Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Pixart Imaging Incorporated

Hideo Wada

Takayuki Taminaga

Akifumi Yamaguchi

Masaru Kubo

Nobuhisa Watanabe

Shigeki Hayashida

Isamu Ohkubo

Hisakazu Sugiyama

Hajime Kashida

Tatsuya Morioka

Yoshihiko Tani

Kazuhiro Natsuaki

Naoki Fukunaga

Takehisa Ishihara

(Jason) Chih-Hung Lu

Provided are an optical distance measuring apparatus, which is capable of accurately measuring a distance, whatever the temperature may be, and which can be easily manufactured at low cost, and an electronic apparatus mounted with the optical distance measuring apparatus. A lead frame of the optical measuring apparatus has two or more first reinforcing terminals, each of which has a part extending in a direction substantially orthogonal to a direction in which a connecting part between a light emitting header and a light receiving header extends. The first reinforcing terminals are fixed by a first light blocking resin body and connected to the light receiving header.

Optical distance measuring apparatus and electronic apparatus

A lens frame, made from metal, retaining a light-emitting lens and a light-receiving lens is retained between a second mold and a third mold both of which are made from light-shielding resins. Anchors are formed by filling light-shielding resin for forming the third mold into fixing slots formed in an upper surface of the second mold and through holes formed in the lens frame. Since the lens frame is made from metal, thermal expansion of the lens frame is hardly caused by ambient temperature changes and self-heating. This causes little difference in the amount of change in difference between the lenses. Further, the lens frame is fixed with anchors between the second mold and the third mold. This suppresses the occurrence of sliding caused by difference in thermal expansion coefficient between the lens frame and the second and third molds.

Optical distance-measuring device and electronic device

An optical ranging device has a light emitting element, a light receiving element, a light emitting lens, and a light receiving lens. Provided between the light receiving lens and the light receiving element are a first reflection surface and a second reflection surface for changing a direction of an optical axis of a light beam condensed by the light receiving lens and guiding the light beam to the light receiving element. A single medium exists between the first reflection surface and the second reflection surface.

Optical ranging device and electronic equipment installed with the same

A lens frame, made from metal, retaining a light-emitting lens and a light-receiving lens is retained between a second mold and a third mold both of which are made from light-shielding resins. The lens frame has an asperity structure on its front and back surfaces. This greatly enhances adhesiveness between the light-emitting lens and the lens frame and adhesiveness between the light-receiving lens and the lens frame, thus preventing sliding of the light-emitting lens and the light-receiving lens over the lens frame.

An optical ranging sensor includes a light emitting unit for projecting a light beam on an object to be measured, a light receiving unit on which a light spot of reflected light of the light beam from the object is formed, and a processing circuit unit for processing output signals from the light receiving unit and detecting a distance to the object. The light receiving unit includes an effective light receiving part having light receiving cells arranged in matrix form in a first direction in which a position of the light spot moves as the object moves along a direction of an optical axis of the light emitting unit, and in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction. A size of the effective light receiving part in the second direction is not smaller than a radius of the light spot but not larger than a diameter thereof.

Optical ranging sensor and electronic equipment

An optical detection device includes a light emitting element, which is an area sensor, a light emitting lens part for irradiating an object to be measured with a bundle of emission rays emitted from the light emitting element, a light receiving lens part for condensing reflected light from the object, a light receiving element for detecting reflected light from the object condensed by the light receiving lens part, and a signal processing section for processing a light-reception signal from the light receiving element. Based on the light-reception signal from the light receiving element, the signal processing section detects at least one of an x-coordinate or a y-coordinate of the object on an x-y coordinate plane from at least one of a light-spot position or a light-spot shape on the light receiving element.

Optical detection device and electronic equipment for detecting at least one of an X-coordinate and a Y-coordinate of an object

In a light spot position detection device, in one frame of operation, under control of a control unit, pixel data obtained in a pixel section in exposure of a solid-state image sensor in synchronization with light emission of a light emitting element are added to corresponding storage portions in a memory unit, and pixel data obtained in exposure of the image sensor asynchronous to the light emission of the light emitting element are subtracted from the corresponding storage portions, to store pixel data of only signal light in the storage portions. A given number of frames of operation are repetitively performed to accumulate pixel data of only the signal light in the storage portions. The position of a light spot on the pixel section is calculated based on the pixel data of only the signal light and outputted whether the storage portions are saturated or not with the pixel data.

Light spot position detection device, optical device including the same, and electronic equipment including the optical device

A light angle detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first light receiving lens, a first light sensing element, a second light receiving lens, and a second light sensing element. The first and second light receiving lenses and the first and second light sensing elements are disposed such that a first straight line passing through the center of the light receiving surface of the first light sensing element and the vertex of the first light receiving lens, a second straight line passing through the center of the light receiving surface of the second light sensing element and the vertex of the second light receiving lens, and a third straight line passing through the center of the light receiving surface of the first light sensing element and the center of the light receiving surface of the second light sensing element form an isosceles triangle.

Light angle detection device, method for fabrication thereof and electronic device employing same

At least a plurality of light-receiving regions for receiving remote control signals, respectively, in a form of incident light and performing photoelectric conversion of the signals are provided in one common mold package. The remote control receiver includes a first signal processing circuit for adding up signals outputted by the plurality of light-receiving regions and, based on a resulting signal, demodulating and outputting the remote control signal. The remote control receiver also includes a second signal processing circuit for calculating a difference between the signals outputted by the plurality of light-receiving regions to obtain and output a directional signal representing a direction in which the incident light has been incident on the plurality of light-receiving regions.

Remote control receiver and electronic equipment including the same

In an optical distance measuring apparatus, a transmitter has a light-emitting device emitting an optical signal synchronized with a modulating signal having a predetermined repetition frequency, and a modulating signal generator outputting the modulating signal to the light-emitting device. A receiver has a photodetector receiving an optical beam reflected by an object to be measured and converting it to an electrical signal, a switch receiving the signal from the modulating signal generator and alternately choosing two channels for the electrical signal with a predetermined timing, and first and second storage sections storing electrical signals on the two channels. A signal processing section has a differential operation section performing a differential operation on electrical signals stored in the first and second storage sections, and a distance determining section determining a distance to the object on the basis of the result of the differential operation of the differential operation section.

Optical distance measuring apparatus

The optical object discriminating device includes a light projecting part which applies light, which is emitted from a semiconductor light emitting element, to a measuring object which is an object to be measured, and a light receiving part which receives reflected light reflected by the measuring object. Between the light receiving part and the measuring object is placed a polarization-state selector part which permits polarized light of a specified polarization direction to pass therethrough. A signal processing part processes a signal outputted by the light receiving part, and measures intensity of light of the polarization direction permitted by the polarization-state selector part to pass therethrough.

Optical object discriminating device

There is provided an optical velocimeter for achieving miniaturization and lower power consumption thereof and for accurately detecting two-dimensional travel velocity of a measured object. This optical velocimeter includes a light-emitting element, a diffraction grating, two light-receiving sections, and a signal processing circuit. Light emitted from the light-emitting element is branched by the diffraction grating into three light fluxes, and optical axes of the divided light fluxes are intersected one another on the measured object to form one detection point. Scattered light from the detection point frequency-shifted by travel of the measured object is then received by the two light-receiving sections, and a light-reception signals outputted from the light-receiving sections are processed in the signal processing circuit to detect travel velocities of two directions of the measured object.

Optical velocimeter, displacement information measurement device and conveying and processing device

In an optical movement information detector, light emitted from a laser diode () is split into a first beam (), a second beam () and a third beam () by beam splitters (). The first, second and third beams are converged by a condenser lens () upon a surface of an object to be measured () to form a beam spot () thereon. Diffused light from the beam spot () is received by a photodiode () and an output signal of the photodiode () is processed by a signal processing circuit () including an analog-digital converter () and a Fourier transforming unit (). A detecting section () obtains, for example, a moving velocity and a moving direction of the object based on spectrum peak frequencies obtained by the Fourier transform.

Optical two-dimensional velocity and/or movement detector

A light receiving device includes a silicon substrate, a first P type diffusion layer on the silicon substrate, and a P type semiconductor layer on the P type diffusion layer. On a surface part of the P type semiconductor layer, two N type diffusion layers as light receiving parts, and a second P type diffusion layer between the two N type diffusion layers are provided. On the P type semiconductor layer, an antireflection film structure composed of a first silicon oxide formed by thermal oxidation and a second silicon oxide formed by CVD is provided. A film thickness of the first silicon oxide is set at about 15 nm, thus a defect in a interface between the first silicon oxide and the P type semiconductor layer is prevented. A film thickness of the second silicon oxide is set at about 100 nm, thus a leak current between cathodes is prevented when a power supply voltage is applied for long period of time.

Light receiving element and light receiving device incorporating circuit and optical disk drive

A first luminous flux emitted from the front end face of a LD is reflected by a mirror to be made incident on a detection point on the surface of a measuring object, and a second luminous flux emitted from the rear end face of the LD is reflected by another mirror to be made incident on the detection point. Scattered light from the first detection point is received in a photodiode. A signal processing circuit part calculates the frequency shift quantity of the scattered light based on output from the photodiode. As a result, a velocimeter is provided which detects the moving speed of a measuring object highly precisely.

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Nara, Japan

Hideo Wada