Patent ID: 7978071

Claim:
A device for detecting a presence of an object in a detection zone in order to detect an object falling onto a transport track comprising: a transmission line having an input and an output; a generator connected to the transmission line input, the generator being able to generate an input signal, the input signal including an ultra-wide frequency band pulse; a receiver connected to the transmission line output, the receiver being able to measure an output signal, the output signal having a first component and a second component when an object is present in the detection zone; and an analyzer able to confirm the presence or absence of the second component in the output signal to detect the presence of an object in the detection zone, the analyzer including an identification device able to break down the second component into n damped sinusoid curves and to establish n poles characteristic of the object and comparing the n characteristic poles established with pieces of information contained in a library of known targets in order to identify the object, the transmission line being able to radiate a radiated signal in the detection zone when the generator generates the input signal, the first component owing to the propagation of the input signal along the transmission line and the second component owing to interaction between the radiated signal and the object when the object is present in the detection zone, the analyzer being able to compare the output signal with a predetermined reference signal in order to detect the presence of an object, the reference signal corresponding to an output signal measured in an absence of any object in the detection zone, the transmission line being able to be provided at an edge of a transport track platform over an entire length of the platform.