Sensor apparatus for detecting an object

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11802941-B2
Application number	US-201816637048-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 27, 2018
Priority date	Aug 8, 2017
Publication date	Oct 31, 2023
Grant date	Oct 31, 2023

Abstract

A sensor device for detecting an object with the aid of light of at least one wavelength, including a transmitting unit for emitting light using at least one light source and a receiving unit for receiving light, the light emitted by the transmitting unit in the plane perpendicular to the transmit path having the form of a circumferential surface, which includes an inner area to which light is not applied, an optical element being situated in a shared part of the transmit and receive paths, in such a way that the cross-section surface of the optical element in the plane perpendicular to the transmit path essentially completely overlaps with its cross-section surface the inner area to which light is not applied.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sensor device for detecting an object with light of at least one wavelength, comprising:
a light source;
a receiver; and
a mirror;
wherein:
the light source is configured to emit light in a transmit path in a first direction;
the sensor device is configured to form the emitted light into a shape so that, upstream from the mirror in the transmit path, in a plane perpendicular to the transmit path, the shape is of a surface that includes (a) a center inner area to which none of the emitted light is applied and (b) a surrounding area around the inner area that is lit with the emitted light, the emitted light having the shape thereby traveling downstream in the transmit path towards a location of the transmit path at which the mirror is located;
an entirety of the mirror overlaps with the center inner area so that all coordinates of a direction perpendicular to the first direction populated by the mirror are also within the center inner area of the shape in the plane upstream from the mirror, the light of the surrounding area of the shape being transmittable around the mirror, to thereby be emitted out of the sensor device;
the mirror is configured for light reflections, which enter the sensor device in a direction opposite to the first direction, to impinge upon the mirror and to be reflected by the mirror, towards the receiver, in a direction that is not parallel to the first direction.

2. The sensor device of claim 1 , wherein the surface is formed to be annular-shaped or elliptical ring-shaped.

3. The sensor device of claim 1 , wherein the surface is formed to be quadrangular, hexagonal, or octagonal with a number of corners connected by light edges, and wherein the light source is composed of a number of light sources that is equal to the number of the corners, with each of the number of light sources producing a respective one of the edges.

4. The sensor device of claim 1 , wherein a shape of an outer contour of the center inner area essentially corresponds to a shape of an outer contour of the surrounding area of the shape.

5. The sensor device of claim 1 , further comprising a first lens having a curvature by which an initial form of the emitted light present on the transmit path is expanded to into the shape, wherein the first lens is situated in the transmit path between the light source and the mirror.

6. The sensor device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a lens situated for light of the transmit path; and
a mount for the lens, wherein the mount is essentially hollow.

7. The sensor device of claim 1 , further comprising a spatial mode converter, wherein the spatial mode converter is configured to convert an original form of the emitted light of the light source into a different form having the shape.

8. The sensor device of claim 7 , wherein the spatial mode converter includes: an axicon, a liquid crystal, a resonator structure, a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, a combination of one or multiple waveplates and an interferometer, a holographic element, a birefringent element, or an arbitrary combination thereof.

9. A method for detecting an object with light of at least one wavelength using a sensor device that includes a light source, a receiver, and a mirror, the method comprising:
emitting the light, by the light source in a transmit path in a first direction;
forming the emitted light into a shape so that, upstream from the mirror in the transmit path, in a plane perpendicular to the transmit path, the shape is of a surface that includes (a) a center inner area to which none of the emitted light is applied and (b) a surrounding area around the inner area that is lit with the emitted light, the emitted light having the shape thereby traveling downstream in the transmit path towards a location of the transmit path at which the mirror is located, wherein an entirety of the mirror overlaps with the center inner area so that all coordinates of a direction perpendicular to the first direction populated by the mirror are also within the center inner area of the shape in the plane upstream from the mirror, the light of the surrounding area of the shape being transmitted in the first direction around the mirror, to thereby be emitted out of the sensor device;
receiving, by the sensor device, light reflections that enter the sensor device in a direction opposite to the first direction, the received light reflections impinging upon the mirror; and
the reflecting, by the mirror, the light reflections impinging upon the mirror towards the receiver in a direction that is not parallel to the first direction.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein an annular-shaped or elliptical ring-shaped cross-section surface for light is generated, and wherein two different Hermite-Gaussian modes or two different transverse electromagnetic modes of the light, in the form of a laser, are superimposed.

11. The sensor device of claim 5 , further comprising a second lens arranged in the transmit path between the first lens and the mirror, wherein the second lens is configured to perform beam forming.

12. The sensor device of claim 11 , further comprising an outer mount and an inner mount, wherein the second lens is ring-shaped and is held by and radially between the outer mount and the inner mount.

13. The sensor device of claim 1 , further comprising a lens arranged in the transmit path between the light source and the mirror, wherein the lens is configured to perform beam forming.

14. The sensor device of claim 13 , further comprising an outer mount and an inner mount, wherein the lens is ring-shaped and is held by and radially between the outer mount and the inner mount.

Assignees

• Bosch Gmbh Robert

Inventors

• Holleczek Annemarie
• Kamil Mustafa
• Spiessberger Stefan
• Peterseim Tobias

Classifications

• G01S7/4812 Primary

  transmitted and received beams following a coaxial path · CPC title

• G01S7/481

  Constructional features, e.g. arrangements of optical elements · CPC title

• G01S17/04

  Systems determining the presence of a target · CPC title

• G02B3/06

  with cylindrical or toric faces · CPC title

• G01S17/08

  for measuring distance only (indirect measurement G01S17/46; active triangulation systems G01S17/48) · CPC title