DISTANCE-MEASURING SENSOR AND METHOD FOR DETECTING AND DETERMINING THE DISTANCE OF OBJECTS
First Claim
1. A distance-measuring sensor for detecting and determining the distance of objects in a monitored zone, the distance-measuring sensor comprising:
- a transmitter for transmitting transmitted pulses;
a receiver for generating a received signal from the transmitted pulses remitted in the monitored zone;
a first comparator unit for digitizing the received signal with reference to a first threshold;
a control and evaluation unit which is configured to transmit a plurality of transmitted pulses via the transmitter, to collect the received signals thereupon generated by the receiver in a histogram and to determine a received time point from the histogram and thus to determine a measured value for the signal transit time from the sensor to the object; and
a second comparator unit for digitizing the received signal with reference to a second threshold, wherein the first comparator unit, the second comparator unit and the control and evaluation unit are configured to acquire three digital states of a respective section of the received signal with reference to the first threshold and to the second threshold and to weight the contributions of the section to the histogram in dependence on the digital state.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A distance-measuring sensor (10) is provided for detecting and determining the distance of objects (18) in a monitored zone comprising a transmitter (12) for transmitting transmitted pulses; a receiver (20) for generating a received signal from the transmitted pulses remitted in the monitored zone; a first comparator unit (36a) for digitizing the received signal with reference to a first threshold; and a control and evaluation unit (30) which is configured to transmit a plurality of transmitted pulses via the transmitter (12), to collect the received signals thereupon generated by the receiver (20) in a histogram and to determine a received time point from the histogram and thus to determine a measured value for the signal transit time from the sensor (10) to the object (18). In this respect, a second comparator unit (36b) is provided for digitizing the received signal with reference to a second threshold, wherein the first comparator unit (36a), the second comparator unit (36b) and the control and evaluation unit (30) are configured to acquire three digital states of a respective section of the received signal with reference to the first threshold and to weight the contributions of the section to the histogram in dependence on the digital state.
82 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A distance-measuring sensor for detecting and determining the distance of objects in a monitored zone, the distance-measuring sensor comprising:
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a transmitter for transmitting transmitted pulses; a receiver for generating a received signal from the transmitted pulses remitted in the monitored zone; a first comparator unit for digitizing the received signal with reference to a first threshold; a control and evaluation unit which is configured to transmit a plurality of transmitted pulses via the transmitter, to collect the received signals thereupon generated by the receiver in a histogram and to determine a received time point from the histogram and thus to determine a measured value for the signal transit time from the sensor to the object; and a second comparator unit for digitizing the received signal with reference to a second threshold, wherein the first comparator unit, the second comparator unit and the control and evaluation unit are configured to acquire three digital states of a respective section of the received signal with reference to the first threshold and to the second threshold and to weight the contributions of the section to the histogram in dependence on the digital state. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for the detection and determination of the distance of objects in a monitored zone, in which a plurality of transmitted pulses are transmitted and in which received signals are generated from the transmitted pulses remitted in the monitored zone, said received signals being digitized with the aid of a first comparator unit having a first positive threshold and being collected in a histogram to determine a received time point and thus a measured value for the signal transit time to the object from the histogram, wherein three digital states of a respective section of the received signals are acquired using the first comparator unit and a second comparator unit having a negative second threshold and the contributions of the section to the histogram are weighted depending on the digital state.
Specification