Did You Know...
...that the Band-Aid Bandage was invented by a Johnson & Johnson employee whose wife had cut herself? Earl Dickson's wife was rather accident prone, so he set out to develop a bandage that she could apply without help. He placed a small piece of gauze in the center of a small piece of surgical tape, and what we know today as the Band Aid bandage was born!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 5631970 | Process for identifying simple and complex objects from fused images and map data The present invention features a method of identifying and/or extracting an object from multiple fused information sources, such as maps and images. The system allows a user to integrate information freely from multiple sources, such as maps, socio-econom... | 05/20/1997 |
| 5610816 | Automatic steering method and apparatus for a non- railed transfer crane The present invention relates to an automatic system for controlling the steering of a non-railed transfer crane travelling along a lane indicant. The system comprises a vision sensor for continuously photographing the condition of a crane's actual travel... | 03/11/1997 |
| 5546123 | Automatic steering device for asphalt finisher An automatic steering device is presented for controlling the direction of travel of an asphalt finisher during a paving operation. The device is provided with a laser generator (18) which projects a laser beam of a slit shape on a series of objects along... | 08/13/1996 |
| 5367457 | Apparatus and method for improving accuracy of an automatic travelling apparatus Disclosed is an automatic travelling apparatus which is capable of taking an image of an area ahead of a vehicle by an image pick-up means attached to the vehicle; sampling and processing the image data to extract therefrom continuous line segments; deter... | 11/22/1994 |
| 5359666 | Driving way judging device and method A device and a process for judging the contour of a road by processing data from an image taken of the road by a camera. In the data processing, Hough transform is used to obtain a plurality of straight lines approximate to the edges of the road. In order... | 10/25/1994 |
| 5339103 | Part machining programming using a camera interchangeable with maching nozzle A system and method for using a camera and an associated display means for facilitating the loading of the distinguishing characteristics of a workpiece into the control system for a machining system to allow machining of workpieces in accordance with a s... | 08/16/1994 |
| 5327233 | Movable security camera apparatus A movable security camera apparatus for providing visual security with minimal human effort, error and equipment expense, includes a MICOM, a path input section, a sensing section, a sensor detecting section, a camera video tape recording section, and a m... | 07/05/1994 |
| 5307419 | Control device of an autonomously moving body and evaluation method for data thereof A control device of an autonomously moving body according to the present invention comprises at least one image pickup unit which picks up the image of a moving road of an automatically moving body; an image processing unit which processes a plurality of ... | 04/26/1994 |
| 5255096 | Video time code synchronized robot control apparatus The stored robot control program defining the path of movement of a robot arm carrying a video camera is synchronized to time code information recorded on a video tape. Video signals from the video camera are recorded on the video tape by a video tape rec... | 10/19/1993 |
| 5245422 | System and method for automatically steering a vehicle within a lane in a road An automatic vehicle steering system is provided for automatically steering a vehicle along a lane in a road. A video sensor is included for generating a plurality of frames of video images of the road. A computer processor analyzes the frames to determin... | 09/14/1993 |
| 5243524 | Method and apparatus for controlling a vehicle and accounting for side-slip angle Disclosed is an automatic travelling apparatus which is capable of taking an image of an area ahead of a vehicle in its running direction by an image pick-up device fixed to the vehicle; determining, by processing the taken image, a permissible travel pat... | 09/07/1993 |
| 5233527 | Automatic travelling apparatus An automatic travelling apparatus which is capable of finding a permissible travelling area ahead of a running vehicle by use of an image pick-up device attached to the vehicle, setting a target course in the determined permissible travelling area, estima... | 08/03/1993 |
| 5229941 | Autonomous vehicle automatically running on route and its method An autonomous vehicle autonomously running on a route of travel and its method are disclosed in which data on a plurality of target points and on a plurality of paths, the target points and paths defining start and end points of road segments which are th... | 07/20/1993 |
| 5220508 | Position and heading detecting device for self controlled vehicle An outer environment of the vehicle is inputted as an image. Image processing is performed to the input image, and many edge segments are extracted. The edge segments which are colinear are clustered in order to perform a matching operation. Matching is p... | 06/15/1993 |
| 5208750 | Control System for unmanned automotive vehicle Stereo image data depicting the lane on which the vehicle is running is rectified into a planar image on which one or more level lines can be generated in a manner to intersect one or both of the edges of the lane. Angles are measured between lines which ... | 05/04/1993 |
| 5163002 | Method and apparatus for automatic steering control of automobile A method and an apparatus for automatic steering control of an automobile, which can be carried out efficiently by using only one regression equation for calculating a steering angle. In the apparatus, a white line drawn on a road is detected by camera; a... | 11/10/1992 |
| 5155683 | Vehicle remote guidance with path control In a remotely piloted surface vehicle a television camera is used to send images to a screen on the operator's station. A computer displays the vehicle's intended path on the screen. The path appears as a computer-generated line superimposed on the image ... | 10/13/1992 |
| 5144685 | Landmark recognition for autonomous mobile robots A dynamic model matching for landmark recognition wherein the model generation and matching process changes as a function of range to the landmark and of perspective as sensed from a mobile platform.... | 09/01/1992 |
| 5142658 | Container chassis positioning system A computer controlled signalling system to assist a driver in accurately positioning a truck chassis at a preprogrammed specific stop point in a loading/unloading lane adjacent to a dockside container crane to facilitate loading/unloading of containerized... | 08/25/1992 |
| 5128874 | Inertial navigation sensor integrated obstacle detection system A system that incorporates inertial sensor information into optical flow computations to detect obstacles and to provide alternative navigational paths free from obstacles. The system is a maximally passive obstacle detection system that makes selective u... | 07/07/1992 |
| 5109345 | Closed-loop autonomous docking system An autonomous docking system is provided which produces commands for the steering and propulsion system of a chase vehicle used in the docking of that chase vehicle with a target vehicle. The docking system comprises a passive optical target affixed to th... | 04/28/1992 |
| 5087969 | Unmanned vehicle control system with guide line detection A system for controlling an unmanned vehicle by detection of a guide line based on a picture image picked up by a camera on the vehicle, including a parameter (.rho., θ) deriving unit for deriving parameters (.rho., θ) of point extracted from a picture ... | 02/11/1992 |
| 5051906 | Mobile robot navigation employing retroreflective ceiling features Apparatus and method which provides for the determination of a vehicle's orientation and position in an environment, such as a hallway, from an image of a retroreflective ceiling feature. A mobile robot 10 includes a light source 28 and a camera 12 that a... | 09/24/1991 |
| 4862047 | Apparatus for guiding movement of an unmanned moving body This invention is intended to periodically correct the position and posture of an automatically steerable unmanned moving body according to a guiding method with the aid of dead reckoning or the like. A plurality of sets of at least two ground marks (8) a... | 08/29/1989 |
| 4858132 | Optical navigation system for an automatic guided vehicle, and method A navigation system for guiding an automatically guided vehicle along a variable, predetermined path defined by a plurality of fixed, spaced-apart points. A target is positioned at each spaced-apart point defining the target which includes first and light... | 08/15/1989 |
| 4846297 | Automated guided vehicle An unmanned, self-propelled vehicle in the nature of a mobile robot has an on-board computer that stores path and machine function instructions and activates the drive and steering systems so as to cause the machine to follow a desired path. A plurality o... | 07/11/1989 |
| 4790402 | Automated guided vehicle An unmanned, self-propelled vehicle in the nature of a mobile robot has an on-board computer that stores path and machine function instructions and activates the drive and steering systems so as to cause the machine to follow a desired path. A plurality o... | 12/13/1988 |
| 4754402 | Mobile vehicle controller utilization of delayed absolute position data for guidance and navigation A mobile vehicle controller for controlling a mobile apparatus that travels along a commanded path. The mobile vehicle controller has a dead reckoning navigation procedure for navigating the controllable mobile apparatus along the commanded path in respon... | 06/28/1988 |
| 4750123 | Method for predicting tracking cameras for free-roaming mobile robots In a manufacturing environment, a controllable mobile apparatus such as a mobile robot is guided through the manufacturing environment by a navigation system that utilizes fixed overhead cameras having a predefined viewing area. As the robot leaves a firs... | 06/07/1988 |
| 4630109 | Vehicle tracking system A vehicle tracking system for determining the lateral position of a moving vehicle relative to an optically distinct line extending along the roadway on which the vehicle travels. A camera periodically scans the roadway including the optically distinct li... | 12/16/1986 |
| 4628453 | Navigation apparatus for mobile system In a navigation apparatus for guiding a mobile system along a predetermined path, an image obtained by measuring an actual environment is compared with a predicted image stored in advance, and a guidance signal is delivered to the mobile system on the bas... | 12/09/1986 |
| 4566032 | Visually guided vehicle An optically guided, unmanned, load transporting vehicle, such as a fork-lift truck, includes an electric camera, such as an industrial television camera, and a controller for controlling the automatic running apparatus of the vehicle. Two reflectors are ... | 01/21/1986 |
| 4278142 | Automatic guidance system for vehicles A system for the automatic guidance of a vehicle along a scheduled road route, which comprises marks of varying shapes possessing respectively specific travel-function information and attached to the surface of roads in the route selected for the vehicle'... | 07/14/1981 |
