Patent ID: 8232883

Claim:
An optical proximity sensor, comprising: an infrared light emitter mounted on a substrate; an infrared light detector mounted on the substrate; an integrated circuit mounted on the substrate and comprising light emitter driving and light detecting circuits operably connected to the light emitter and the light detector, respectively; a first spherical lens disposed over the light emitter and configured to collect and direct light emitted by the light emitter in an upward direction towards an object to be detected; a second spherical lens disposed over the light detector and configured to collect and direct light incident thereon that has been transmitted upwardly by the first lens and reflected downwardly from the object to be detected towards the light detector, and a light shield disposed over the light emitter, the light detector, the first lens and the second lens, the light shield comprising first and second top portions, a light barrier projecting downwardly between the first and second top portions to separate the light emitter from the light detector and divide the proximity sensor into light emitting and light detecting portions, at least one light shield alignment and spacing member projecting downwardly from either the first portion or the second portion, and first and second apertures disposed through the first and second portions over the first and second lenses, respectively; wherein alignment of the shield over the proximity sensor is optimized by the light barrier and the at least one light shield alignment and spacing member, crosstalk between the light emitter and the light detector is minimized, and detection distance of the proximity sensor is maximized by the configurations of the light emitter, the first lens, the light detector, the second lens, and the shield respecting one another.