Imaging Cover Vibration Cleaning Without a Movable Nozzle
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cleaning devices for imaging units, which rely on moving nozzles to discharge cleaning liquids, are structurally complex and prone to reliability issues and unsatisfactory cleaning results if the nozzle fails to move to the cleaning position.
Innovation Solution
A cleaning device that includes a holder section for the imaging device, a light-transmissive member in the imaging field, a vibrator section that vibrates the light-transmissive member, and a discharge section that directs a cleaning liquid to the opposite side of the light-transmissive member, allowing the liquid to move across the surface due to the vibration, ensuring thorough cleaning without the need for a movable nozzle.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a movable nozzle is used to discharge cleaning liquid, then the cleaning device can target specific areas, but the device becomes structurally complicated and less reliable
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of moving the nozzle to different positions for cleaning different areas, the invention inverts the approach by keeping the nozzle stationary and moving the light-transmissive member itself through vibration. This eliminates the complexity of movable nozzle mechanisms while achieving comprehensive cleaning coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention applies dynamic vibration to the light-transmissive member to enable the cleaning liquid to reach different areas of the surface. The vibration creates relative motion between the cleaning liquid and the surface, allowing a stationary nozzle to effectively clean the entire surface area.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a movable nozzle is used to discharge cleaning liquid, then the cleaning device can adjust cleaning position, but the reliability decreases due to vulnerability to malfunction
Solution Approach 1:
The invention swaps the movable component with a stationary one by making the nozzle fixed and the light-transmissive member the moving element through vibration. This eliminates mechanical complexity and potential failure points in the nozzle positioning mechanism, significantly improving reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the mechanical movable nozzle system with a vibration-based cleaning mechanism. Instead of using mechanical motion to position the nozzle, the system uses vibration to achieve the same cleaning effect, eliminating mechanical failure modes.
3Reliability
If the nozzle fails to move to the cleaning position, then the device avoids mechanical failure, but the cleaning results become unsatisfactory
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses dynamic vibration of the light-transmissive member to ensure that cleaning liquid reaches all areas of the surface. The vibration creates sufficient motion to distribute the cleaning liquid uniformly across the entire surface, maintaining high cleaning quality without requiring nozzle movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention directly applies mechanical vibration to the light-transmissive member to achieve cleaning. The vibration causes the cleaning liquid to spread and penetrate the surface effectively, ensuring satisfactory cleaning results while eliminating the need for movable nozzle mechanisms.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The proposed cleaning device achieves reliable and satisfactory cleaning results by utilizing vibration to move the cleaning liquid across the light-transmissive member, improving efficiency and reducing the complexity and reliability issues associated with movable nozzle systems.
Implementation Method 1
a vibrator section (12) that vibrates the light-transmissive member (2)
Implementation Method 2
the vibrator section (12) vibrates the light-transmissive member (2) so as to generate a portion of surface of the light-transmissive member (2) that exhibits an amount of displacement larger than that of a portion of surface of the light-transmissive member (2) that the discharged cleaning liquid (200) has reached
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
The present invention provides a reliable cleaning device for which a satisfactory cleaning results can be expected and also provides an imaging unit equipped with the cleaning device. The cleaning device for an imaging unit (100) includes a housing (1) that holds an imaging section (5), a protection cover (2) disposed in the visual field of the imaging section (5), a vibrator section (12) that vibrates the protection cover (2), and a cleaning nozzle (3) that discharge a cleaning liquid so as to cause the cleaning liquid to reach a surface of side of the protection cover (2) that is opposite to the side thereof near the imaging section (5). The vibrator section (12) vibrates the protection cover (2) so as to generate a portion of surface of the protection cover (2) that exhibits an amount of displacement larger than that of a portion of surface of the protection cover (2) that the discharged cleaning liquid has reached.