WO2022043298A1

WO2022043298A1 - Cleaning device for an environment recognition device of a vehicle

Info

Publication number: WO2022043298A1
Application number: PCT/EP2021/073340
Authority: WO
Inventors: Stefani SIEGFRIED
Original assignee: Valeo Systèmes d'Essuyage
Priority date: 2020-08-26
Filing date: 2021-08-24
Publication date: 2022-03-03
Also published as: DE102020122329A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a cleaning device (10; 10a) for an environment recognition device (100) of a vehicle, having a housing (102; 102a) which, in the region of a vision window (110), forms a vision field (12; 12a) for a sensor (1), having a wiper arm (22; 22a) which is arranged so as to be movable along the vision window (110) and which has a wiper blade (14) for cleaning the vision field (12; 12a), wherein the wiper arm (22; 22a) is coupled by means of a drive mechanism (23; 23a) to an electric motor (24).

Description

Cleaning device for an environment recognition device of a vehicle

Technical field

The invention relates to a cleaning device for an environment recognition device of a vehicle, as is provided in particular in an autonomously driving vehicle in order to keep the field of view of a camera, for example, clear in the event of contamination with dirt, rain or the like, in order that error-free detection of the environment around the vehicle can be made possible.

Prior art

The applicant's subsequently published DE 10 2019 121 910 A1 has disclosed a cleaning device for an environment recognition device of a vehicle having the features of the preamble of Claim 1 . The known cleaning device is distinguished by a wiper blade which is coupled via a wiper arm to an electric motor. Here, the drive shaft of the electric motor, which is coupled to the wiper arm, runs with a constant spacing to a vision window which is curved in the shape of a circular segment and along which the wiper blade is moved. By virtue of the fact that the electric motor and the drive mechanism are arranged approximately in the centre of the housing of the cleaning device, this region cannot be used for other components, or correspondingly restricts the corresponding structural space. Disclosure of the invention

The cleaning device according to the invention for an environment recognition device of a vehicle having the features of Claim 1 has the advantage that it allows a particularly compact design, which is furthermore adaptable to differently shaped housings of environment recognition devices or differently shaped vision windows.

The stated advantages are achieved, according to the teaching of Claim 1 , in that the electric motor forms a jointly movable structural unit together with the wiper arm. In other words, this means that, during the actuation of the cleaning device, the wiper arm moves together with the electric motor in the region of the vision window in order to clean a vision field for a sensor by means of the wiper blade fastened to the wiper arm.

Advantageous refinements of the cleaning device according to the invention for an environment recognition device of a vehicle are specified in the subclaims.

In order to achieve a targeted and defined movement of the above-described structural unit composed of the wiper arm and the electric motor with relatively little outlay in terms of construction, it is provided that, in the region of the housing of the cleaning device, there is formed a guide along which the structural unit is movable.

In one design configuration of such a guide, it is provided that the guide is coupled at least indirectly in non-positively locking and/or positively locking and/or f nationally engaging fashion to a drive element of the electric motor.

Furthermore, in the case of such a guide, it may preferably be provided that the guide has a toothed profile element which is arranged positionally fixedly on the housing and which interacts with a drive toothed gear, which is connected to the electric motor, as drive element. There are various possibilities with regard also to the design configuration of the structural unit. It is particularly preferably provided that the structural unit has a carrier element for the fastening of the electric motor and of the wiper arm, and that the carrier element interacts with at least one guide element, which interacts with the guide, in order to guide the carrier element with the wiper arm and the wiper blade in a defined position relative to the vision field during the movement of the structural unit.

It is particularly preferable here if the at least one guide element is guided in positively locking fashion in a guide section of the guide.

Furthermore, in the case of such a structural unit, it may be provided that the wiper arm is coupled via a coupling rod to the carrier element, that the wiper arm is fastened pivotably about an axis to the coupling rod on that side of the coupling rod which is averted from the carrier element, and that the coupling rod is designed to be longitudinally adjustable and is acted on with force in the direction of the carrier element by means of a spring element.

With regard to the arrangement of the guide, it is furthermore particularly preferable if, when the housing is in an installed position in the vehicle, the guide is arranged on a region of the housing arranged above the vision field and/or the vision window, preferably on the side facing towards the interior space of the housing. In this way, it is firstly possible for liquid situated on the vision window to flow off in an unimpeded manner, and it is secondly possible for the structural unit to be arranged in a relatively protected manner within the housing, for which purpose the housing may have a corresponding cover.

The guide is in particular configured as an endless guide which runs in encircling fashion on the housing, wherein the structural unit is movable preferably only in one direction. Such a configuration of the guide makes it possible for the vision field to be formed as a vision field which fully encircles the housing, such that a sensor arranged in the housing, in particular in the form of a camera, can record an all-round image of the external environment around the vehicle. Here, it may be provided in particular that the housing has multiple, preferably four, planar first vision window sections, which are connected to one another by means of second vision window sections of curved form.

As an alternative to a configuration of the viewing window which allows a 360° all-round view at the housing, it may alternatively be provided that the housing has a single planar vision window section, and that the structural unit is movable back and forth along the vision window section.

Further advantages, features and details of the invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention and with reference to the drawings.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 shows, in a perspective illustration, an environment recognition device with a first cleaning device, in the case of which a 360° all-round view is made possible,

Figure 2 shows individual parts of the cleaning device as per Figure 1 in a partially sectional, perspective exploded illustration,

Figure 3 is a perspective illustration of an environment recognition device with a second cleaning device, in the case of which a planar vision field is arranged on one side wall of the housing, and

Figure 4 is an exploded illustration of the main components of the cleaning device as per Figure 3.

Embodiments of the invention Identical elements or elements having an identical function are denoted by the same reference designations in the figures.

Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a first cleaning device 10 with the components that are essential for the invention. The cleaning device 10 is a constituent part of an environment recognition device 100 of a vehicle (not shown) and serves for detecting the environment around the vehicle by means of a sensor 1 (illustrated only in highly simplified form in figure 1 ) arranged within a housing 102 of the environment recognition device 100. The sensor 1 may in particular be an imagerecording camera. The environment recognition device 100 is configured to allow a complete, that is to say 360° all-round view of the environment around the vehicle. It is furthermore pointed out that the housing 102, the top side of which is illustrated as being open in the illustration of Figures 1 and 2, is closable in particular by means of a lid-like cover element (not illustrated) in order to prevent the ingress of media, or moisture and dirt, into the interior space 104 of the housing 102, in which the sensor 1 is also situated.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated, the housing 102 is configured approximately with a square outline or a square cross section and, for this purpose, has inter alia four planar first vision window sections 106, which are connected to one another via four quadrant-shaped second vision window sections 108. The vision window sections 106, 108 collectively form a vision window 1 10 with a vision field 12 for the sensor 1 , and are preferably composed of a transparent material, or a material which is permeable to the frequencies of the sensor 1 .

For the cleaning of the vision field 12, in particular owing to dirt or moisture etc. adhering to the vision field 12, it is necessary to clean the vision field 12 of the housing 102. For this purpose, the cleaning device 10 has a wiper blade 14 with a wiper rubber 16 which is arranged so as to be in abutting contact with the vision field 12. The orientation of the wiper blade 14 or of the wiper rubber 16 with respect to the vision field 12 is such that the wiper blade 14 extends parallel to a longitudinal axis 18 of the housing 102. It is furthermore provided that, for cleaning purposes, the wiper blade 14 is moved either only in one direction of the (double) arrow 20 along the vision field 12 or alternately in both directions of the (double) arrow 20, in order, for example during travel in rainy conditions, to clean that vision window section 106, 108 which is situated in the direction of travel of the vehicle more intensively than the other vision window sections 106, 108, which are for example wetted to a lesser degree by the rain or which, owing to the present direction of travel, do not need to be captured by the sensor 1 .

The wiper blade 14 is fastened exchangeably to a wiper arm 22. The movement of the wiper arm 22 with the wiper blade 14 is performed by an electric motor 24, which is coupled by means of a drive mechanism 23 to the wiper blade 14 and which forms a jointly movable structural unit 25 together with the wiper arm 22. For this purpose, the electric motor 24 and the wiper arm 22 are connected or coupled to a carrier element 26 as part of the drive mechanism 23. The carrier element 26 has a carrier plate 27, from the bottom side of which two guide elements 28, 30 of substantially cylindrical form project, the longitudinal axes (not illustrated) of which are arranged parallel to one another. On the side averted from the carrier plate 27, the guide elements 28, 30, which are in the form of guide pegs, have in each case one enlarged-diameter guide section 32 of round or circular form. Furthermore, a drive toothed gear 34 as drive element 33 is arranged rotatably on the bottom side of the carrier plate 27, which drive toothed gear is connected rotationally conjointly to an output shaft 35 of the electric motor 24.

The wiper arm 22 is connected via a coupling rod 36 to a coupling rod guide 37 fastened to the carrier element 26, wherein the coupling rod guide 37 has a guide 38 in the form of a guide slot, wherein the coupling rod 36 is arranged so as to be longitudinally adjustable along said guide. By means of a spring element in the form of a tension spring 39, the coupling rod 36 is acted on with force in the coupling rod guide 37 in the direction of the carrier plate 27 in order to enable the wiper blade 14 to abut against the vision window sections 106, 108. Serving for this purpose is inter alia a further tension spring 40, which is fastened between the wiper arm 22 and the coupling rod 36, wherein the wiper arm 22, which is arranged on that side of the coupling rod 36 which is averted from the carrier element 26, is mounted so as to be pivotable about an axis 41 .

On the upper region of the housing 102, said housing has an encircling guide 42 as a constituent part of the cleaning device 10, which guide is configured as a guide frame. The guide frame or the guide 42 serves for the at least indirect coupling of the structural unit 25 to the housing 102. For this purpose, the guide 42 has strip-shaped guide profile sections 44, 46 which are configured correspondingly to the shape of the vision window sections 106, 108. The guide profile sections 44, 46, which are produced in particular from plastic in an injection molding process, have toothed profile elements 48 on that side of the housing 102 which faces toward the interior space 104, which toothed profile elements interact with the drive toothed gear 34 of the structural unit 25 in order, in the event of a rotation of the output shaft 35 of the electric motor 24, to move the structural unit 25 along the vision window sections 106, 108 or along the housing 102. Furthermore, the guide profile sections 44, 46 have groove-like guide sections 50 which interact with the guide elements 28, 30 and the guide sections 32. In particular, the guide sections 32 also have the effect here that the structural unit 25 or the carrier element 26 is, as viewed in the direction of the longitudinal axis 18, arranged so as to be positionally fixed in the region of the guide 42.

Figures 3 and 4 illustrate a cleaning device 10a which differs from the cleaning device 10 in that the housing 102a, which is of square form in cross section, has only a single planar vision window section 106a with one vision field 12a. The guide 42a is configured as a guide profile 52 of rectilinear form. Furthermore, the guide element 28a connected to the wiper arm 22a is configured in the form of a profile section and is arranged or guided directly in the guide 42a of the guide profile 52. The carrier plate 27a, as part of the drive mechanism 23a, is fastened to the top side of the guide element 28a, which carrier plate, on one side, carries the electric motor 24, which is in turn coupled to the drive toothed gear 34. The drive toothed gear 34 meshes with the toothed profile 56 formed on the guide 42a. By contrast to the cleaning device 10a, it is provided that the electric motor 24 must be configured as a reversible electric motor 24 in order, by way of a back- and-forth movement corresponding to the double arrow 58, to allow cleaning of the (planar) vision window section 106a.

The above-described cleaning device 10, 10a may be altered or modified in a wide variety of ways without departing from the concept of the invention. In particular, in the case of both cleaning devices 10, 10a, provision may be made for cleaning liquid or water to be applied to the region of the vision window 12, 12a by means of corresponding spray nozzles in order to achieve an improved cleaning action. It is also conceivable for constituent parts of the cleaning device 10, 10a, in particular the drive mechanism 23, 23a, to be arranged below the vision field 12, 12a, for example for structural space reasons.

Reference designations

1 Sensor

10, 10a Cleaning device

12, 12a Vision field

14 Wiper blade

16 Wiper rubber

18 Longitudinal axis

20 Arrow

22, 22a Wiper arm

23, 23a Drive mechanism

24 Electric motor

25 Structural unit

26 Carrier element

27, 27a Carrier plate

28, 28a Guide element

30 Guide element

32 Guide section

33 Drive element

34 Drive toothed gear

35 Output shaft

36 Coupling rod

37 Coupling rod guide

38 Guide

39 Tension spring

40 Tension spring

41 Axis

42, 42a Guide

44 Guide profile section

46 Guide profile section

48 Toothed profile element

50 Groove-like guide section

52 Guide profile 56 Toothed profile

58 Double arrow

100 Environment recognition device

102, 102a Housing 104 Interior space

106, 106a First vision window section

108 Second vision window section

110 Vision window

Claims

1. Cleaning device (10; 10a) for an environment recognition device (100) of a vehicle, having a housing (102; 102a) which, in the region of a vision window (1 10), forms a vision field (12; 12a) for a sensor (1 ), having a wiper arm (22; 22a) which is arranged so as to be movable along the vision window (1 10) and which has a wiper blade (14) for cleaning the vision field (12; 12a), wherein the wiper arm (22; 22a) is coupled by means of a drive mechanism (23; 23a) to an electric motor (24), characterized in that the electric motor (24) forms a jointly movable structural unit (25) together with the wiper arm (22; 22a).

2. Cleaning device according to Claim 1 , characterized in that, in the region of the housing (102; 102a), there is formed a guide (42; 42a) along which the structural unit (25) is movable.

3. Cleaning device according to Claim 2, characterized in that the guide (42; 42a) is coupled at least indirectly in non-positively locking and/or positively locking and/or f nationally engaging fashion to a drive element (33) of the electric motor (24).

4. Cleaning device according to Claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the guide (42; 42a) has a toothed profile element (48) which is arranged positionally fixedly on the housing (102; 102a) and which interacts with a drive toothed gear (34), which is connected to the electric motor (24), as drive element (33). Cleaning device according to any one of Claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the structural unit (25) has a carrier element (26) for the fastening of the electric motor (24) and of the wiper arm (22; 22a), and in that the carrier element (26) interacts with at least one guide element (28; 28a, 30), which interacts with the guide (42; 42a), in order to guide the carrier element (26) with the wiper arm (22; 22a) and the wiper blade (14) in a defined position relative to the vision field (12; 12a) during the movement of the structural unit (25). Cleaning device according to Claim 5, characterized in that the at least one guide element (28; 28a, 30) is guided in positively locking fashion in a guide section (32; 50) of the guide (42; 42a). Cleaning device according to Claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the wiper arm (22) is coupled via a coupling rod (36) to the carrier element (26), in that the wiper arm (22) is fastened pivotably about an axis (41 ) to the coupling rod (36) on that side of the coupling rod (36) which is averted from the carrier element (26), and in that the coupling rod (36) is designed to be longitudinally adjustable and is acted on with force in the direction of the carrier element (36) by means of a spring element (39). Cleaning device according to any one of Claims 2 to 7, characterized in that, when the housing (102; 102a) is in an installed position in the vehicle, the guide (42; 42a) is arranged on a region of the housing (102; 102a) arranged above the vision field (12; 12a) and/or the vision window (1 10), preferably on the side facing towards an interior space (104) of the housing (102; 102a).

9. Cleaning device according to any one of Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the guide (42) is configured as an endless guide (42) which runs in encircling fashion on the housing (102), and in that the structural unit (25) is movable preferably only in one direction.

10. Cleaning device according to Claim 9, characterized in that the housing (102) has multiple, preferably four, planar first vision window sections (106), which are connected to one another by means of second vision window sections (108) of curved form.

11 . Cleaning device according to any one of Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the housing (102a) has a single planar vision window section (106a), and in that the structural unit (25) is movable back and forth along the vision window section (106a).