JP2012145434A - Active type object detecting device for automatic door sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an active type object detecting device for automatic door sensors, even if a detection area of a plurality of detection areas is located far from a device, capable of accurately setting the detection area.SOLUTION: Prism bodies 4P and 9P include a plurality of prism pieces PS partitioned by horizontal ridge lines R and are set so as to enlarge the detection areas A1-A5 towards a distance. An inclination angle θ of a prism face of each prism piece PS is set so as to be minimized at both the ends in the horizontal direction and to be gradually enlarged towards a central part and maximized at the central part.

Description

  The present invention sends an object detection line toward a plurality of detection areas, and an object such as a human body is detected when a light reception signal generated when a detection line reflected by the object exceeds a set level. The present invention relates to an active object detection device for an automatic door sensor to detect.

  Conventionally, detection lines for detecting objects that cannot be seen by the human eye, such as infrared rays and near infrared rays, are sent from the projector to multiple detection areas, and the light reception signals are received by receiving the detection lines reflected from the object by the light receiver. There is known an active object detection device that detects an object such as a human body when the received light signal exceeds a set level.

  As an example of this active type object detection device, a plurality of detection areas of a plurality of columns in the vertical direction and a plurality of rows in the horizontal direction are arranged from a position close to the detection device to a position far from the detection device to form a plurality of detection areas. (Patent Document 1). This active object detection device is used for an automatic door sensor, for example, for detecting an object of an automatic opening / closing door.

  When the plurality of detection areas are configured by an optical system of a lens body and a prism body that project the detection line sent from the light projecting element, the prism body is used to enlarge the detection area far away.

  The active object detection apparatus detects an object using light rays that are invisible to human eyes, such as infrared rays, as described above, and a plurality of detection areas formed by the optical system are also human eyes. Therefore, it is difficult to specifically recognize this detection area, and it is difficult to set the detection area.

JP 2009-115792 A

  By the way, when a prism body set at a fixed angle is used in order to enlarge the detection area far, a phenomenon similar to distortion occurs in a detection area far from the apparatus among a plurality of detection areas. There was a case. FIG. 4B shows an image of light projected on a plurality of rows arranged in the horizontal direction in the detection area at a far position by an experimental apparatus. As shown in this figure, the detection areas arranged in a line in the horizontal direction are affected by the above phenomenon and have a bow shape in plan view.

  In this case, it is difficult to set the detection area itself because it is invisible to the human eye. In addition, the bow shape in the detection area causes a difference between the designed detection area and the actually set detection area. There is a problem that the setting of the detection area becomes inaccurate.

  The present invention solves the above-described problem, and when a plurality of detection areas are set by enlarging the area far away using a prism body, even if the detection area is far from the apparatus, An object of the present invention is to provide an active object detection device for an automatic door sensor that can accurately set an area.

  In order to achieve the above object, an active object detection apparatus for an automatic door sensor according to the present invention includes a light projecting element that sends detection lines for detecting an object toward a plurality of detection areas, and the detection line reflected by the object. A light receiving element that receives light and a single light projecting element or a lens body and a prism body arranged in front of the light receiving element, and an optical system that forms a plurality of detection areas. It has a plurality of prism pieces partitioned by horizontal ridgelines, and is set so as to enlarge the detection area farther, and the inclination angle in the vertical plane of the prism surface of each prism piece is both ends in the horizontal direction. At the minimum, the inclination angle gradually increases toward the central portion, and the inclination angle is set to the maximum at the central portion.

  According to this configuration, the inclination angle in the vertical plane of the prism surfaces of the plurality of prism pieces constituting the prism body is minimized at both ends in the horizontal direction and gradually increases toward the central portion, and the inclination angle at the central portion. Is set to the maximum, the bow shape due to the same phenomenon as the distortion occurring in the detection area due to the prism body can be corrected to a straight line. Thereby, even if it is a detection area of the position far from an apparatus, a detection area can be set correctly.

  Preferably, in the prism body, the change in the inclination angle is formed only on a prism piece that forms a detection area far from the automatic door sensor. Therefore, correction can be more effectively performed particularly in a detection area at a position far from the apparatus that is greatly influenced by the above phenomenon.

  In the present invention, the inclination angle in the vertical plane of the prism surface of the plurality of prism pieces constituting the prism body is minimized at both ends in the horizontal direction and gradually increases toward the central portion, and the inclination angle is maximized at the central portion. Therefore, the bow shape caused by the same phenomenon as the distortion occurring in the detection area due to the prism body can be corrected to a straight line.

(A) is explanatory drawing of the detection area seen from the sliding direction side of the automatic opening / closing door using the active type object detection apparatus for automatic door sensors which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, (B) is a top view which shows a detection area It is. It is a front view which shows the state which removed the cover, window, and upper case of the active type object detection apparatus of FIG. (A) is a side view showing a prism body, (B) is a perspective view thereof, (C) is a plan view showing an element, a lens body and a prism body, and (D) is a sectional view taken along DD of (B). . (A) is an operation | movement of the active type object detection apparatus concerning this invention, (B) is a characteristic view which shows operation | movement of the conventional active type object detection apparatus.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the detection area will be described prior to the description of the configuration of the active object detection device for an automatic door sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the case where it is applied for activation of an opening / closing control device for an automatic opening / closing door is illustrated, and FIG. 1 (A) is an explanatory view of a detection area viewed from the sliding direction of the automatic opening / closing door 18. (B) is a top view which shows a detection area. As shown in FIG. 2A, the active object detection device 100 is installed in the eyeless 50, and the detection areas A1 to A5 are located at positions far from the positions close to the installed active object detection device 100. The detection areas A1 to A5 in each column are each composed of 12 areas as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a front view showing a state in which a cover, a window (not shown) inside thereof, and an upper case are removed from the device main body 29 of the active object detection device 100. As shown in FIG. 2, the active object detection device 100 is, for example, an AIR (active infrared method) sensor, toward a detection area set in five rows from a position close to the projector 1 to a position far from the projector 1. A projector 1 that projects near-infrared light, which is a kind of detection line for detecting an object, and a light receiver 2 that receives a detection line reflected by the object and generates a light reception signal are provided.

  The floodlight 1 is sent from each light projecting element 3 in front of the first to fifth row light projecting elements 3 composed of infrared light emitting diodes that transmit near infrared rays as detection lines. The near-infrared rays are divided by a horizontal ridgeline and a lens body 4L that is divided into four in the horizontal direction X to project a plurality of, for example, four predetermined patterns so that each row has 12 detection areas. And prism bodies 4P (FIG. 3A) that are divided into five in the vertical direction Y corresponding to the fourth and fifth rows and are set so as to enlarge the detection area far away. And an optical system 4 for projecting light. The prism body 4P is not provided for the first to third rows.

  The light receiver 2 receives the first to fifth light receiving elements 8 different from each other in each of the five detection areas, and the detection area of each line in front of the light receiving element 8. It has a lens body 9L that is divided into four in the lateral direction X to collect the reflected near-infrared rays so as to enter each light receiving element 8, and a plurality of prism pieces that are partitioned by horizontal ridge lines. Correspondingly, it has a light receiving optical system 9 in which prism bodies 9P (FIG. 3A) divided into five in the vertical direction Y are sequentially arranged. The prism body 9P is not provided for the first to third rows.

  In the active object detection device 100, the first and second light projecting lenses 4LA and 4LB and the prism body 4P constituting the light projecting optical system 4 are provided on the lower surface side (the lower side in the figure) of the device main body 29. The first and second light receiving elements 29 that are spaced apart from each other in the horizontal direction X, which is a horizontal direction parallel to the mounting surface 29a of the invisible 50 (FIG. 1A), constitute the optical system 9 for light reception therebetween. Lenses 9LA and 9LB and a prism body 9P are arranged. The first light projecting lens 4LA and the first light receiving lens 9LA set the first to third detection areas A1 to A3 in FIG. 1, and the second light projecting lens 3LB and the second light receiving lens 9LB, the prism body 4P, and 9P sets the fourth and fifth detection areas A4 and A5 in FIG.

  The first to third row light projecting elements 3 in which three each are arranged in a line along the lateral direction X corresponding to the first light projection lens 4LA of FIG. 2 are mounted, and the second light projection lens 4LB. The fourth and fifth row light projecting elements (not shown), each of which is arranged in a line along the horizontal direction X, are mounted corresponding to the prism body 4P and correspond to the first light receiving lens 9LA. The first to third light receiving elements 8 arranged in a line along the horizontal direction X are mounted, and three light receiving elements 9LB and three prisms corresponding to the prism body 9P are mounted. 4th and 5th row light receiving elements 8 (inclined slightly above the first to third row light receiving elements 8) arranged in a line along the horizontal direction X are mounted. The first and second light projecting lenses (a plurality of lens segments) 4LA and 4LB, and the first and second light receiving lenses (a plurality of lens segments) 9LA and 9LB are all divided into four parts. Four detection areas are assigned to the light receiving element 8. Therefore, the light projecting elements 3 in the first to fifth columns and the light receiving elements 8 in the first to fifth columns arranged in three for each column include the corresponding lenses 4LA, 4LB, 9LA, 9LB and prisms. By the bodies 4P and 9P, five rows of detection areas A1 to A5 including 12 (= 3 × 4) detection areas in each row are set.

  In the prism bodies 4P and 9P in FIG. 3B, the inclination angle of the prism surface of each prism piece in the Y-direction vertical plane is minimized at both ends in the horizontal direction X and gradually increases toward the center. The inclination angle is set to the maximum at the part. The difference in inclination angle between both ends and the center of the prism piece is in the range of 1 ° to 5 °, preferably in the range of 2 ° to 4 °. The inclination angle and the difference between the inclination angles vary depending on the prism material, the degree of enlargement of the detection area, and the like. As shown in FIG. 3C, the ridgeline R of the entire prism bodies 4P and 9P has a substantially chevron shape whose center is convex in the Z direction orthogonal to the X direction in plan view. FIG. 3D is a DD cutaway view of FIG. 3B and shows the tilt angle θ.

  In this example, in order to form detection areas A4 and A5 far from the apparatus 100, prism bodies 4P and 9P in which the inclination angle θ of the prism surface is changed are arranged. As a result, the bow shape (FIG. 5 (B)) due to the same phenomenon as the distortion occurring in the detection areas A4 and A5 at a position far from the apparatus 100 in the prior art is linear as shown in FIG. 5 (A). Can be corrected. On the other hand, the prism bodies 4P and 9P are not arranged to form the detection areas A1 to A3 at positions close to the apparatus 100. This is because there is little need to enlarge the area in the detection area at a close position, and the above phenomenon may occur when a conventional prism body is arranged, but the effect is small.

  In the above configuration, when the automatic opening / closing door of FIG. 1 determines whether or not the light receiving signal input individually for each light receiving element 8 in each row exceeds the set level, and determines that it exceeds the set level. In addition, an object detection signal is output to the open / close control device for the automatic door 18. The automatic opening / closing door 18 is opened / closed based on the object detection signal.

  For example, in the detection area A5 separated from the automatic opening / closing door 18 of FIG. 1A by 2.4 m, a deviation of 120 mm from the straight virtual line at the center of the conventional bow shape of FIG. In the present invention, the prism bodies 4P and 9P are set to an inclination angle of 9 ° at both ends, and the inclination angle gradually increases toward the center portion, and the inclination angle is set to 12 ° at the center portion. Thus, by setting the difference in inclination angle between the both end portions and the central portion to 3 °, the linear correction is made as shown in FIG.

  In this way, the inclination angle in the vertical plane of the prism surfaces of the plurality of prism pieces constituting the prism body is set to the minimum at both ends in the horizontal direction and gradually increases toward the center, and the inclination angle is set to the maximum at the center. Therefore, the bow shape caused by the same phenomenon as the distortion generated in the detection area due to the prism body can be corrected to a straight line. Thereby, even if it is a detection area of the position far from an apparatus, a detection area can be set correctly.

  In the above embodiment, the prism bodies in which the inclination angle of the prism surface is changed are not arranged in the detection areas A1 to A3 at close positions, but they may be arranged as necessary.

1: Projector 2: Light receiver 3: Projection element 4: Projection optical system 4L: Lens body 4P: Prism body 8: Light reception element 9: Light reception optical system 9L: Lens body 9P: Prism body 18: Automatic opening / closing door (Automatic door)
100: Active type object detection devices A1 to A5: Detection area PS: Prism piece

Claims (2)

A light projecting element for sending detection lines for object detection toward a plurality of detection areas, and a light receiving element for receiving the detection lines reflected by the object;
And an optical system having a lens body and a prism body arranged in front of a single light projecting element or light receiving element, and forming a plurality of detection areas. And
The prism body has a plurality of prism pieces partitioned by horizontal ridgelines, and is set to enlarge the detection area far away,
Inclination angle in the vertical plane of the prism surface of each prism piece, minimum at both ends in the horizontal direction, gradually increasing toward the central portion, the inclination angle is set to the maximum at the central portion, for automatic door sensors Active object detection device. In claim 1,
The active object detection device for an automatic door sensor, wherein the prism body has the change in the inclination angle formed only in a prism piece that forms a detection area far from the automatic door sensor.

Images