Sensor device for detecting a degree of wetting and/or soiling of a vehicle pane, and a method of producing the sensor device

• US 6,573,995 B1
• Filed: 11/17/2000
• Issued: 06/03/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HELLA KG Hueck & Co.
• Original Assignee: HELLA KG Hueck & Co.
• Inventors: Boehlau, Christian, Beutner, Achim, Schaefer, Heiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Mack, Ricky
• Assistant Examiner(s): Harrington, Alicia M
• Application Number:
  US09/714,124
• Time in Patent Office: 928 Days
• Field of Search: 356/445, 250/227.25, 250/339.1, 318/480, 318/483
• US Class Current: 356/445
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 1/0822 characterized by the arrangement or type of detection means
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 1/0837 with a particular arrangement of the optical elements
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 1/0888 characterized by the attachment of the elements in a unit

Abstract

A sensor device for detecting the degree of wetting and/or soiling of a pane or windshield arranged in a motor vehicle includes individual radiation guide elements integrally molded onto a wall of a housing to be separated from one another by a blocking element of the wall. This reduces the amount of ambient radiation from the environment. A radiation emitter and a radiation receiver are structured as SMD components which are arranged on a circuit board carrier. The sensor device created in this way has a simple and compact design.

Claims

1. A sensor device for detecting a degree of wetting and/or soiling of a motor-vehicle pane, said sensor comprising:

a wall being able to be coupled to a surface of said motor-vehicle pane;

an emitter radiation guide element and a receiver radiation guide element extending through said wall;

a radiation emitter and a radiation receiver; and

collecting and directing coupling elements respectively associated with said radiation emitter and said radiation receiver, said collecting and directing coupling elements being respectively coupled to said emitter radiation guide element and said receiver radiation guide element, wherein optical axes of the collecting and directing coupling elements are aligned at acute angles to the motor-vehicle pane, and

wherein end faces of the emitter and receiver radiation guide elements facing away from the radiation emitter and receiver are flush with a side of the wall facing the motor-vehicle pane, and wherein the emitter and receiver radiation guide elements are separate from each other and are structured as one piece with the wall,

wherein said wall extends between the emitter and receiver radiation guide elements and is formed of a non-transparent material, and

wherein each of the emitter and receiver radiation guide elements is held in its respective opening in the wall by fusion of materials.

2. The sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the emitter and receiver radiation guide elements are in openings in the wall which are spaced from one another and are arranged so that radiation emitted by the radiation emitter is reflected on an outside of the motor-vehicle pane only once before being detected by the radiation receiver.

3. The sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the radiation emitter and the radiation receiver are positioned on a common circuit board with the circuit board being arranged parallel to the motor-vehicle pane and the optical axes of the radiation emitter and of the radiation receiver being oriented perpendicular to the pane.

4. The sensor device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of optical-guide element pairs arranged in the wall, each pair formed of emitter and receiver radiation guide elements projecting away from the wall in a V shape, with the radiation guide elements of one pair being arranged at an acute angles to a surface normal to the wall.

5. The sensor device according to claim 1, wherein each of the emitter and receiver radiation guide elements is structured in the form of an elongated optical member and wherein the end faces of the emitter and receiver radiation guide elements which are flush with the wall are inclined relative to longitudinal axes of the elongated optical members.

6. The sensor device according to claim 1, wherein each of the emitter and receiver radiation guide elements is integrally molded onto the edge of the wall forming its respective opening to thereby form a carrier module, with the carrier module having catch arms in an edge area thereof for locking engagement with a pot-shaped part of a housing which accommodates a circuit board which supports the radiation emitter and the radiation receiver.

7. The sensor device according to claim 6, wherein the circuit board is connected to the wall by a spacer, with a plug connector for the circuit board being integrated into the spacer.

8. A method of producing a sensor device for motor vehicles which is to be attached by a transparent coupling medium to a side of a light-transmissive pane of the motor vehicle, wherein at least one radiation guide element, which conducts radiation between one of a radiation emitter and a radiation receiver, is supported in a housing, said method comprising:

forming an end face of the radiation guide element together with a wall of the housing as one piece of resinous plastic by an at least two stage injection molding operation comprising;

a first stage wherein the radiation guide element is molded of a transparent plastic material and the.wall is molded of a non-transparent plastic material, and

a second stage wherein the radiation guide element and the wall are injection molded onto each other.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein a softening point of the plastic material which is molded in a first stage is greater than a softening point of the plastic material which is molded in the second stage.