Proximity sensor

• US 7,532,151 B2
• Filed: 10/15/2004
• Issued: 05/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.)
• Inventors: Touge, Hiroshi, Sugiura, Takehiko
• Primary Examiner(s): PIHULIC, DANIEL T
• Application Number:
  US10/575,987
• Publication Number:
  US 20070194878A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,670 Days
• Field of Search: 342/27, 342/28
• US Class Current: 342/27
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/0209 Systems with very large relative bandwidth, i.e. larger than 10 %, e.g. baseband, pulse, carrier-free, ultrawideband
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/282 Transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 3/12 operating with electromagnetic waves operating with millimetre waves G01V8/005

Abstract

A microwave oscillating portion 30 has an output oscillator function that is capable of adjusting automatically a frequency of microwaves radiated from an electrically conductive member made of an outer panel 11-14 as an antenna at a specific frequency of a sufficiently short wavelength in relation to a size of the electrically conductive member made of the outer panel 11-14. The microwave oscillating portion 30 can detect a human and an object of a detection object 27 in a detection area 11A-14A set at an outside of the outer panel 11-14 that is integrally or separably mounted on a vehicle 1.

Claims

1. A proximity sensor comprising:

an electrically conductive member integrally or separably mounted on a mounting object,

a detection area made of an electromagnetic wave radiation space set at an outside of the said electrically conductive member and accompanying a change of a humidity, a temperature and a barometric pressure, and

a microwave circuit making the said electrically conductive member act as an antenna and radiate microwaves of a sufficiently short wavelength relative to a size of the said electrically conductive member so as to detect an existence of a detection object residing in a space inside the said detection area as a change of an eigenvalue of a radio wave propagation, thereby detecting the change of the said eigenvalue by the said microwave circuit as a change of the said detection area,

wherein the change of the eigenvalue of the said radio wave propagation is detected by use of a mixer, which makes the frequency of the said electrically conductive member passed through a directional coupler connected to the feeding point of the UWB oscillator and a bandpass filter and thereafter amplified by an amplifying means while inputting a down-converting frequency for mixing, and a recognition circuit detecting the change of the said detection area by a frequency passed through the said mixer.

2. A proximity sensor as recited in claim 1, wherein the said microwave circuit comprises an UWB (Ultra Wide Band) oscillator supplying a wideband frequency of the microwaves radiated from the said electrically conductive member, a resonant circuit is formed between the said electrically conductive member and the said detection area and the change of the said detection area is detected based upon a difference of a propagation state of a frequency supplied from a feeding point of the said UWB oscillator.

3. A proximity sensor as recited in claim 2, wherein the change of the eigenvalue of the said radio wave propagation is detected by use of a mixer, which introduces the frequency of the said electrically conductive member from the said one or two or more receiving points arranged individually and inputs a down-converting frequency for mixing, and a recognition circuit detecting the change of the said detection area by a frequency passed through the said mixer.

4. A proximity sensor as recited in claim 2, wherein the change of the eigenvalue of the said radio wave propagation is detected by forming a resonant circuit between the said electrically conductive member and the said detection area so as to perform detection based upon a change of a propagation state of a frequency supplied from a feeding point of the said UWB oscillator as the change and a moving speed of the said detection object.

5. A proximity sensor as recited in claim 4, wherein the change and the moving speed of the said detection object is recognized by use of a mixer, which introduces the frequency of the said electrically conductive member and inputs a down-converting frequency for mixing, and a recognition circuit detecting the change and the moving speed of the said detection object by a frequency passed through the said mixer.

11. A proximity sensor as recited in claim 1, wherein said electrically conductive member is an opening/closing body mounted openably and closably on a vehicle.

6. A proximity sensor comprising an electrically conductive member integrally or separably mounted on a mounting object, a detection area made of an electromagnetic wave radiation space set at an outside of the said electrically conductive member and accompanying a change of a humidity, a temperature and a barometric pressure, and a microwave circuit making the said electrically conductive member act as an antenna and radiate microwaves of a sufficiently short wavelength relative to a size of the said electrically conductive member so as to detect an existence of a detection object residing in a space inside the said detection area as a change of an eigenvalue of a radio wave propagation, thereby detecting the change of the said eigenvalue by the said microwave circuit as a change of the said detection area,

wherein the said microwave circuit comprises a microwave oscillating portion forming a resonant circuit of the microwaves including the said detection area the said microwave oscillating portion comprising either of a first device and a second device, the first device including an output oscillator supplying a frequency producing the microwaves radiated from the said electrically conductive member, a mixer mixing a frequency of the microwaves obtained from the electrically conductive member and a frequency obtained from a time-base generator so as to detect a predetermined frequency, a bandpass filter selecting only a specific frequency from a frequency mixed by the said mixer and a feedback system feeding back to the said output oscillator by a frequency passed through the said bandpass filter, and the second device including a recognition circuit distinguishing the change of the said detection area by a standing wave of a frequency passed through the said bandpass filter.

7. A proximity sensor comprising:

an electrically conductive member integrally or separably mounted on a mounting object,

a detection area made of an electromagnetic wave radiation space set at an outside of the said electrically conductive member and accompanying a change of a humidity, a temperature and a barometric pressure, and

a microwave circuit making the said electrically conductive member act as an antenna and radiate microwaves of a sufficiently short wavelength relative to a size of the said electrically conductive member so as to detect an existence of a detection object residing in a space inside the said detection area as a change of an eigenvalue of a radio wave propagation, thereby detecting the change of the said eigenvalue by the said microwave circuit as a change of the said detection area,

wherein the said microwave circuit comprises an output oscillator outputting the microwaves to the said electrically conductive member and a deemed circuit deemed as a cavity resonant circuit is formed between the said electrically conductive member and a detection object in the said detection area when the detection object resides in the detection area set at the outside of the said electrically conductive member, thereby obtaining a frequency of the said deemed circuit from the said output oscillator so as to detect the detection object in the said detection area as a change of an oscillating frequency of the said output oscillator, and

further comprising, at an output side of the said output oscillator, a mixer mixing the frequency outputted from the said output oscillator and a frequency obtained from a time-base generator and a recognition circuit recognizing the detection object inside the detection area set at the outside of the said electrically conductive member.

8. A proximity sensor as recited in claim 7, wherein the said output oscillator is made of a dielectric oscillator or an LC oscillator.

9. A proximity sensor comprising:

an electrically conductive member integrally or separably mounted on a mounting object,

a detection area made of an electromagnetic wave radiation space set at an outside of the said electrically conductive member and accompanying a change of a humidity, a temperature and a barometric pressure, and

a microwave circuit making the said electrically conductive member act as an antenna and radiate microwaves of a sufficiently short wavelength relative to a size of the said electrically conductive member so as to detect an existence of a detection object residing in a space inside the said detection area as a change of an eigenvalue of a radio wave propagation, thereby detecting the change of the said eigenvalue by the said microwave circuit as a change of the said detection area,

wherein an oscillating circuit oscillating the microwaves is made by setting a feeding point and a receiving point are set on the said electrically conductive member of the said microwave circuit and amplifying a frequency obtained from the said receiving point and feeding back the said frequency to the said feeding point, thereby detecting the change of the said detection area as a change of a frequency obtained from the said oscillating circuit.

10. A proximity sensor as recited in claim 9 comprising an oscillating circuit composed of a bandpass filter making a frequency obtained from the said receiving point of the said electrically conductive member into a specific frequency range and a high-frequency amplifier amplifying and feeding back the frequency of the said frequency range to the said feeding point, a directional coupler connected on a route from the said receiving point to the feeding point so as to detect an oscillating state of the said oscillating circuit, a mixer inputting a down-converting frequency so as to mix and detect a feedback state generated by the said directional coupler and a recognition circuit recognizing the change of the detection area by a frequency passed through the said mixer.