Did You Know...
...that after Parker Brothers executives turned down the game of Monopoly because it had "52 fundamental errors" (including taking too long to play), a copy of the game wound up in the home of the company president who stayed up until 1 a.m. to finish playing it? He was so impressed by the game that the next day he wrote to inventor Charles Darrow and offered to buy it!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7274882 | Method and apparatus for monitoring the power level of two or more optical transmitters Methods and apparatus for monitoring the power level of one or more optical emitters are provided. In some embodiments, optical signals from two or more optical emitters are directed at different regions of a photo detector. The photo detector may include two or mor... | 09/25/2007 |
| 7239399 | Pick and place machine with component placement inspection Improved component placement inspection and verification is performed by a pick and place machine. Improvements include stereovision imaging of the intended placement location; enhanced illumination to facilitate the provision of relatively high-power illumination i... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7161185 | Display device and electronic device A display device and an electronic device in which more sophistication and a high added value are realized by obtaining a read function by incorporating an imaging device, and by using a panel with small volume can be provided. A display device and an electronic dev... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7116371 | Three dimensional image capturing device and its laser emitting device A three-dimensional image capturing device comprises a plurality of laser devices, and an imaging device, such as a CCD, having a plurality of photo-diodes. Each of the laser devices radiates a pulse modulated laser beam so as to detect distance information or data ... | 10/03/2006 |
| 7110037 | Automatic focus control based on voltage, temperature, and power supply A digital camera is provided with, a voltage detection unit for a driving power supply, a temperature detection unit which detects an inner temperature and an outer temperature of the apparatus, a power supply detection unit which detects whether the power supply is... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7079974 | System and method for detecting an object using pulsed light A system and method for detecting an object is provided. The method includes emitting a light pulse. The method further includes receiving a reflection of the light pulse. The method further includes indicating a presence of the object from the received light pulse.... | 07/18/2006 |
| 7075625 | Range finder and method Pattern projection apparatuses are placed on each other in a stack manner in a stripe pattern direction for projecting the same patterns. An image pickup apparatus (camera 1) is placed between the pattern projection apparatuses. The optical axes of the patter... | 07/11/2006 |
| 7022963 | Laser receiver A laser receiver for detecting the position of incidence of a beam of laser light thereon includes a first photodetector and a second photodetector aligned in series with each other and spaced apart from each other by a gap. If the laser is evenly distributed betwee... | 04/04/2006 |
| 6944397 | Distance measuring device A distance measuring device includes light a projector for projecting a beam of light onto an object at a distance to be measured, a light detector for detecting the part of the beam of light reflected from the object and outputting an output signal, an integrator f... | 09/13/2005 |
| 6928240 | Camera A camera includes a light emitter, a light detector, a clamp circuit, a calculator for outputting an output ratio signal, a converter for converting the output ratio signal into a distance signal corresponding to the distance or a predetermined fixed value, a light ... | 08/09/2005 |
| 6723976 | Optical detector with regulated emission Optical detector with pulsed emission, particularly of the background suppression cell type, with means for rapid regulation of the emission current. When the voltage signal received V is located outside a regulation interval Z1, the emission current i... | 04/20/2004 |
| 6711352 | Range finder of light amount detection type with multi zone resolution An optical range finder has a projection unit for projecting optical flux to an object, a photoreceiving unit for receiving the optical flux returned from the object and outputting a detection signal in accordance with a light quantity of the received optical flux, ... | 03/23/2004 |
| 6621583 | Distance-measuring apparatus A distance-measuring apparatus includes a diode projecting pulses of light toward an object at a distance to be measured, a photoreceptor for receiving reflected pulses of light reflected from the object, an arithmetic unit outputting a ratio signal accor... | 09/16/2003 |
| 6614537 | Measuring apparatus and measuring method Apparatus for obtaining three-dimensional shape data of an object including a controller for controlling a light beam, a scanning system for scanning an object by the controlled light beam, and an image receiving system for receiving the light reflected f... | 09/02/2003 |
| 6583861 | Rangefinder apparatus In a rangefinder apparatus for projecting a light beam toward a target object a number of times; detecting light of the light beam reflected from the target object, and successively integrating output signals corresponding to the distance to the target ob... | 06/24/2003 |
| 6532059 | Surveying instrument having an optical distance meter A surveying instrument includes an optical distance meter which has a light-transmitting optical system and a light-receiving optical system, the light-receiving optical system including a light-receiving element; a first wavelength selection filter and a... | 03/11/2003 |
| 6529268 | Baseline length variable surface geometry measuring apparatus and range finder A surface geometry measuring apparatus which relies upon triangulation to measure the distance to an object from a sensor head comprising projection optics and observation optics, wherein the projection optics has a drive mechanism capable of adjusting th... | 03/04/2003 |
| 6522412 | Measuring system with improved method of reading image data of an object When a scanning start position set signal is input in an area image sensor, the content is transferred to a vertical scanning circuit, and the scan start position is set. Image of a desired row is read by horizontal scanning. Then, one shift signal for ve... | 02/18/2003 |
| 6480264 | Laser beam detecting device A laser beam detecting device is disclosed for detecting a laser beam which is emitted from a laser beam generator and which forms a reference plane. A power supply for a laser beam sensor used in the laser beam detecting device is turned OFF automaticall... | 11/12/2002 |
| 6480288 | Measuring system with improved method of reading image data of an object When a scanning start position set signal is input in an area image sensor, the content is transferred to a vertical scanning circuit, and the scan start position is set. Image of a desired row is read by horizontal scanning. Then, one shift signal for ve... | 11/12/2002 |
| 6456794 | Distance-measuring apparatus Distance measurement operations are executed by carrying out projection of light from IRED 4, reception of light by PSD 5, arithmetic operation by an arithmetic unit, and integral operation by an integrator plural times, and thereafter a detector detects ... | 09/24/2002 |
| 6456367 | Rangefinder apparatus A rangefinder apparatus includes an infrared emitting diode projecting a light beam toward a target object several times; a position sensing device (PSD) for detecting light of the light beam reflected from the target object and outputting a signal corres... | 09/24/2002 |
| 6452664 | Rangefinder apparatus A rangefinder apparatus includes an infrared emitting device (IRED) for projecting a light beam toward a target object; a position sensitive detector (PSD) for detecting light of the light beam reflected from the target object and outputting an output sig... | 09/17/2002 |
| 6421115 | Distance measuring apparatus When the reflectance of an object at a distance to be measured is low and when the distance to the object is far, these conditions are discriminated and the distance is measured with a clamp signal set at a low level, thereby enhancing distance measuremen... | 07/16/2002 |
| 6407817 | Measuring system with improved method of reading image data of an object When a scanning start position set signal is input in an area image sensor, the content is transferred to a vertical scanning circuit, and the scan start position is set. Image of a desired row is read by horizontal scanning. Then, one shift signal for ve... | 06/18/2002 |
| 6345153 | Distance measuring equipment and camera There are disclosed a distance measuring equipment capable of performing a distance measurement with greater accuracy suppressing cost up, and a camera. In case of the short distance area and the middle distance area, switches 61 and 62 are set up to the ... | 02/05/2002 |
| 6341012 | Rangefinder apparatus and rangefinding light-detecting device A rangefinder apparatus includes infrared light emitting diodes (IREDS) for projecting respective light beams toward a target object; and a position sensitive detector (PSD), disposed at a distance from the IREDS, having a light-detecting region for detec... | 01/22/2002 |
| 6339475 | Distance measurement system A distance measurement system for measuring a distance with high accuracy and decreasing the number of terminals and lines. The system includes a charging device for detecting whether a supply of power has started and for overcharging an integrating capac... | 01/15/2002 |
| 6333782 | Distance measuring apparatus A distance measuring apparatus projects light toward an object at a distance to be measured, detects reflected light at a position according to the distance to the object to output a position signal, generates a distance computation value based on the pos... | 12/25/2001 |
| 6323940 | Distance measurement system In a distance measuring system in a camera including an integrating unit having an integrating capacitor, if the period of a second integration exceeds a maximum period, a CPU stops the second integration. Furthermore, the CPU informs a photographer that ... | 11/27/2001 |
| 6317200 | Positional measurement with normalized signal processing A measurement apparatus (10, 110) and methods to perform positional types of measurement with normalization respective to either or both of light beam (16, 116) intensity and measurement target (12, 112) reflectivity. A light source, such as a laser diode... | 11/13/2001 |
| 6295124 | Rangefinder apparatus In the rangefinder apparatus in accordance with the present invention, an infrared emitting diode (IRED) having four light-emitting areas projects a first correction beam when only a first light-emitting area emits light, a reference beam when the first a... | 09/25/2001 |
| 6292257 | Distance measurement system A distance measurement system for measuring a distance with a little time difference while maintaining high accuracy. An infrared emitting diode (IRED) emits a beam of light toward an object at a distance to be measured and a position sensitive detector (... | 09/18/2001 |
| 6292256 | Distance measurement system In a distance measurement mode, an autofocus integrated circuit is furnished with a power supply voltage and an integrating capacitor is preliminarily charged to a reference voltage VREF. During the preliminary charging, an external luminance m... | 09/18/2001 |
| 6259514 | Rangefinder apparatus In a rangefinder apparatus, a clamp signal is set to Ic1, the number of accumulating operations of an output ratio signal in an integrating circuit is set to N1, and a first distance measurement value D1 is detected. If th... | 07/10/2001 |
| 6246467 | Rangefinder apparatus A rangefinder apparatus, which projects light toward a range-finding object, detects light reflected from the range-finding object, and measures the distance to the range-finding object according to a position where the light is detected, includes a step-... | 06/12/2001 |
| 6229596 | Rangefinder apparatus In an active type rangefinder apparatus for measuring the distance to a range-finding object, an infrared emitting device (IRED) terminates its light projection earlier by a signal error time when the stationary light component outputted from the IRED sta... | 05/08/2001 |
| 6195510 | Rangefinder apparatus A rangefinder apparatus includes an infrared emitting diode (IRED) for projecting a luminous flux toward an object at a distance to be measured; a light detector for detecting reflected light of the luminous flux projected to the object, at a light-detect... | 02/27/2001 |
| 6192199 | Rangefinder apparatus In a rangefinder apparatus, a luminous flux is projected from an infrared emitting diode (IRED) toward an object at a distance to be measured and the reflected light of the projected luminous flux is detected by a position sensitive detector (PSD). The si... | 02/20/2001 |
| 6188843 | Rangefinder apparatus adjusting method In a rangefinder apparatus adjusting method, an object is disposed at a position at a distance L to be measured. Distance measuring operations are alternately carried out with respective accumulating periods T1 and T2 to determine re... | 02/13/2001 |
