The Problem: Back-up cameras on big rigs — especially garbage trucks — get wet, dirty and smudged. Cam Vizion has a patented camera-cleaning system — now mounted on laser-cut brackets. It allows large vehicle drivers (specifically garbage trucks, etc.) to clean their back up and side-view camera lenses, without ever leaving their truck cab.
“25% or more of all waste handling truck accidents are caused when they’re backing up,” Cam Vizion inventor and owner Rick Cooper said. “My patented system helps cameras and mirrors be cleaner.”
Starting with air-jet systems to clean mirrors, Cooper remembered: “One day I asked some truckers what they needed most.” They told him: “We can clean our mirrors off with our hands, but when it’s raining and snowing, it’s hard to go up and clean our back-up, rear- and side-view cameras.” He realized that the same air system Cam Vizion used to clear off mirrors would also work to clean off camera lenses.
But how to hold the lens-cleaning systems in place? He’d need brackets.
Cooper said that when he first started, he was cutting and drilling the brackets by hand, using spare parts and materials from a local hardware store. “My first model was basically made out of parts I’d gotten from a spare parts room.” As a result, each bracket was slightly different, the edges were ragged, corrections needed to be made. Most importantly, hand cutting the brackets was extremely time consuming.
“A friend told me to find a company that could design and laser-cut bracket parts. I’d never heard of that! I did my research and found Innovative Laser & Design,” Cooper said.
Designing and Making Laser-Cut Brackets: A Partnership
“When I reached out to Scott [Kiser, President and Owner of Innovative Laser & Design], I sent him a photo of my mock-up, as well as some design ideas.”
“Scott was great to work with,” Cooper recalled. “From the beginning, he said ‘I’m here to help you. Let’s play around with this until we get it right; until we get the laser-cut bracket that works best for you’.”
Cooper said that Kiser called upon his decades of laser cutting and industrial design experience. He told Cooper: “Of course, we can make your laser-cut bracket this way. But what if we do it this way?”
“I had made a mock-up of a patented camera bracket system, but I really didn’t know what I needed. Scott helped me figure it out.”
Rick Cooper, President and Owner, Cam Vizion (TM)
Cooper said Kiser suggested adding a custom-cut and engraved switch cover (similar to a washer) to the switch inside the driver’s cab. “It would make the system even more effective, AND it would let people know who made the lens-cleaning switch and system.” Scott suggested that Cam Vizion could get some easy marketing, by simply engraving the part with the company’s logo and name. Then, to make certain the design wasn’t copied, they engraved the patent number on the switch cover.
Getting Laser-Cut Brackets Quickly And Accurately
The part was cut using one of Innovative Laser & Design’s CO2 lasers. The entire cutting, forming and engraving of the parts didn’t take long for the needed brackets (14 gauge stainless steel) and switch covers (16 gauge stainless steel), especially compared to the time and effort of cutting and forming them by hand.
“Because of Scott’s innovation and help with the brackets and the switch covers,” Cooper said, “we can install and adjust those cameras more quickly and accurately. I don’t have to make the brackets myself. They look nice, they’re made of 14 gauge stainless steel, the brackets are solid. I didn’t even know this type of laser-cutting service was available!”
“I’m glad I found Scott and Innovative Laser & Design” Cooper added. “I look forward to working with them even more!” For more information about his patented camera lens cleaning system, visit Cam Vizion’s website.
Need Laser-Cut Parts? Contact Innovative Laser & Design Directly
Innovative Laser & Design is a USA Veteran-Owned Small Business. To learn how we can help your company with the laser-cut parts you need, contact CEO and Owner Scott Kiser directly at 423-593-7206, or email us at LaserSolutions@Comcast.net.
