Patent ID: 11904367
Assignee: MURATA MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B  G

Claim 0:
1. A cleaning apparatus, comprising:
a holder to hold an imaging element;
a light-transmissive body in a field of view of the imaging element;
a vibrator to vibrate the light-transmissive body;
a driver to drive the vibrator;
a discharger to discharge a cleaner onto a surface of the light-transmissive body;
a controller to control the driver and the discharger; and
a detector to detect a value related to an impedance of the vibrator driven by the driver; wherein
the surface of the light-transmissive body has water repellency;
the controller is configured or programmed to control the driver such that the light-transmissive body is vibrated at a resonant frequency for a predetermined period after the discharger is caused to discharge the cleaner in order to make the surface of the light-transmissive body pseudo-hydrophilic, and control the driver such that, after the predetermined period, vibration of the light-transmissive body is stopped or the light-transmissive body is vibrated at a frequency other than the resonant frequency in order to return the surface of the light-transmissive body to a state of water repellency; and
the controller is configured or programmed to perform tracking control such that the light-transmissive body is vibrated at the resonant frequency between a first resonant frequency and a second resonant frequency based on the value related to the impedance detected by the detector.