Vehicle cleaning system
AssigneeDenso Corporation
InventorsYuusuke Yamauchi, Masaaki Kiyama, Yasuhiro Harita
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vehicle cleaning system is provided including a foreign object detection section configured to detect a foreign object present on a windshield, a foreign object removal device configured to clean the windshield to remove the foreign object, an actuation notification section configured to notify a user of actuation of the foreign object removal device, and a control section that, when the foreign object detection section has detected the foreign object, controls the actuation notification section so as to notify of actuation of the foreign object removal device before controlling the foreign object removal device so as to clean the windshield.
Claims8
A vehicle cleaning system comprising:
- a foreign object detector configured to detect a foreign object present on a windshield of a vehicle, the foreign object detector including a camera configured to acquire information about an image ahead of the vehicle through the windshield from inside a vehicle cabin of the vehicle and an infrared sensor configured to detect a water droplet on a surface of the windshield;
- a foreign object removal device configured to clean the windshield to remove the foreign object from the windshield, the foreign object removal device including a washer device configured to spray cleaning fluid toward the windshield, a wiper device configured to wipe the cleaning fluid adhering to the windshield with a wiper blade, and a remaining level sensor configured to detect an amount of the cleaning fluid remaining in a washer tank;
- an actuation notification section configured to notify a user of actuation of the foreign object removal device based on a signal output from the foreign object detector;
- a foreign object removal switch configured to enable the user to select a foreign object removal mode in which the foreign object removal device is automatically actuated to remove the foreign object detected to be present on the windshield by the foreign object detector;
- a cancel switch configured to enable the user to choose either to permit automatic actuation of the foreign object removal device when the foreign object removal mode is selected or, by actuation of the cancel switch while the foreign object removal mode is selected, cancel the automatic actuation of the foreign object removal device;
- and
- an electronic control unit configured to:
- (i) prohibit actuation of the washer device in a case in which the amount of the cleaning fluid remaining in the washer tank detected by the remaining level sensor is less than a lower limit value,
- (ii) in a case in which (a) the amount of the cleaning fluid remaining in the washer tank detected by the remaining level sensor is more than the lower limit value, and (b) the foreign object detector has detected the foreign object to be present on the windshield while the foreign object removal mode has been selected by the user having actuated the foreign object removal switch, control the actuation notification section to notify the user that the foreign object removal device will be actuated by providing an inquiry to the user as to whether or not to cancel the actuation of the foreign object removal device,
- (iii) in a case in which the actuation of the foreign object removal device is permitted by the user not actuating the cancel switch within a predetermined time period after the actuation notification section notified the user that the foreign object removal device will be actuated, control the washer device to actuate, and
- (iv) control the washer device to not actuate when the user actuates the cancel switch within the predetermined time period after the actuation notification section notified the user that the foreign object removal device will be actuated.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.