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:
Dec. 07, 1999
Filed:
Nov. 13, 1998
Tadashi Koyama, Osaka, JP;
Keiji Tsunetomo, Osaka, JP;
Shuhei Tanaka, Osaka, JP;
Hideki Imanishi, Osaka, JP;
Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd., Osaka, JP;
Abstract
A windshield (transparent substrate) 1 having the function of detecting the presence of water drops W upon one side surface of the windshield depending upon variations in an amount of reflected light, comprising a rain sensor provided on the other side surface of the windshield, which further comprises: light emitting means 6 for guiding light into the windshield 1; light receiving means 7 for detecting the light which is reflected within the windshield 1; and, light shielding members 10 and 11 provided on the other side surface of the windshield 1 opposing the light emitting means 6 and the light receiving means 7, respectively; wherein the light shielding member 10 shields the light emitted from the light emitting means 6 at an incident angle less than a critical angle at which total internal reflection occurs at a boundary surface between air and the windshield 1, while the other shielding member 11 shields outside ambient light incident upon the light receiving means 7.