LENS HOOD FOR WINDSHIELD CAMERA

Abstract

In a lens hood for a camera on an inner face of a motor vehicle glass and having a floor in which a flat heating element is embedded. Opposite faces of the heating element are parallel with an upper and/or lower face of the floor, and the lens hood is made by plastic injection molding. Both an upper and a lower face of the flat heating element embedded in the floor are covered by respective upper and lower layers of the plastic, and a spacer holds the flat heating element in a centered position between the upper and lower faces of the floor.

Claims

1. In a lens hood for a camera on an inner face of a motor vehicle glass and having a floor in which a flat heating element is embedded, the improvement wherein: opposite faces of the heating element are parallel with an upper and/or lower face of the floor, the lens hood is made by plastic injection molding; both an upper and a lower face of the flat heating element embedded in the floor are covered by respective upper and lower layers of the plastic; and a spacer holds the flat heating element in a centered position between the upper and lower faces of the floor.

2. The improvement defined in claim 1, wherein the spacer is formed by a textile.

3. The improvement defined in claim 2, wherein the textile is permeable to the liquefied plastic from which the upper and lower layers are injection-molded.

4. The improvement defined in claim 2, wherein the textile has intermediate spaces permeable to the liquefied plastic from which the layers are injection molded.

5. The improvement defined in claim 4, wherein the textile is a mesh embedded in one of the layers..

6. The improvement defined in claim 1, further comprising another mesh in the other layer.

7. The improvement defined in claim 1, wherein the flat heating element is formed by a heated film which has an electrically conducting coating and/or conducting tracks.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0014] The above and other objects, features, and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

[0015] FIG. 1 is a largely schematic view of an auto camera with a lens hood according to the invention;

[0016] FIG. 2 is a section taken along line II-II through the floor of the lens hood of FIG. 1.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] As seen in FIG. 1 a camera 8 is fastened to the internal face of a motor vehicle glass 9, in particular of a windshield, a lens hood having a generally horizontal floor 1 and generally vertical side walls 2 is provided in front of and below the a lens opening 7 of the camera 8. The glass can be a front or rear windshield or the lens of a body-mounted camera forming part of a self-driving or lane-holding system.

[0018] The floor 1 of the lens hood is as shown in FIG. 2 composed of at least three layers, that is to say an upper plastic layer 2, one lower plastic layer 3, and one layer of a flat heating element 4 that is provided between the two layers and generates heat. The two plastic layers 2 and 3 are composed of a polymer plastic.

[0019] The lens hood and its floor 1 are produced by plastic injection molding in one operational step, and the flat heating element 4 is placed into the mold prior to the plastic being injected thereinto. Moreover, at least one spacer 5 that ensures that the injected plastic makes its way to both sides of the heating element such that the heating element 4 is centered between the two plastic layers 2 and 3 when placed into the mold on one side of the flat heating element 4.

[0020] The spacer 5 in the illustrated embodiment is embedded in the lower plastic layer 3. However, the spacer can instead also be embedded in the upper plastic layer 2 or in both layers 2 and 3.

[0021] A textile (woven fabric, warp or weft knitted fabric, felt, or non-woven) preferably forms the spacer 5, and the filaments or fibers of the textile are embedded such that the injected plastic can get between the fibers, for example by virtue of a mesh shape. Alternatively or additionally, the textile can be embedded only in places, in particular in a punctiform manner, such that the textile forms intermediate spaces through which the injected plastic can penetrate.

[0022] As shown in broken lines in FIG. 2, it is also possible to provide a spacer mesh 5 in the upper layer 2.

[0023] The flat heating element can be constructed in various manners. It is preferably formed by a heater film having an electrically conducting coating and/or conducting tracks.