Patent ID: 7044655

Claim:
An optical sensor array comprising: photo-emitting sensor heads for radiating light beams, respectively; first optical fibers having photo-propagation paths equal in cross sectional area to one another, and connected to said photo-emitting sensor heads, respectively, for propagating said light beams to said photo-emitting sensor heads; photo-receiving sensor heads provided on optical paths of said light beams for receiving said light beams, respectively; second optical fibers respectively connected to said photo-receiving sensor heads for propagating said light beams from said photo-receiving sensor heads to the other ends thereof; a light detecting unit connected to said other ends thereof for converting said light beams to output electric signals; and a light emitting unit including a light emitting device converting an input electric signal to said light beams, a device holder formed with at least one first hole having a first center axis coincident with a first optical axis of said light emitting device, which exhibit a light intensity isotropically distributed in said at least one first hole with respect to said first optical axis, and an optical fiber plug coupled to said device holder, formed with at least one second hole having a second center axis aligned with said first optical axis, and keeping said first optical fibers in said at least one second hole in such a manner that distances between said first optical axis and second optical axes of said first optical fibers are equal to one another, thereby making said light beams equivalent in total amount of light to one another.