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US 11,635,285 B2Granted
Distance measuring device, in particular for dielectric and metallic target objects
AssigneeCruise Munich GmbH
InventorStefan Trummer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed is a distance measuring device, in particular for dielectric or metallic target objects, said device comprising a sensor with a resonance chamber and a resonance structure. The resonance structure has an element consisting of a dielectric material which has a narrowing at the edge, the resonance frequency of the resonance chamber being dependent on the distance between the element and a target object.
Claims20
A sensor unit that is configured to measure distance to a target, the sensor unit comprising:
- a resonance structure comprising a cylindrical block of dielectric material, the cylindrical block of dielectric material having an outer wall, where the cylindrical block of dielectric material includes a ring-shaped recess that extends inwardly from the outer wall towards a center axis of the cylindrical block of dielectric material, where the ring-shaped recess is symmetric about the center axis of the cylindrical block of dielectric material such that a notch is formed in the outer wall;
- and
- control electronics electrically coupled to the resonance structure, wherein the control electronics are configured to output a distance between the sensor unit and the target based upon a signal output by the resonance structure.
A method for forming a sensor unit, the method comprising:
- providing a resonance structure, the resonance structure comprising a solid cylindrical block of dielectric material that has an outer wall, the cylindrical block of dielectric material having a ring-shaped recess that extends from the outer wall towards a center axis of the cylindrical block of dielectric material such that a notch is formed in the outer wall of the cylindrical block of dielectric material;
- and
- electrically coupling control electronics to the resonance structure, wherein the control electronics are configured to output a distance between the sensor unit and a target based upon a resonance frequency of the resonance structure.
A sensor unit for detecting distance to a target, the sensor unit comprising:
- a resonance structure comprising a solid cylindrical block of dielectric material, the solid cylindrical block of dielectric material having an outer wall, where the outer wall of the cylindrical block of dielectric material includes a ring-shaped recess that extends towards a center axis of the cylindrical block of dielectric material and is symmetric about the center axis;
- a first resonator coupling point that is coupled to the cylindrical block of dielectric material;
- a second resonator coupling point that is coupled to the cylindrical block of dielectric material, wherein the first resonator coupling point is geometrically offset from the second resonator coupling point by 90°;
- control electronics electrically coupled to the resonance structure, wherein the control electronics are configured to output a tuning voltage signal;
- a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) that is electrically coupled to the control electronics, the VCO configured to receive the tuning voltage signal and output a frequency modulated signal based upon the tuning voltage signal, wherein the frequency modulated signal is provided to the first resonator coupling point;
- and
- a 90° phase shifter that is electrically coupled to the VCO and is configured to receive the frequency modulated signal and shift a phase of the frequency modulated signal by 90° to form a phase shifted signal, wherein the phase shifted signal is provided the second resonator coupling point, and further wherein the control electronics are configured to output a distance between the sensor unit and the target based upon an output signal received by the control electronics from the cylindrical block of dielectric material.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.