Patent ID: 7442917

Claim:
A system that facilitates increasing coverage for a single emitter-receiver pair in a light curtain, comprising: an emitter that emits light that is directed to a first plurality of mirrors on an opposite side of a monitored area; a first transmissive LCD array positioned in front of the emitter, which has selectively generated transmissive apertures, comprising of a darkening component to darken the LCD array except at points corresponding to the transmissive apertures, thereon that permit emitted light to pass through the first LCD and deflect the emitted light into a plurality of light beams; a second plurality of mirrors on the emitter side of the monitored area, each of which receives a light beam reflected by a corresponding one of the first plurality of mirrors; and a receiver that detects light reflected by the plurality of mirrors on the emitter side of the monitored area to permit a determination of whether an object is present in the monitored area.