US 12,253,740 B2
Impact resistant heated window mount for thermal camera
Shashank Sharma, Mountain View, CA (US); and Matthew Last, San Jose, CA (US)
Assigned to Waymo LLC, Mountain View (CA)
Filed by Waymo LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed on Dec. 8, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/114,808.
Prior Publication US 2022/0176892 A1, Jun. 9, 2022
Int. Cl. B60R 11/04 (2006.01); B60S 1/02 (2006.01); G01J 5/02 (2022.01); G01J 5/061 (2022.01); G01J 5/08 (2022.01); G01J 5/0806 (2022.01); G01J 5/0875 (2022.01); G02B 7/18 (2021.01)
CPC G02B 7/181 (2013.01) [B60S 1/026 (2013.01); G01J 5/0205 (2013.01); G01J 5/061 (2013.01); G01J 5/08 (2013.01); G01J 5/0806 (2013.01); G01J 5/0875 (2013.01); G01J 2005/063 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An optical system comprising:
an outer housing;
an inner support member;
an optical window coupled to the outer housing and the inner support member, wherein the optical window is configured to be temperature-controllable;
a window heater element, wherein the window heater element comprises a flexible heater device, and wherein the flexible heater device is disposed on an inner surface of the optical window; and
a camera coupled to the inner support member, wherein the camera is optically coupled to the optical window, wherein the outer housing, the optical window, and the camera are configured to be impact resistant,
wherein an impact force applied to the optical window is distributed via a primary load path and a secondary load path, wherein the primary load path comprises the optical window and the outer housing, wherein the secondary load path comprises the optical window and the inner support member.