Optical Device Housing Airflow Guide for Condensation Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing imaging devices face challenges with condensation on circuit boards, leading to insulation failures, and current solutions like coating with drip-proof materials or encapsulating drying agents increase manufacturing costs or trap heat excessively.
Innovation Solution
An optical device design with a housing that has an opening to house a lens assembly and circuit board, featuring a mechanism that guides air entering the housing to avoid direct contact with the circuit board, thereby reducing condensation without sealing the housing or using expensive materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the housing is sealed to prevent condensation, then condensation risk is reduced, but heat generated from the circuit board is excessively trapped
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is designed with selective sealing: the main housing body is sealed to prevent condensation on the circuit board, while specific localized regions (ventilation holes in the lens holder) remain open to allow heat dissipation. This creates different protective qualities in different parts of the same structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The lens holder acts as an intermediary component that provides ventilation pathways through its ventilation holes. These holes serve as mediators between the sealed housing interior and the external environment, allowing heat to escape while the overall housing remains sealed against moisture.
2Reliability
If drip-proof material is coated on the circuit board to prevent condensation, then insulation reliability is improved, but manufacturing cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The condensation prevention function is extracted from the circuit board itself and relocated to the housing structure. Instead of modifying the circuit board with coatings, the sealed housing design with ventilation holes provides condensation prevention through structural means, eliminating the need for additional materials and coating processes.
3Reliability
If the housing is designed with closable passage and moisture permeable material to prevent condensation, then condensation risk is reduced, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The design uses standard, readily available housing materials and simple ventilation hole structures instead of expensive specialized moisture permeable materials. The solution relies on basic geometric features (holes in the lens holder) rather than costly functional materials.
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
This design effectively reduces the risk of condensation on circuit boards, preventing insulation failures and maintaining a simpler structure while minimizing manufacturing costs, and ensures efficient heat transfer and dust prevention.
Implementation Method 1
The passage guides air, entering an inside of the housing via the opening, so as not to be directed toward the circuit board
Data Source
AI summary
In an optical device, a lens assembly includes a lens for receiving light and a holder for holding the lens. A circuit board performs at least one process based on the received light. A housing has an opening and is configured to house the lens assembly and the circuit board therein such that at least part of the circuit board faces the lens assembly, and the lens assembly is exposed via the opening. A mechanism for defining a passage located around the lens assembly to communicate with the opening. The passage guides air, entering an inside of the housing via the opening, so as not to be directed toward the circuit board.