KR20230118792A - Self cleaning device and method of removing droplet by using heat - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a self-cleaning device and method for removing liquid droplets using heat, particularly a self-cleaning device for a camera. The self-cleaning device includes a solid material layer, a metal material layer disposed on the solid material layer, and a hydrophobic film disposed on the metal material layer. Here, the metal material layer has a pattern portion for forming a specific pattern by applying a conductive material to only a portion thereof, and a heating portion disposed outside or inside the pattern portion, and power is applied to the pattern portion and the heating portion to form the pattern portion. and heat is generated from the heating unit, the heat generated from the heating unit is transferred to the pattern unit, and the liquid present on the surface of the self-cleaning device is generated by the heat generated from the pattern unit and the heat transferred from the heating unit. Enemies are eliminated.

Description

Self-cleaning device and method for removing liquid droplets using heat

The present invention relates to a self-cleaning device and method for removing liquid droplets using heat, particularly to a self-cleaning device for a camera.

Cameras are used in many places and in many devices. When liquid droplets such as rainwater are attached to the surface of the camera, visibility of the camera is deteriorated.

In order to solve this problem, a cleaning technology for removing liquid droplets by installing a wiper on the camera has appeared, but this cleaning technology requires a driving motor, etc., which inevitably increases the size and complexity of the cleaning device, and the durability of parts such as the driving motor is low Therefore, the cleaning technology cannot be applied to small cameras and has been difficult to apply to various types of cameras.

KR 10-2277844 B

The present invention provides a self-cleaning device and method for removing liquid droplets using heat, particularly a self-cleaning device for a camera.

In order to achieve the above object, a self-cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a solid material layer; a metal material layer arranged on the solid material layer; and a hydrophobic layer disposed on the metal material layer. Here, the metal material layer has a pattern portion for forming a specific pattern by applying a conductive material to only a portion thereof, and a heating portion disposed outside or inside the pattern portion, and power is applied to the pattern portion and the heating portion to form the pattern portion. and heat is generated from the heating unit, the heat generated from the heating unit is transferred to the pattern unit, and the liquid present on the surface of the self-cleaning device is generated by the heat generated from the pattern unit and the heat transferred from the heating unit. Enemies are eliminated.

A self-cleaning method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes generating heat by applying a first power to a lens unit formed of a conductive material; and generating heat by applying a second power to a heating unit located outside or inside the lens unit. Here, the lens unit is positioned to correspond to the camera lens, the heat generated from the heating unit is transferred to the lens unit, and the heat generated from the lens unit and the heat transferred from the heating unit cause liquids present on the surface of the self-cleaning device to be removed. removed, and the first power supply and the second power supply are DC voltages.

The self-cleaning device and method according to the present invention may be used in a camera, and may remove liquid droplets present on the surface of the self-cleaning device by generating heat by applying power to an electrode layer.

In particular, since a patterned electrode is disposed at a position corresponding to a camera lens and an electrode coated with a conductive material is arranged outside the patterned electrode, heat generated from the outer electrode is transferred to the patterned electrode. As a result, the liquid droplets present on the surface of the self-cleaning device can be better removed. In addition, since a patterned and transparent electrode is disposed at a position corresponding to the camera lens, the visibility of the camera is not greatly deteriorated. That is, the self-cleaning device can efficiently remove liquid droplets present on the surface while ensuring visibility of the camera.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing the structure of a self-cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram showing the structure of an electrode layer according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 and 4 are diagrams illustrating a process of removing droplets using the self-cleaning device of FIG. 1 .
5 is a perspective view illustrating a self-cleaning device according to another embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a diagram illustrating an electrode layer of a self-cleaning device according to another embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a diagram illustrating a droplet detection process and a droplet removal process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Singular expressions used herein include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this specification, terms such as "consisting of" or "comprising" should not be construed as necessarily including all of the various components or steps described in the specification, and some of the components or some of the steps It should be construed that it may not be included, or may further include additional components or steps. In addition, terms such as "...unit" and "module" described in the specification mean a unit that processes at least one function or operation, which may be implemented as hardware or software or a combination of hardware and software. .

The present invention relates to a self-cleaning device and method, in particular, to a self-cleaning device for a camera, in which liquid droplets such as water or frost existing on the surface of the camera can be removed by evaporation using heat. As a result, it is possible to efficiently remove droplets without a separate external driving device and miniaturization is possible.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing the structure of a self-cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view showing the structure of an electrode layer according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are These are views illustrating a process of removing droplets using the self-cleaning device of FIG. 1 .

Referring to FIG. 1, the self-cleaning device of this embodiment is, for example, a cleaning device used for cameras such as CCTVs, and includes a solid material layer 102, an electrode layer 104, and A hydrophobic insulating layer 106 may be included.

The solid material layer 102 is a base layer arranged over the camera lens module 100 .

The electrode layer 104 (metal material layer) is arranged on the solid material layer 102, and can generate heat according to Joule's law when power is applied from the outside. Therefore, the electrode layer 104 may generate heat to evaporate and remove liquid droplets existing on the hydrophobic insulating film 106 .

* A droplet of a specific size, for example, greater than 3 μl, is removed by sliding in the direction of gravity due to the inclined surface of the camera and the hydrophobic property of the hydrophobic insulating film 106, and a droplet of 3 μl or less is removed from the electrode layer 104 Heat can be used to remove it. Droplets of 3 μl or less are small in size and do not easily slide in the direction of gravity, so it is difficult to remove them only with hydrophobic properties.

According to one embodiment, the electrode layer 104 may include the lens unit 200 and the heating unit 202 as shown in FIG. 2 and may be implemented with a thin thickness of 1 μm or less.

The lens unit 200 (pattern unit) may be disposed at a position corresponding to a lens of a camera, that is, at a central portion of the electrode layer 104 . The lens unit 200 is formed at a position corresponding to the camera lens, and therefore, if the lens unit 200 is opaque, image quality of the camera may be degraded. Accordingly, the lens unit 200 may be formed of a transparent material so that light can pass through it and implemented as a patterned structure (eg, a mesh structure). Therefore, the lens unit 200 may have excellent transmittance while generating heat.

The heating unit 202 may be electrically connected to the lens unit 200 in a state located outside the lens unit 200, and as shown in FIG. 2, the front surface may be coated with a conductive material. Preferably, the heating unit 202 is made of a material with high heating efficiency and may be disposed at a position that does not correspond to the camera lens.

When power is applied to the heating unit 202, heat is generated from the heating unit 202, and the generated heat may be transferred to the lens unit 200. As a result, droplet evaporation efficiency of the lens unit 200 may be increased. Of course, power may also be applied to the lens unit 200 . That is, power, for example, direct current voltage (DC) may be applied to each of the lens unit 200 and the heating unit 202 .

The lens unit 200 and the heating unit 202 may be made of the same conductive material or different conductive materials.

According to one embodiment, the lens unit 200 and the heating unit 202 may each be made of a metal material, a metal oxide (Metallic Oxides), a carbon material, a polymer material, or a mixture thereof.

Silver, copper, aluminum, nickel, etc. may be used as the metal material, ITO, FTO, AZO, ZnO, etc. may be used as the metal oxide, and CNT (Carbon Nano Tube), carbon nanofiber as the carbon material , craphene, etc. can be used.

Comparing the lens unit 200 and the heating unit 202, the lens unit 200 has excellent transmittance compared to the heating unit 202, which is partially patterned and coated with electrodes on the entire surface, but has a small area per unit area, The amount of heat generated per area may be small. The decrease in droplet removal efficiency due to such a small heating value may be compensated for by heat transferred from the heating unit 202 .

The hydrophobic insulating film 106 is arranged over the electrode layer 104 and may include, for example, an insulating film and a hydrophobic film. That is, an insulating film and a hydrophobic film may be sequentially arranged on the electrode layer 104, and droplets may exist on the hydrophobic film.

In summary, the self-cleaning device of the present embodiment can remove liquid droplets by generating heat using the electrode layer 104 as shown in a1 to a3 of FIG. 3 . Specifically, as shown in b1 of FIG. 3, the self-cleaning device removes droplets larger than 3 μl by sliding them in the direction of gravity, and as shown in b2 of FIG. 3, droplets smaller than 3 μl are evaporated by heat. can be removed The results of these droplet removal experiments are shown in FIG. 4 .

Meanwhile, depending on the type of device in which the self-cleaning device is used, the heating unit may be located inside the pattern unit.

In addition, although the heating part has a structure in which the entire surface is coated with a conductive material, the conductive material may not be applied to a portion.

5 is a perspective view illustrating a self-cleaning device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5 , the self-cleaning device of this embodiment may include a solid material layer 502, a multi-electrode layer 504, and a hydrophobic insulating film 506 sequentially arranged on a camera lens module 500. That is, other components except for the multi-electrode layer 504 are the same as those of FIG. 1 .

The multi-electrode layer 504 includes a metal material layer 510, a first conductive material layer 512 arranged under the metal material layer 510, and a second conductive material layer arranged above the metal material layer 510 ( 514) may be included. That is, the multi-electrode layer 504 may include a plurality of electrode layers.

The metal material layer 510 may have the same structure as the electrode layer 104 of FIG. 1 , that is, the central portion may have a patterned structure and the outer portion may have a structure in which a conductive material is coated on the entire surface.

The first conductive material layer 512 is electrically connected to the metal material layer 510 while being arranged below the metal material layer 510 .

The second conductive material layer 514 is electrically connected to the metal material layer 510 while being arranged on top of the metal material layer 510 .

In particular, since the front surfaces of the conductive material layers 512 and 514 are made of a conductive material, they must have excellent transmittance, and may be formed of, for example, a metal oxide such as ITO. On the other hand, since the central portion of the metal material layer 510 is patterned to ensure transmittance to some extent, it is efficient to form a material having excellent heat generating properties.

Of course, the metal material layer 510 and the conductive material layers 512 and 514 may be formed of the same material having excellent transmittance and heat generation characteristics.

According to an embodiment, power, eg, DC, may be applied to the metal material layer 510 and separate power may not be applied to the conductive material layers 512 and 514 . In this case, since the metal material layer 510 and the conductive material layers 512 and 514 are electrically connected, a large amount of heat generated in the outer region of the metal material layer 510 can be transferred to the pattern part, and as a result, droplets Removal efficiency can be improved. That is, the conductive material layers 512 and 514 perform a role of transferring heat without generating heat.

According to another embodiment, power and DC may be applied to at least one of the conductive material layers 512 and 514 as well as the metal material layer 510 to further increase the droplet control efficiency. However, in this case, the structure of the self-cleaning device may become complicated.

In summary, the self-cleaning device according to the present embodiment may improve droplet removal efficiency by arranging the conductive material layers 512 and 514 for transferring heat to the upper and lower portions of the metal material layer 510 .

Above, the conductive material layers 512 and 514 are arranged above and below the metal material layer 510 , but only one conductive material layer may be arranged on the metal material layer 510 .

According to another embodiment, not only the metal material layer 510 but also the conductive material layer 512 or 514 may have a structure in which a central portion is patterned.

According to another embodiment, the conductive material layer 512 or 514 may be formed to cover only the patterned central portion of the metal material layer 510 without covering the entirety of the metal material layer 510 . In this case, the size of the conductive material layer 512 or 514 is inevitably smaller than the size of the metal material layer 510 .

According to another embodiment, the conductive material layer 512 or 514 may not be electrically connected to the metal material layer 510 . Even in this case, heat generated from the heating unit may be transferred to the pattern unit through the conductive material layer 512 or 514, although the efficiency is low.

6 is a diagram illustrating an electrode layer of a self-cleaning device according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a droplet detection process and a droplet removal process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6 , the electrode layer (or metal material layer) of the self-cleaning device according to the present embodiment may include a lens unit 600 and a heating unit 602 .

* The lens unit 600 (pattern unit) is a part corresponding to the camera lens and is formed in the central portion, and electrically separated first sub-lens unit 600a (first sub-pattern unit) and second sub-lens unit 600b (second sub-lens unit 600b). 2 sub-pattern parts) may be included. In detail, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 , first sub-lens units 600a and second sub-lens units 600b may be alternately arranged.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 6 , each of the sub-lens units 600a and 600b may be composed of, for example, small rectangular pattern electrodes to enable detection of small droplets.

The heating unit 602 is arranged outside the lens unit 600 and may be electrically separated from the lens unit 600 .

The entire surface of the heating unit 602 may be coated with a conductive material. Of course, a conductive material may not be applied to a portion of the heating unit 602 .

A process of detecting and removing droplets using such an electrode layer will be described with reference to FIG. 7 .

Looking at the droplet detection process, first power, eg, AC voltage, is applied to the first sub-lens units 600a, and second power, eg, AC voltage, is applied to the second sub-power sources 600b. this may be authorized.

Here, the first sub-lens unit 600a and the second sub-lens unit 600b are electrically separated, and a dielectric material may exist between physically adjacent sub-lens units 600a and 600b. As a result, the adjacent sub-lens units 600a and 600b may implement capacitors while being resistors themselves. That is, the self-cleaning device may measure resistance change or capacitance change using the sub-lens units 600a and 600b. For such measurement and analysis, a droplet detection unit (not shown) and a control unit (not shown) may exist separately.

When a droplet exists on the surface of the self-cleaning device, resistance or capacitance of the self-cleaning device changes, and the droplet detection unit may detect a change in resistance or capacitance using the sub-lens units 600a and 600b. That is, the droplet detection unit may detect a change in resistance or capacitance of the self-cleaning device to determine whether a droplet is present on the surface of the self-cleaning device.

When it is determined that the liquid droplet is present on the surface of the self-cleaning device, the control unit applies power, for example, DC voltage, to the sub-lens units 600a and 600b and the heating unit 602 to generate heat to clean the liquid droplet. can be removed At this time, the sub-lens units 600a and 600b and a power supply unit (not shown) form a closed circuit. In this case, the same DC voltage may be applied to the sub-lens units 600a and 600b. Also, the same DC voltage may be applied to the heating unit 602 as well.

Of course, another DC voltage may be applied to at least one of the sub-lens units 600a and 600b and the heating unit 602 .

In summary, the self-cleaning device according to the present embodiment has a structure in which the sub-lens units 600a and 600b are alternately arranged and electrically separated, so that both droplet detection and droplet removal can be realized.

According to another embodiment, a thin first insulating film and a first conductive material layer are sequentially arranged under the metal material layer, and a thin second insulating film and a second conductive material layer are formed on top of the metal material layer. Can be arranged sequentially. In this case, the conductive material layers may not be electrically connected to the metal material layer. However, even in this case, heat generated from the heating part 602 of the metal material layer may be low in efficiency, but may be transferred to the pattern part 600 through the conductive material layers.

Meanwhile, although the self-cleaning device was limited to a camera in the above, it is not limited to a camera and may be applied to various applications such as vehicle glass.

On the other hand, the components of the above-described embodiment can be easily grasped from a process point of view. That is, each component can be identified as each process. In addition, the process of the above-described embodiment can be easily grasped from the viewpoint of components of the device.

In addition, the technical contents described above may be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed through various computer means and recorded in a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. Program commands recorded on the medium may be specially designed and configured for the embodiments or may be known and usable to those skilled in computer software. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tapes, optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, and magnetic media such as floptical disks. - includes hardware devices specially configured to store and execute program instructions, such as magneto-optical media, and ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include high-level language codes that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter, as well as machine language codes such as those produced by a compiler. A hardware device may be configured to act as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the embodiments and vice versa.

The embodiments of the present invention described above have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, and those skilled in the art having ordinary knowledge of the present invention will be able to make various modifications, changes, and additions within the spirit and scope of the present invention, and such modifications, changes, and additions will be considered to fall within the scope of the following claims.

100, 500: camera lens module 102, 502: solid material layer
104: electrode layer (metal material layer) 106, 506: hydrophobic insulating film
200: lens unit (pattern unit) 202, 602: heating unit
504: multi-electrode layer 510: metal material layer
512: first conductive material layer 512: second conductive material layer
600: lens part (pattern part)
600a: first sub-lens unit (first sub-pattern unit)
600b: second sub-lens unit (second sub-pattern unit)

Claims (6)

In the self-cleaning device,
solid material layer;
a metal material layer arranged on the solid material layer; and
Including a hydrophobic film arranged on the metal material layer,
The metal material layer has a pattern portion for forming a specific pattern by applying a conductive material only on a portion thereof, and a heat generating portion disposed outside or inside the pattern portion, and power is applied to the pattern portion and the heat generating portion to form the pattern portion and the heat generating portion. Heat is generated from the heating unit, the heat generated from the heating unit is transferred to the pattern unit, and liquid droplets present on the surface of the self-cleaning device are removed by the heat generated from the pattern unit and the heat transferred from the heating unit. Self-cleaning device, characterized in that. The method of claim 1, wherein the self-cleaning device is a cleaning device for a camera,
The pattern part is located at the center of the metal material layer corresponding to the camera lens, the front surface of the heating part is coated with a conductive material and no pattern is formed, and the solid material layer is formed on the camera lens module including the camera lens. A self-cleaning device, characterized in that arranged. The method of claim 2 , wherein a DC voltage is applied to the pattern part and the heat generating part, respectively, the pattern part and the heat generating part are electrically connected, and the pattern part and the heat generating part are made of a transparent metal material, a metal oxide, a carbon material, or a polymer. A self-cleaning device characterized in that it is implemented with a material or a mixture thereof. The method of claim 2, wherein droplets of more than 3 μl present on the surface of the self-cleaning device are removed by sliding in the direction of gravity due to the characteristics of the hydrophobic film, and droplets of less than 3 μl are removed by heat generated from the metal material layer. Self-cleaning device, characterized in that removed by evaporation. According to claim 1,
a first conductive material layer disposed below the metal material layer and electrically connected to the metal material layer; and
Further comprising a second conductive material layer arranged on the metal material layer and electrically connected to the metal material layer,
The first conductive material layer is arranged between the camera lens module and the metal material layer, the second conductive material layer is arranged between the metal material layer and the hydrophobic layer, and the heat generated from the heating part is disposed in the conductive material layer. The self-cleaning device is transferred to the pattern part through material layers, and at least one of the conductive material layers is coated with a conductive material on the entire surface. generating heat by applying a first power to a lens unit formed of a conductive material; and
Generating heat by applying a second power to a heating unit located outside or inside the lens unit,
The lens unit is positioned corresponding to the camera lens, heat generated from the heating unit is transferred to the lens unit, and droplets present on the surface of the self-cleaning device are removed by the heat generated from the lens unit and the heat transferred from the heating unit. , The first power supply and the second power supply is a direct current voltage, characterized in that the self-cleaning method.