Device for monitoring the state of a window pane

• US 6,373,215 B1
• Filed: 07/13/2000
• Issued: 04/16/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/20/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ITT Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc. (ITT, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: ITT Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc. (ITT, Inc.)
• Inventors: Osterfeld, Martin, Grabmaier, Anton
• Primary Examiner(s): Donels, Jeffrey
• Application Number:
  US09/600,333
• Time in Patent Office: 642 Days
• Field of Search: 318/483, 318/444, 318/480, 318/DIG.2
• US Class Current: 318/483
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 1/0822 characterized by the arrangement or type of detection means
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 1/0837 with a particular arrangement of the optical elements
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/43 by measuring critical angle
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 318/02 Windshield wiper controls

Abstract

A device for monitoring the state of a window pane includes an optical emitter which emits a light beam on to the window pane. The device also contains an optical receiver which detects light of the light beam modulated by the window pane and, as a result, generates a received signal. The emitter and the receiver are arranged at a distance from the window pane. An evaluation circuit evaluates the received signal in order to determine the state of the window pane.

Claims

1. A device for monitoring the state of a window pane comprising a first optical transmitter which emits a first light beam onto a pane to illuminate a first region of the pane, a second optical transmitter which emits a second light beam onto a pane to illuminate a second region of the pane, at least one optical receiver which receives the light of the first and second light beams modulated by the first and second regions of the pane, respectively, and subsequently generates a reception signal, and an evaluation circuit that evaluates the reception signal to determine the state of the pane at the first and second regions of the pane, characterized in that the transmitters and the receiver are located at a distance from the pane and the evaluation circuit is composed of a discriminator stage which uses the reception signal to derive a first and a second reception signal according to the detected modulated light from at least one first optical transmitter and at least one second optical transmitter, respectively.

2. The device according to claim 1 characterized in that the light received by the receiver includes reflected or scattered light from the light beams.

3. The device according to claim 1 characterized in that the transmitters and the receiver are located at a distance of about 10 to 30 cm away from the pane.

4. The device according claim 1 characterized in that a light spot projected from a light beam onto the pane has a surface area of at least 25 cm².

5. The device according to claim 1 characterized in that the window pane is an automobile window pane and the state of the window pane is monitored in the region of the immediate field of view of a driver of the automobile.

6. The device according to claim 1 characterized in that the transmitter operates in the infrared range.

7. The device according to claim 1 characterized in that the device includes a single optical receiver which receives the light modulated by the pane from the light beams emitted from the optical transmitters.

9. The device according to claim 1 characterized in that the evaluation circuit is composed of a difference stage which forms a difference signal from the first reception signal and the second reception signal.

10. The device according to claim 9 characterized in that the evaluation circuit is composed of a microcontroller that is supplied with the difference signal and that evaluates a temporal change in behavior of the difference signal.

11. The device according to claim 1 characterized by at least four optical transmitters whose light beams illuminate an essentially rectangular illuminated zone on the pane formed by partially overlapping light spots.

12. The device according to claim 1 characterized by at least three optical transmitters whose light beams illuminate an essentially elongated illuminated zone on the pane formed by partially overlapping light spots.

13. The device according to claim 1 characterized in that the transmitters and receiver are housed in a common housing.

14. The device according to claim 1 characterized in that on the input side of the optical receiver there is a reception lens which concentrates the light modulated by the pane onto the receiver.

15. The device according to claim 14 characterized in that the reception lens is designed so that a reception zone defined by the reception lens on the pane is adapted to the illuminated zone formed on the pane by the light spots of the light beam.

16. The device according to claim 14 characterized in that the reception lens is one of a spherical lens, a cylindrical lens and an astigmatic lens.

17. The device according to claim 1 characterized in that there is an optical filter on the input side of the optical receiver.

18. The device according to claim 1 characterized in that the at least one first optical transmitter and the at least one second optical transmitter are controlled by a pulse signal of a different phase and the discriminator stage is formed of a phase-synchronous demodulator.

8. A device for monitoring the state of a window pane including at least one optical transmitter which emits a light beam onto a pane, at least one optical receiver which receives the light of the light beam modulated by the pane and subsequently generates a reception signal, and an evaluation circuit that evaluates the reception signal to determine the state of the pane, characterized in that the at least one optical transmitter and the receiver are located at a distance from the pane, and the device is composed of a plurality of optical transmitters, and the evaluation circuit is composed of a discriminator stage which uses the reception signal to derive a first and a second reception signal according to the detected modulated light from at least one first optical transmitter and at least one second optical transmitter, wherein the first optical transmitters and second optical transmitters are controlled by a pulse signal of a different phase and the discriminator stage is formed of a phase-synchronous demodulator.

19. The device according to claim 8 characterized by at least four optical transmitters whose light beams illuminate an essentially rectangular illuminated zone on the pane formed by partially overlapping light spots.

20. The device according to claim 8 characterized by at least three optical transmitters whose light beams illuminate an essentially elongated illuminated zone on the pane formed by partially overlapping light spots.