ULTRASONIC WAVE TRANSMISSION DEVICE AND ULTRASONIC WAVE TRANSMISSION METHOD

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress the size increase of a device while increasing the output of an ultrasonic wave to be transmitted in an arbitrary direction.SOLUTION: An ultrasonic wave transmission device for transmitting an ultrasonic signal by annularly arranging a plurality of transmitters, includes: a transmission wave generation part for generating the ultrasonic signal; a plurality of switches for selectively connecting the plurality of transmitters to the transmission wave generation part; and a control part for accepting an azimuth in which the ultrasonic signal is transmitted, and for selecting the transmitter corresponding to the azimuth, and for outputting a command to connect the selected transmitter to the transmission wave generation part to the switch, and for commanding the output of the ultrasonic signal to the transmission wave generation part. 【課題】任意の方向に送波する超音波の出力を増大しながらも装置の大形化を抑制する。【解決手段】複数の送波器を環状に配置して超音波信号を送波する超音波送信装置であって、前記超音波信号を生成する送信波生成部と、前記複数の送波器と前記送信波生成部とを選択的に接続する複数のスイッチと、前記超音波信号を送波する方位を受け付けて、前記方位に対応する前記送波器を選択し、当該選択された送波器と前記送信波生成部とを接続する指令を前記スイッチに出力し、前記送信波生成部に超音波信号の出力を指令する制御部と、を備える。【選択図】図３