Patent ID: 8138465

Claim:
An optical sensor for detecting objects within a monitored area, said sensor comprising: at least one transmitter adapted to emit light rays; at least one receiver adapted to receive transmitted light rays; an evaluation unit adapted to generate an object detection signal in dependence on the signals received by the at least one receiver; an optical element including a first and second segment that respectively form a Fresnel lens adapted to form a light beam with the transmitted light rays and/or the received light rays; and an optical guide channel including a front end face located in a plane defined by the optical element, wherein the front end face comprises an indicator element, the optical element and the optical guide channel forming a single part consisting of the same injection-molded plastic part; and a light-emitting diode attached to a back end face of the optical guide channel, wherein the light-emitting diode is adapted to emit visible rays that are guided inside the optical guide channel, and wherein the visible rays emitted by the light-emitting diode form optical signals visible on the indicator element.