Sick Ag

Ingolf Hoersch

Felix Lang

Rolf Meier

Thomas Bluemcke

The invention relates to an opto-electronic sensor arrangement () with an optical transmitter () and an optical receiver (), such that the optical transmitter () and the optical receiver () are so positioned that they either form an optical scanner designed as an optical scanner with background gating or form a reflecting light barrier in conjunction with a reflector (), and such that the optical receiver () has a detector () in which successive images of the light beam () reflected from the object () are detected and are compared in an evaluating unit (), and the outcome of the comparison provides information on the movement of the object () relative to the optical receiver (), so that the detector exercises a movement function.

Opto-electrical sensor arrangement

A method and apparatus for detecting objects has a sensor with a light source, a light receiver, and a light retroreflector between them. Light from the source is transmitted to the detector along a light transmission path from the source to the retroreflector and is reflected back to the detector along a light reflection path that substantially corresponds to the transmission path. A single lens or a pair of adjacent lenses shapes the respective light beams from both light emitted by the source and light reflected by the retroreflector in accordance with either the auto collimation principle or the double-eye principle, respectively. A polarizer and a beam splitter are arranged in the light transmission path for light from the source, and a polarization filter is arranged in the light reflection path so that light reflected by the retroreflector passes through the beam splitter and the polarization filter before it reaches the light receiver. A control unit recognizes an interruption of at least one of the light beams as the detection of an object in the light transmission and/or light reflection paths. The beam splitter is a dielectricum which has differing transmission and reflection characteristics for p-polarized light and s-polarized light.

Optoelectronic sensor and method for detecting objects with polarized light

An optical sensor for use in high vacuum plants and/or in ultrahigh vacuum plants has a metal housing surrounding an interior space in a manner substantially impermeable to gas in which a window which transmits light to be detected is provided and an optical sensor element arranged in the interior space for the detection of light to be detected which is incident through the window.

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Emmendingen, Germany

Ingolf Hoersch