Rotary wiper system
AssigneeWaymo LLC
InventorsSeth Gilbertson, Felix Jose Alvarez Rivera, Roger Best
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Abstract
The disclosure provides for a wiper system for cleaning a surface of a sensor housing, such as a sensor housing positioned on top of a vehicle. The wiper system includes a plurality of windows spaced around a sensor housing, and a plurality of wipers positioned around the sensor housing, each of the wipers includes a wiper blade configured to clean a corresponding window of the plurality of windows. The wiper system further includes a drive system including a movable part coupled to a motor. The motor is configured to drive the drive system to simultaneously rotate the plurality of wipers around the sensor housing such that the plurality of wipers remove debris from the plurality of windows.
Claims21
A system, comprising:
- a plurality of windows spaced apart and around a circumference of a sensor housing;
- a wiper ring;
- a plurality of wipers fixedly attached to the wiper ring, each given one of the plurality of wipers including a wiper blade;
- a drive system coupled to the wiper ring;
- and
- a first motor coupled to the drive system, the first motor configured to drive the drive system to rotate the wiper ring around the circumference of the sensor housing in two different directions such that each given one of the plurality of wipers repeatedly moves back and forth between a pair of opposing edges of a corresponding window of the plurality of windows in order to remove debris from the plurality of windows.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.