Vehicle Cleaner Nozzle Assembly With Integrated Feedback Flow Path
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle cleaner nozzles for in-vehicle cameras require further size reduction to effectively swing and inject cleaning liquids while maintaining efficiency, and their assembly processes are not optimized for improved work efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle cleaner nozzle design featuring a housing with a nozzle chip and holder that forms a feedback flow path for swinging and injecting cleaning liquids, allowing for miniaturization and improved assembly efficiency by accommodating the nozzle chip within the housing and assembling components along a common direction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the nozzle is miniaturized to reduce size, then the device becomes more compact, but the complexity of forming the feedback flow path increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the feedback flow path formation into the single act of accommodating the nozzle chip in the housing. The housing and nozzle chip are designed with complementary structures (housing with recessed portion and nozzle chip with protruding portion) that automatically form the feedback flow path when assembled, eliminating the need for separate flow path formation steps and reducing overall device complexity despite miniaturization.
Solution Approach 2:
The nozzle chip is nested within the housing, with the protruding portion of the nozzle chip fitting into the recessed portion of the housing. This nesting arrangement allows the feedback flow path to be formed within the compact nested structure, achieving miniaturization while maintaining the necessary flow path functionality through efficient space utilization.
2Productivity
If the assembly process is simplified to improve work efficiency, then productivity increases, but the precision of nozzle chip orientation may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The housing and nozzle chip are designed with pre-formed complementary structures (recessed portion and protruding portion) that guide the orientation of the nozzle chip during assembly. This preliminary structural design ensures that the feedback flow path is correctly formed and the nozzle chip is properly oriented as a result of the simple accommodation action, maintaining manufacturing precision while improving productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The complementary structures between the housing and nozzle chip enable self-alignment and self-orientation during assembly. The protruding portion naturally fits into the recessed portion in the correct orientation, allowing the assembly process to self-correct and ensure proper positioning without requiring complex alignment procedures, thus maintaining precision while simplifying the assembly process.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of assembling a vehicle cleaner nozzle provided in a vicinity of a leading end of a piston accommodated to be movable forward and backward with respect to a cylinder so as to inject a cleaning medium on an object to be cleaned which is mounted on a vehicle includes: assembling a nozzle chip to a housing along a first direction so as to form a feedback flow path for swinging and injecting the cleaning medium by accommodating the nozzle chip in an interior of the housing; and assembling the housing in a state where the housing accommodates the nozzle chip to a holder supported by the piston along the first direction.