Cover of vehicle optical sensor and vehicle optical sensor device
AssigneeDenso Corporation
InventorsManabu Ono, Toshihiro Hattori
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle optical sensor device has a snow/ice removal orifice for jetting the cleansing fluid toward an upper space of a lens and an optical sensor cleansing orifice for jetting the cleaning fluid toward a lens surface of the lens of a camera. The jetted fluid from the snow/ice removal orifice and the optical sensor cleansing orifice removes snow/ice protruding from a sensor top cover of a case into a front upper space of the lens in an eaves shape and foreign matter on the lens surface of the lens of the camera.
Claims28
A vehicle optical sensor cover comprising:
- a case having a sensor body cover and a sensor top cover,
- the sensor body cover housing an optical sensor and a lens arranged in front of the optical sensor;
- the sensor top cover being arranged above and covering the sensor body cover, the optical sensor and the lens, the sensor top cover including an eaves-shaped overhang that is arranged above the lens and the optical sensor that protrudes outwardly from the sensor body cover;
- and
- a fluid jet unit being arranged within the sensor top cover and having a snow/ice removal orifice arranged in the eaves-shaped overhang, the snow/ice removal orifice being configured to jet a fluid upward toward an area defined by an upper space of the sensor top cover.
A vehicle optical sensor cover comprising:
- a case having a sensor body cover and a sensor top cover, the sensor body cover housing an optical sensor that has a lens and the sensor top cover covering a top of the optical sensor that is housed in the sensor body cover;
- and
- a fluid jet unit having a snow/ice removal orifice and an optical sensor cleansing orifice, the snow/ice removal orifice jetting a fluid toward an upper space of the sensor top cover, and the optical sensor cleansing orifice jetting the fluid toward the lens of the optical sensor or toward the lens cover glass that opposes the lens, wherein
- the snow/ice removal orifice is disposed at a tip of an eaves-shaped portion of the sensor top cover protruding from a lens surface of the lens of the optical sensor or from a glass surface of the lens cover glass.
A vehicle optical sensor cover for use in a vehicle, comprising:
- a sensor case having a sensor body cover and a sensor top cover, the sensor body cover housing an optical sensor that has a lens and the sensor top cover covering a top of the optical sensor that is housed in the sensor body cover;
- a fluid jet unit having a snow/ice removal orifice and an optical sensor cleansing orifice, the snow/ice removal orifice jetting a fluid toward an upper space of the sensor top cover, and the optical sensor cleansing orifice jetting the fluid toward the lens of the optical sensor or toward the lens cover glass that opposes the lens, and
- a top heater for heating the sensor top cover of the sensor case, wherein
- the snow/ice removal orifice is disposed at a tip of an eaves-shaped portion of the sensor top cover protruding from a lens surface of the lens of the optical sensor or from a glass surface of the lens cover glass.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.