Optical Unit Nozzle Fluid Channel and Fixing Part
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing optical units, such as camera units on vehicles, face challenges in easy installation in narrow spaces due to the need for a nozzle to eject fluid for cleaning, which complicates placement and installation within confined areas like those surrounded by vehicle design parts and panels.
Innovation Solution
An optical unit design featuring a nozzle with a fluid flow channel that increases in width and decreases in thickness from the base to the distal end, allowing for pressurized fluid ejection and improved cleaning performance, combined with a fixing part that slidably engages over the optical sensor and nozzle for integral fixation and easy installation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a nozzle is added to eject fluid for cleaning the optical sensor, then cleaning performance is improved, but installation difficulty increases due to narrow space constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The fixing part serves dual functions: it secures the optical sensor to the housing and simultaneously holds the nozzle in position. By combining these two functions into a single component, the structure avoids requiring separate mounting mechanisms for the nozzle, thereby simplifying installation in narrow spaces while maintaining effective fluid ejection capability
Solution Approach 2:
The fixing part is designed as a multi-functional component that performs both sensor fixation and nozzle positioning. This universal component approach allows the same structural element to fulfill multiple roles, reducing the overall complexity of the assembly and facilitating easier installation without compromising cleaning performance
2Volume of moving object
If the nozzle is placed in a narrow space near the optical sensor, then space utilization is improved, but placement difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The nozzle is positioned within the space defined by the fixing part structure, effectively nesting it within the existing component boundaries. This nesting approach allows the nozzle to be placed in the narrow available space adjacent to the optical sensor without requiring additional external mounting structures, thereby improving space utilization while maintaining placement feasibility
3Stress or pressure
If the fluid flow channel increases in width from base to distal end, then fluid pressurization is improved, but nozzle complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The nozzle achieves fluid pressurization by gradually changing the geometric parameters of the fluid flow channel, specifically increasing the channel width from the base toward the distal end. This continuous parameter change creates a pressure gradient that accelerates the fluid without requiring complex mechanical pressurization mechanisms, thereby maintaining simple nozzle structure while achieving effective fluid ejection
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
Enables efficient removal of attached substances from optical surfaces while facilitating easy installation in narrow spaces by ensuring accurate fluid ejection and reducing pressure loss, thus enhancing the optical unit's performance and usability.
Implementation Method 1
a fluid flow channel of the nozzle increases in width as the fluid flow channel extends from a base end side of the nozzle toward a distal end side of the nozzle and decreases in thickness as the fluid flow channel extends from the base end side of the nozzle toward the distal end side of the nozzle
Data Source
AI summary
An optical unit includes an optical sensor, a nozzle and a fixing part. The nozzle is positioned and configured to eject fluid onto an optical surface of the optical sensor. The fixing part is slidably engaged over the optical sensor and the nozzle from a side of the optical sensor having the optical surface and integrally fixes the optical sensor and the nozzle to each other.