Utlrasonic lens cleaner
AssigneeTexas Instruments Incorporated
InventorsDavid Patrick Magee, Mohammad Hadi Motieian Najar
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus includes a lens, a transducer and a driver, where the lens has a first side, a second side, and a lens radius, and the transducer has a transducer outer radius. The transducer is coupled to the first side of the lens, and the transducer outer radius is less than the lens radius. The driver has output terminals coupled to the transducer and is configured to provide an oscillating drive signal at a non-zero frequency to vibrate the lens. An o-ring is positioned between a clamp and the second side of the lens, where the o-ring has a nominal radius that is less than or equal to a nominal radius of the transducer.
Claims20
An apparatus, comprising:
- a lens having a first side, a second side, and a lens radius;
- a transducer having a transducer outer radius, the transducer being coupled to the first side of the lens and configured to vibrate the lens, the transducer outer radius being less than the lens radius;
- and
- a driver having output terminals coupled to the transducer and configured to provide an oscillating drive signal at a non-zero frequency to vibrate the lens.
An apparatus, comprising:
- a lens having a first side and a second side;
- a transducer having a nominal radius, the transducer being coupled to the first side of the lens and configured to vibrate the lens;
- an o-ring between a clamp and the second side of the lens, the o-ring having a nominal radius that is less than or equal to the nominal radius of the transducer;
- and
- a driver having output terminals coupled to the transducer and configured to provide an oscillating drive signal at a non-zero frequency to vibrate the lens.
A method, comprising:
- providing an oscillating drive signal to a transducer configured to vibrate a lens in a first frequency range that includes a first non-zero resonant frequency of a bimodal vibration frequency response of the lens for a first non-zero cleaning time;
- and
- providing the oscillating drive signal to the transducer configured to vibrate the lens in a second frequency range that includes a second non-zero resonant frequency of the bimodal vibration frequency response of the lens for a second non-zero cleaning time.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.