BUMPER SENSOR

• US 20100225460A1
• Filed: 04/28/2006
• Published: 09/09/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/01/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Soka University
• Original Assignee: Tama-Tlo Ltd.
• Inventors: Watanabe, Kazuhiro, Nishiyama, Michiko
• Application Number:
  US11/997,512
• Publication Number:
  US 20100225460A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/436
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 19/483 with obstacle sensors of electric or electronic type
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 1/242 the material being an optical fibre
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 5/0052 measuring forces due to impact G01L5/0061, G01L5/14 take precedence; impact testing of structures G01M7/08; impact testing of material G01N3/00

Abstract

A bumper sensor able to obtain a grasp of a change of shape of a bumper in two dimensions or three dimensions, able to sense a size etc. of a contacting object, and able to be made simple in system configuration is provided. A plurality of optical fibers (20a, 20b) having sensor portions are provided in a surface layer portion or on the front surface of a bumper body 10 for an automobile vehicle, each optical fiber is consisted of a core and a cladding provided on an outer circumference of the core, sensor portions enabling interaction of a portion of transmitted light with the external environment are two-dimensionally arranged at a plurality of positions on a surface forming the front surface of the bumper body, and provision is further made of a light source 11 for emitting incident light to incident ends of optical fibers, and a light receiving portion 13 for detecting beams emitted from emitting ends of optical fibers via sensor portions.

Claims

1. A bumper sensor having:

a bumper body for an automobile vehicle;

a plurality of optical fibers consisted of cores and claddings provided on outer circumferences of the cores, having sensor portions for enabling interaction of portions of transmitted light with the external environment, and being provided so that the sensor portions are arranged at a plurality of positions on a surface forming the front surface of the bumper body and/or inside the bumper body by being buried in a surface layer portion of the bumper body or being provided on the front surface and/or being buried inside said bumper body;

a light source for emitting incident light to incident ends of the optical fibers; and

a light receiving portion for detecting lights emitted from emitting ends of the optical fibers via the sensor portions.

2. A bumper sensor as set forth in claim 1, wherein each sensor portion is a hetero core portion having a core diameter different from the core diameter of an optical fiber and is joined to a middle portion of the optical fiber.

3. A bumper sensor as set forth in claim 1, wherein each sensor portion is configured by an optical transparent material having a refractive index equivalent to the refractive index of the core of the optical fiber or the refractive index of the cladding joined to the middle portion of the optical fiber.

4. A bumper sensor as set forth in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the sensor portions are arranged two-dimensionally or three-dimensionally at a plurality of positions on a plurality of curves or planes forming the surface of the bumper body.

5. A bumper sensor as set forth in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the optical fibers form a first system arranged along a first direction on a surface forming the front surface of the bumper body and a second system arranged along a second direction different from the first direction.

6. A bumper sensor as set forth in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the optical fibers are arranged along three or more directions on a surface forming the front surface of the bumper body.

7. A bumper sensor as set forth in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the sensor portions have a first region where they are arranged with a first density at a surface constituting the front surface of the bumper body and a second region where they are arranged with a second density different from the first density.

8. A bumper sensor as set forth in any one of claims 1 to 3, further having an optical switch unit for branching the light from the light source to a plurality of beams and making the beams incident upon the plurality of optical fibers while switching them or an optical branch unit for making the beams incident upon the plurality of optical fibers.

9. A bumper sensor as set forth in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the light receiving portion is an array of light receiving elements for sequentially or simultaneously measuring beams emitted from emitting ends of the plurality of optical fibers.

10. A bumper sensor as set forth in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the sensor portion senses a shape change of the bumper body.