Ultrasonic lens cleaning system with foreign material detection
US-11237387-B2 · Feb 1, 2022 · US
US11745219B2 · US · B2
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Publication number | US-11745219-B2 |
| Application number | US-202017015923-A |
| Country | US |
| Kind code | B2 |
| Filing date | Sep 9, 2020 |
| Priority date | Jun 28, 2018 |
| Publication date | Sep 5, 2023 |
| Grant date | Sep 5, 2023 |
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A vibration apparatus includes a vibrating body that has a tubular shape and includes first and second opening end portions, an outside surface, and an inside surface, a light transmissive body connected to the second opening end portion of the vibrating body, and a piezoelectric vibrator provided in the vibrating body. The vibrating body includes a flange portion extending from the outside surface of the vibrating body toward an outside. The vibration apparatus further includes a driving circuit that vibrates a connection body of the light transmissive body and the vibrating body in a vibration mode of light transmissive body vibration or a vibration mode of flange portion vibration and that alternately switches between the vibration mode of the light transmissive body vibration and the vibration mode of the flange portion vibration.
Opening claim text (preview).
What is claimed is: 1. A vibration apparatus comprising: a vibrating body that has a tubular shape and includes a first opening end portion, a second opening end portion, and an outside surface and an inside surface with which the first opening end portion is connected to the second opening end portion; a light transmissive body connected to the second opening end portion of the vibrating body; and a piezoelectric vibrator provided in the vibrating body to vibrate a connection body of the light transmissive body and the vibrating body; wherein the vibrating body includes a flange portion extending from the outside surface of the vibrating body toward an outside; and the vibration apparatus further includes a driving circuit that is electrically connected to the piezoelectric vibrator, that vibrates the connection body of the light transmissive body and the vibrating body in a vibration mode of light transmissive body vibration or a vibration mode of flange portion vibration, and that alternately switches between the vibration mode of the light transmissive body vibration and the vibration mode of the flange portion vibration. 2. A vibration apparatus comprising: a vibrating body that has a tubular shape and includes a first opening end portion, a second opening end portion, and an outside surface and an inside surface with which the first opening end portion is connected to the second opening end portion; a light transmissive body connected to the second opening end portion of the vibrating body; and a piezoelectric vibrator provided in the vibrating body to vibrate a connection body of the light transmissive body and the vibrating body; wherein the vibrating body includes a flange portion extending from the outside surface of the vibrating body toward an outside; and the vibration apparatus further includes: a driving circuit that is electrically connected to the piezoelectric vibrator, that vibrates the connection body of the light transmissive body and the vibrating body in a vibration mode mainly using light transmissive body vibration or a vibration mode mainly using flange portion vibration, and that alternately switches between the vibration mode mainly using the light transmissive body vibration and the vibration mode mainly using the flange portion vibration; wherein a resonant frequency of the light transmissive body vibration is denoted by f1 and a resonant frequency of the flange portion vibration is denoted by f2, and a vibration frequency in the vibration mode mainly using the light transmissive body vibration is a frequency within a frequency range including f1 and a vibration frequency in the vibration mode mainly using the flange portion vibration is a frequency within a frequency range including f2. 3. The vibration apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the vibrating body includes a tubular first vibrating body portion, a frame-shaped second vibrating body portion, and a frame-shaped connecting portion with which the first vibrating body portion is connected to the second vibrating body portion; and the first vibrating body portion includes the first opening end portion and the second vibrating body portion includes the second opening end portion. 4. The vibration apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the flange portion is provided in the second vibrating body portion. 5. The vibration apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein, in a plan view, an outer periphery of the connecting portion is overlapped with the light transmissive body. 6. The vibration apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein, in a plan view, an outer periphery of the connecting portion is overlapped with an outer periphery of the first vibrating body portion, and an inner periphery of the connecting portion is positioned outside inner peripheries of the first vibrating body portion and the second vibrating body portion. 7. The vibration apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the first vibrating body portion has a cylindrical shape, the second vibrating body portion has a ring shape, and the connecting portion has a ring shape. 8. The vibration apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the vibration mode of the light transmissive body vibration is a vibration mode in which a node of the vibration is not positioned inside an outer periphery in a plan view in the light transmissive body and a central portion of the light transmissive body has a maximum or substantially maximum amplitude; and the vibration mode of the flange portion vibration is a vibration mode in which an outer periphery has a maximum or substantially maximum amplitude in a plan view of the flange portion. 9. The vibration apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein a resonant frequency in the vibration mode of the light transmissive body vibration is denoted by f1 and a resonant frequency in the vibration mode of the flange portion vibration is denoted by f2, and a normalized frequency difference {(f1−f2)/f1}×100(%) resulting from normalization of a frequency difference (f1−f2) between the resonant frequency f1 in the vibration mode of the light transmissive body vibration and the resonant frequency f2 in the vibration mode of the flange portion vibration with the resonant frequency f1 in the vibration mode of the light transmissive body vibration is not smaller than about −70% and not larger than about −10%. 10. The vibration apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein, a resonant frequency in the vibration mode of the light transmissive body vibration is denoted by f1 and a resonant frequency in the vibration mode of the flange portion vibration is denoted by f2, and a normalized frequency difference {(f1−f2)/f1}×100(%) resulting from normalization of a frequency difference (f1−f2) between the resonant frequency f1 in the vibration mode of the light transmissive body vibration and the resonant frequency f2 in the vibration mode of the flange portion vibration with the resonant frequency f1 in the vibration mode of the light transmissive body vibration is not smaller than about 10% and not larger than about 20%. 11. The vibration apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein an absolute value of a difference between a coupling coefficient in the vibration mode of the light transmissive body vibration and a coupling coefficient in the vibration mode of the flange portion vibration is not larger than about 2%. 12. The vibration apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the piezoelectric vibrator is provided in the first opening end portion of the vibrating body. 13. The vibration apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein, a direction connecting the first opening end portion to the second opening end portion is defined as an axial direction, and the light transmissive body is connected to an outermost portion of the vibrating body in the axial direction. 14. A vibration apparatus comprising: a vibrating body that has a tubular shape and includes a first opening end portion and a second opening end portion; a light transmissive body connected to the second opening end portion of the vibrating body; and a piezoelectric vibrator that vibrates a connection body of the light transmissive body and the vibrating body; wherein the vibrating body includes a flange portion extending toward an outside of the second opening end portion to which the light transmissive body is connected; and the vibration apparatus further includes a driving circuit that is electrically connected to the piezoelectric vibrator, that vibrates a connecting portion of the light transmissive body and the vibrating body in a vibration mode of light transmissive body vibration or a vibration mode of flange portion vibrat
of cylindrical shape · CPC title
Driving circuits (specially adapted for particular applications, see the relevant subclass, e.g. G01; circuits for steering transducer arrays G10K11/34; basic circuits H03) · CPC title
with means to keep optical surfaces clean, e.g. by preventing or removing dirt, stains, contamination, condensation (G02B1/18 takes precedence; cleaning in general B08B) · CPC title
Bodies · CPC title
using bending displacement, e.g. unimorph, bimorph or multimorph cantilever or membrane benders · CPC title
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