Messerschmitt-boelkow-blohm Gmbh

Other

Daimler-benz Ag

Temic Telefunken Microelectronic Gmbh

Martin Spies

Hans Spies

Alfons Woehrl

Horst Laucht

Wolfgang Lauer

Hans Albrecht

Frank Frungel

Siegfried Reiniger

Arrangement for detecting the occupancy of a seat for safety systems having a plurality of light emitters, which are imaged onto the seat via an optical unit and the luminous spots created there are imaged via a further optical unit onto a photodetector field. The contour is acquired with a microprocessor via the evaluation of the position of these luminous spots on the photodetector field, and thus the type of occupancy is determined. This information can be supported via passive IR detectors for the acquisition of the temperature differential.

Arrangement for detecting the occupancy of a seat in vehicles and the

A semiconductor image sensor having a CCD-structure, includes sensor elements arranged in a linear or in a two-dimensional array suitable for a parallel or serial read-out of information. An avalanche diode is arranged between a p-layer and a high resistance n-layer on a light inlet side of the semiconductor device. The charge carriers coming from the avalanche diode are transferred to a CCD-structure in response to an electrical control signal applied to the p-layer and the n-layer of the image sensor. This construction forms an optical shutter that is controllable by pulses of short duration within the range of about 1 to 10 ns.

Image sensor with an avalanche diode forming an optical shutter

A semiconductor optical image sensor is constructed particularly as a CCD-structure having a linear or two-dimensional array configuration with parallel or serial read-out. The CCD-structure is combined with an avalanche diode structure arranged on one side of the semiconductor or in laterally spaced locations to allow an optically controllable amplification of the image signal in the image sensor by an avalanche effect.

Controllable semiconductor image sensor and arrangement with such a

The device for visibility measurement is designed primarily for use in motor vehicles. A light emitter is arranged inside the driver's compartment preferably on the rear view mirror in front of the windshield. The light emitter generates light pulses or flashes radiating through the windshield. The light scattered back due to soiling on the inside and outside of the windshield or in scatter zones, formed by fog or smoke or the like, in front of the windshield, impinges a light sensor, preferably likewise arranged on the rear view mirror inside the driver's compartment. By utilizing light pulses of various wavelengths and processing of the output signals of the light sensor in predetermined or predeterminable time windows or intervals, not only the respective visibility but also the type of viewing impairment can be determined.

Device for visibility measurement for a motor vehicle

In a ceilometric system, light pulses are emitted from a transmitter towards overhead clouds and reflected back down towards a receiver which generates a photodetector signal transmitted by a gate whose gating interval is shifted in time relative to the light-pulse emission instant to define successive range steps. During each dwell at a particular gating interval and range step, the photodetector signal is integrated to develop an integral signal for that range step. The integral signal for each range step is digitalized and stored in a digital storage circuit, ordered in correspondence to the sequence of the range steps. A microprocessor searches for the largest one of the stored integral signals and derives a ceilometric indication in dependence thereon.

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Pfaffenhofen, Germany

Martin Spies