Cleaning apparatus, roof module and method for cleaning a viewing area of a motor vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12454249-B2
Application number	US-202318176024-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 28, 2023
Priority date	Mar 7, 2022
Publication date	Oct 28, 2025
Grant date	Oct 28, 2025

Abstract

A cleaning apparatus for cleaning at least one viewing area of a motor vehicle, the cleaning apparatus may have at least one cleaning nozzle and an evaluation and control apparatus. The evaluation and control apparatus is configured to receive at least one sensor signal which comprises at least one piece of information on a motor vehicle environment condition and/or a motor vehicle parameter, to evaluate this information in order to determine an operation situation in this manner, to select a predetermined cleaning profile from a plurality of predefined cleaning profiles based on this information, and to control the at least one cleaning nozzle depending on the selected cleaning profile in order to clean the at least one viewing area.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A cleaning apparatus for cleaning at least one viewing area of a motor vehicle, the cleaning apparatus comprising:
at least one cleaning nozzle and an evaluation and control apparatus,
wherein the evaluation and control apparatus is configured to
receive at least one sensor signal which comprises at least one piece of information on a motor vehicle environment condition and/or a motor vehicle parameter,
to evaluate this at least one piece of information in order to determine an operation situation in this manner,
to select a predetermined cleaning profile from a plurality of predefined cleaning profiles based on this at least one piece of information,
to control the at least one cleaning nozzle depending on the selected cleaning profile in order to clean the at least one viewing area
to compare the determined operation situation to a plurality of predetermined and/or previously determined operation situations, for each of which an individual cleaning profile is predefined, and
to select preferably the cleaning profile of that predetermined and/or previously determined operation situation of the plurality of predetermined and/or previously determined operation situations which has the slightest deviation from the determined operation situation;

wherein the evaluation and control apparatus is further configured
to receive at least one inspection sensor signal,
to detect a partially selective degree of quality of the cleaning of the viewing area, and
to decide based on the determined degree of quality whether a cleaning was effective based on the cleaning profile selected for the determined operation situation, and
in the event that the cleaning was not effective, to modify the cleaning profile selected for the determined operation situation in order to effect a cleaning based on the modified cleaning profile when detecting the same or a similar operation situation in the future.

2. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one piece of information of the at least one sensor signal is selected from the group consisting of ambient temperature, ambient humidity, surrounding topography, wind speed, wind direction, intensity of solar radiation, aerosol concentration, geographical position, motor vehicle speed, and motor vehicle acceleration.

3. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the evaluation and control apparatus is configured to receive a plurality of sensor signals, to compare these with each other and/or to weight them against each other and/or to compare them to a corresponding predetermined threshold value and/or limit interval in order to determine the operation situation in this manner.

4. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one cleaning profile comprises at least one control command via which at least a discharge duration and/or a discharge pressure and/or a discharge amount and/or a discharge speed and/or a type of used cleaning fluid and/or a timing of cleaning fluid discharge and/or a pulsing of the cleaning fluid discharge of the at least one cleaning nozzle is controllable.

5. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the evaluation and control apparatus is configured to control at least a discharge pressure and/or a discharge amount and/or a discharge speed and/or a movement sequence and/or a discharge direction and/or a type of used cleaning fluid and/or a timing of a cleaning fluid discharge and/or a pulsing of the cleaning fluid discharge of the at least one cleaning nozzle depending on the selected cleaning profile.

6. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the evaluation and control apparatus is configured to store the determined operation situation together with the selected cleaning profile as a database entry, provided the determined operation situation is not comprised in the plurality of predetermined and/or previously determined operation situations.

7. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the evaluation and control apparatus is configured to determine the degree of quality selectively for each predetermined area of the at least one viewing area based on the inspection sensor signal.

8. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the evaluation and control apparatus is configured to replace the selected cleaning profile with a different predetermined cleaning profile and/or to modify at least one parameter of the selected cleaning profile to obtain the modified cleaning profile.

9. A roof module for forming a vehicle roof on a motor vehicle having: a panel component, which forms at least sections of a roof cladding of the vehicle roof, the roof cladding functioning as an outer sealing surface of the roof module, the motor vehicle having at least one environment sensor which is configured to transmit and/or to receive electromagnetic signals via a viewing area to chart a vehicle environment in this manner, and at least one cleaning apparatus according to claim 1 which is configured to clean the viewing area.

10. A motor vehicle having: a vehicle chassis and a roof module according to claim 9 , which is disposed on the vehicle chassis as a structural unit.

11. A method for cleaning a viewing area of a motor vehicle, the method comprising the following steps: providing the cleaning apparatus of claim 1 ;
receiving at least one sensor signal which comprises at least one piece of information on a motor vehicle environment condition and/or a motor vehicle parameter;
evaluating the at least one sensor signal in order to determine an operation situation in this manner;
selecting a predetermined cleaning profile from a plurality of predefined cleaning profiles based on the determined operation situation; and
controlling at least one cleaning nozzle depending on the selected cleaning profile in order to clean the at least one viewing area in this manner.

Assignees

• Webasto SE

Inventors

• Ehrmann Maximilian
• Sviberg Magnus
• Maier Andreas

Classifications

• B60S1/66

  for cleaning vehicle exterior · CPC title

• B62D25/00

  Superstructure {or monocoque structure} sub-units; Parts or details thereof not otherwise provided for {(having impact absorbing means B62D21/15; running-boards, steps, or the like as superstructure sub-unit B60R3/00)} · CPC title

• B62D25/06

  Fixed roofs (non-fixed roofs or like shelters B60J7/00; roof liners B60R13/02; insulating elements B60R13/08) · CPC title

• B60S1/486

  including control systems responsive to a vehicle driving condition, e.g. speed · CPC title

• B60S1/548

  according to vehicle movement characteristics, e.g. speed, or climatic conditions, e.g. wind · CPC title