Of moving directions of a piston, the direction in which high-pressure air is delivered is a delivery direction, and the direction in the opposite direction from the delivery direction is a force accumulation direction. The piston is moved in the force accumulation direction by the moving mechanism, and moved in the delivery direction by the biasing force of the biasing spring in response to the release of the moving force exerted by the moving mechanism. The cylinder is provided with: a piston supporting portion that supports the piston; and a connection protrusion that has a delivery path for delivering the high-pressure air to the nozzle. The inner surface of an end of the piston supporting portion in the delivery direction is formed as a closed surface. The delivery path is located further toward the force accumulation direction than the closed surface is.

A spray structure for cleaning a sensor includes a first plate rotatably mounted on an environmental sensor, a plurality of first nozzles formed on the first plate and disposed toward the environmental sensor, and a fluid supply source configured to supply a fluid to the plurality of first nozzles so that the fluid is sprayed therethrough.

A computer includes a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the processor to collect first sensor data from a time-of-flight sensor, collect second sensor data from one or more sensors, generate a virtual map of at least one of a light reflectivity or a depth from the time-of-flight sensor from the collected first sensor data and the collected second sensor data, determine a difference between the light reflectivity or the depth of each pixel of the first sensor data from the light reflectivity or the depth of each corresponding pixel of the virtual map, determine an occlusion of the time-of-flight sensor as a number of pixels having respective differences of the light reflectivity or the depth exceeding an occlusion threshold, and actuate a component to clean the time-of-flight sensor when the occlusion exceeds an occlusion threshold.

A vehicle camera washing system includes a controller configured to control a pump and valve according to a selected mode of operation and a detected blockage of the lens. The selected mode of operation tailors operation of the camera washing system to current vehicle operating conditions to conserve washing fluid.

The present invention relates to a system for spraying a washing liquid, comprising a washing liquid tank, a plurality of spray members fluidically connected to the tank, a pump configured to supply the spray members with washing liquid, a plurality of valves coupled respectively to the plurality of spray members and configured to selectively transmit the pumped washing liquid to the respective spray members, wherein the plurality of valves are disposed in the form of a distribution block with an inlet of the block being configured to be fluidically connected to the pump and comprising fluidic connectors disposed in parallel and intended to be connected to spray members, and wherein the distribution block also comprises a mechanical overpressure valve disposed in parallel with the fluidic connectors and configured to be fitted on a fluidic connector of the distribution block.

A vehicle cleaner system includes: a cleaner unit configured to be mounted on a vehicle and to discharge a cleaning medium to an external sensor that acquires information outside the vehicle so as to clean the external sensor; and a cleaner control unit configured to control the cleaner unit. The cleaner control unit is configured to acquire weather information, and control the cleaner unit such that at least one of a type of the cleaning medium, a discharge amount of the cleaning medium, the number of times of discharge of the cleaning medium, the number of times of discharge of the cleaning medium per unit time, and a discharge time of the cleaning medium varies according to the weather information.

The present invention relates to a valve for a spray system for spraying a washing liquid comprising a valve body, enclosing a hydraulic cavity which is configured to be fluidically connected to a hydraulic conduit of the spray system and is intended to receive the washing liquid, a mobile element which is configured to be moved in the hydraulic cavity between an open position, in which it lets the washing liquid pass into the hydraulic conduit, and a closed position, in which it blocks the passage of the washing liquid into the hydraulic conduit, characterized in that the valve also comprises at least one opening provided in the wall, said opening being closed by an elastic membrane which is configured to be deformed if the washing liquid freezes in the hydraulic cavity.

A cleaning device for a surface, such as a windshield of a vehicle, includes an active positioning system and a cleaning head. The active positioning system is configured to deploy from a storage position hidden from view within a covered storage space and to position the cleaning head upon the windshield. The active positioning system includes a first extension member and a second extension member that move relative to one another to position the cleaning head, and also move the cleaning head across the windshield along a path. The cleaning head can have a brush portion configured to agitate debris from the window, and a drying portion configured to dry the window after cleaning. The cleaning device can be controlled via a touch-screen display in the vehicle, enabling a user to direct that specific portions of the windshield be cleaned as desired.

Disclosed is an assisted sensor cleaning system configured to receive support from a cooperative system that assists the sensor cleaning system. The assisted sensor cleaning system includes: an air cleaning system including a compressor to produce compressed air, and an air tank to store the compressed air. In particular, the air cleaning system is configured to clean an environmental sensor of a vehicle by using the compressed air from the compressor or the air tank. The assisted sensor cleaning system further includes: a cooperative system including a cooperative compressor to produce compressed air used for the cooperative system, and a cooperative air tank to store the compressed air. The assisted sensor cleaning system includes: a gate set to selectively supply the compressed air from the cooperative system to the air cleaning system; and an integrated controller configured to at least partially control an operation of the gate set.

An aspect of the invention refers to a system for cleaning an external vehicle-mounted sensor surface. The system comprises an air nozzle arranged to discharge air onto a sensor surface; an air pump comprising a fluid inlet, an air outlet, an air-fluid interface and a variable volume compression chamber communicated with the air outlet; an air flow control device communicated with the air nozzle and the air outlet for controlling the flow of air therethrough; and a liquid pump communicated with the fluid inlet to supply a flow of pressurized liquid such that the volume of the compression chamber varies to generate a volume of pressurized air with an absolute pressure below 10 bar.