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Distance sensor and method for determining a distance

  • US 8,670,289 B2
  • Filed: 06/24/2008
  • Issued: 03/11/2014
  • Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2007
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A distance sensor, comprising:

  • an ultrasound transceiver for transmitting ultrasound pulses and for receiving reflected ultrasound pulses from an object;

    a discriminator unit for determining a center of distribution of the received reflected ultrasound pulses based on the received reflected ultrasound pulse exceeding a first threshold value and subsequently dropping below a second threshold value; and

    a propagation time analyzer device for determining, based on the determined center of distribution, the distance to the object;

    an estimator device for estimating a height of the object based on at least one of a pulse width of the reflected ultrasound pulses, a ratio of a number of reflected ultrasound pulses to a number of transmitted ultrasound pulses, and a distribution of the centers of distribution of reflected ultrasound pulses of an object; and

    a correction unit for correcting the distance determined from the propagation time analyzer device as a function of the estimated height.

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