Patent ID: 8786837

Claim:
A distance measuring apparatus comprising: a light emitting section emitting a measuring light toward an object to be measured; a light receiving section receiving a reflected light being reflected from the object to be measured; a distance calculating section obtaining a distance to the object to be measured based on an elapsed time which is from a point the measuring light is emitted until a point a light receiving level of the reflected light indicates a peak thereof; and a distance correcting section correcting a value of the distance to the object to be measured depending on a length of saturation time of the light receiving level when the light receiving level becomes saturated and the peak is impossible to identify, wherein: the light emitting section emits the measuring light a plurality of times, the distance calculating section further includes a counting section counting each point where the light receiving section measured a light received amount exceeding a threshold value when the measuring light is emitted the plurality of times and obtaining the light receiving level at each point by accumulating a frequency being counted, the distance calculating section obtains the distance to the object to be measured based on an elapsed time at a point where an accumulated number of the frequency indicates a peak thereof, and the distance correcting section corrects, when the accumulated number of the frequency becomes a saturated state, the value of the distance to the object to be measured depending on a length of time in the saturated state.