Leopold Kostal Gmbh & Co. Kg

Frank Blasing

Anton Mindl

Norbert Bendicks

Detlef Kerkmann

Christian Schirp

Thomas Weber

Kersten Rimke

Harald Donner

Klaus Hinteresch

Ralf Bobel

Klaus Nieding

Dirk Bunselmeier

Ralph Böbel

An optoelectronic position measuring device includes an encoder disk having a coding with a digital code and an analog coded track. The analog track includes segments which are in a series and whose width changes. An illuminator images the coding onto a sensor having transducers. The sensor determines the width of the analog track at a given position of the disk relative to the sensor as a function of the number of transducers upon which the analog track is optically imaged onto. The analog track is part of a continuous reference code track which has central symmetry in which the segments have a code length corresponding to the smallest resolution step of the digital coding. The layout of the segments and the resolving power of the sensor are matched such that movement of the disk along the code length is resolvable into at least two defined steps.

Coded disc for an optoelectronic displacement or angle measuring device

A device for detecting objects on a windshield of a motor vehicle having a hood includes an imaging unit having a lens and a sensor positioned within the interior of the motor vehicle. The lens images a windshield section associated with a primary field of vision onto the sensor. The sensor generates a sensor signal in response to the windshield section imaged thereon. The imaging unit is positioned in a viewing direction pointing diagonally downwards with respect to the windshield such that the background of the windshield section imaged onto the sensor is the hood of the motor vehicle thereby causing the background of the windshield section imaged onto the sensor to be approximately constant in order to cancel environmental conditions that can impair object detection on the windshield section. An evaluation unit evaluates the sensor signal to detect objects on the windshield section.

Device for detecting objects on a windscreen of a motor vehicle

A method for determining the absolute angular position of a motor vehicle steering wheel includes using a sensor to continually detect first angular measured values of the steering wheel at a constant first interval. A controller outputs encoded output values based on the detected first angle measured values. At high steering wheel rotational speeds the difference between two consecutively measured angular values becomes increasingly greater as a result of the constant measuring rate of the first interval. At such high rotational steering wheel speeds, the method achieves a reliable angular measurement which is verifiable by plausibility considerations by detecting at least one additional second angular measured value of the steering wheel for each output value. The additional second angular measured is detected at a second interval shorter than the first interval and lying between the detection times of successive first angular measured values.

Method for determining the absolute angular position of the steering wheel of motor vehicle

The invention relates to a method and device for detecting objects ( ) on a windshield ( ). The method comprises the following steps: Placing an optical sensor array ( ) on the inner side of a section of the windshield ( ), said array having a plurality of individual pixels and being focused on the outer side ( ) of the windshield ( ); determining the local frequency spectrum S(f) of the intensity fluctuations of pixels of the sensor array ( ), said pixels being combined in one or more blocks, and afterwards; evaluating the local frequency spectrum, whereby the detected local frequency spectrum S(f) is compared to one or more reference frequency distributions, and whereby a control signal for triggering one or more actuators is generated when the determined local frequency spectrum S(f) sufficiently conforms to a reference frequency distribution. The device comprises a detecting unit ( ) connected to a data processing unit ( ). The detecting unit is a sensor array ( ) which is provided with an aperture ( ) and is arranged at a certain distance behind the windshield ( ).

Method and device for detecting objects on a windshield

A sensor for determining the angular position of a device includes a code disk and a sensor array. The code disk moves in a movement direction in response to rotational movement of the device. The code disk has a digital code including two sets of code tracks extending along the length of the code disk. The corresponding tracks of each track set are spaced apart from one another across the width of the code disk. The sensor array is arranged adjacent to one side of the code disk and across the width of the code disk for sensing the tracks as the other side of the code disk is illuminated to determine the angular position of the device. The sensor provides a reliable indication of the angular position of the device if the digital code is partially contaminated with debris as the digital code contains two sets of corresponding tracks.

Optoelectronic angle of rotation sensor having a code disk with redundant digital coding

An optoelectronic monitoring device for a vehicle includes a single optical sensor array having a grid of optical sensor elements. Each optical sensor element generates an electronic signal in response to optical signals imaged onto the optical sensor elements. Optical imaging systems image respective optical signals onto the optical sensor array. The optical signals of each optical imaging system is representative of a monitored condition of a vehicle. The optical imaging systems form a single physical unit which is fixed with respect to the optical sensor array. Each optical imaging system is associated with a respective optical sensor element group of the optical sensor array such that the respective optical signal of each optical imaging system is imaged onto the respective optical sensor element group. The optical sensor elements are configurable by a processor to be arranged in optical sensor element groups for being associated with respective optical imaging systems.

Optoelectronic monitoring device for a motor vehicle

The invention relates to a method and device for detecting and localizing diffuse-reflecting coatings situated on a translucent pane. The aim of the invention is to make it possible to detect any diffuse-reflecting coatings in a non-contacting manner and to differentiate between coatings situated on the pane surface facing the sensor and those situated on the pane surface facing away from the sensor. To this end an image of an object is captured by a recording unit forming part of the device by positioning the pane in the optical path between the object and recording unit, after which the image information obtained is evaluated accordingly.

Method for detecting and localizing diffuse reflecting coatings situated on a translucent pane

The invention proposes a steering device for a motor vehicle which contains an inductive module for the contactless transmission of electric energy and data between the motor vehicle and the steering wheel, for measuring the rotational angle of the steering wheel and for generating torque between the motor vehicle and the steering wheel, with the inductive module containing a stator that is connected to the motor vehicle in a torsionally rigid fashion and a rotor that is connected to the steering wheel in a torsionally rigid fashion. Such a device should be realized in the form of a compact unit that has a very small space requirement due to the utilization of inductive principles, with said unit consisting of only a few components such that it can be manufactured in a particularly inexpensive fashion. This unit is based on an inductive module that contains a resolver-based rotation sensor and an annular rotary-field motor, with the stator and the rotor containing coils that cooperate with one another in such a way that an inductive coupling exists between the respective coils on the stator side, which are provided for realizing the rotation sensor function and the rotary-field motor function, and the respectively assigned coils on the rotor side.

Steering device for a motor vehicle

The invention relates to a method for detecting objects which are located on a transparent panel and which produce light reflexes when illuminated, using a detector unit containing one or more optical sensor arrays. The inventive method comprises the following steps: illuminating the panel in order to produce light reflexes in or on the objects which are located on the panel, from the side of the panel behind which the detector unit is located; image detection of an illuminated section of the panel using the detector unit by preparing two panel section images which together form an image pair, the light reflexes(es) of an object located on the transparent panel produced through illumination being located at differently-positioned image points in each of said panel section images; determining the differential image of the two images of an image pair by subtracting the contents of identically positioned image points of one panel section image from those of the other panel section image and evaluating the differential image determined in terms of the contents corresponding to the individual image points.

Method for detecting objects located on a transparent panel, and corresponding device

The invention relates to a solar altitude detector (,) for motor vehicles comprising a shade mask (,) in which a passage opening (,) provided for permitting sunlight though is inserted, said opening creating a light structure when irradiated. A sensor array (,) comprising a plurality of individual pixels is representively arranged under the shade mask (,) such that individual sections of the light structure created by the passage opening (,) fall on the photosensitive surface of the sensor array (,) during solar radiation. Various pixels of the sensor array (,) are irradiated according to the incidence angle of the sunlight passing through the passage opening (,) such that a clear statement which refers to the incidence angle and to the incidence direction of the sunlight is possible.

Solar altitude detector

A method of determining the angular position of the steering wheel of a motor vehicle using an optoelectronic steering angel sensor includes disposing a code transmitter between the light source and the line sensor. The line sensor has image points positioned along a line at equal intervals with respect to one another. The line sensor is operable for generating light signals as a function of the position and intensity of light traces imaged onto the image points of the line sensor. The code transmitter concentrically surrounds a steering spindle of a steering wheel of a motor vehicle and is fixed to the steering spindle to rotate therewith. The code transmitter has a scanning line and a reference line for respectively imaging a scanning light trace and a reference light trace from the light source onto the image points of the line sensor. The distance between the scanning line and the reference line is different at each angular position of the steering wheel such that the number of image points between the scanning light trace and the reference light trace imaged onto the line sensor is different at each angular position of the steering wheel. The scanning light trace and the reference light trace each have a respective bright-dark light transition region imaged onto at least two image points of the line sensor. The intensity of the bright-dark transition region varies over the at least two image points. A scanning light signal and a reference light signal generated by the line senor in response to the scanning light trace and the reference light trace imaged onto the line sensor is processed to determine the angular position of the steering wheel as a function of the number of image points between the respective bright-dark light transition regions of the scanning light trace and the reference light trace.

Method for determining the absolute angular position of the steering wheel of a motor vehicle, and optoelecronic steering angle sensor

A steering angle sensor for determining the absolute angle position of a steering wheel of a motor vehicle includes a first sensor unit (,). The first sensor unit (,) detects the steering angle position within an angle segment of the entire rotational range of the steering wheel. The first sensor unit (,) has a rotor (,) coupled to the rotational movement of the steering wheel. The steering angle sensor further includes a second sensor unit (,) for detecting the steering angle position within an angle segment of the entire rotational range of the steering wheel. The second sensor unit (,) includes a rotor (,) coupled in a geared manner to the rotational movement of rotor (,) such that the rotors (,) have slightly different rotational speeds while the steering wheel is moving. The steering angle position is determined from a measurement value detected by the first sensor unit (,) and a measurement value detected by the second sensor unit (,). Each pair of values serves to define an absolute steering angle position over the entire rotational range of the steering wheel.

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Werl, Germany

Frank Blasing