Electro-optical distance meter

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10101441-B2
Application number	US-201615051706-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 24, 2016
Priority date	Mar 2, 2015
Publication date	Oct 16, 2018
Grant date	Oct 16, 2018

Abstract

The invention relates to an electro-optical distance meter, which projects a modulated measuring light to an object to be measured, receives a reflected measuring light from the object to be measured and measures a distance to the object to be measured by a phase difference between the measuring light and the reflected light. With the electro-optical distance meter, it is possible to efficiently prepare signals required for measurement and to perform measurement within a short time.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electro-optical distance meter comprising; a light emitting element for emitting a distance measuring light, signal generators for generating two or more proximity frequencies, intermittent pulse generators for generating a modulation signal in which said two or more proximity frequencies are intermitted respectively and converted to pulses with a predetermined width, a projecting optical system for driving said light emitting element and sequentially switching over and projecting intermittent modulated distance measuring light as converted to pulses with predetermined width by said modulation signal, a photodetection unit for receiving a reflected distance measuring light from an object to be measured and producing an intermittent photodetection signal with a predetermined pulse width, a reference signal generator for issuing reference frequency signals having a difference of a predetermined frequency respectively, a frequency converting unit for performing frequency conversion by mixing said intermittent photodetection signals from said photodetection unit and said reference frequency signals, corresponding to each intermittent frequency signals respectively and obtaining intermittent conversion signals with a pulse width, and an arithmetic control unit, wherein the pulse width of said intermittent photodetection signal is set up so as to be longer in a time duration than a period of said intermittent conversion signal, and in a case where said object to be measured is a moving object, an intermittent cycle of said intermittent photodetection signal is set to such speed that a phase change of said intermittent conversion signal due to moving of said moving object can be negligible, wherein said arithmetic control unit is configured so as to calculate a precise measurement distance value by obtaining the phase of said intermittent photodetection signal with respect to said two or more proximity frequencies, to calculate a coarse measurement distance value by obtaining a phase difference between said intermittent conversion signals, and to determine a distance by combining said coarse measurement distance value and said precise measurement distance value.

2. The electro-optical distance meter according to claim 1 , wherein said arithmetic control unit generates said intermittent modulated distance measuring light as an intermittent pattern to go one round in a predetermined number of intermittence, integrates said intermittent conversion signal by two or more times per each intermittent pattern, specifies said two or more proximity frequencies according to an intermittent width and an intermittent cycle of an integrated waveform as obtained, obtains an average phase of each of said intermittent conversion signals, obtains said precise measurement distance value from the average phase, obtains said coarse measurement distance value from the average phase difference of each of said mutual intermittent conversion signals, and determines a distance to said object to be measured according to said precise measurement distance value and said coarse measurement distance value.

3. The electro-optical distance meter according to claim 1 , wherein among said two or more proximity frequencies, the frequencies of intermittent conversion signals corresponding to at least two proximity frequencies are the same.

4. The electro-optical distance meter according to claim 1 , wherein said arithmetic control unit performs distance measurement at a delay time of a photodetection pulse of said intermittent modulated distance measuring light.

5. The electro-optical distance meter according to claim 1 , wherein said arithmetic control unit produces an abnormal signal in a case where the difference between said precise measurement distance value and said coarse measurement distance value obtained from said two or more proximity frequencies is not within a predetermined range.

6. The electro-optical distance meter according to claim 1 , wherein an intermittent switch-over of said two or more proximity frequencies is performed by deviating a predetermined cycle per each frequency, and said intermittent conversion signal as frequency converted performs a phase measurement after deviating a predetermined cycle.

Assignees

• Kk Topcon

Inventors

• Ohtomo Fumio
• Kumagai Kaoru

Classifications

• G01S17/36 Primary

  with phase comparison between the received signal and the contemporaneously transmitted signal · CPC title

• G01S7/497

  Means for monitoring or calibrating · CPC title

• G01S7/4865 Primary

  Time delay measurement, e.g. time-of-flight measurement, time of arrival measurement or determining the exact position of a peak (peak detection in noise, signal conditioning G01S7/487) · CPC title

• G01S7/4915

  Time delay measurement, e.g. operational details for pixel components (signal extraction and conditioning G01S7/493); Phase measurement · CPC title

• G01S17/26

  wherein the transmitted pulses use a frequency-modulated or phase-modulated carrier wave, e.g. for pulse compression of received signals · CPC title