JPS63279114A - Angle-of-inclination detector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect the angles of inclination in X- and Y-directions at a high speed, by emitting beam from the lower end part of the optical fiber supported at the upper part in a casing and having a weight provided to the lower end part thereof and detecting the coordinates position data of the beam receiving point of said beam. CONSTITUTION:In a casing 1, the beam from a beam source is incident to an optical fiber 3 from the upper end part thereof and propagates through the optical fiber 3 to be emitted from the lower end part thereof. This beam is incident to a semiconductive position detection element 5 to detect the coordinates position data of a beam receiving point. The angles of inclination of the casing 1 in X- and Y-directions are calculated from said coordinates position data on the basis of the beam receiving point in the horizontal state of the casing 1 by an operational processing circuit 12 and the calculation result is displayed on a display part 13. Further, the casing 1 is filled with silicone oil 6 and absorbs vibration and suppresses the damping of the optical fiber 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an inclination angle detection device that detects an inclination angle with respect to the earth's center of gravity, and particularly relates to an inclination angle detection device that measures an inclination angle from the horizontal (or vertical). It is something.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 2(a), a bridge circuit has been constructed in which a power source 21, a moving coil 22, and light receiving elements 23a and 23b each consisting of two photocouplers are combined in a casing 20. , the light receiving element 23a.

Light sources 24a and 2 made of light emitting diodes provided at the lower end of the casing 20 so as to face each of the light sources 24a and 23b.
4b, and a shielding plate 25 attached to the movable coil 22 so as to be perpendicular to the earth's center of gravity.

According to the tilt angle detection device, when the casing 20 tilts while the power source 21 is in the ON state, as shown in FIG. Therefore, the photocoupler 23b is turned off, and the photocoupler 23a remains on. As a result, the balanced state of the bridge circuit is disrupted and the current 11 flows, which flows to the movable coil 22 and rotates the shielding plate 25, and the moment due to this rotational torque and the weight of the shielding plate 25 is reduced. The shielding plate 25 stops when it is balanced, and the inclination angle is calculated by comparing the current (1) outputted at this time with a value based on the horizontal state.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the above configuration, the movable coil 22
The shielding plate 25 attached to the can only be tilted in a predetermined direction, that is, in the left and right directions toward the drawing, so it can be used to horizontally control a stationary object, or to detect vector quantities by combining two elements in the X-axis and Y-axis directions, such as a steel tower, etc. Although it is suitable for measuring deflection angles, etc., it cannot be installed in automobiles where the angle of inclination changes from time to time, and it must be equipped with multiple light sources and light receiving elements, as well as a moving coil 22 and a shielding plate 25. Not only that, but the number of parts increases, resulting in an increase in weight and cost. Furthermore, there is another problem in that errors are likely to occur due to vibrations from the casing 20 and damping of the shielding plate 25.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the object of the present invention is to provide an inclination angle that can be installed in an automobile or the like whose inclination angle changes from time to time, that can detect the inclination angle at high speed and with high precision without being affected by external influences, and that is lightweight and inexpensive. The object of the present invention is to provide a detection device.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the first invention includes a casing, a casing having a predetermined length, the upper end of which is supported in the upper part of the casing, and the lower end of which is provided with a weight. an optical fiber, a light source that inputs light into the upper end of the optical fiber, a position detection means that receives the light emitted from the lower end of the optical fiber and detects coordinate position information of the light receiving point, and a horizontal position of the casing. calculation processing means for calculating an inclination angle from the coordinate position information of the light reception point which is displaced when the casing is tilted with reference to the light reception point of the illumination in the state; and display means for displaying the calculation result of the calculation processing means. , at least one set of tilt angle detectors each comprising a damping means for the optical fiber, and one of the tilt angle detectors calculates and displays the tilt angle in the X direction, and the other one calculates and displays the tilt angle in the Y direction. It is characterized by what it did.

The second invention includes a casing, an optical fiber of a predetermined length whose upper end is supported in the upper part of the casing and a weight is provided at the lower end, a light source that enters light into the upper end of the optical fiber, and at least one set of inclination angle detectors comprising position detection means for receiving light emitted from the lower end of the optical fiber and detecting coordinate position information of the light receiving point, and damping means for the optical fiber; Based on the coordinate position information of the displaced light receiving point when the casing is tilted, the tilt angle in the The present invention is characterized by comprising arithmetic processing means for calculating the inclination angle in the Y direction from the coordinate position information of , and a display means for displaying the calculation results of the arithmetic processing means.

(Function) According to the first and second inventions, the light from the light source enters the upper end of the optical fiber in each casing, the illumination propagates through the optical fiber, and is emitted from the lower end, thereby detecting the position. The coordinate position information at this light receiving point is detected by the position detecting means, and the inclination angle in the X direction and Y direction of each casing is calculated from the coordinate position information with the light receiving point in the horizontal state of the casing as a reference. The calculation is performed by the processing means, and the calculation result is displayed on the display means. Furthermore, the damping means can suppress damping when the optical fiber swings.

(Embodiment) FIGS. 1, 3, and 4 show an embodiment of the first invention. In the figure, 1 is a cylindrical casing,
A through hole 1a through which an optical fiber (to be described later) passes through the central part.
s and a protrusion IC formed along the outer periphery of the upper surface 1b of the upper plate part 1d, and a bottom plate part 1 in which an opening into which a semiconductor position detection element to be described later can be forcibly inserted is formed.
e, and a lid body 1 attached to the protrusion IC of the upper plate portion 1d.
It consists of f. 2 is an infrared light emitting diode (hereinafter referred to as LED) with an output of 4.51V% and a peak emission wavelength of 890ns.
A light emitting section having a lens window is disposed on the upper surface 1b of the upper plate section 1d so as to face the through hole 1a, and is connected to a power source 10 by a lead wire (not shown). It is connected to the. Reference numeral 3 denotes a plastic optical fiber made of acrylic resin or the like, the upper end of which is optically connected to the light emitting part of the light source 2 through a connecting part 2a, and a weight 4 attached to the outer periphery of the light exit 3a at the lower end. . As shown in FIG. 3, since the optical fiber 3 is attached with the weight 4, it always hangs vertically even if the casing 1 is tilted in any direction.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a semiconductor position detection element (hereinafter referred to as PSD) having an effective light-receiving surface 5a of 13 x 13 m in size. It is forcibly fitted into an opening provided in the bottom plate portion 1e, and is connected to the amplifier 11 via the lead wire 5b.
It is connected to the. In this embodiment, the PSD 5 is of a surface split type, that is, has four electrodes 5c provided along each side on the surface of a rectangular photodiode as shown in FIG. The currents x and x' are applied to the electrode 5c.
We are using the output from
Shown in Figure (b). In the figure, A represents a current source, B represents a diode, C represents a junction capacitance, D represents a parallel resistance, and E represents a positioning resistance.

A silicone oil 6 having a predetermined viscosity is filled in a space formed by the upper plate part 1d and the bottom plate part 1e of the casing 1 and the PSD 5 so as to cover the optical fiber 3 and the weight 4. 1 and suppresses damping of the optical fiber 3. 1
2 is an arithmetic processing circuit (CPU) that calculates the coordinate position information of the light receiving point in the X direction based on the signal output from the amplifier 11, and calculates the coordinate position information of the light receiving point in the X direction and the coordinate position information of the casing 1 in the horizontal state. By comparison, the inclination angle θ is calculated.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a display unit for inputting and displaying the calculation results of the calculation processing circuit 12, and is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display.

The Y-direction tilt angle detector B has the same configuration as the X-direction tilt angle detector A described above, and although detailed explanation will be omitted, the PSD 5 outputs a photocurrent in the Y direction from the electrode 5c. Naturally, the CPU 12 calculates only the tilt angle in the Y direction and displays it on the display unit 13.

The operation of the above configuration will now be explained. Incidentally, it is assumed that the tilt detectors A and B are respectively mounted on the same plane or parallel planes. When each casing 1 is tilted as shown in FIG. 3, the lower end of the optical fiber 3 moves to the left in the drawing in order to maintain the hanging state. At this time, since the outer periphery of the optical fiber 3 is filled with viscous silicone oil 6, damping of the optical fiber 3 is suppressed, and vibrations from the casing 1 itself are also absorbed, so that it is tilted with respect to the casing 1. Stand still in that position.

In this state, when the power source 10 is applied, the LED 2 emits light, and the illumination enters the upper end of the optical fiber 3 and propagates through the optical fiber 3, and is converted into a spot light from the output port 3a on the light receiving surface of each PSD 5. 5a. A charge proportional to the light energy is generated at this incident position, that is, the light receiving point, and photocurrents x, x', y, y'
is output as The outputs are amplified by each amplifier 11, and coordinate position information in the X and Y directions is calculated in each arithmetic processing circuit 12, and each casing 1 is stored in the name arithmetic circuit 12 as the coordinate position information. The distance data between the two is calculated by comparing the coordinate position information in the horizontal state, and the tilt angle data corresponding to each distance data, which is also stored in advance, is calculated, and as shown in Figure 6, the liquid crystal display The angle is displayed along with the figure on each display section 13 consisting of. In addition, each display section 13 may be a display device using an EL element in addition to a liquid crystal display, and as shown in FIGS. may be instructed.

FIG. 8 shows another preferred embodiment of the PSD 5, in which the light receiving surface 5
By curving the spot light receiving surface 5a,
By reducing distortion in the periphery of the image sensor, it is possible to detect the position, that is, the inclination angle in the X or Y direction, with higher accuracy. In this embodiment, the size of the light receiving surface 5a of the PSD 5 is set to 1.
Although it is set to 3 x 13 am, the detection angle can be expanded by installing a PSD with a larger light-receiving surface.
Regarding the inertia of the optical fiber, the viscosity of the silicone oil may be set depending on the optical fiber used.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the second invention. In this embodiment, each tilt angle detector A in the X direction and the Y direction
, B is the same as the previous embodiment, but C
The PU 12 and the display section 13 are a common device. According to this embodiment, the device can be simplified. Other configurations and operations are similar to those of the previous embodiment.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the first invention, a casing, an optical fiber of a predetermined length whose upper end is supported in the upper part of the casing and a weight is provided at the lower end; a light source that enters light into the upper end of the fiber; a position detection means that receives the illumination light emitted from the lower end of the optical fiber and detects its coordinate position information; and a light receiving point of the illumination in a horizontal state of the casing as a reference. a calculation processing means for calculating an inclination angle from coordinate position information of a displaced light receiving point when the casing is tilted, a display means for displaying the calculation result of the calculation processing means, and a damping means for the optical fiber. At least one set of inclination angle detectors is provided, and one of the inclination angle detectors calculates and displays the inclination angle in the X direction and the other in the Y direction, so that even if the casing is tilted, the light is not transmitted. Since the fiber always hangs inside the casing, the spot light can be incident on the effective light receiving surface of the position detection means at any time by following the inclination, so the inclination angle in the X direction and Y direction can be detected at high speed. The damping means suppresses damping when the optical fiber swings and absorbs vibrations from the outside, so detection errors can be reduced and detection can be performed with higher accuracy, and it can be installed in vehicles such as automobiles whose inclination angle changes from moment to moment. There are advantages. Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a casing, an optical fiber of a predetermined length whose upper end is supported in the upper part of the casing and a weight is provided at the lower end, and light is incident on the upper end of the optical fiber. At least one set of inclination angle detectors includes a light source, a position detection means for receiving light emitted from the lower end of the optical fiber and detecting coordinate position information of the light receiving point, and a damping means for the optical fiber. , the inclination angle in the X direction is determined from the coordinate position information of the displaced light receiving point when the casing of the one inclination angle detector is tilted with the light receiving point of the illumination light in the horizontal state of the casing of the one inclination angle detector as a reference; The above-mentioned first invention is provided with arithmetic processing means for calculating the inclination angle in the Y direction from the same coordinate position information of the detector casing, and a display means for displaying the calculation results of the arithmetic processing means. In addition to the above advantages, since the arithmetic processing means and display means can be shared, there is an advantage that the device can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the inclination angle detection device of the first invention, FIG. 2(a) is a sectional view schematically showing a conventional inclination angle detector, and FIG. 2(b) is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a conventional tilt angle detector when tilting, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a tilt angle detection device of the present invention when tilting, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a tilt angle detector according to the present invention. 5(a) is a perspective view schematically showing an embodiment of the position detecting means of the present invention, and FIG. 5(b) is a block diagram for explaining the entire arrangement of the detector. FIG. 6 is a front view showing one embodiment of the display section according to the present invention, FIGS. 7(a) and (b) are front views showing other embodiments of the display section according to the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a plan view schematically showing another preferred embodiment of the light-receiving surface of the position detection means in the invention, and a block diagram showing an embodiment of the tilt angle detection device of the second invention. In the figure, 1... casing, 2... light source (LED),
3... Plastic optical fiber, 4... Weight, 5
. . . Semiconductor position detection element, 6 . (a) (b) Figure 7 Figure 8 L--Ilsan 1111

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] (1) A casing, an optical fiber of a predetermined length whose upper end is supported in the upper part of the casing and whose lower end is weighted, and a light source that enters light into the upper end of the optical fiber. a position detecting means for receiving the light emitted from the lower end of the optical fiber and detecting coordinate position information of the light receiving point; an inclination angle detector comprising at least an arithmetic processing means for calculating an inclination angle from the coordinate position information of the light receiving point displaced in time, a display means for displaying the arithmetic result of the arithmetic processing means, and a damping means for the optical fiber; one set of tilt angle detectors, one of which measures the tilt angle in the X direction, and the other one of the tilt angle detectors
A tilt angle detection device characterized in that the tilt angle of each direction is calculated and displayed. (2) The tilt angle detection device according to claim 1, wherein the optical fiber is made of glass. (3) The tilt angle detection device according to claim 1, wherein the optical fiber is made of plastic. (4) A light emitting diode is used as the light source, the light emitting diode is disposed in the upper part of the casing, and the light emitting part of the light emitting diode is optically coupled to the upper end of the optical fiber. The tilt angle detection device according to any one of ranges 1 to 3. (5) The tilt angle detecting device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the position detecting means comprises a semiconductor position detecting element. (6) The tilt angle detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the display means comprises a liquid crystal display. (7) The tilt angle detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the display means is composed of an EL element. (8) The inclination angle detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the damping means is made of silicone oil. (9) a casing, an optical fiber of a predetermined length whose upper end is supported in the upper part of the casing and a weight is provided at the lower end; a light source that enters light into the upper end of the optical fiber; At least one set of tilt angle detectors includes a position detecting means for receiving light emitted from the lower end and detecting coordinate position information of the light receiving point, and a damping means for the optical fiber, and detecting the tilt angle of the one Based on the coordinate position information of the displaced light receiving point when the casing is tilted, the tilt angle in the What is claimed is: 1. An inclination angle detection device comprising: arithmetic processing means for calculating the inclination angle in the Y direction from coordinate position information; and display means for displaying the calculation results of the arithmetic processing means. (10) The tilt angle detection device according to claim 9, wherein the optical fiber is made of glass. (11) The tilt angle detection device according to claim 9, wherein the optical fiber is made of plastic. (12) A light emitting diode is used as the light source, the light emitting diode is disposed in the upper part of the casing, and the light emitting part of the light emitting diode is optically coupled to the upper end of the optical fiber. Range 9th to 1st
1. The tilt angle detection device according to any one of item 1. (13) Claims 9 to 12, characterized in that the position detection means comprises a semiconductor position detection element.
The tilt angle detection device according to any one of the above items. (14) The tilt angle detection device according to any one of claims 9 to 13, wherein the display means comprises a liquid crystal display. (15) Any one of claims 9 to 13, characterized in that the display means is composed of an EL element.
The inclination angle detection device described in . (18) Claims 9 to 15, characterized in that the damping means is made of silicone oil.
The tilt angle detection device according to any one of the above items.