is included in the injection direction range H1 as shown in FIG. As a result, the air K flows along the optical surface 11 that separates from the jetting direction range H1 as the distance from the top 41 in the jetting direction F increases, and foreign matter on the optical surface 11 is blown away.

Next, the effects of the above embodiment will be described below.
(1) The injection port 32a is arranged so that the apex 41 on the optical surface 11 side is included in the injection direction range H1 obtained by extending the range of the injection port 32a in the fluid injection direction F. The air K is set so as to flow along the optical surface 11 that is more distant from the jetting direction range H1 as the distance F increases. Therefore, the curved optical surface 11 can be satisfactorily cleaned using the Coanda effect.

(2) The injection port 32a is provided in the nozzle member 32 that rotates about the axis L1 along the direction that intersects the optical surface 11. It is provided so that the top portion 41 is included within the range H1. Therefore, the curved optical surface 11 can be satisfactorily cleaned by utilizing the Coanda effect in a partial necessary range without increasing the number of the injection ports 32a.

(3) The nozzle member 32 is provided at a position shifted upward in the center of the width direction of the optical surface 11, and the nozzle member 32 rotates so that the injection port 32a faces the side of the optical surface 11 in the width direction. The lateral range S2 is provided so that the top portion 41 is included in the injection direction range H1. Therefore, while using a single nozzle member 32, the optical surface 11 can be satisfactorily cleaned using the Coanda effect in the lateral range S2 corresponding to the optical surface 11, which is greatly separated from the ejection direction range H1. In addition, when the injection port 32a faces the center of the width direction of the optical surface 11, the optical surface 11 does not move away from the injection direction range H1. can be washed.

(4) Since the top portion 41 has a curved surface shape, the curved optical surface 11 can be satisfactorily cleaned using the Coanda effect.
(5) Since the surface 31b closer to the injection port 32a than the top portion 41 is set to have a larger inclination angle with respect to the straight line along the injection direction F than the surface 31c closer to the injection direction F than the top portion 41, the Coanda effect is produced. The curved optical surface 11 can be satisfactorily cleaned by suitable use.

(6) Since the cover 51 is provided at a position displaced above the optical surface 11 and suppresses the forward flow of the air K jetted from the jet port 32a in the lateral range S2, the jet from the jet port 32a is provided. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the air K from flowing forward, that is, in a direction away from the optical surface 11, so that the optical surface 11 can be satisfactorily cleaned.

The above embodiment can be modified and implemented as follows. In addition, this embodiment and the following modifications can be implemented in combination with each other within a technically consistent range.
In the above embodiment, the injection port 32a is provided in the nozzle member 32 that rotates about the axis L1 along the direction that intersects the optical surface 11, and within a partial range of the rotation angle of the nozzle member 32, Although it is provided so that the top portion 41 is included in the injection direction range H1, it is not limited to this, and may be provided so as not to rotate, for example. That is, it may be embodied in a configuration having an injection port that always injects the air K in the positional relationship shown in FIG.

In the above embodiment, the nozzle member 32 is provided above the center in the width direction of the optical surface 11, but is not limited to this. It may be provided above the position.

- In the above-described embodiment, the top portion 41 has a curved surface shape, but is not limited to this, and may have a shape with corners.
In the above embodiment, the surface 31b closer to the injection port 32a than the top portion 41 is set to have a larger inclination angle with respect to the straight line along the injection direction F than the surface 31c closer to the injection direction F than the top portion 41. However, the configuration is not limited to this, and the configuration may be such that the inclination angle is set to be the same or the inclination angle is set to be small.

- In the above-described embodiment, the cover 51 is provided.
- In the above-described embodiment, the top portion 41 included in the ejection direction range H1 is provided on the housing 31 of the nozzle unit 21, but the configuration is not limited to this, and the top portion may be provided on another member.

In the above-described embodiment, the side curved surface 31a has the same shape as the side of the optical surface 11 when viewed from above, but this is not a limitation, and the injection port 32a always overlaps the top portion 41 in the same manner. , in other words, the configuration may be such that the positional relationship is always the same.

- Although the vehicle-mounted sensor 10 was Lidar in the said embodiment, it is not limited to this, It is good also as another vehicle-mounted sensor. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the surface to be cleaned is the optical surface 11 of the lidar, but it may be another surface to be cleaned for other vehicle-mounted sensors.

- In the above-described embodiment, the fluid ejected from the ejection port 32a is air, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the fluid to be ejected may be liquid or a mixed fluid of air and liquid.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... In-vehicle sensor 11... Optical surface (surface to be cleaned) 20... In-vehicle sensor cleaning device 31b... Surface closer to ejection port than top part 31c... Surface closer to ejection direction than top part 32... Nozzle member 32a Injection port 41 Top 51 Cover F Injection direction K Air (fluid) H1 Injection direction range L1 Axle S2 Side range.

Claims (5)

An in-vehicle sensor cleaning device (20) for cleaning a curved cleaning target surface (11) of an in-vehicle sensor (10) by injecting a fluid (K) from an injection port (32a) to the cleaning target surface (11),
The fluid is air, liquid, or a mixed fluid of air and liquid,
The injection port is arranged so that the apex (41) on the side of the surface to be cleaned is included in an injection direction range (H1) obtained by extending the range of the injection port in the injection direction (F) of the fluid. The fluid is set to flow along the surface to be cleaned, which is separated from the range in the jetting direction as the distance in the jetting direction increases ,
The injection port is provided in a nozzle member (32) that rotates about an axis (L1) along a direction that intersects the surface to be cleaned, and is at least a partial range (S2) of the rotation angle of the nozzle member. and an in-vehicle sensor cleaning device provided so that the top portion is included in the jetting direction range . The surface to be cleaned has a curved shape in which the center in the width direction bulges in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction when viewed from the first direction,
The nozzle member is provided at a position shifted in a first direction from the center of the surface to be cleaned in the width direction,
The injection port is provided in a side range (S2) facing a side in the width direction of the surface to be cleaned by rotation of the nozzle member so that the top portion is included in the injection direction range. Item 1. The in-vehicle sensor cleaning device according to item 1. A cover (51) provided at a position displaced in the first direction from the surface to be cleaned and suppressing flow in the second direction of the fluid ejected from the ejection port at least in the lateral range. The in-vehicle sensor cleaning device according to claim 2 . The vehicle-mounted sensor cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the top portion has a curved shape. The surface (31b) closer to the injection port than the top portion is set to have a larger inclination angle with respect to the straight line along the injection direction than the surface (31c) closer to the injection direction than the top portion. Item 5. The in-vehicle sensor cleaning device according to any one of Item 4 .

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