Suspended Camera Cover Glass For Ultrasonic Cleaning
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorsJason Grodahl, Zachary T. Bonefas, Joseph J. Ellerbach, Jason Phillip Brown
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sensor assembly that includes a housing that defines a cavity therein, a lens disposed in the cavity, an image sensor disposed in the cavity, a cover glass movably coupled to the housing, and a piezoelectric device coupled to the cover glass. The image sensor is aligned with the lens along an optical axis of the sensor assembly. The cover glass is positioned outward from the lens and the image sensor such that the image sensor is configured to capture images within a field of view of the lens through the cover glass. The piezoelectric device is configured to oscillate the cover glass to clean one or more surfaces of the cover glass.
Claims20
A sensor assembly, comprising:
- a housing that defines a cavity therein;
- a lens disposed in the cavity;
- an image sensor disposed in the cavity and aligned with the lens along an optical axis of the sensor assembly;
- a cover glass movably coupled to the housing and positioned outward from the lens and the image sensor such that the image sensor is configured to capture images within a field of view of the lens through the cover glass;
- and
- a piezoelectric device coupled to the cover glass and configured to oscillate the cover glass to clean one or more surfaces of the cover glass.
A sensor assembly for an agriculture machine, comprising:
- a housing;
- a lens disposed in the housing along an optical axis of the sensor assembly;
- an image sensor disposed in the housing and positioned inward from the lens along the optical axis;
- a cover glass movably coupled to the housing by a cover glass seal, wherein the image sensor is configured to capture images within a field of view of the lens through the cover glass;
- and
- a piezoelectric device coupled to a surface of the cover glass and configured to vibrate the cover glass to clean the cover glass,
- wherein the cover glass seal is configured to maintain a seal between the cover glass and the housing when the cover glass is vibrated by the piezoelectric device.
A sensor assembly, comprising:
- a housing that defines a cavity therein, wherein the housing includes a main housing and a front housing coupled to the main housing;
- a sensor disposed in the cavity;
- a cover glass coupled to the main housing by a cover glass seal, wherein the cover glass seal is compressed between the front housing and the main housing to form a waterproof seal therebetween and to couple the cover glass to the main housing in a suspended state that allows movement of the cover glass with respect to the housing while maintaining the waterproof seal;
- and
- a piezoelectric device coupled to the cover glass and configured to vibrate the cover glass with respect to the housing to clean the cover glass.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.