Patents by Inventor Mitsuhiro KIYONO

Mitsuhiro KIYONO has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20240012111
    Abstract: An optical distance measuring device includes: a light source unit that irradiates a measurement region with irradiation light; a light receiving unit that has a light receiving surface including a plurality of light receiving elements capable of receiving reflected light from a range including the measurement region corresponding to irradiation with the irradiation light and outputs a signal corresponding to a light receiving state of the reflected light for each of the light receiving elements; and a measurement unit that measures a distance to an object in the measurement region by using the signal outputted from the light receiving unit. The light receiving unit has a function of selecting a light receiving element that outputs the signal so that a light receiving position at which the reflected light is received is variable, and the light receiving unit changes the light receiving position to a plurality of positions with respect to a position of the reflected light.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 20, 2023
    Publication date: January 11, 2024
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Noriyuki OZAKI, Mitsuhiro KIYONO, Teiyu KIMURA, Shinji KASHIWADA
  • Publication number: 20230258780
    Abstract: A LiDAR device is an optical device, including a light-emitting unit, a scanning unit, a light-receiving unit, and an optical unit. The light-emitting unit includes a plurality of laser oscillation elements respectively emitting a beam in an arrangement along a light source array direction at intervals from each other. The scanning unit projects the beam to a measurement area by scanning of the beam that is emitted from the light-emitting unit. The light-receiving unit receives a reflected beam from the measurement area. The optical unit is positioned on an optical path of the beam directed from the light-emitting unit to the scanning unit. The optical unit includes a collimator lens having a positive power in a transmission direction of the beam, and a beam shaping lens positioned behind the collimator lens and having a positive power in the transmission direction on a sub-scanning plane.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 27, 2023
    Publication date: August 17, 2023
    Inventors: KAZUHISA ONDA, SAKITO MIKI, MITSUHIRO KIYONO
  • Publication number: 20230221417
    Abstract: A laser radar device includes: a light source; a mirror rotatable about a rotation shaft to reflect laser light emitted by the light source; a window; and a detector to detect laser light. The mirror has a low reflection area having a lower reflectance than the other region of the mirror, in a state where a mirror surface faces toward the light source, at position adjacent to the light source than the detector in an axial direction of the rotation shaft and adjacent to the window than a region where the laser light emitted by the light source hits for a first time in a radial direction of the rotation shaft. The window has an inclined posture in which a distance from the rotation shaft is shorter at position adjacent to the detector than at position adjacent to the light source.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 6, 2023
    Publication date: July 13, 2023
    Inventors: Hiroshi ASAMI, Kazuhisa ONDA, Mitsuhiro KIYONO
  • Publication number: 20220404479
    Abstract: An optical detection apparatus is provided. The optical detection apparatus includes a light emitting unit, a light receiving unit, a storage unit, and a determining unit. The light emitting unit includes a plurality of light-emitting elements. The light receiving unit includes a light-receiving element arrayformed by a plurality of light-receiving pixels, which receive reflected light corresponding to emitted light of the light emitting unit. The storage unit stores a reference light-receiving region on the light-receiving element array corresponding to a location of occurrence of light intensity unevenness included in the emitted light of the light emitting unit. The determining unit determines an optical axis misalignment using a positional displacement between the reference light-receiving region and a detected light-receiving region of light intensity unevenness included in the reflected light of the emitted light on the light-receiving element array.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 25, 2022
    Publication date: December 22, 2022
    Inventor: Mitsuhiro KIYONO
  • Publication number: 20220390571
    Abstract: An object detection apparatus that scans a detection range to detect an object is provided. The object detection apparatus includes a light emission unit that emits a pulse detection light; and a light reception unit having a plurality of light reception pixel groups, in which the plurality of light reception pixel groups include a reflected light reception pixel group that receives, at each scanning unit in a scanning operation, reflected light in response to an emission of the pulse detection light, and one or more visible light reception pixel groups corresponding to visible light components, receiving a visible light at each scanning unit in a scanning operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 17, 2022
    Publication date: December 8, 2022
    Inventors: Mariko SETO, Kenichi YANAI, Mitsuhiro KIYONO, Noriyuki OZAKI
  • Publication number: 20220365178
    Abstract: An optical detector includes a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit that receives a reflected light reflected by a measurement object. The light receiving unit has a detection element and a condenser lens system that collects the reflected light to the detection element. The condenser lens system has a plurality of lenses. The condenser lens system has a temperature change factor that increases the optical power at a high temperature than at a low temperature, and a chromatic aberration factor that decreases the optical power at a long wavelength than at a short wavelength. The optical power of each of the plurality of lenses is adjusted based on a correspondence between a change in temperature and a shift amount of the peak wavelength, so that the chromatic aberration factor balances with the temperature change factor within a predetermined wavelength range.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 22, 2022
    Publication date: November 17, 2022
    Inventors: Kazuhisa Onda, Teiyuu Kimura, Mitsuhiro Kiyono
  • Publication number: 20210240066
    Abstract: An optical detector includes a light emitter having a light emitting window extended in an extension direction to emit a projection beam from the light emitting window toward a measurement area and to detect a return beam from the measurement area. The optical detector includes a scanning mirror that scans by reflecting the projection beam. The scanning mirror swings within a finite angular range around a rotation axis that is along a direction corresponding to the extension direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2021
    Publication date: August 5, 2021
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro Kiyono, Kenichi Yanai, Teiyuu Kimura, Noriyuki Ozaki, Shinji Kashiwada, Fumiaki Mizuno, Kazuhisa Onda
  • Publication number: 20210239802
    Abstract: An optical detector is configured to project a projection beam toward a measurement area and detect a return beam from the measurement area. The optical detector includes: a projecting optical system that forms a projection optical axis to project the projection beam; a receiving optical system that forms a receiving optical axis to receive the return beam, and a housing having a housing chamber to house the projecting optical system and the receiving optical system, and an optical window for the projection beam and the return beam to travel between the housing chamber and the measurement area. The projection optical axis and the receiving optical axis are offset from each other to define an overlap region inside the housing chamber where footprints of the projection beam and the return beam overlap with each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2021
    Publication date: August 5, 2021
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro Kiyono, Teiyuu Kimura, Noriyuki Ozaki, Kenichi Yanai, Shinji Kashiwada, Fumiaki Mizuno, Kazuhisa Onda
  • Publication number: 20210181308
    Abstract: An optical distance measuring device includes: a light source unit that irradiates a measurement region with irradiation light; a light receiving unit that has a light receiving surface including a plurality of light receiving elements capable of receiving reflected light from a range including the measurement region corresponding to irradiation with the irradiation light and outputs a signal corresponding to a light receiving state of the reflected light for each of the light receiving elements; and a measurement unit that measures a distance to an object in the measurement region by using the signal outputted from the light receiving unit. The light receiving unit has a function of selecting a light receiving element that outputs the signal so that a light receiving position at which the reflected light is received is variable, and the light receiving unit changes the light receiving position to a plurality of positions with respect to a position of the reflected light.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 5, 2021
    Publication date: June 17, 2021
    Inventors: Noriyuki OZAKI, Mitsuhiro KIYONO, Teiyu KIMURA, Shinji KASHIWADA
  • Patent number: 9327655
    Abstract: An image capturing apparatus includes an optical system and an image sensor to capture images of a close object and distant object. The optical system includes a convex lens as a first optical member and a glass plate as a second optical member with a refractive index higher than that of air. The second optical member is located in between the first optical member and a first image point at which a real image of the close object is formed, to absorb a positional difference between the first image point and a second image point at which a real image of the distant object is formed. The image sensor includes multiple light reception elements to generate a single picture frame that contains simultaneously a real image of the close object and a real image of the distant object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro Kiyono, Ryoichi Sugawara, Ko Oyama
  • Publication number: 20140104425
    Abstract: An image capturing apparatus includes an optical system and an image sensor to capture images of a close object and distant object. The optical system includes a convex lens as a first optical member and a glass plate as a second optical member with a refractive index higher than that of air. The second optical member is located in between the first optical member and a first image point at which a real image of the close object is formed, to absorb a positional difference between the first image point and a second image point at which a real image of the distant object is formed. The image sensor includes multiple light reception elements to generate a single picture frame that contains simultaneously a real image of the close object and a real image of the distant object.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 3, 2013
    Publication date: April 17, 2014
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro KIYONO, Ryoichi SUGAWARA, Ko OYAMA