The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 13, 1990
Filed:
Aug. 09, 1989
Yoshiaki Kambe, Kadoma, JP;
Yoshihiko Okuda, Kadoma, JP;
Atsuyuki Hirono, Kadoma, JP;
Akira Nagaoka, Kadoma, JP;
Takayasu Ito, Kadoma, JP;
Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd., Osaka, JP;
Abstract
An optical sensor discriminating the presence of an object or detecting distance to an object which includes a light projecting element for projecting light to a detection area, a light receiving element for receiving light reflected from an object present in the detection area and an anamorphic light receiving lens for expanding a condensed light spot received on the light receiving element in a direction perpendicular to a direction of movement of the light spot on the light receiving element. The light receiving element outputs a detection signal which discriminates the presence of the object in the detection area. The light receiving element can be rectangular in shape and comprise two or more triangular shaped photodiodes which output detection signals that can be processed to determine a distance between the object and the light receiving element. A movable prism can also be provided to compensate for movement of the object other than towards or away from the light receiving element to avoid erroneous distance measurement which might otherwise occur.