Light barrier

Abstract

The invention relates to a light barrier for the detection of an object (2) which interrupts a beam of light (5) of the light barrier, having a sensor (4) with at least one light transmitter (4-1) for the transmission of a light beam (5) in the direction of a reflector (10); at least one light receiver (4-2) for the reception of a reflected portion of the light beam; and an evaluation unit (4-3) for the evaluation of the reflected light beam detected by the light receiver (4-2), To provide an improved light barrier which delivers an exact position determination of the object in the conveying device with a small installation and adjustment effort, it is proposed that the reflector (10) is made as a cylindrical reflector column (10) which has a plurality of retroreflecting elements (17) aligned toward the outer surface, with the diameter of the reflector column (10) being considerably smaller than the extent of the light beam (5) perpendicular to the cylinder axis so that an optically effective detection beam of light (20) is formed between the sensor (4) and the reflector column (10) whose cross-section at the sensor (4) is determined by the light transmitter (4-1) and, in direct proximity to the reflector column (10), by the areal overlap of the light beam (5) with the reflector column (10).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.