Enclosure for an optoelectronic sensor and lidar sensor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11630187-B2
Application number	US-202016815139-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 11, 2020
Priority date	Mar 27, 2019
Publication date	Apr 18, 2023
Grant date	Apr 18, 2023

Abstract

An enclosure for an optoelectronic sensor. The enclosure includes a thermodynamically open first chamber; a thermodynamically closed second chamber; and a rotor extending from the first chamber into the second chamber. The rotor includes a shaft part in the second chamber coaxial to the rotational axis of the rotor. The shaft part mounts an optoelectronic sensor device. The rotor includes a head part in the first chamber coaxial to the rotational axis of the rotor. A heat dissipation fan is fixedly arranged on and surrounds the head part. The head part and the fan are rotatably and thermally coupled to the shaft part to rotate simultaneously with the shaft part. The rotor transfers heat over the shaft part from the second chamber to the head part and the fan dissipates the transferred heat to an environment.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An enclosure for an optoelectronic sensor, comprising:
a first chamber which is thermodynamically open;
a second chamber arranged adjacent to the first chamber; and
a rotor which extends from the first chamber into the second chamber, wherein the rotor includes:
a shaft part arranged in the second chamber coaxially to a rotational axis of the rotor, wherein the shaft part includes an arrangement configured to mount an optoelectronic sensor device; and
a head part which is arranged in the first chamber coaxially to the rotational axis of the rotor, wherein a heat dissipation fan is fixedly arranged on the head part and surrounding the head part, the head part and the heat dissipation fan being rotatably and thermally coupled to the shaft part and rotate simultaneously with the shaft part around the rotational axis of the rotor;

wherein the rotor is configured to transfer heat over the shaft part from the second chamber to the head part arranged in the first chamber, and the heat dissipation fan of the head part is configured to dissipate the heat, transferred from the second chamber to the first chamber over the rotor, to an environment, wherein the heat is dissipated to the environment by an external air flow entering the first chamber and/or by generating a forced convection heat transfer due to rotation of the rotor.

2. The enclosure according to claim 1 , wherein at least one heat pipe is arranged inside of the shaft part, the at least one heat pipe being configured to transfer heat from the second chamber to the heat dissipation fan.

3. The enclosure according to claim 2 , wherein the at least one of the at least one heat pipe extends into the head part.

4. The enclosure according to claim 2 , wherein the at least one heat pipe includes a liquid medium, in an internal volume of the at least one heat pipe, comprising ethanol, and/or methanol, and/or water, and/or aqueous ammonia, and/or acetone.

5. The enclosure according to claim 2 , wherein the head part includes a vapor chamber arranged in a center of the head part coaxially to the rotational axis of the rotor, wherein the at least one heat pipe includes at least two heat pipes that extend from an internal volume of the shaft part and terminate into the vapor chamber, and the at least two heat pipes are fluidly coupled to each other, to form a system within the rotor.

6. The enclosure according to claim 3 , wherein the at least one heat pipe includes at least two heat pipes in a center of the shaft part, wherein the at least two heat pipes extend parallel to each other and parallel to the rotational axis of the rotor ( 4 ) and/or in a V-like arrangement, and wherein the at least two heat pipes diverge in the shaft part with respect to the rotational axis in a direction extending away from the head part.

7. The enclosure according to claim 1 , wherein a motor is configured to transmit a rotational movement to the rotor, and the motor is arranged adjacently to the shaft part in the second chamber.

8. The enclosure according to claim 1 , wherein the first chamber includes air openings.

9. The enclosure according to claim 1 , wherein a portion separating the first and the second chamber includes a bearing which is configured to support a rotational movement of the rotor and which is configured to keep the second chamber thermodynamically closed.

Assignees

• Bosch Gmbh Robert

Inventors

• Oliveira Joao
• Holleczek Annemarie
• Ferreira Miguel

Classifications

• H10W40/73

  for cooling by change of state · CPC title

• F28D15/02

  in which the medium condenses and evaporates, e.g. heat pipes {(heat pipes used in solar heat collectors F24S10/95; in radiators F28D1/0226; in nuclear reactors G21C15/257)} · CPC title

• H02K9/225

  Heat pipes · CPC title

• F28F5/00

  Elements specially adapted for movement · CPC title

• G01S7/481

  Constructional features, e.g. arrangements of optical elements · CPC title