Detector for optically detecting at least one object

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020011995-A1
Application number	US-201816483231-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 15, 2018
Priority date	Mar 16, 2017
Publication date	Jan 9, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

A detector ( 110 ) for determining a position of at least one object is proposed. The detector ( 110 ) comprises: —at least one angle dependent optical element ( 130 ) adapted to generate at least one light beam ( 131 ) having at least one beam profile depending on an angle of incidence of an incident light beam ( 116 ) propagating from the object ( 112 ) towards the detector ( 110 ) and illuminating the angle dependent optical element ( 130 ), wherein the angle dependent optical element ( 130 ) comprises at least one optical element selected from the group consisting of: at least one optical fiber, in particular at least one multifurcated optical fiber, in particular at least one bifurcated optical fiber; at least one diffractive optical element; at least one angle dependent reflective element, at least one diffractive grating element, in particular a blaze grating element; at least one aperture stop; at least one prism; at least one lens; at least one lens array, in particular at least one microlens array; at least one optical filter; at least one polarization filter; at least one bandpass filter; at least one liquid crystal filter, in particular a liquid crystal tunable filter; at least one short-pass filter; at least one long-pass filter; at least one notch filter; at least one interference filter; at least one transmission grating; at least one nonlinear optical element, in particular one birfringent optical element; —at least two optical sensors ( 113 ), wherein each optical sensor ( 113 ) has at least one light sensitive area ( 121 ), wherein each optical sensor ( 113 ) is designed to generate at least one sensor signal in response to an illumination of its respective light-sensitive area by the light beam ( 131 ) generated by the angle dependent optical element ( 130 ); at least one evaluation device ( 133 ) being configured for determining at least one longitudinal coordinate z of the object ( 112 ) by evaluating a combined signal Q from the sensor signals.

First claim

1 . A detector for determining a position of at least one object, the detector comprising:
at least one angle dependent optical element adapted to generate at least one light beam having at least one beam profile depending on an angle of incidence of an incident light beam propagating from the object towards the detector and illuminating the angle dependent optical element, wherein the angle dependent optical element comprises at least one optical element selected from the group consisting of: at least one optical fiber, in particular at least one multifurcated optical fiber, in particular at least one bifurcated optical fiber; at least one lens array arranged in at least one plane perpendicular to an optical axis of the detector, in particular at least one microlens array; at least one optical interference filter; at least one nonlinear optical element, in particular one birefringent optical element; at least one transfer device, wherein the transfer device has at least one focal length in response to the at least one incident light beam propagating from the object to the detector; at least two optical sensors, wherein each optical sensor has at least one light sensitive area, wherein each optical sensor is designed to generate at least one sensor signal in response to an illumination of its respective light-sensitive area by the light beam generated by the angle dependent optical element; at least one evaluation device being configured for determining at least one longitudinal coordinate z of the object by evaluating a combined signal Q from the sensor signals.

2 . The detector according to claim 1 , wherein the detector further comprises an illumination source for illuminating the object.

3 . The detector according to claim 2 , wherein the illumination source is adapted to illuminate the object through the angle dependent optical element.

4 . The detector according to claim 2 , wherein a distance perpendicular to an optical axis of the detector between the illumination source and the optical sensors is small, wherein the distance perpendicular to the optical axis of the detector between the illumination source and the optical sensors is less than 0.01 m, preferably less than 0.005 m, more preferably less than 0.0025 m.

5 . The detector according to claim 2 , wherein the angle dependent optical element comprises at least one optical fiber having at least one entrance face, wherein a distance perpendicular to an optical axis of the detector between the illumination source and the entrance face of the optical fiber is small, wherein the distance perpendicular to the optical axis of the detector between the illumination source and the entrance face of the optical fiber is less than 0.01 m, preferably less than 0.005 m, more preferably less than 0.0025 m.

6 . The detector according to claim 2 , wherein the angle dependent optical element comprises at least two optical fibers each having at least one entrance face, wherein the entrance faces are arranged concentric or on top of each other or parallel to each other or side by side, wherein a distance perpendicular to an optical axis of the detector between one or both entrance faces and the illumination source is less than 0.01 m, preferably less than 0.005 m, more preferably less than 0.0025 m.

7 . The detector according to claim 1 , wherein the evaluation device is configured for deriving the combined signal Q by one or more of dividing the sensor signals, dividing multiples of the sensor signals, dividing linear combinations of the sensor signals.

8 . The detector according to claim 7 , wherein the evaluation device is configured for using at least one predetermined relationship between the combined signal Q and the longitudinal coordinate for determining the longitudinal coordinate.

9 . The detector according to claim 1 , wherein the evaluation device is configured for deriving the combined signal Q by

Q


(

z
O

)

=

∫
∫

A
1



E


(

x
,

y
;

z
O

)


dxdy

∫
∫

A
2



E


(

x
,

y
;

z
O

)


dxdy

wherein x and y are transversal coordinates, A 1 and A 2 are areas of the beam profile at a sensor position of the optical sensors, and E(x,y,z o ) denotes the beam profile given at the object distance z o .

10 . The detector according to claim 1 , wherein the optical sensors are positioned off focus.

11 . The detector according to claim 1 , wherein the angle dependent optical element comprises at least one optical fiber having at least one entrance face, wherein the entrance face is positioned off focus.

12 . The detector according to claim 1 , wherein each of the sensor signals comprises at least one information of at least one area of the beam profile of the light beam generated by the angle dependent optical element, wherein the beam profile is selected from the group consisting of a trapezoid beam profile; a triangle beam profile; a conical beam profile and a linear combination of Gaussian beam profiles.

13 . The detector according to claim 12 , wherein the light-sensitive areas are arranged such that a first sensor signal comprises information of a first area of the beam profiles and a second sensor signal comprises information of a second area of the beam profile, wherein the first area of the beam profile and the second area of the beam profile are one or both of adjacent or overlapping regions, wherein the evaluation device is configured to determine the first area of the beam profile and the second area of the beam profile, wherein the first area of the beam profile comprises essentially edge information of the beam profile and the second area of the beam profile comprises essentially center information of the beam profile, wherein the edge informa

Assignees

• Trinamix Gmbh

Inventors

• Send Robert
• Oeguen Celal Mohan
• Hahne Christopher
• Eberspach Michael
• Bruder Ingmar
• Scherwath Bernd

Classifications

• G01S17/46 Primary

  Indirect determination of position data · CPC title

• G01S3/783

  using amplitude comparison of signals derived from static detectors or detector systems · CPC title

• G01S7/4817

  relating to scanning · CPC title

• G01S7/4816

  of receivers alone · CPC title

• G01S7/4814

  of transmitters alone · CPC title