OPTICAL SENSOR
First Claim
1. An optical sensor attached to a transparent board,comprising:
- a light emitting element that applies light to the transparent board that reflects the light;
a plurality of light receiving elements that receive the light reflected by the transparent board; and
a detection unit that detects an amount of rainfall based on output signals of the plurality of light receiving elements,wherein;
the light emitting element applies light to one irradiation region in the transparent board;
the plurality of light receiving elements correspond to the one irradiation region;
the detection unit detects the amount of rainfall based on output signals of the plurality of light receiving elements corresponding to the one irradiation region; and
the plurality of light receiving elements are formed in a single semiconductor substrate.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An optical sensor is attached to a transparent board and includes: a light emitting element that applies light to the transparent board; a plurality of light receiving elements that receive light from the light emitting element, reflected by the transparent board; and a detection unit that detects the amount of rainfall based on output signals of the light receiving elements. The light emitting element applies light to one irradiation region in the transparent board. The light receiving elements correspond to the one irradiation region and the detection unit detects the amount of rainfall based on output signals of the light receiving elements corresponding to the one irradiation region.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. An optical sensor attached to a transparent board,
comprising: -
a light emitting element that applies light to the transparent board that reflects the light; a plurality of light receiving elements that receive the light reflected by the transparent board; and a detection unit that detects an amount of rainfall based on output signals of the plurality of light receiving elements, wherein; the light emitting element applies light to one irradiation region in the transparent board; the plurality of light receiving elements correspond to the one irradiation region; the detection unit detects the amount of rainfall based on output signals of the plurality of light receiving elements corresponding to the one irradiation region; and the plurality of light receiving elements are formed in a single semiconductor substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. (canceled)
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10. An optical sensor comprising:
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a light emitting element that applies light to a transparent board that reflects the light; a plurality of light receiving elements that receive the light reflected by the transparent board, and convert the received light into electrical signals; a voltage regulating portion that regulates a voltage level of the electrical signal outputted from each of the light receiving elements; a light emission adjusting portion that adjusts an amount of light emission from the light emitting element; and a processing portion that processes an electrical signal outputted from each of the plurality of light receiving elements, wherein each of the plurality of light receiving elements converts light into an electric charge and outputs a voltage corresponding to the electric charge as the electrical signal, the voltage regulating portion individually regulates an amount of the electric charge converted at each of the plurality of light receiving elements and individually adjusts the voltage level of the electrical signal of each of the plurality of light receiving elements, and when each of a plurality of inspection values obtained by subtracting the voltage level of the electrical signal of each of the plurality of light receiving elements from a voltage level of an electrical signal outputted from each of the plurality of light receiving elements under states where no deposit adheres to the transparent board is larger than a threshold value, the processing portion determines that a deposit adheres to the transparent board. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18)
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13. (canceled)
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16. (canceled)
Specification