Patent ID: 7743865

Claim:
A method for identifying an object within a protective zone with a protective device for a vehicle, wherein the protective device comprises an optical sensor installed on the vehicle and wherein an area of coverage monitored by the optical sensor includes a protective zone, within which object detection is realized, the method comprising: (a) locating objects within the area of coverage at predetermined points in time with the optical sensor; (b) based on detected locations of the objects, determining at least one of a driving direction or a speed of the vehicle; (c) based on the determined driving direction and/or speed: selecting a protective zone with the optical sensor among a plurality of protective zones previously stored in the optical sensor, wherein the protective zone forms a section within the area of coverage monitored by the optical sensor, or checking, with the optical sensor, at least one of a validity of a preset protective zone or a preset vehicle parameter value read into the optical sensor by a vehicle control unit; (d) monitoring the protective zone with the optical sensor for detection of an object; (e) generating a switching signal in the optical sensor if: an object is detected in the protective zone, or at least one of the preset protective zone or the preset vehicle parameter value read in by the vehicle control unit is identified as non-valid by the optical sensor in the checking step; (f) evaluating the switching signal via a redundant evaluation unit associated with the optical sensor, wherein the redundant evaluation unit satisfies safety requirement standards for the protection of persons; (g) forwarding the switching signal from the optical sensor to the vehicle control unit, wherein the switching signal comprises a shutdown command; (h) receiving the shutdown command by the vehicle control unit; and (i) stopping the vehicle with the vehicle control unit.