Did You Know...
...that it was melting ice cream that inspired the invention of the outboard motor? It was a lovely August day and Ole Evinrude was rowing his boat to his favorite island picnic spot. As he rowed, he watched his ice cream melt and wished he had a faster way to get to the island. At that moment the idea for the outboard motor was born!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7365832 | Laser range finder A laser range finder measures the range between itself and another laser range finder by propagating a laser beam only in one way therebetween. A laser unit generates a short-pulse laser beam to be transmitted to the other laser range finder. A photodetector receive... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7362420 | Entangled-photons range finding system and method A method of determining a distance to an object is presented. A first photon and a second photon are simultaneously generated. The first photon is reflected off an object. The second photon is directed to an optical cavity. An arrival of the first photon is correlat... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7355724 | Three-dimensional measurement system The invention relates to a three-dimensional measurement system comprising a hardware part and a software part, in which the hardware part includes a mobile two-axis assembly (12) associated with a remote measurement device (13) installed on a fixed pa... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7352446 | Absolute distance meter that measures a moving retroreflector A laser device and method capable of one or more dimensional absolute distance measurements and/or surface scanning and/or coordinate measurements of a moving external retroreflector or other moving target surfaces without using an incremental interferometer. ... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7283211 | Distance-measuring optical apparatus, distance-measuring method, distance-measuring system, in-vehicle imager, and in-vehicle driving support apparatus A distance-measuring optical apparatus for measuring a distance to an object as a target comprises an imaging optical system; an image sensor; a driving section for moving at least the imaging optical system substantially perpendicular to an optical axis; an image s... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7280069 | Range-finding radar apparatus with high-resolution pulse-width calculation unit A radar apparatus includes a modulation signal generating unit that generates a modulation signal based on an internal clock with a cycle Tc and generates a trigger signal in synchronization with the modulation signal, a carrier wave generating unit that generates a... | 10/09/2007 |
| 7251196 | Passive optical detection of underwater sound A passive acoustic sensor that may be employed to detect sounds emanating from under the surface of a body of water. The sensor uses optics to determine vibration on the surface of a water body to detect sound pressure waves from underwater sound sources. The sensor... | 07/31/2007 |
| 7193692 | Laser range finder and method to measure a distance A laser range finder, including a transmitter, a receiver, a timing-counting module, and a processor is provided. The transmitter transmits a laser signal toward a target, and a reflected signal is reflected from the target, whereby a real fly time is defined. The t... | 03/20/2007 |
| 7176789 | Method for measuring distance and measuring device for it A method for distance measuring using at least two contact-less distance sensors, e.g., ultrasound sensors, is provided, which distance sensors each have one emitter for emitting measuring pulses (MI) and one receptor for receiving measuring pulse echos (ME). The di... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7166841 | Object detection apparatus, especially for vehicles An object detection apparatus has a laser radar and near infrared ray projector. The projector has a near infrared ray projecting lens, a laser oscillator, a laser receiver and a swivel actuator. The laser oscillator emits a laser beam, while the swivel actuator sca... | 01/23/2007 |
| 7167235 | Moving body transmitter and receiver axis adjusting system A moving body transmitter and receiver axis adjusting system includes a radar system mounted on a moving body and having a scanning area of 10° and a detection area of 8° in each of the left and right directions, and carrying out auto aiming to adjust the detectio... | 01/23/2007 |
| 7119888 | Method for determining the relative speed of an object Methods for the measurement of the object spacing distance or separation of objects are increasingly utilized in obstacle warning systems for motor vehicles, in order to warn the drivers of the motor vehicles of sources of danger on the roadway. It would be sensible... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7093314 | Beacon docking system with visual guidance display A system for aligning one end of a passenger loading bridge to an aircraft having a doorway is provided. A transmitter is disposed within a space of a side-wall of an aircraft, the side-wall including an inner wall defining an interior surface of the side-wall and a... | 08/22/2006 |
| 7015944 | Device for improving visibility in vehicles The present invention relates to a device for improving visibility in a vehicle, especially in darkness, bad weather and fog, including one or more laser headlights radiating laser light of a wavelength outside the visible spectrum into a predetermined solid angle a... | 03/21/2006 |
| 7009503 | Collision warning systems and methods An automobile collision warning system includes a sensor system configured to generate a sensor signal corresponding to at least a first sensed object in the vicinity of the automobile. A processor is coupled to the sensor system, wherein the processor is configured... | 03/07/2006 |
| 6943868 | Apparatus for and method of optical detection and analysis of an object An apparatus for detection and analysis of optical systems. Prior art systems exploit the phenomenon of photon scattering in order to range the distance of objects from the ranging apparatus. However, no information other than the distance of the target object is ob... | 09/13/2005 |
| 6924887 | Method and apparatus for generating charge from a light pulse A method and apparatus for generating charge from a light pulse. In one example, a light sensor includes an active region for generating an electric charge in response to a light pulse. A drift region is formed within a substrate and receives the electric charge fro... | 08/02/2005 |
| 6910660 | Laser guidance system A guidance system includes a first laser device coupled to a mount, the first laser device adapted to generate a first laser signal having a first wavelength. A second laser device is also coupled to the mount and directed substantially parallel with the first laser... | 06/28/2005 |
| 6856927 | Method and apparatus for the characterization of optical pulses and modulators A method and apparatus for the characterization of optical pulses and modulators includes modulating, using a modulator, a train of optical pulses, measuring a spectrum of the modulated train of optical pulses, recording the measured spectrum as an entry in a spectr... | 02/15/2005 |
| 6836317 | Method for optically measuring distance The invention relates to a method of measuring the distance between a fixed point and an object, by the steps of: a) transmitting a light pulse (11) from the fixed point at a selected instant of transmission; b) periodically scanning... | 12/28/2004 |
| 6829043 | Distance measurement device with short distance optics Technology is disclosed for measuring distances. A measurement device emits a beam that reflects on the surface of an object. The measurement device determines the distance to the object, based on the time of flight of the beam from transmission to capture by the me... | 12/07/2004 |
| 6781677 | Laser range finding apparatus FIG 1 of the drawings has been amended to include arrows 12a and 12b. The word “laser”, the arrow symbol underneath the word “laser” and the partial sinusoidal symbol adjacent the word “laser”have all been deleted. In a... | 08/24/2004 |
| 6717656 | Method and apparatus of a laser range detector The present invention is a method and an apparatus of a laser range detector, a delay circuit is comprised for generating a plurality of delay signals. With the delay signal, the precision of detecting could be improved without faster clock signals or higher power c... | 04/06/2004 |
| 6678039 | Method and system to enhance dynamic range conversion useable with CMOS three-dimensional imaging High dynamic range brightness information is acquired by inputting detection current to a high (adjustable) gain resettable integrator whose output V(t) is compared to a Vth threshold by a comparator whose output is counted by a reset counter as V(t)ࣙVt... | 01/13/2004 |
| 6657706 | Method and apparatus for resolving relative times-of-arrival of light pulses A method and apparatus for resolving relative times-of-arrival of a plurality of light pulses includes a plurality of drift-field detectors. Each drift-field detector includes a light sensor and a semiconductor drift region. Each light sensor generates an... | 12/02/2003 |
| 6650404 | Laser rangefinder receiver In a laser rangefinder receiver, a return signal from a light-sensitive detector is passed through a high-pass filter, and is then processed in two separate circuit paths, a "signal" path and a "noise" path. The "signal" path employs a time-variable offse... | 11/18/2003 |
| 6650403 | Distance measuring device for a vehicle In a distance measuring device, reflected pulsed light beams with respect to one transmitted light beam are amplified by plural amplifiers (22a, 22b) of different gains. The retroreflection times of the reflected pulsed light beams are detected by retrore... | 11/18/2003 |
| 6587186 | CMOS-compatible three-dimensional image sensing using reduced peak energy A three-dimensional time-of-flight (TOF) system includes a low power optical emitter whose idealized output S1 =cos(ω.multidot.t) is reflected by a target distance z away as S2 =A.multidot.cos(ω.multidot.t+.PHI.), for detection by ... | 07/01/2003 |
| 6586748 | Non-invasive water current measurement system and method A method and system are provided for measuring water current direction and magnitude. A plurality of beams of radiation are transmitted radially outward from a location above a body of water. Each beam is incident on the water's surface at an angle with r... | 07/01/2003 |
| 6535275 | High resolution 3-D imaging range finder A three-dimensional imaging range finder is disclosed using a transmitted pulse reflected from a target. The range finder includes a pixel sensor for receiving light from the target and the reflected pulse. A global counter is provided for determining a t... | 03/18/2003 |
| 6522983 | Timebase calibration method for an equivalent time sampling digitizing instrument A method of calibrating a timebase in a digitizing instrument estimates the frequency of the clock signal from the clock generator that clocks a coarse delay counter in a strobe generator. The dynamic range of the interpolator in the strobe generator is d... | 02/18/2003 |
| 6522395 | Noise reduction techniques suitable for three-dimensional information acquirable with CMOS-compatible image sensor ICS A three-dimensional imaging system is fabricated on a single IC. The system includes a two-dimensional array of pixel light sensing detectors and dedicated electronics and associated processing circuitry, all preferably fabricated on a single IC using CMO... | 02/18/2003 |
| 6501539 | High precision laser range finder with an automatic peak control loop A high precision laser range finder comprises an APC loop for eliminating a timing jitter problem due to different reflections on a target. The APC loop comprises a laser receiver, a peak holding circuit, an integrator and a high voltage generator. The pe... | 12/31/2002 |
| 6445444 | Self-calibrating precision timing circuit and method for a laser range finder A highly precise range measurement instrument is made possible through the use of a novel and efficient precision timing circuit which makes use of the instruments internal central processing unit crystal oscillator. A multi-point calibration function inc... | 09/03/2002 |
| 6323942 | CMOS-compatible three-dimensional image sensor IC A three-dimensional imaging system includes a two-dimensional array of pixel light sensing detectors and dedicated electronics and associated processing circuitry fabricated on a common IC using CMOS fabrication techniques. In one embodiment, each detecto... | 11/27/2001 |
| 6288775 | Lightwave distance measuring apparatus and method A lightwave distance measuring apparatus having a coaxial light-transmitting/receiving type optical system is provided with light-transmitting means for transmitting pulsed light toward an object, light-receiving means for receiving reflected pulsed light... | 09/11/2001 |
| 6281969 | Cloud base measurement method A high altitude lidar system propagates a beam of laser pulses through clearings in a cloud formation which reflects off the surface of the earth thereby providing first earth surface returns and reflections towards the base of a cloud that again reflects... | 08/28/2001 |
| 6259515 | Evaluation concept for distance measuring processes A process for determining the distance (D) between a distance sensor and an object. A transmitter sends wave pulses with a predetermined first frequency fb 1 and the wave pulses reflected by the object are received by a receiver and are directed in the fo... | 07/10/2001 |
| 6239866 | Temporal measurements of ultrashort far infrared electromagnetic pulses Dithered-edge sampling (DES) enables ultra-wideband measurement of terahertz pulses (far infrared electromagnetic pulses) using photoconductive antennas. The terahertz pulse is sampled by first passing it through a triggered photoconductive attenuator who... | 05/29/2001 |
| 6133992 | Distance measurement apparatus A distance measurement apparatus for measuring distance to the target by measuring a time elapsed from the emission of pulsed light to the target until the receiving thereof. This apparatus comprising a light-emitting section, a light-receiving section, a... | 10/17/2000 |
