US 11,867,805 B2
1D ultrasonic transducer unit for area monitoring
Regine Augenstein, Mannheim (DE); and Thomas Kaindl, Dossenheim (DE)
Assigned to Pepperl + Fuchs SE, Mannheim (DE)
Filed by Pepperl + Fuchs SE, Mannheim (DE)
Filed on Feb. 3, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/167,073.
Application 17/167,073 is a continuation of application No. PCT/EP2019/000164, filed on May 23, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. 10 2018 006 139.7 (DE), filed on Aug. 3, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0156994 A1, May 27, 2021
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G01S 15/88 (2006.01); G01S 7/521 (2006.01); G01S 7/54 (2006.01); G01S 5/02 (2010.01)
CPC G01S 15/88 (2013.01) [G01S 5/02 (2013.01); G01S 7/521 (2013.01); G01S 7/54 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A 1D ultrasonic transducer unit for area monitoring, the transducer unit comprising:
a housing;
at least three ultrasonic transducers; and
a control unit to control each ultrasonic transducer individually,
wherein the housing has a communication interface,
wherein each ultrasonic transducer has a transducer housing, a piezoelectric body disposed in the transducer housing, and a sound decoupling layer disposed at an open end of the transducer housing for decoupling in a gaseous medium, and is disposed at a fixed position in the housing,
wherein each ultrasonic transducer is designed to emit and/or to receive a sound wave with a consistent working frequency,
wherein the working frequency of the sound waves is in a range from 20 kHz to 400 kHz,
wherein in each case, two ultrasonic transducers, directly adjacent to one another, in the housing are spaced apart by a distance of at most 10 cm from a center of the sound decoupling layer of one of the two ultrasonic transducers to a center of the sound decoupling layer of other one of the two ultrasonic transducers,
wherein the 1D ultrasonic transducer unit has one sound channel per ultrasonic transducer,
wherein each sound channel has an input opening and an output opening,
wherein exactly one of the input openings is associated with each sound decoupling layer,
wherein the output openings are each arranged in a wall of the housing, or the sound channels penetrate the wall of the housing,
wherein a distance from a center of one of the output openings to a center of a directly adjacent output opening corresponds at most to a predetermined wavelength based on the working frequency in the gaseous medium,
wherein a distance between two directly adjacent output openings is in each case smaller than a distance between the ultrasonic transducers associated with the corresponding input openings,
wherein a quotient of a surface area of the output opening to a surface area of the corresponding input opening has a value between 0.9 and 1.1,
wherein the output openings of the sound channels are arranged along a first direction,
wherein each of the output openings has an output width along the first direction and an output height along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction,
wherein a ratio of the output height to the output width is 1.5,
wherein each sound channel has at least a length corresponding to a diameter of the input opening,
wherein the housing has a securing device for securing to another device,
wherein the control unit is at least partially disposed in the housing,
wherein the housing has a movable cover device configured to close the output openings of all sound channels when the 1D ultrasonic transducer unit is not in use, and
wherein the output openings of all sound channels lie in a curved surface.