Patent ID: 7889325

Claim:
A vehicle-purpose object sensing apparatus comprising: an object sensing member (M 1 ) in which electromagnetic waves are transmitted from transmission members ( 1 , 2 ) to a predetermined region, and a distance detecting member ( 5 ) detects at least a distance of an object based upon a result of receiving electromagnetic waves reflected from the object by reception members ( 3 , 4 ); and an abnormal condition judging member (M 2 ) for judging an abnormal condition of the object sensing member (M 1 ) based upon a reception level of the electromagnetic waves received by the reception members ( 3 , 4 ), and a drive distance detecting member (M 4 ) for detecting a drive distance of a vehicle, wherein the abnormal condition judging member (M 2 ) judges as to whether or not the object sensing member (M 1 ) is under abnormal condition based upon a difference between a maximum value and a minimum value of the reception levels of the electromagnetic waves received by the reception members ( 3 , 4 ), and the abnormal condition judging member (M 2 ) judges that the object sensing member (M 1 ) is under abnormal condition based upon the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the reception levels within a predetermined drive distance detected by the drive distance detecting member (M 4 ).