Inclination angle measurement apparatus

• US 7,000,476 B2
• Filed: 02/06/2003
• Issued: 02/21/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Inventors: Katayama, Yoshio
• Primary Examiner(s): Chapman, John E.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MILLER, ROSE MARY
• Application Number:
  US10/359,192
• Publication Number:
  US 20030154792A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,111 Days
• Field of Search: 735/97, 736/02, 736/27, 736/28, 736/46, 734/321, 367/96, 367/99, 367/188, 367/87, 367/125, 342/61, 342/72, 315/82
• US Class Current: 73/627
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/15 Road slope, i.e. the inclination of a road segment in the longitudinal direction
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 9/00 Measuring inclination, e.g. by clinometers, by levels
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/872 Combination of several systems for attitude determination using inertial means G01C9/00, control of attitude G05D1/49

Abstract

An inclination angle measurement apparatus includes a first ultrasonic sensor (3) for sending an ultrasonic wave toward a reflective object (2), second and third ultrasonic sensors (4 and 5) each for receiving an ultrasonic wave reflected from the reflective object (2), and a calculation control circuit (14) for calculating an angle of inclination of a moving object with respect to the reflective object (2) based on a phase difference between ultrasonic waves received by the second and third ultrasonic sensors (4 and 5). Thus the inclination angle measurement apparatus can accurately measure the angle of inclination of the moving object with respect to the reflective object (2).

Claims

1. An inclination angle measurement apparatus comprising:

a sending/receiving means for sending a wave toward a reflective object and for receiving two waves reflected from said reflective object; and

an inclination angle calculating means for calculating an angle of inclination of a moving object with respect to said reflective object based on a phase difference between phases of the two reflected waves,

wherein said wave sent by said sending/receiving means is an ultrasonic wave, and said two reflected waves are two ultrasonic waves reflected from said reflective object, and

wherein said sending/receiving means includes a first ultrasonic sensor for sending an ultrasonic wave toward said reflective object and then receiving an ultrasonic wave reflected from said reflective object, and a second ultrasonic sensor disposed at a distance from said first ultrasonic sensor that is much smaller than a distance to said reflective object, for sending an ultrasonic wave in phase with the ultrasonic wave sent by said first ultrasonic sensor toward said reflective object and then receiving an ultrasonic wave reflected from said reflective object, and said inclination angle calculating means calculates the angle of inclination of said moving object with respect to said reflective object based on a phase difference between phases of the two reflected ultrasonic waves received by said first and second ultrasonic sensors.