Moisture sensor and windshield fog detector
First Claim
1. A system for detecting moisture on a surface comprising:
- a sensor that is divided into a plurality of subwindows each having a sensitivity that is variable independent of the other subwindows;
an optical system operative to direct light rays from at least a portion of the surface onto said sensor; and
a processing system in communication with said sensor and operative to adjust the sensitivity of the subwindows and to analyze data from said sensor to detect moisture on the surface.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The system of the present invention is configured to detect moisture on a surface and includes a sensor that may be divided into a plurality of subwindows. At least one of the subwindows has a sensitivity that is independently variable. The system may further include an optical system operative to direct light rays from at least a portion of the surface onto the sensor, and a processing system in communication with the sensor and operative to independently adjust the sensitivity of the at least one subwindow and to analyze data from the sensor to detect moisture. The processing system may control the windshield wipers based upon a number of subwindows in which moisture is detected.
51 Citations
39 Claims
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1. A system for detecting moisture on a surface comprising:
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a sensor that is divided into a plurality of subwindows each having a sensitivity that is variable independent of the other subwindows;
an optical system operative to direct light rays from at least a portion of the surface onto said sensor; and
a processing system in communication with said sensor and operative to adjust the sensitivity of the subwindows and to analyze data from said sensor to detect moisture on the surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A system for detecting moisture on a surface comprising:
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a sensor that is divided into a plurality of subwindows, at least one of said subwindows having a sensitivity that is independently variable;
an optical system operative to direct light rays from at least a portion of the surface onto said sensor; and
a processing system in communication with said sensor and operative to independently adjust the sensitivity of said at least one subwindow and to analyze data from said sensor to detect moisture on the surface. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A windshield wiper control system for a vehicle comprising:
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a sensor that is divided into a plurality of subwindows;
an optical system operative to direct light rays from at least a portion of the surface of the windshield onto said sensor; and
a processing system in communication with said sensor and operative to analyze data from said sensor to determine whether moisture is detected in each subwindow and to control the windshield wipers based upon a number of subwindows in which moisture is detected. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A windshield wiper control system for a vehicle comprising:
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a sensor;
an optical system operative to direct light rays from at least a portion of the surface of the windshield onto said sensor; and
a processing system in communication with said sensor and operative to analyze data from said sensor to detect moisture on the windshield and to automatically activate the windshield wipers when moisture is detected, wherein said processing system is responsive to at least one remote device to enable or disable automatic control of the windshield wipers. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A system for detecting moisture on a surface comprising:
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an image sensor array including a plurality of light sensors;
an optical system operative to image at least a portion of the surface onto said image sensor array;
a supplemental illuminator for selectively illuminating substantially all of said portion of the surface imaged onto said image sensor array;
memory for storing a first image obtained by said image sensor array when the supplemental illuminator is illuminating said portion of the surface, and for storing a second image obtained by said image sensor array when the supplemental illuminator is not illuminating said portion of the surface; and
a processing system in communication with said memory, said supplemental illuminator, and said image sensor array and operative to compare the first and second images stored in said memory and to analyze results of the comparison to detect moisture on the surface. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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26. A fog detector system for detecting fog on an inside surface of a vehicle window, said fog detector system comprising:
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an emitter for selectively projecting radiation onto a region of the inside surface of the vehicle window;
a sensor disposed with its optical axis substantially in parallel with that of said emitter, said sensor being sensitive to the radiation projected by said emitter for sensing levels of incident radiation both when said emitter projects radiation and when said emitter does not project radiation; and
a control circuit coupled to said emitter for selectively activating said emitter, and coupled to said sensor for receiving signals from said sensor representing the level of incident radiation, said control circuit determines the difference between levels of incident radiation when said emitter is activated and when said emitter is deactivated, and compares the difference to a threshold to determine whether fog is present, said control circuit generates a signal indicating the presence of fog on the vehicle window. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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Specification