Patent ID: 7973507

Claim:
A raindrop detecting device comprising: a raindrop sensor disposed in a wiping area of a wiper blade on a front windshield, wherein the wiper blade performs a plurality of reciprocating wiping operations, and the raindrop sensor outputs a detection signal regarding a raindrop amount; and a controller for activating the wiper blade based on the detection signal, and setting a prohibition period for which the raindrop sensor is prohibited from determining the raindrop amount while the wiper blade is activated, wherein the raindrop sensor outputs a first signal when raindrop collected by the wiper blade passes above the raindrop sensor while the wiper blade is moved outward from an initial position in a first reciprocating wiping operation of the plurality of reciprocating wiping operations, the raindrop sensor outputs a second signal when raindrop collected by the wiper blade passes above the raindrop sensor while the wiper blade is moved homeward to the initial position in the first reciprocating wiping operation, and the controller calculates the prohibition period relative to a second reciprocating wiping operation to be performed after the first reciprocating wiping operation, based on the first signal and the second signal of the first reciprocating wiping operation.