Moveable infrared curtain

1 . A method for use in a door sensor, the method comprising:

emitting, by each emitter of a plurality of emitters arranged in multiple emitter rows, an emission beam comprising infrared (“IR”) light;

forming, by one or more lenses comprising refractive elements, an IR pattern having a width that is at least a width of an opening below the door sensor on a surface by:

duplicating the emission beam of each emitter to form a first duplicated beam and a second duplicated beam,

directing the first duplicated beam to a first reception area of a plurality of reception areas on the surface, and

directing the second duplicated beam to a second reception area of the plurality of reception areas on the surface;

receiving, by one or more receptors of a plurality of receptors arranged in multiple receptor rows, an evaluation beam from a corresponding reception area of the plurality of reception areas on the surface, the evaluation beam having a maximum width that is at least the width of the opening; and

one or more of deactivating and ignoring an output of at least a portion of the one or more receptors, thereby reducing the width of the evaluation beam to correspond with a reduced width of the opening during a closing of a door.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a total number of the plurality of receptors comprises 16-32.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a total number of the plurality of emitters comprises 32-64.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the IR pattern comprises multiple IR curtains.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein each of the multiple IR curtains comprise 16 reception areas.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the multiple IR curtains comprise a first IR curtain on a first side of a threshold of the opening, a second IR curtain on a second side of the opening, and a third IR curtain on the second side of the threshold of the opening.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the door sensor is positioned on the second side of the threshold of the opening.

8 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the IR pattern and the evaluation beam comprise an IR curtain of the multiple IR curtains, the IR curtain positioned in a threshold of the opening.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the multiple receptor rows comprise:

a first row of receptors comprising first left receptors (L 0 -L 3 ) and first right receptors (R 0 -R 3 );

a second row of receptors comprising second left receptors (L 4 -L 7 ) and second right receptors (R 4 -R 7 ); and

a third row of receptors comprising third left receptors (L 8 -L 11 ) and third right receptors (R 8 -R 11 ).

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the multiple emitter rows comprise:

a first row of emitters comprising first left emitters ( 0 - 7 ) and first right emitters ( 8 - 15 );

a second row of emitters comprising second left emitters ( 16 - 23 ) and second right emitters ( 24 - 31 ); and

a third row of emitters comprising third left emitters ( 32 - 39 ) and third right emitters ( 40 - 47 ).

11 . An infrared (IR) sensor for use in a door sensor, the IR sensor comprising:

a plurality of emitters arranged in multiple emitter rows, each emitter of the plurality of emitters configured to generate an emission beam comprising infrared (“IR”) light;

one or more lenses comprising refractive elements, the one or more lenses configured to form an IR pattern having a width that is at least a width of an opening below the door sensor on a surface by:

duplicating the emission beam of each emitter to form a first duplicated beam and a second duplicated beam,

directing the first duplicated beam to a first reception area of a plurality of reception areas on the surface, and

directing the second duplicated beam to a second reception area of the plurality of reception areas on the surface;

one or more receptors of a plurality of receptors arranged in multiple receptor rows configured to receive an evaluation beam from a corresponding reception area of the plurality of reception areas on the surface, the evaluation beam having a maximum width that is at least the width of the opening; and

at least a portion of the one or more receptors further configured to be one or more of deactivated and ignored, such that the width of the evaluation beam is reduced to correspond with a reduced width of the opening during a closing of a door.

12 . The IR sensor of claim 11 , wherein a total number of the plurality of receptors comprises 16-32.

13 . The IR sensor of claim 11 , wherein a total number of the plurality of emitters comprises 32-64.

14 . The IR sensor of claim 11 , wherein the IR pattern comprises multiple IR curtains.

15 . The IR sensor of claim 14 , wherein each of the multiple IR curtains comprise 16 reception areas.

16 . The IR sensor of claim 14 , wherein the multiple IR curtains comprise a first IR curtain on a first side of a threshold of the opening, a second IR curtain on a second side of the threshold of the opening, and a third IR curtain on the second side of the threshold of the opening.

17 . The IR sensor of claim 16 , wherein the door sensor is positioned on the second side of the threshold of the opening.

18 . The IR sensor of claim 14 , wherein the IR pattern and the evaluation beam comprise an IR curtain of the multiple IR curtains, the IR curtain positioned in a threshold of the opening.

19 . The IR sensor of claim 11 , wherein the multiple receptor rows comprise:

a first row of receptors comprising first left receptors (L 0 -L 3 ) and first right receptors (R 0 -R 3 );

a second row of receptors comprising second left receptors (L 4 -L 7 ) and second right receptors (R 4 -R 7 ); and

a third row of receptors comprising third left receptors (L 8 -L 11 ) and third right receptors (R 8 -R 11 ).

20 . The IR sensor of claim 19 , wherein the multiple receptor rows comprise:

a first row of emitters comprising first left emitters ( 0 - 7 ) and first right emitters ( 8 - 15 );

a second row of emitters comprising second left emitters ( 16 - 23 ) and second right emitters ( 24 - 31 ); and

a third row of emitters comprising third left emitters ( 32 - 39 ) and third right emitters ( 40 - 47 ).