CA2691924A1

CA2691924A1 - Moving edge virtual protecting system

Info

Publication number: CA2691924A1
Application number: CA2691924A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Uri Agam; Pino Marcovecchio; Elad Wallach
Original assignee: Sensotech Inc
Current assignee: Sensotech Inc
Priority date: 2010-02-05
Filing date: 2010-02-05
Publication date: 2011-08-05
Also published as: WO2011094848A1; CA2790936A1

Abstract

A moving edge virtual protecting system is described herein.

Description

TITLE

Moving Edge Virtual Protecting System BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0001] In the appended drawings:

[0002] Figure 1 is a front elevation of a moving edge protecting system according to a first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 1 illustrating the use of a set of holes to create a 'controlled leak' of ultrasounds;

[0003] Figure 2 is a top plan view of the detector system from Figure 1;

[0004] Figure 3 is a front elevation of a moving edge protecting system according to a second embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 illustrating the use of a slit so as to controlled the leak of ultrasounds;

[0005] Figure 4 is a front elevation of the protecting system from Figure 3, illustrating that the detecting path is constant for all body located at a same distance from the door edge;

[0006] Figure 5 is a top plan view of the system from Figure 4;

[0007] Figures 6A and 6B are respectively top plan and front elevation of a detector system according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

[0008] Figure 7 is a front elevation of a moving edge protecting system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention; and

[0009] Figures 8A-8B are respectively a front elevation and a top plan view of a moving edge protecting system according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0010] In the following description, similar features in the drawings have been given similar reference numerals, and in order not to weigh down the figures, some elements are not referred to in some figures if they were already identified in a precedent figure.

[0011] The use of the word "a" or "an" when used in conjunction with the term "comprising" in the claims and/or the specification may mean "one", but it is also consistent with the meaning of "one or more", "at least one", and "one or more than one". Similarly, the word "another" may mean at least a second or more.

[0012] As used in this specification and claim(s), the words "comprising" (and any form of comprising, such as "comprise" and "comprises"), "having" (and any form of having, such as "have" and "has"), "including" (and any form of including, such as "include" and "includes") or "containing" (and any form of containing, such as "contain" and "contains"), are inclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional, unrecited elements.

[0013] According to embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a moving edge protecting system for a door such as, without limitation, a power door, and for a window, a sunroof trunk closure, etc.

[0014] The system includes ultrasound emitter and detector assemblies each mounted to a waveguide. In case of a door assembly including a single door, the single and/or two ultrasound assemblies and corresponding waveguides can be mounted to the door along the edge thereof.
The ultrasound emitter assembly project ultrasound scanning beams to a predetermined distance from the edge thereby creating a virtual edge in front the physical edge of the door. The ultrasound receiver assembly is provided to detect the entrance of a body in the virtual edge.

[0015] The ultrasound emitter and receiver assemblies are coupled to a controller which is configured to receive signals from the ultrasound assemblies and to command the operation of the door should a body or target contact the virtual edge or to send a signal indicative of the body contacting the virtual edge to a dedicated door controller. Alternatively or additionally, the system is configured so that a sound or audio alarm signal is emitted when the body contacts the virtual edge or so as to adapt the operation of the door. As will be described hereinbelow in more detail, a moving edge protector according to an embodiment of the present invention can be adapted to operate on a door assembly having two edges such as in a door assembly provided with two doors.

[0016] Generally stated, the present concerns the use of one or more ultrasonic waveguides with a controlled leak to produce a virtual wall having a predetermined length, which may be used to detect a presence adjacent the waveguide(s).

[0017] A moving edge virtual protecting system 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.

[0018] The system 10 comprises ultrasound an emitter 12 and a receiver 14 each positioned in a respective ultrasound waveguide 16. Each waveguide 16, together with the respective emitter 12 and receiver 14, define an ultrasound leaking channel.

[0019] The two ultrasound waveguides 16 are mounted side by side on a door side edge (not shown) along thereof. The ultrasound emitter 12 and receiver 14 are operated so that ultrasound beams are emitted and so that they leak along the door edge. The receiver receives the reflection from a target located within a predetermined range defining a virtual edge.

[0020] The waveguides 16 are in the form of tubular bodies including evenly or unevenly distanced holes 18 practiced therein.

[0021] Of course, the waveguides 16 are configured and sized for mounting onto the door edge and can include more compact arrangements such as one waveguide inside the other (see Figures 8A-8B). Alternatively, the ultrasound channels can be assembled in the door.

[0022] In operation, the ultrasound emitter 12 emits an ultrasound beam in its waveguide 16 which exits in the plurality of corresponding holes so as to create a plurality of ultrasound detecting beams 20. Controlling the position and size of the holes allows creating a full or partial virtual wall by controlling the ultrasound leak and the shape thereof.

[0023] Echoes 22 resulting from the reflection of the detecting beams 20 enter the waveguide of the receiving channel and are detected by the ultrasound receiver 14, which then emits a signal which is indicative of the presence of an object, person or of any physical body in the virtual edge of the door. Conventional electronics and algorithms are used to trigger the ultrasound transducers 12 and 14 and to construe the signal received therefrom. Such electronics and algorithms can be conceived so as to render the system 10 switchable.

[0024] As can be seen in Figures 3 to 5, which illustrates a moving edge virtual protecting system 24 similar to the system 10, the holes 18 in the waveguide 28 can be replaced by a longitudinal slit 26.

[0025] Also, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, the emitter 12 and receiver 14 are mounted in their respective waveguide 28 in opposite longitudinal sides thereof. Since the operation of the protecting system 24 is similar to the operation of the system 10, it will not be described furtherin.
However, the arrangement 24 results in the detecting paths (schematically represented by the dashed lines 34 and 36) having the same length for all bodies 30 and 32 positioned at a same distance (H) from the detecting arrangement 24 transversally thereof regardless of their longitudinal position along the arrangement 24.

[0026] As illustrated in Figures 6A and 6B, which illustrates a moving edge virtual protecting system 40 according to a third embodiment of the present invention, the two ultrasound channels 42 and 44 can be mounted one on the edge 46 of a door 48 and the other on the longitudinal edge 50 of the door frame 52 on the side where the door 48 closes. The operation of the system 40 is as described above with, as a difference, that the emitting and detecting ranges are adapted to the position of the door 48 relative to the fixed edge 50 so that the detecting beams operate across the two edges 46 and 50.
Adapting these ranges can be achieved by coupling the system 40 to a door angle detector (not shown) so as to receive the position therefrom and/or by implementing an algorithm in the system controller (not shown) which would modify the ranges dynamically so that the signals indicative of the detection of the emitting beams 54 remain within a predetermined range of values. A body would then be detected when it enters into the virtual wall created by the transmitting and receiving unit from either side. The obstruction created by the object will be detected by the receiver. This corresponds to a crossing mode of operation.

[0027] Figure 7 illustrates a moving edge virtual protecting system 56 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The system 56 is illustrated mounted to a double sliding door assembly 58 and is operated in the crossing-mode.

[0028] The system 56 includes first and second waveguides 16, each mounted to one of the facing edges 58 of the two sliding doors 60. An ultrasound emitter 62 is mounted in one of the two waveguides 16 and an ultrasound receiver 64 is received in the other. The two transducers are configured, positioned in their respective waveguide 16 and driven so as to operate as described hereinabove. The two transducers 62 and 64 may further be positioned at opposite longitudinal ends of the waveguides as described with reference to Figure 4.

[0029] As described with reference to the above embodiments, a moving edge virtual protecting system according to an embodiment of the present invention can be adapted so as to be mounted on a single moving edge, on two moving edges, or onto both a fixed edge and a moving edge for example.

[0030] As illustrated in Figures 8A and 8B, which illustrate a moving edge protecting system according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention, the waveguide can take other configurations as may be dictated for example by the applications. According to this embodiment, the receiver and transmitter waveguides are concentric, wherein the ultrasound detecting beam is emitted from a central slit and the reflection thereof are received in two lateral slits which are generally parallel the central slit.

[0031] It is to be noted that many modifications could be made to the systems described hereinabove and illustrated in the appended drawings. For example:

[0032] - the emitter and transducer pair can be substituted in most application by a single transducer configured and controlled so as to act both as emitter and receiver;

[0033] - a single waveguide can be used, with the transmitter/receiver pair mounted therein or a single transceiver can be used therein;

[0034] - the waveguides can take other forms and sizes and can for example be straight or bent;

[0035] - the aperture(s) in the waveguide(s) can take other forms than the holes or the slit so as to allow the detecting beam to exit the first waveguide on the transmitter side and to enter the second waveguide on the receiver side;

[0036] - the controller of the system can be configured to operate so as to create one or two virtual edges in a ranging mode of operation or to create an acoustic barrier between the door and the frame or between two doors; the system can further be configured so as to switch from one operational mode to the other, depending for example on the position of the door; and

[0037] - even though the system described hereinabove are configured to operate in the acoustic domain, they can be modified so as to operate with other wave, such as optical waves, etc.

[0038] Although the present invention has been described hereinabove by way of illustrated embodiments thereof, it can be modified, without departing from the spirit and nature of the subject invention.

Claims

1. A moving edge virtual protecting system comprising at least one wave generator mounted in a waveguide so as to emit detecting waves along the waveguide transversally thereof and to detect at least one reflection indicative of a body positioned along the waveguide or the crossing of a virtual barrier; the waveguide being mounted onto the edge of a moving object.