Patent ID: 7759626

Claim:
A multi-optical axis photoelectric sensor device comprising: a light emitting part having a plurality of light emitting elements; a light receiving part having a plurality of light receiving elements, each of the plurality of light receiving elements corresponding to a respective light emitting element of the plurality of light emitting elements, each light receiving element and its corresponding light emitting element comprising an optical axis, the plurality of light emitting elements arranged in a first row and the plurality of light receiving elements arranged in a second row such that the optical axes are parallel to each other; a process part, in a normal mode, sequentially causing each light emitting element to emit light, receiving a received light signal corresponding to received light from each of the plurality of light receiving elements at a timing synchronized with the light emitting operation of a respective of the light emitting elements, and determining whether or not each optical axis is in a light shielding state or not depending on the received light signal; and in an ambient light measuring mode, setting the plurality of light emitting elements to a state in which the light is not emitted, receiving a first signal corresponding to received ambient light sequentially from each of the plurality of light receiving elements, and generating light receiving information showing the light receiving state of the ambient light with respect to each predetermined number of light receiving elements among the plurality of light receiving elements based on the first signal so as to identify each optical axis where ambient light is incident among the plurality of optical axes; and an output part outputting the light receiving information to the outside.