Did You Know...
...that Thomas Edison's patent application on his phonograph was approved by the Patent Office in just seven weeks? In contrast, it took Gordon Gould, the inventor of the laser, 30 years to obtain his patent -- finally awarded in 1988!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7880866 | Method and device for measuring distance Erroneous measurement in distance measurement using a TOF technique is prevented. Intensity-modulated light being modulated with a constant cycle is emitted toward a subject. Reflected modulated light from the subject is received by a light receiving unit, and four ... | 02/01/2011 |
| 7414386 | Methods for testing optical transmitter components Methods for testing optical components, such as laser diodes or light emitting diodes, that are manufactured for use in optical transmitters or transceivers. The testing methods are performed using a true RMS conversion circuit in a test apparatus. The testing metho... | 08/19/2008 |
| 7397540 | Phase diversity ranging sensor A system to determine the distance to an object includes one or more aberrating elements to introduce aberration into light from the object. Image data is obtained at two different focus conditions, and used to determine the object distance. ... | 07/08/2008 |
| 7343098 | Fiber optic phased array and associated method for accommodating atmospheric perturbations with phase and amplitude control A fiber optic phased array and control method are provided for controllably adjusting the phase and amplitude of the optical signals emitted by a plurality of fiber optic amplifiers to compensate for atmospheric turbulence. The fiber optic phased array also includes... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7342647 | Compact laser altimeter system A laser-based altimeter for use on-board an aircraft comprises: a first housing including a hollow cavity and an exit aperture, and a second housing including a hollow cavity and an entrance aperture. A laser source and a plurality of first optical elements are fixe... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7327440 | Distance measuring device A distance measuring device is disclosed which can measure the distance to an object located within a known range. The device uses beam splitters and lenses to focus and direct energy reflected from an object onto at least two bi-sensors. The bi-sensors each have an... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7292179 | Instantaneous passive range finding A method and apparatus for use in determining the range in a single time sample from a platform to a target are disclosed. The method includes receiving radiation emanating from the target at two points on the platform in a common time sample; detecting the received... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7242485 | Displacement gauge and displacement measuring method A displacement gauge comprises an objective lens 15 that projects light onto a measurement subject 16, an exciting portion that vibrates the objective lens 15 at a preset amplitude along an optical axis direction of light passing through the obj... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7236256 | Range finder and method A linearly polarized light projector system projects linearly polarized light onto a subject. While polarizing filters are used for removing light specular-reflected on the subject, a reflected image after removal of the specular-reflected light is captured by image... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7221437 | Method and apparatus for measuring distances using light A method and device for measuring a distance to an object with light determines the distance by measuring the relative intensity of light reflected from the object and traveling over two or more paths of differing optical length. Light is emitted by one or more ligh... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7154112 | Distance measurement sensor A measurement sensor comprising a PSD (30) as an optoelectronic receiver, a transmitter (10, 12) for generating spots (22, 26), optics (14, 32) for reproducing the spots (22′, 26′) on the PSD (30) and means (44, 46, 4... | 12/26/2006 |
| 7106424 | Compact laser altimeter system A laser-based altimeter for use on-board an aircraft comprises: a first housing including a hollow cavity and an exit aperture, and a second housing including a hollow cavity and an entrance aperture. A laser source and a plurality of first optical elements are fixe... | 09/12/2006 |
| 7106423 | Distance measuring device A distance measuring device includes a light emitter, a light detector, a clamp that outputs long-range side signal or clamp signal, a calculator that calculates the ratio between the short-range side signal and the signal output from the clamp and outputs a ratio s... | 09/12/2006 |
| 7079228 | Combined laser altimeter and ground velocity measurement apparatus Combined laser-based apparatus for determining both altitude and ground velocity of an aircraft comprises: a laser source for emitting pulsed laser beams substantially at a predetermined wavelength; a plurality of first optical elements for directing the laser beams... | 07/18/2006 |
| 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 |
| 6973355 | Accurate positioner suitable for sequential agile tuning of pulse burst and CW lasers A positioning system including a sensor, a drive sequencer and an actuator. The sensor senses the actuator position and provides position signals to drive the sequencer which responsively computes and drives the actuator in open loop moves containing dwell intervals... | 12/06/2005 |
| 6812450 | Method and an apparatus for monitoring a protected zone A method for monitoring a protected zone in which a light ray is transmited by an apparatus in the direction of the protected zone, a light ray reflected/remitted by an object disposed in the protected zone is received and the distance between the apparatus and the ... | 11/02/2004 |
| 6782118 | System for measuring, substantially instantaneously, the distance and trajectory traveled by a body in flight during sports competitions A system for measuring the distance traveled by bodies in flight during sports events, the bodies executing trajectories having a common predetermined take-off area, and a variable landing point within a landing surface. The system includes a fixed image acquisition... | 08/24/2004 |
| 6441888 | Rangefinder A rangefinder performs highly accurate 3D measurement without being affected by any variation in intensity of projected light. A light source for projecting light onto an object is provided with a light receiver for detecting the intensity of the projecte... | 08/27/2002 |
| 5790242 | Chromatic optical ranging sensor A three dimensional sensor includes an illumination source that produces broadband, high intensity optical energy. This optical energy includes a number of individual wavelength components. The individual wavelength components are impinged in a spot on a ... | 08/04/1998 |
| 5760748 | Pivoting support bracket to mount a GPS antenna above a theodolite or a total station mounted on a tripod A surveying instrument comprises a tripod with a tribrach that receives both a theodolite and a C-bracket that half vertically encircles the theodolite. The C-bracket and the theodolite are each independently pivotable on the same vertical axis and the C-... | 06/02/1998 |
| 5745226 | Passive optical velocity measurement device and method An optical velocity measuring device includes a pair of V/H sensors effectively located at two different distances from a moving object. Each sensor is used to determine an image velocity and a corresponding angular velocity of the object. The angular vel... | 04/28/1998 |
| 5703351 | Autofocus module having a diffractively achromatized toroidal lens An autofocus module generates a beam of light that is divergent in the horizontal direction and collimated in the vertical direction. The beam is formed using a laser diode and a diffractively achromatized toroidal lens. A pair of receiver lenses which ha... | 12/30/1997 |
| 5703677 | Single lens range imaging method and apparatus A single lens range sensor comprises a camera 27 having a pair of plano-convex lenses 28a and 28b, an optical mask 30, an imaging sensor 32, a digitizer 34 and a computer 36. The optical mask 30 may be implemented with a liquid crystal array having spatia... | 12/30/1997 |
| 5229829 | Height sensor and air cushion A height sensor comprises a pair of light-emitting elements disposed at positions spaced at different distances from a surface desired to be measured, the elements alternately emitting light rays, and a light-receiving element for receiving a light ray ge... | 07/20/1993 |
| 5149952 | Optical gauging apparatus using dual beams and intermittent interruption Here is disclosed an optical gauging apparatus utilizing light reflected on an object to be gauged and being useful for gauging of, for example, car level, spring deflection and photographic distance. Light emitted from a single light source is split into... | 09/22/1992 |
| 5056913 | Optical gauging apparatus An optical gauging apparatus utilizing a light projected toward an object to be gauged and reflected on the object to gauge a distance to the object or an amount of change occurring in the object. The gauging apparatus includes light projecting elements a... | 10/15/1991 |
| 4865443 | Optical inverse-square displacement sensor This invention comprises an optical displacement sensor that uses the inverse-square attenuation of light reflected from a diffused surface to calculate the distance from the sensor to the reflecting surface. Light emerging from an optical fiber or the li... | 09/12/1989 |
| 4853532 | Specular surface inhibit A proximity detection system which detects the presence of highly specular surfaces which could produce erroneous indications for the system and suppresses them so that they will not affect the system adversely.... | 08/01/1989 |
| 4843565 | Range determination method and apparatus A system for determining range, particularly for robotic applications, is disclosed. The system preferably includes a single camera and at least two light sources. The lights can be turned on and off independently and are located at different distances fr... | 06/27/1989 |
| 4796997 | Method and system for high-speed, 3-D imaging of an object at a vision station A method and system for high-speed, 3-D imaging of an object at a vision station including a flying spot laser scanner, a dynamically configurable spatial filter and a diffuser for spatial averaging, are used in conjunction with a variable transmission fi... | 01/10/1989 |
| 4752799 | Optical proximity sensing optics A device for measuring the distance to a surface comprising first and second energy emitting sources positioned at two different distances with respect to the surface and driven by a signal which is of common frequency, but which is of different phase fro... | 06/21/1988 |
| 4716430 | Pulse proximity detection A device for measuring the distance to a surface comprising a pulsed energy emitting source positioned to direct energy to the remote surface and first and second energy responsive detectors to receive energy reflected from the surface with the detectors ... | 12/29/1987 |
| 4639140 | Optical surface proximity measuring device and its application to the plotting of the profile of a surface The invention relates to an optical device for measuring the surface proximity and to its application in the plotting of a profile. The device comprises a radiation emitter forming a light spot on the surface and two detectors, which are sensitive to the light... | 01/27/1987 |
| 4115005 | Method for optically measuring a roughness profile of surface A method for measuring a roughness profile of a surface optically is provided. The method essentially comprises projecting through a converging optical system a pair of light rays on a surface to be measured, the light rays being focused slightly before a... | 09/19/1978 |
| 3937574 | System and method for measuring distance A pair of light intensity detectors are spaced apart in range and an arrangement is included for reflecting light from a target to the detectors. The system measures target range by dividing the output signal of one of the detectors by a signal which is a... | 02/10/1976 |
