阅读说明：本技术 车载设备的清洁装置、清洁系统以及汽车 (Cleaning device and cleaning system of vehicle-mounted equipment and automobile ) 是由 王瑞 向少卿 于 2019-04-26 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明公开了一种车载设备的清洁装置,包括：基座；安装平台,设置于所述基座的顶部,用于安装所述车载设备；以及,至少三个喷嘴,设置于所述基座的主体上,且沿所述车载设备的周向均匀分布,所述喷嘴用于向所述车载设备的周壁喷射清洁液和/或空气从而清洁所述周壁,所述喷嘴的喷射方向与所述周壁的母线方向呈一预设夹角。(The invention discloses a cleaning device of vehicle-mounted equipment, which comprises: a base; the mounting platform is arranged at the top of the base and used for mounting the vehicle-mounted equipment; and the at least three nozzles are arranged on the main body of the base and are uniformly distributed along the circumferential direction of the vehicle-mounted equipment, the nozzles are used for spraying cleaning liquid and/or air to the circumferential wall of the vehicle-mounted equipment so as to clean the circumferential wall, and the spraying direction of the nozzles and the generatrix direction of the circumferential wall form a preset included angle.)

1. A cleaning device for an in-vehicle apparatus, characterized by comprising:

A base;

the mounting platform is arranged at the top of the base and used for mounting the vehicle-mounted equipment; and the number of the first and second groups,

the base comprises a base body, at least three nozzles and a cleaning liquid spraying device, wherein the base body is provided with a plurality of nozzles, the at least three nozzles are arranged on the base body and are uniformly distributed along the circumferential direction of the vehicle-mounted equipment, the nozzles are used for spraying cleaning liquid and/or air to the circumferential wall of the vehicle-mounted equipment so as to clean the circumferential wall, and an included angle between the spraying direction of the nozzles and the generatrix direction of the circumferential wall is an acute.

2. The cleaning apparatus as recited in claim 1,

the nozzle orifice of the nozzle is arc-shaped or flat.

3. The cleaning apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a rotating shaft around which the base is rotatable, thereby rotating the nozzle around a peripheral wall of the in-vehicle apparatus;

the rotating shaft is arranged to penetrate through the base, and the mounting platform is fixedly arranged at the top end of the rotating shaft.

4. The cleaning apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

and the driving device is used for driving the nozzle to swing to change the spraying direction of the nozzle, so that the angle of the preset included angle is adjusted.

5. The cleaning apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising:

A first channel connected to the nozzle for delivering cleaning liquid and/or air to the nozzle.

6. The cleaning apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising:

a first channel and a second channel;

the first channel is connected with the nozzle and is used for conveying cleaning liquid to the nozzle;

the second channel is connected to the nozzle for delivering air to the nozzle.

7. The cleaning apparatus defined in claim 6, further comprising:

and a cleaning liquid recovery part for recovering the cleaning liquid that cleans the peripheral wall of the onboard apparatus, the cleaning liquid recovery part having a drainage channel, a drainage port of the drainage channel being provided at a bottom of the cleaning liquid recovery part.

8. The cleaning apparatus as recited in claim 7,

the drain passage is communicated with the second passage.

9. A cleaning system for an in-vehicle device, comprising:

the cleaning device of any one of claims 1 to 6;

a housing having a cavity for receiving the cleaning device and the onboard apparatus and an opening disposed above the cavity; and the number of the first and second groups,

and the lifting mechanism can lift the vehicle-mounted equipment out of the cavity from the opening of the cavity or store the vehicle-mounted equipment into the cavity from the opening of the cavity.

10. The cleaning system of claim 9,

and a drainage channel is arranged at the bottom of the shell.

11. An automobile, comprising:

the cleaning device of any one of claims 1 to 6;

the cavity is arranged at the top of the automobile and provided with an upward opening, and the cavity is used for accommodating the cleaning device and the vehicle-mounted equipment; and the number of the first and second groups,

the lifting mechanism can lift the vehicle-mounted equipment out of the cavity from the opening of the cavity, or store the vehicle-mounted equipment into the cavity from the opening of the cavity.

12. The vehicle of claim 11,

and a drainage channel is arranged at the bottom of the cavity.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a cleaning device, and more particularly to a cleaning device and a cleaning system for an in-vehicle apparatus, and an automobile having the cleaning device mounted thereon.

Background

The unmanned automobile is an intelligent automobile which senses road environment through a vehicle-mounted sensing system, automatically plans a driving route and controls the automobile to reach a preset target. The vehicle-mounted sensor is used for sensing the surrounding environment of the vehicle, and controlling the steering and the speed of the vehicle according to the road, the vehicle position and the obstacle information obtained by sensing, so that the vehicle can safely and reliably run on the road.

The in-vehicle sensor is an in-vehicle device necessary to implement the unmanned automobile. The laser radar has the characteristics of long detection distance, high resolution, small environmental interference and the like, and is indispensable vehicle-mounted equipment of the unmanned automobile. The operating principle of lidar is roughly as follows: laser radar's transmitter launches a bundle of laser, and after laser beam met the object, through diffuse reflection, returned to laser receiver, radar module multiplies the velocity of light according to the time interval of sending and received signal, divides by 2 again, can calculate the distance of transmitter and object. In addition to range information, the lidar may also acquire other information of the target object, such as orientation, velocity, size, shape, reflectivity, etc.

However, unmanned vehicles loaded with lidar typically operate in open air environments. Take mechanical rotation type lidar as an example, it is installed in the top of unmanned vehicle usually, and lidar receives the invasion and attack of sleet, haze, dust, muddy water even easily for lidar's perisporium is polluted, causes lidar's detection performance to receive the influence or even unable normal work. Therefore, the laser radar needs to be cleaned. However, the manual cleaning has the problem of untimely performance, the detection performance of the laser radar cannot be guaranteed in real time, and the manual cleaning is time-consuming and labor-consuming.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art, the present invention proposes a cleaning device for a vehicle-mounted apparatus, comprising: a base; the mounting platform is arranged at the top of the base and used for mounting the vehicle-mounted equipment; and at least three nozzles which are arranged on the main body of the base and are uniformly distributed along the circumferential direction of the vehicle-mounted equipment, wherein the nozzles are used for spraying cleaning liquid and/or air to the circumferential wall of the vehicle-mounted equipment so as to clean the circumferential wall, and an included angle between the spraying direction of the nozzles and the generatrix direction of the circumferential wall is an acute angle.

According to one aspect of the invention, the nozzle orifice is arc-shaped or flat.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the base has a rotation shaft, around which the base is rotatable, thereby rotating the nozzle around a peripheral wall of the in-vehicle apparatus; the rotating shaft is arranged to penetrate through the base, and the mounting platform is fixedly arranged at the top end of the rotating shaft.

According to an aspect of the invention, the cleaning device further comprises: and the driving device is used for driving the nozzle to swing to change the spraying direction of the nozzle, so that the angle of the preset included angle is adjusted.

According to an aspect of the invention, the cleaning device further comprises: a first channel connected to the nozzle for delivering cleaning liquid and/or air to the nozzle.

According to an aspect of the invention, the cleaning device further comprises: a first channel and a second channel; the first channel is connected with the nozzle and is used for conveying cleaning liquid to the nozzle; the second channel is connected to the nozzle for delivering air to the nozzle. .

According to an aspect of the invention, the cleaning device further comprises: and a cleaning liquid recovery portion for recovering the cleaning liquid that cleans the peripheral wall of the onboard apparatus, the cleaning liquid recovery portion having a drainage channel, a drainage inlet of the drainage channel being provided at a bottom of the cleaning liquid recovery portion.

According to an aspect of the invention, the drain passage communicates with the second passage.

The invention also provides a cleaning system of the vehicle-mounted equipment, which comprises any one cleaning device in the invention contents; the cleaning system further comprises: a housing having a cavity for receiving the cleaning device and the onboard apparatus and an opening disposed above the cavity; and the lifting mechanism can lift the vehicle-mounted equipment out of the cavity from the opening of the cavity or store the vehicle-mounted equipment into the cavity from the opening of the cavity.

According to one aspect of the invention, the bottom of the housing is provided with a drainage channel.

In addition, the invention also provides an automobile, which comprises any one of the cleaning devices in the invention; the automobile further includes: the cavity is arranged at the top of the automobile and provided with an upward opening, and the cavity is used for accommodating the cleaning device and the vehicle-mounted equipment; and the lifting mechanism can lift the vehicle-mounted equipment out of the cavity from the opening of the cavity, or store the vehicle-mounted equipment into the cavity from the opening of the cavity.

According to one aspect of the invention, the bottom of the cavity is provided with a drainage channel.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the invention and not to limit the invention. In the drawings:

figure 1 shows a schematic view of a cleaning device with a lidar mounted thereto.

Detailed Description

In the following, only certain exemplary embodiments are briefly described. As those skilled in the art will recognize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and it will be understood that they are described herein for the purpose of illustration and explanation and not limitation.

In the description of the present disclosure, it is to be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", and the like, indicate orientations or positional relationships based on those shown in the drawings, and are used merely for convenience of description and for simplicity of description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element being referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore, should not be considered as limiting the present disclosure.

Furthermore, the terms "first", "second" and "first" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, features defined as "first", "second", may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the described features. In the description of the present disclosure, "a plurality" means two or more unless specifically limited otherwise.

Throughout the description of the present disclosure, it is to be noted that, unless otherwise expressly specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, e.g., as meaning either a fixed connection, a removable connection, or an integral connection, either mechanically, electrically, or otherwise in communication with one another; either directly or indirectly through intervening media, either internally or in any other relationship. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present disclosure can be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art as appropriate.

In the present disclosure, unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, the first feature "on" or "under" the second feature may comprise the first and second features being in direct contact, or may comprise the first and second features being in contact, not directly, but via another feature in between. Also, the first feature being "on," "above" and "over" the second feature includes the first feature being directly on and obliquely above the second feature, or merely indicating that the first feature is at a higher level than the second feature. A first feature being "under," "below," and "beneath" a second feature includes the first feature being directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or simply meaning that the first feature is at a lesser level than the second feature.

The following disclosure provides many different embodiments or examples for implementing different features of the disclosure. To simplify the disclosure of the present disclosure, specific example components and arrangements are described below. Of course, they are merely examples and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Moreover, the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/or reference letters in the various examples, which have been repeated for purposes of simplicity and clarity and do not in themselves dictate a relationship between the various embodiments and/or arrangements discussed. In addition, the present disclosure provides examples of various specific processes and materials, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize applications of other processes and/or use of other materials.

Fig. 1 shows a lidar cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the cleaning device 10 includes: a base 11, a mounting platform 12, and at least three nozzles 13 (only two of which are shown in fig. 1 by way of example). A mounting platform 12 is provided on top of the base 11 for mounting the lidar 20. The nozzle 13 is provided on the main body of the base 11, and extends obliquely upward from the base 11 to the side surface of the peripheral wall of the laser radar 20. The nozzles 13 are uniformly distributed along the peripheral wall of the laser radar 20 for spraying cleaning liquid and/or air toward the peripheral wall of the laser radar 20 to clean the peripheral wall 21 of the laser radar 20. The cleaning liquid may be glass water for cleaning the glass of the automobile, or may be clear water or any other kind of cleaning liquid, and is sprayed onto the peripheral wall 21 of the laser radar 20 through the nozzle 13 to clean the contaminants. The nozzle 13 may blow off dust attached to the peripheral wall 21 of the laser radar 20 by injecting air only to the peripheral wall 21 of the laser radar 20.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in order to achieve a better cleaning effect, the ejection direction of the nozzles 13 needs to be properly set. Preferably, the injection direction of the nozzle 13 is set to form a preset included angle α with the generatrix of the circumferential wall 21, the included angle α is preferably an acute angle, more preferably the included angle α is less than or equal to 45 degrees, still more preferably the included angle α is less than or equal to 30 degrees, and most preferably the included angle α is less than or equal to 15 degrees. The size of the included angle α is selected in relation to the shape of the peripheral wall 21 (vertical peripheral surface, peripheral surface with inward or outward curvature), the vertical dimension of the peripheral wall 21, the area of the peripheral wall 21 for emitting and/or receiving light, the spray intensity of the nozzle 13, the shape of the nozzle opening of the nozzle 13, and the like. Therefore, different included angles α can be set for different laser radars through specific experiments.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the shape of the nozzle 13 also needs to be properly set for better cleaning. Preferably, the nozzle shape of the nozzle 13 is set to be arc-like or flat. The spout is provided in an arc shape extending along the peripheral wall 21, and the arc shape can match with the curvature of the peripheral wall 21, so that the cleaning liquid and/or air ejected from the spout can be more attached to the surface of the peripheral wall 21, thereby achieving better cleaning effect. The nozzle may also be provided in a flat shape extending in the horizontal direction, so that the cleaning liquid and/or air ejected from the nozzle cleans a wider surface area of the peripheral wall 21. In addition, since the peripheral wall 21 of the laser radar has a certain height in the vertical direction, the nozzle 13 may be disposed to be movable up and down in the vertical direction on the base 11 to complete cleaning of the entire peripheral wall 21.

In order to clean the entire peripheral wall 21 in 360 degrees without dead angles, more nozzles 13, for example, 5, 6, 7 or even more nozzles 13, may be provided along the circumferential direction of the peripheral wall 21, as long as the arrangement is spatially possible. However, even if more nozzles 13 are provided, there may be a case where the cleaning effects of the ejection opening directing area and the ejection opening ejection edge area are different, so that the degree of cleaning of the peripheral wall 21 is not uniform. Therefore, the laser radar 20 can be spin-cleaned. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the cleaning device 10 may further have a rotating shaft 15, and the base 11 is rotatably connected to the rotating shaft 15 through a bearing and can rotate around the rotating shaft 15 under the driving of a motor, so as to drive the nozzle 13 disposed on the base 11 to rotate along the peripheral wall 21 of the laser radar 20. In this way, the cleaning device 10 can perform the rotation cleaning of the laser radar 20, thereby ensuring the uniformity of the degree of cleaning of the peripheral wall 21. The motor may be any type of motor as long as it can drive the base 11 to rotate around the rotating shaft 15, and it is preferably a dc stepping motor, and may rotate clockwise or counterclockwise. In order to avoid the winding problem of the pipeline disposed inside the base 11, the preferred embodiment is that the motor drives the base 11 to rotate clockwise/counterclockwise by a certain angle, and then drives the base 11 to rotate counterclockwise/clockwise. The single rotation angle in one direction may be 360 degrees, or an angle obtained by dividing 360 degrees by the number of nozzles, for example, when the number of nozzles is 3, the single rotation angle in one direction is 120 degrees, when the number of nozzles is 4, the single rotation angle in one direction is 90 degrees, and so on. In addition, the rotating shaft 15 is disposed to penetrate the base 11 from above, and the mounting platform 12 is fixedly disposed at the top end of the rotating shaft 15, so that the laser radar 20 is relatively fixed to the rotating shaft 15, and the laser radar 20 does not rotate along with the rotation of the base 11.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the base 11 is of a hollow structure, and its inner space is used to arrange the rotating shaft 15, bearings, motor, and lines for supplying cleaning liquid and/or air to the nozzles 13 and supplying power to the motor, etc. The nozzle 13 may be formed integrally with the base 11, i.e. the nozzle 13 is fixedly arranged on the base 11, and the hollow channel of the nozzle 13 communicates with the hollow structure of the base 11.

The nozzle 13 is fixedly disposed on the base 11 so that the spraying direction of the nozzle 13 is not fixed, and although the cleaning liquid and/or air sprayed from the nozzle 13 has a certain divergence angle and can cover a certain area, it may cause a situation that the cleaning degree in the generatrix direction of the peripheral wall 21 is not uniform. According to another embodiment of the present invention, in order to make the cleaning degree in the generatrix direction of the peripheral wall 21 more uniform, the cleaning device 10 further comprises a driving device (not shown in fig. 1) for driving the nozzle 13 to swing up and down in a vertical plane passing through the axis of the rotating shaft 15 to change the spraying direction of the nozzle 13, thereby adjusting the degree of the preset included angle between the spraying direction of the nozzle 13 and the generatrix direction of the peripheral wall 21. The oscillation of the nozzles 13 makes it possible to cause the ejection directions of the nozzles to scan up and down in the direction of the generatrix of the peripheral wall 21, thereby improving the uniformity of the degree of cleaning in the direction of the generatrix of the peripheral wall 21. The drive means may be a motor. The nozzle 13 may be movably connected to the base 11, for example, the two may be hinged, and the nozzle 13 has one-dimensional flexibility in a vertical plane passing through the axis of the rotating shaft 15, i.e., can swing up and down in the plane. The hollow channel of the nozzle 13 is connected to a duct for conveying cleaning liquid and/or air, which extends from the hollow formation of the base 11.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the cleaning device 10 further comprises a first channel (not shown in fig. 1) connected to the nozzle 13 for delivering cleaning liquid and/or air to the nozzle 13. The first channel may be provided in a hollow configuration of the base 11, for example made by compression moulding integral with the body of the base 11. The first channel may be connected to the glass tank of the unmanned vehicle on which lidar 20 is mounted by a conduit, such as a hose. In the case where the body of the base 11 and the nozzle 13 are also integrally formed, the first passage may be integrally communicated with the hollow passage of the nozzle 13. Alternatively, the first channel itself may be a conduit made separately from the body of the base 11, such as a hose, which may be connected directly to the glass tank of the unmanned vehicle on which the lidar 20 is mounted. Furthermore, a first channel may be provided extending in the hollow configuration of the base 11 and connected with the hollow channel of the nozzle 13. In the case where the nozzle 13 is movably connected to the base, for example, by a hinge, the first passage may be a hose provided on the outside of the base 11 and directly connected to the hollow passage of the nozzle 13. Further, the first passage may be connected not to the glass water tank but to an air compression pump for supplying air to the nozzle 13 to blow off dust attached to the laser radar 20.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the first channel is only used for delivering cleaning liquid to the nozzle 13, and the cleaning device 10 further comprises a second channel, which is also connected to the hollow channel of the nozzle 13, for delivering air to the nozzle 13. The first channel and the second channel can be connected with the hollow channel of the nozzle 13 through a Y-shaped adapter, and the conduction and the closing of the first channel and the second channel are respectively controlled through two valves, so that the conduction of one channel is ensured, the other channel is in a closed state, or both channels are in a closed state. According to this embodiment, when laser radar 20 needs to be cleaned, the first channel can be firstly conducted to convey the cleaning liquid to nozzle 13 to carry out liquid spraying cleaning on laser radar 20, and after the liquid spraying cleaning is completed, the first channel is closed and the second channel is conducted, so that air is conveyed to nozzle 13 to carry out gas blowing on laser radar 20, and liquid drops remained on laser radar 20 are blown off. In addition, the cleaning process can also be that gas spraying is carried out on the laser radar firstly, so that dust is blown off firstly, then liquid spraying cleaning is carried out, and finally gas spraying blow-drying is carried out. In addition, the laser radar 20 includes a plurality of nozzles 13, and during the cleaning process, one or some of the nozzles 13 may spray cleaning liquid, and some other nozzles 13 may spray gas, that is, the plurality of nozzles 13 may spray different substances, cleaning liquid or gas at the same time.

Because the lidar is usually arranged on the top of the unmanned automobile, a large amount of cleaning liquid is generated when the lidar is cleaned, and the cleaning liquid can flow from the top of the automobile to cause pollution to the automobile body. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the cleaning device 10 further includes a cleaning liquid recovery portion 16 for recovering the cleaning liquid for cleaning the peripheral wall 21 of the laser radar 20, the cleaning liquid recovery portion 16 having a drain passage (not shown in fig. 1) whose drain opening is provided at the bottom of the cleaning liquid recovery portion 16. As shown in fig. 1, the cleaning liquid recovery portion 16 may be provided below the base 11, for example, in a tray shape having a diameter larger than that of the laser radar 20, so that the cleaning liquid dropped from the laser radar 20 can be recovered. The cleaning solution recycling portion 16 can also serve as a base of the cleaning device 10, and the bottom end of the rotating shaft 15 can be fixedly arranged on the cleaning solution recycling portion 16. In addition, unlike the embodiment shown in fig. 1, the cleaning liquid recovery unit 16 may be fixedly installed on the installation platform 12. Further, the cleaning liquid recovery portion 16 may be provided in other shapes or configurations than a tray shape as long as it can be used to recover the cleaning liquid.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the drainage channel of the cleaning solution recycling portion 16 may be communicated with the air inlet end of the second channel, so that the waste cleaning solution remaining in the cleaning solution recycling portion 16 can be removed through the drainage channel by using the suction force generated at the air inlet end when the second channel delivers air to the nozzle 13 for gas spraying.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the present invention also discloses a cleaning system of an in-vehicle apparatus, including any one of the cleaning devices described in the above disclosure, the cleaning system further including: a housing having a cavity for receiving the cleaning device and the lidar and an opening disposed above the cavity; and a lifting mechanism capable of lifting the laser radar out of the cavity from the opening of the cavity or accommodating the laser radar into the cavity from the opening of the cavity. Since the lidar is usually disposed on the top of the unmanned vehicle, the cleaning solution is splashed around when the lidar is cleaned, which may affect surrounding pedestrians and vehicles. According to this embodiment, laser radar is when carrying out laser beam scanning and monitor unmanned vehicle surrounding environment, and elevating system carries out scanning work with laser radar from the cavity of the opening lifting of casing, and when laser radar's perisporium received the pollution needs to be washd, elevating system can accomodate laser radar to the cavity in and wash from the opening of casing to avoid the cleaning solution to sputter all around. In addition, the bottom of the housing of the cleaning system may be provided with a drain channel to drain away the washing waste liquid. The lifting mechanism can be a Z-shaped cross arm type mechanical structure and is arranged on the mounting platform. The lifting mechanism may be a structure realized by pushing and lifting the rotating shaft, and may be disposed in the base or at the bottom of the base. The lifting mechanism may be driven by a motor or may be driven by hydraulic or pneumatic pressure.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is also disclosed an automobile including any one of the cleaning devices described in the above disclosure, the automobile further including: the cavity is arranged at the top of the automobile and provided with an upward opening and used for accommodating the cleaning device and the laser radar; and the lifting mechanism can lift the laser radar out of the cavity from the opening of the cavity, or store the laser radar into the cavity from the opening of the cavity. In addition, the bottom of the cavity of the automobile can be provided with a drainage channel for draining the cleaning waste liquid.

Finally, it should be noted that: although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the embodiments and/or equivalents thereof without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.