Patent ID: 7570361

Claim:
A test method for testing of a functional capability of a monitoring sensor for monitoring of a protective field comprising: scanning an at least two dimensional protective field to be monitored using at least one scanner, with light of a light source being transmitted via a movable light deflection unit into a protective field to be monitored and with light which is one of reflected and remitted by an object present in the protective field being detected by a receiver; providing at least one contour test object outside the protective field to be monitored, but in a detection region of the sensor, with a position of the contour test object relative to the scanner being known in at least one spatial dimension; providing at least one field test object outside the protective field to be monitored, but in the detection region of the sensor; defining a first field set having at least two scan fields, with a first scan field of the first field set comprising the protective field to be monitored and a region of at least one contour test object and with a second scan field of the first field set comprising at least a region of the at least one field test object; scanning the protective field to be monitored and regions of the at least one contour test object and of the at least one field test object at least once while using the first field set in a first test sequence; generating a positive first output signal only when a contour test object is detected in an expected position in the first scan field of the first field set; generating a negative second output signal when a field test object is detected in the second scan field of the first field set; defining a second field set having at least two scan fields with a first scan field of the second field set comprising at least a region of a field test object and a second scan field of the second field set comprising a protective field to be monitored and a region of the at least one contour test object; scanning the protective field to be monitored and the regions of the at least one contour test objects and of the at least one field test object at least once while using the second field set in a second test sequence; generating a positive second output signal only when a contour test object is detected in the expected position in the second scan field of the second field set; generating a negative first output signal when a field test object is detected in the first scan field of the second field set; and determining a correct operability of the sensor only if, after a change to the first test sequence, a positive first output signal and a negative second output signal are found or, after a change to the second test sequence, a positive second output signal and a negative first output signal are found.