Patent ID: 8035875
Filing Date: 2011-10-11
Classification: G01S

Abstract:
1. An object detector comprising a light projecting unit that projects light, a light scanning actuator that scans the light projected by the light projecting unit, and a light receiving unit that receives reflected light of the light scanned by the light scanning actuator, to detect presence of an object using the reflected light received by the light receiving unit, wherein the light scanning actuator comprises a plurality of plate springs, each plate spring having a thin-plate shape and one end in a longitudinal direction thereof being fixed; a movable part that is attached to the other ends in the longitudinal directions of the plate springs and is capable of moving in accordance with a change in shape of the plate springs; and an electromagnetic driving unit having a magnet that generates a magnetic flux, a yoke that forms a closed magnetic circuit together with the magnet and has a part being stacked on the magnet, and a coil that is held by the movable part and positioned in a gap between the magnet and the yoke such that an aperture plane thereof is substantially orthogonal to a stacking direction of the magnet and the yoke, the electromagnetic driving unit configured to drive the movable part by an electromagnetic force applied to the coil.