Patent 10075162 was granted and assigned to Mitsuba Corporation on September, 2018 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
First and second bridging portions (63a and 63b) is disposed so as to form a shock absorbing space (63c) between the sensor accommodating portion (61) and the fixing portion (62), and elastically deformed by external force, and the paired bridging portions (the shock absorbing space (63c)) is caused to function as a shock absorbing portion (63). Furthermore, the sensor accommodating portion (61) is thinner than each of the bridging portions (63a and 63b), after the sensor accommodating portion (61) is elastically deformed and a contact of a blockage is detected, the first and second bridging portions (63a and 63b) can be elastically deformed to absorb a shock. Therefore, it is possible to significantly reduce a load on the blockage in comparison with the conventional technique. Since the drive unit is reversely driven after shock absorption, it is possible to reduce the load on the drive unit and so forth, and to inhibit the occurrence of inconvenience such as burning.