Abstract: An optoelectronic sensor (10) for the measurement of distances or distance changes in accordance with the light transit time principle is provided having a light transmitter (12) for the transmission of a light signal and having a light receiver (16) for the reception of the remitted or reflected light signal, wherein an evaluation unit (18) is provided which is made to trigger the transmission of a light signal at a transmission time in a respective measurement period (100) and to sample the received light signal as well as to accumulate a histogram (110) of such received light signals over a plurality of measurement periods (100) and to determine the reception time from the histogram (110) and the light transient time from this.

Abstract: An optoelectronic sensor (10) for the measurement of distances in accordance with the light transit time principle is provided having a light transmitter (12) for the transmission of a light signal, having a light receiver (16) for the reception of a remitted or reflected received signal and having an evaluation unit (18) which is made to satisfy a transition condition for the received signal by systematic selection of a transmission delay time for the transmission of the light signal at an observation time and to calculate the light transit time from the transmission delay time required for this. In this respect, a regulator (44) is provided which is made to adjust the transmission delay time such that the transition condition is satisfied at the observation time.

Abstract: An optoelectronic sensor (10) having a light transmitter (12) for the transmitting of laser pulses (18) into a monitored region (24) by means of a laser light source (14) and having a driver circuit (16, 30) for the laser light source (14) is described which is designed to set the light transmitter (12) into a working state in which the laser light source (14) transmits a laser pulse (18) or into a preparatory state. The driver circuit (16, 30) is further designed to set the light transmitter (12) into the preparatory state in each case prior to the transmission of a laser pulse (18).

Abstract: An apparatus for measuring the transit time of electromagnetic waves operates with pulse frequencies (9, 10), conducted in a feedback loop (12) which are supplied after passing through a measurement path (13) or through a reference path (14) to a resonator (35). As a result of an 180.degree. phase-shift of the last pulse (10) of each pulse sequence (9, 10) the resonator oscillation collapses abruptly at a specific point in time. The directly preceding zero passage of the resonator oscillation defines the time of reception of the pulse sequence.

Abstract: A distance measuring apparatus has a photoelectric light transmitter (11) and a photoelectric light receiver (12) which alternately direct light via a measurement path (14) and a reference path (15) to a single photoreceiver (20). The distance from a target (13) is determined by measurement of the transit time differences via the measurement path (14), on the one hand, and via the reference path (15), on the other hand. The light transmitter (11) contains two laser diodes (18, 19) which can be electronically switched in a complementary manner of which the one sends the light trains to the measurement path (14) and the other sends light trains to the reference path (15). Both light wave trains are alternately received by the same photoreceiver (20) which is connected to an electronic processing circuit.

Abstract: An apparatus for measuring the transit time of electromagnetic waves has a pulse generator (11) which is arranged in a feedback loop (12) and which can be triggered by pulses. Either the measurement path (13) or a reference path (14) with a reference receiver (16) at the end of it can be selectively included in the feedback loop (12). The pulse generator is also connected to a computing/counting stage (19) which counts the pulse transmitted during the measurement and reference periods separately and computes the transit time therefrom (FIG. 1).