Denso Corporation

Mitsuhiro Kiyono

Noriyuki Ozaki

Shinji Kashiwada

Teiyuu Kimura

Teiyu Kimura

Kenichi Yanai

Kazuhisa Onda

Fumiaki Mizuno

Ryoichi Sugawara

Ko Oyama

An optical detector is configured to project a projection beam toward a measurement area and detect a return beam from the measurement area. The optical detector includes: a projecting optical system that forms a projection optical axis to project the projection beam; a receiving optical system that forms a receiving optical axis to receive the return beam, and a housing having a housing chamber to house the projecting optical system and the receiving optical system, and an optical window for the projection beam and the return beam to travel between the housing chamber and the measurement area. The projection optical axis and the receiving optical axis are offset from each other to define an overlap region inside the housing chamber where footprints of the projection beam and the return beam overlap with each other.

Optical detector

An optical detector includes a light emitter having a light emitting window extended in an extension direction to emit a projection beam from the light emitting window toward a measurement area and to detect a return beam from the measurement area. The optical detector includes a scanning mirror that scans by reflecting the projection beam. The scanning mirror swings within a finite angular range around a rotation axis that is along a direction corresponding to the extension direction.

An optical distance measuring device includes: a light source unit that irradiates a measurement region with irradiation light; a light receiving unit that has a light receiving surface including a plurality of light receiving elements capable of receiving reflected light from a range including the measurement region corresponding to irradiation with the irradiation light and outputs a signal corresponding to a light receiving state of the reflected light for each of the light receiving elements; and a measurement unit that measures a distance to an object in the measurement region by using the signal outputted from the light receiving unit. The light receiving unit has a function of selecting a light receiving element that outputs the signal so that a light receiving position at which the reflected light is received is variable, and the light receiving unit changes the light receiving position to a plurality of positions with respect to a position of the reflected light.

Optical distance measuring device

An image capturing apparatus includes an optical system and an image sensor to capture images of a close object and distant object. The optical system includes a convex lens as a first optical member and a glass plate as a second optical member with a refractive index higher than that of air. The second optical member is located in between the first optical member and a first image point at which a real image of the close object is formed, to absorb a positional difference between the first image point and a second image point at which a real image of the distant object is formed. The image sensor includes multiple light reception elements to generate a single picture frame that contains simultaneously a real image of the close object and a real image of the distant object.

Growing community of inventors

Obu, Japan

Mitsuhiro Kiyono