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US 2002/0157887 A1Published application
Optical object detection apparatus designed to monitor front and lateral zones of vehicle
AssigneeDenso Corporation
InventorsRyoichi Sugawara, Takeshi Matsui
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Abstract
An optical detection device for vehicles such as a laser radar is provided. The device consists of frontal and lateral object detection optical systems to monitor a font and a lateral zone around the vehicle, respectively. The frontal and lateral object detection optical systems share several component parts and a signal processing circuit installed in a device body, thereby resulting in a simplified structure of the device and allowing the size of the device to be decreased.
Claims12
An optical object detection apparatus for a vehicle comprising:
- an apparatus body installed in the vehicle, said apparatus body having disposed therein an optical device working to produce a light wave and process a return of the light wave from an object present around the vehicle to produce a signal indicative thereof;
- an optical mechanism installed within said apparatus body, said optical mechanism working to direct the light wave to a first object detectable zone defined ahead of the vehicle;
- and
- an optical unit installed in the vehicle in optical connection with said apparatus body, said optical unit working to direct the light wave transmitted from said apparatus body to a second object detectable zone defined around the vehicle other than the first object detectable zone and to transmit a return of the light wave from an object present within the second object detectable zone to the optical device in said apparatus body.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.