US 12,083,966 B1
External housing assembly for mounting a sensing device into a skewed panel of a vehicle
Mike MacGregor, Seattle, WA (US); and Michael Jacob Goerz, Snohomish, WA (US)
Assigned to Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA (US)
Filed by Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA (US)
Filed on Feb. 9, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/667,884.
Int. Cl. B60R 11/04 (2006.01); H04N 23/51 (2023.01); H04N 23/54 (2023.01); B60R 11/00 (2006.01); G01S 17/931 (2020.01)
CPC B60R 11/04 (2013.01) [H04N 23/51 (2023.01); H04N 23/54 (2023.01); B60R 2011/004 (2013.01); B60R 2011/0043 (2013.01); G01S 17/931 (2020.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system, comprising:
a vehicle that includes a skewed panel, the skewed panel comprises an aperture with a first axis;
a camera oriented along a second axis that has a non-zero angle with respect to the first axis, the camera comprising a lens and a camera base; and
an external housing assembly for mounting the camera on the skewed panel, the external housing assembly comprising:
an external housing that has a housing flange and an external housing lip, the housing flange matching a contour of the skewed panel, the external housing lip being oriented with respect to the second axis;
a cylindrical conduit that attaches to the external housing, the lens being positioned within the cylindrical conduit;
a beveled bushing that has a first side and a second side, the first side matching the contour of the skewed panel and contacting the skewed panel;
a conduit retention nut that contacts the second side of the beveled bushing, the conduit retention nut comprising a first retention side and a second retention side, the first retention side comprising a conduit opening that attaches to an exterior surface of the cylindrical conduit, the second retention side comprising a retention opening that has a larger diameter than the conduit opening; and
a camera retention ring that attaches to an interior perimeter of the retention opening of the conduit retention nut, a flange portion of the camera base being restrained between the camera retention ring and the conduit retention nut.