Patent 7907475 was granted and assigned to Denso on March, 2011 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
An obstacle detecting system for a vehicle detects an obstacle by transmitting a transmitting wave and receiving a receiving wave, which is a reflection of the transmitting wave by the obstacle. The system calculates a distance to the obstacle. The system varies directivity of the transmitting wave in accordance with the calculated distance. The directivity is lowered when the calculated distance is less than a predetermined reference distance, than when the calculated distance is greater than the predetermined reference distance.