Patent · US Active

Optical particle sensor

US11092531B2 · kind B2 · utility

3Cited by
2References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 17, 2017
Grant dateAug 17, 2021
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 29, 2038

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY02A90/10
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

The invention describes a laser sensor module. The laser sensor module comprises at least a first laser (111) being adapted to emit a first measurement beam (111′) and at least a second laser (112) being adapted to emit a second measurement beam (112′). The laser sensor module further comprises an optical device (150) being arranged to redirect the first measurement beam (111′) and the second measurement beam (112′) such that the first measurement beam (111′) and the second measurement beam enclose an angle between 45° and 135°. The laser sensor module comprises one detector (120) being adapted to determine at least a first self-mixing interference signal of a first optical wave within a first laser cavity of the first laser (111) and at least a second self-mixing interference signal of a second optical wave within a second laser cavity of the second laser (112). This configuration enables determination of an average velocity of the particles despite of the fact that it is not possible to determine the components of the velocity vector. The introduced error by means of statistical variations is acceptable because the number of detected particles scales with the cubic root of the pa…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.