Patent Description:
At present, sensors for automatic driving such as a vehicle-mounted camera and a radar need to calibrate a target before use, which requires that the installation accuracy of sensors is within a certain tolerance range, otherwise, the calibration will fail. The angular accuracy of the camera and the radar exceeding a target range is one of the most likely causes of calibration failure.

<CIT> discloses a control device for an instrument attached to a vehicle wheel for recording the distance covered by the vehicle, which instrument comprises a counting mechanism having a number carrying wheel, a mechanism for recording the output of the counting mechanism, a means for advancing the counting mechanism in response to the distance covered, and a pendulum, the oscillation axis of which coincides with the vehicle wheel axle, and which by substantially standing still effects a relative movement in relation to the recording instrument, which movement is utilized for driving, via a gear unit the counting mechanism, the control device comprising drive means for advancing the counting mechanism, which drive means is adapted to be deformed permanently when the counting mechanism is blocked, and thereby to effect permanent closing of a first electric contact, and a movable member in the gear unit which is provided with at least one signal shoulder and which is adapted, on movement of the gear unit, alternately to open and close a second electric contact, and means for indicating the condition of the electric contacts.

<CIT> relates to a seal assembly for an articulating camera which is provided in a communication device. The articulating camera comprises a coiled flex circuit and pivot housing. The coiled flex circuit provides for range of motion. The coiled flex circuit has a flex extension that threads through a barrel hinge of the pivot housing. The barrel hinge and flex extension are sealed via a single seal having a circumferential seal and pocket thereby allowing the coiled flex circuit to continue to provide range of rotation within the pivot housing.

Therefore, there is a need in the art for a novel sensor assembly in order to achieve the angular accuracy required for calibration of the camera and the radar.

In view of the above, embodiments of the disclosure provide a sensor assembly for a vehicle and a vehicle comprising the sensor assembly, in order to effectively solve or alleviate at least one of currently existing disadvantages, or to meet at least one of current requirements.

The subject-matter of the present invention is defined by the features of the independent claims. In particular, according to an aspect, the embodiments of the disclosure relate to a sensor assembly for a vehicle, comprising:.

Optionally, in the sensor assembly, the positioning bracket comprises opposing first and second sidewalls, the sensor body is installed between the first sidewall and the second sidewall such that the first side and the second side of the sensor body are respectively adjacent to the first sidewall and the second sidewall.

Optionally, in the sensor assembly, the first rotary shaft receiving portion and the second rotary shaft receiving portion are respectively provided on the first sidewall and the second sidewall.

Optionally, in the sensor assembly, the first rotary shaft receiving portion and the second rotary shaft receiving portion are respectively rotary shaft sleeves extending relative to each other from the first sidewall and the second sidewall.

Optionally, in the sensor assembly, the positioning bracket further comprises a connecting wall connecting the first sidewall to the second sidewall, the third side of the sensor body is adjacent to the connecting wall, and the detent structure is provided on the connecting wall.

Optionally, in the sensor assembly, the connecting wall is formed as a top portion of the positioning bracket, and the toothed structure is provided on a side edge of the top portion of the sensor body.

In the sensor assembly, the sensor comprises a camera, a radar, or a combination thereof.

Optionally, in the sensor assembly, the toothed structure comprises a rack.

Optionally, in the sensor assembly, the detent structure comprises a reed that can be snapped into any one of notches in the toothed structure.

On another aspect, the embodiments of the disclosure relate to a vehicle comprising the sensor assembly described above.

The disclosure will be further described below in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the preferred embodiments. However, those skilled in the art would have appreciated that these drawings are drawn merely for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiments, and thus should not be taken as limitation on the scope of the disclosure. In addition, unless otherwise specified, the drawings are merely intended to be conceptually illustrative of the constitution or construction of described objects and may include exaggerated representations, and the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. Furthermore, in different drawings, the same reference numerals denote the same or substantially the same components.

Some embodiments of the disclosure will now be described in more detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Unless expressly defined otherwise herein, scientific and technical terms used herein have the meanings that are commonly understood by those of skill in the art.

The orientation terms such as "top", "bottom", "front" and "back" referred to herein are defined with respect to the orientations in the drawings, and they are relative concepts and can thus vary depending on their different practical locations. Therefore, these or other orientation terms should not be construed as limiting terms.

The terms "comprising" and "having", and similar words used herein means that items other than those listed thereafter and equivalents thereof are also within the scope of the disclosure. The terms "or" and "either" are not meant to be exclusive, but rather refer to the presence of at least one of referenced items, and include the case where a combination of the referenced items may be present. The term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the referenced items. The terms such as "some embodiments" mentioned herein means that a particular element (for example, a feature, a structure, and/or a characteristic) described relevant with the disclosure is included in at least one embodiment described in this specification, and may or may not be present in other embodiments. In addition, it should be understood that described inventive elements may be combined in any suitable manner.

According to an aspect, the embodiments of the disclosure relate to a sensor assembly for a vehicle, in which the angle of a sensor relative to its positioning bracket is adjustable, so that after the sensor is assembled at a target position by means of the positioning bracket, the angle of the sensor can also be adjusted with respect to the positioning bracket to obtain the angular accuracy required for calibrating the sensor. The sensor may comprise a camera, a radar, or a combination thereof.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, a sensor assembly <NUM> comprises a sensor body <NUM> and a positioning bracket <NUM> for positioning the sensor body <NUM>. A first rotary shaft <NUM> and a second rotary shaft (not visible in the figures) are respectively provided on opposing first side <NUM> and second side <NUM> of the sensor body <NUM>, and the positioning bracket <NUM> is correspondingly provided with a first rotary shaft receiving portion <NUM> and a second rotary shaft receiving portion <NUM>. The first rotary shaft <NUM> and the second rotary shaft are respectively rotatably accommodated in the first rotary shaft receiving portion <NUM> and the second rotary shaft receiving portion <NUM> to achieve rotation of the sensor body <NUM> relative to the positioning bracket <NUM>. A toothed structure <NUM> is provided on a third side <NUM> of the sensor body <NUM>, and a detent structure <NUM> is correspondingly provided on the positioning bracket <NUM>. When the sensor body <NUM> rotates to a desired angle relative to the positioning bracket <NUM>, fixating of the sensor body <NUM> relative to the positioning bracket <NUM> is achieved by means of the engagement between the toothed structure <NUM> and the detent structure <NUM>. The third side <NUM> refers to a side other than the first side <NUM> and the second side <NUM>, and may be, for example, a top side, an inclined upper side between the top side and the outer side.

The positioning bracket <NUM> may comprise opposing first sidewall (such as a left sidewall) <NUM> and second sidewall (such as a right sidewall) <NUM>, which may roughly parallelly extend. The sensor body <NUM> is installed between the first sidewall <NUM> and the second sidewall <NUM> such that the first side <NUM> and the second side <NUM> of the sensor body <NUM> are respectively adjacent to the first sidewall <NUM> and the second sidewall <NUM>.

The first rotary shaft receiving portion <NUM> and the second rotary shaft receiving portion <NUM> may be respectively provided on the first sidewall <NUM> and the second sidewall <NUM>. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the first rotary shaft receiving portion <NUM> and the second rotary shaft receiving portion <NUM> are rotary shaft sleeves respectively extending relative to each other from the inner sides of the first sidewall <NUM> and the second sidewall <NUM>, the cross sections of the rotary shaft sleeves are semicircular with openings facing upward. In other embodiments, the rotary shaft sleeves may be in the shape of a complete circular ring, or may be in any other suitable shape.

In some embodiments, the positioning bracket <NUM> further comprises a connecting wall <NUM> connecting the first sidewall <NUM> to the second sidewall <NUM>, the third side <NUM> of the sensor body <NUM> is adjacent to the connecting wall <NUM>, and the detent structure <NUM> is provided on the connecting wall <NUM>. In some embodiments, the connecting wall <NUM> is formed as a top portion of the positioning bracket <NUM>, and the first sidewall <NUM> and the second sidewall <NUM> may vertically downwardly extend from the connecting wall <NUM>. In some embodiments, the connecting wall <NUM> extends non-horizontally, but is not perpendicular to the first sidewall <NUM> and the second sidewall <NUM>. In some embodiments, the toothed structure <NUM> is provided on a side edge of the top portion of the sensor body <NUM> (such as a joining edge <NUM> of a top surface <NUM> and an outer side surface <NUM>). The first rotary shaft <NUM> and the second rotary shaft respectively extend towards two sides from the positions of the first side <NUM> and the second side <NUM> of the sensor body <NUM> close to a rear side surface <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the toothed structure <NUM> comprises a rack <NUM>, and a connecting portion <NUM> connecting the rack <NUM> to the sensor body <NUM>. In some embodiments, the connecting portion <NUM> obliquely extends upward and outward in the vicinity of an intermediate point of he joining edge of the top surface and the outer side surface of the sensor body <NUM>, and the extending direction is perpendicular to the joining edge <NUM> but not perpendicular to the top surface <NUM> and the outer side surface <NUM>. The rack <NUM> extends in a direction roughly perpendicular to the connecting portion <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the detent structure <NUM> comprises a reed <NUM> that can be snapped into any notch (equivalent to an opening between adjacent teeth) in the toothed structure <NUM>, and a connecting portion <NUM> connecting the reed <NUM> to the positioning bracket <NUM>. In some embodiments, the connecting portion <NUM> extends downward and outward from the position on the lower surface of the connecting wall <NUM> of the positioning bracket <NUM> corresponding to the toothed structure <NUM>, for example, perpendicular to the lower surface of the connecting wall <NUM>. The reed <NUM> extends in a direction roughly perpendicular to the connecting portion <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the contact position of the toothed structure <NUM> and the detent structure <NUM>, the mating position of the first shaft <NUM> and the first rotary shaft receiving portion <NUM>, and the mating position of the second shaft and the second rotary shaft receiving portion <NUM> may be substantially connected to form a triangular shape.

In the illustrated embodiment, the first rotary shaft <NUM>, the second rotary shaft, and the toothed structure <NUM> are integrally formed with the sensor body <NUM>, and the first rotary shaft receiving portion <NUM>, the second rotary shaft receiving portion <NUM>, and the detent structure <NUM> are integrally formed with the positioning bracket <NUM>.

In the sensor assembly <NUM> of the foregoing embodiment, by providing the sensor body <NUM> with an angle adjustment tooth and providing the positioning bracket <NUM> with the detent structure engaged with the angle adjustment tooth, the angle adjustment and positioning of the sensor may be simply and conveniently achieved without an additional adjustment tool. In addition, a stable three-point fixing structure may be formed by means the contact point of the toothed structure <NUM> and the detent structure <NUM> and the point of rotation between the sensor body <NUM> and the positioning bracket <NUM> thereof.

Claim 1:
A sensor assembly for a vehicle, comprising:
a sensor body (<NUM>); and
a positioning bracket (<NUM>) for positioning the sensor body (<NUM>),
a first rotary shaft (<NUM>) and a second rotary shaft are respectively provided on opposing first side (<NUM>) and second side (<NUM>) of the sensor body (<NUM>), and the first rotary shaft (<NUM>) and the second rotary shaft are respectively rotatably accommodated in a first rotary shaft receiving portion (<NUM>) and a second rotary shaft receiving portion (<NUM>) provided on the positioning bracket (<NUM>) so as to achieve the rotation of the sensor body (<NUM>) relative to the positioning bracket (<NUM>); and
a toothed structure (<NUM>) is provided on a third side (<NUM>) of the sensor body (<NUM>), other than the first side (<NUM>) and the second side (<NUM>), and a detent structure (<NUM>) is correspondingly provided on the positioning bracket (<NUM>), and when the sensor body (<NUM>) rotates to a desired angle relative to the positioning bracket (<NUM>), fixing of the sensor body (<NUM>) relative to the positioning bracket (<NUM>) is enabled by means of the engagement between the toothed structure (<NUM>) and the detent structure (<NUM>), characterized in that, the sensor body (<NUM>) comprises a camera, a radar, or a combination thereof, and the angle of a sensor body (<NUM>) relative to its positioning bracket (<NUM>) is adjustable.