Did You Know...
...that the x-ray was discovered purely by accident? When German physicist Wilhelm Konrad von Roentgen was experimenting with cathode rays in 1895, he put an activated Crookes tube in a book and went out to lunch. When he returned, he discovered that a key that had also been placed in the book showed up as an image on the developed film!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8115909 | Sensor system with a lighting device and a detector device A sensor system with a lighting device and a detector device is specified. The lighting device is provided for emitting laser radiation of a first wavelength and laser radiation of a second wavelength different from the first. The detector device is provided for det... | 02/14/2012 |
| 7433023 | Apparatuses and methods for measuring head suspensions and head suspension assemblies The present invention provides apparatuses and methods for determining spatial information of a workpiece surface positioned in a predetermined coordinate system. Apparatuses and methods of the present invention can be used to determine one or more coordinates of on... | 10/07/2008 |
| 7336345 | LADAR system with SAL follower A dual mode LADAR/SAL apparatus is disclosed. In one aspect, the apparatus includes a gimbal capable of scanning in azimuth and in elevation and a sensor mounted on the gimbal. The sensor includes a telescope, a LADAR optical path, and a SAL optical path. The telesc... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7319512 | Surveying instrument A surveying instrument for projecting a distance measuring light to an object to be measured and for measuring a distance from a reflected light, comprising at least an image pickup unit for picking up an image of a spreading range of the distance measuring light, a... | 01/15/2008 |
| 7319511 | Surveying instrument and electronic storage medium The present invention relates to a surveying instrument for measuring the distance to a target to be measured, a horizontal angle, and a vertical angle by use of reflected light. An imager can be connected to the surveying instrument. In addition, an arithmetic proc... | 01/15/2008 |
| 7317513 | Absolute distance measuring device An external cavity laser has an external cavity that is formed between a target surface and a laser diode facet located farthest from the target surface. A chromatic dispersive element is disposed in the external cavity, and focuses light from the laser diode such t... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7312879 | Distance determination in a scanned beam image capture device Methods, systems, and devices can determine spatial relationships between a probe and a target surface. Specular reflections from the target surface vary dramatically with small changes in angle between the scanning beam and the target surface, and as the geometry o... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7301608 | Photon-counting, non-imaging, direct-detect LADAR A light wave rangefinder includes a light transmitting optical system for directing a laser pulse at a target, and a light receiving optical system for receiving reflected light from the target, including a Geiger-mode avalanche photodiode (APD) array and a non-imag... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7274437 | Laser detection and ranging apparatus In a laser detecting and ranging apparatus in which a light signal is intensity-modulated with a modulating frequency consisting of a frequency in the microwave band for thereby detecting a Doppler frequency relating to the modulating frequency, high reception sensi... | 09/25/2007 |
| 7271880 | Object recognition apparatus designed to detect adhesion of dirt to radar An object recognition apparatus for vehicles is provided which is equipped with a radar. The apparatus is designed to detect adhesion of any dirt to the radar which will disturbs emission of radar waves to and reception radar echoes from a target. When the number of... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7239378 | Platform based imaging system A platform-based imaging system includes a nanotechnology-modified lens assembly mounted on the platform. A nanotechnology-modified information processing module is provided to receive information from the lens assembly. A nanotechnology-modified connection mechanis... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7230683 | Range finding device comprising an aiming device The invention is based on a distance measuring device, in particular a handheld laser distance measuring device, with a control unit (12) disposed in a housing (10) and with a first aiming unit (14). It is proposed that the first aiming u... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7224464 | Fourier-transform spectrometers A novel tilt-compensated interferometer geometry is described. The design uses tilt- and shear-compensation optics to simultaneously maintain high throughput and precise interferometric alignment, even in the presence of non-ideal scanning motions. The tilt-compensa... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7221435 | Device and method for optical distance measurement The invention relates to a device for optical distance measurement, in particular a handheld device, having at least one light source (50, 52), disposed in a housing (10) of the device, for generating an optical measurement signal, and having a first u... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7218385 | Preceding vehicle recognition apparatus A preceding vehicle recognition apparatus detects positions of two reflectors provided on a preceding vehicle from individual received signals each representing a signal reflected by the reflectors. The apparatus further detects position of an area of rear face of t... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7202941 | Apparatus for high accuracy distance and velocity measurement and methods thereof A system and method for measuring a parameter of a target in accordance with embodiments of the present invention includes transmitting at least one signal towards a target and receiving at least a portion of the transmitted signal back from the target. The measured... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7193691 | Active sensor receiver detector array for countermeasuring shoulder-fired missiles A focal plane architecture is provided which includes direct reading of an array of infrared detectors, each coupled to its own threshold circuit, the output of which is coupled to one input of a NAND gate, with the other input to the NAND gate being provided with a... | 03/20/2007 |
| 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 |
| 7126695 | Heterodyne frequency modulated signal demodulator and method of operating the same A heterodyne interferometer, adaptive optics system, method of measuring movement of a target and/or variations in a beam propagation medium, and method of controlling an adaptive optics system are provided. The heterodyne interferometer includes an acoustic-optical... | 10/24/2006 |
| 7046344 | Range finder A range finder includes a package, a semiconductor chip, an optical casing, a lens holder, a first lens, and a second lens. The first and second lenses are attached to the lens holder. The lens holder is formed of a material having a thermal expansion coefficient eq... | 05/16/2006 |
| 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 |
| 6934035 | System and method for measuring optical distance The methods of the present invention are directed at an accurate phase-based technique for measuring arbitrarily long optical distances with sub-nanometer precision. A preferred embodiment of the present invention method employs a interferometer, for example, a Mich... | 08/23/2005 |
| 6922249 | Beam masking to reduce cyclic error in beam launcher of interferometer Embodiments of the present invention are directed to reducing cyclic error in the beam launcher of an interferometer. In one embodiment, an interferometry apparatus comprises a reference beam directed along a reference path, and a measurement beam spatially separate... | 07/26/2005 |
| 6850314 | Method for optical sensing A method for determining optical properties of a target, using a plurality of transmitters for transmitting signals at the target, and a plurality of receivers for detecting reflected signals from the target, comprises the steps of: a) transmitting radiation signals... | 02/01/2005 |
| 6697683 | 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 dwel... | 02/24/2004 |
| 6660001 | Myocardial revascularization-optical reflectance catheter and method A myocardial revascularization device has a catheter suitable for use in a myocardial revascularization procedure, the catheter including an elongate body having a proximal end and a distal end, and tissue-ablating means housed at least partially within t... | 12/09/2003 |
| 6646723 | High precision laser range sensor The present invention is an improved distance measuring interferometer that includes high speed phase modulators and additional phase meters to generate and analyze multiple heterodyne signal pairs with distinct frequencies. Modulation sidebands with larg... | 11/11/2003 |
| 5793035 | Apparatus and method for spraying herbicide on weeds in a cotton field Weeds growing around the bases of the stalks of cotton plants growing in a row in a cotton field are sprayed with herbicide without spraying the cotton stalks or wasting herbicide on bare ground. The cotton plants are adequately mature that their stalks e... | 08/11/1998 |
| 5737069 | Position detecting apparatus of optical interferometry A position detecting apparatus utilizing optical interferometry changes the wavelength of a light beam from the light source. The variation in the wavelength causes an increment and decrement Cx, Co in the number of waves in the measurement and reference ... | 04/07/1998 |
| 5644514 | Interpolation circuit for measuring device An interpolation circuit for a measuring device capable of increasing a resolution and providing a velocity proportional output. Both sin θ signal and cos θ signal outputted from a sensor is fed to a balanced modulation adding circuit, resulting in prov... | 07/01/1997 |
| 5589928 | Method and apparatus for measuring distance to a target The invention performs coordinate measurement employing multiple-frequency intensity-modulated laser radar. A laser diode source is intensity modulated by variation of its excitation current. Its output beam is directed to a target using scanning mirrors ... | 12/31/1996 |
| 5585626 | Apparatus and method for determining a distance to an object in a field for the controlled release of chemicals on plants, weeds, trees or soil and/or guidance of farm vehicles An optical proximity sensor generates information indicative of a distance to an object in a field and in some embodiments also generates information indicative of a spectral reflectance characteristic of the object. The information indicative of the spec... | 12/17/1996 |
| 5388115 | Absolute measuring apparatus using laser and scanning mirrors An absolute length measuring apparatus comprising light sources, a beam splitter, an object of measurement, a scanning mirror, a light receiver, sampling parts and a distance measuring part. The light sources emit alternately a plurality of coherent light... | 02/07/1995 |
| 5260761 | Apparatus for the measurement of surface shape Apparatus for measuring the shape of a remote surface (10) comprises a laser (2) whose beam is split into a measuring beam (4) and reference beam (5). The reference beam is passed through a path length modulating mechanism (13, 14) to a datum point (18) w... | 11/09/1993 |
| 4824240 | Internal laser interferometer An instrument of measuring motion of a vibratory system, such as an ultrasonic bonder, employs a laser (10) that receives within its lasing cavity light transmitted (24) to the object (26) to be monitored and retroreflected (24), so that oscillations with... | 04/25/1989 |
| 4492464 | Apparatus and method for distance measurement by laser interferometry The apparatus and method include adjusting two single frequency lasers to separate longitudinal modes of an interferometer, the plates of which are separated by a distance to be measured. A rough estimate of the distance is made using a tape measure or th... | 01/08/1985 |
| 4005936 | Interferometric methods and apparatus for measuring distance to a surface For measuring surface motion or profile, laser beams of two different frequencies ω1 and ω2 (from one laser or two) are each split into two parts. Frequency shifts of δω1 and δω2 are introduced into one pa... | 02/01/1977 |
| 3970389 | Variable frequency interferometer Distance measurement by conventional optical interferometry requires physical movement of an optical element. The present system obtains interference with a continuous range of radiation wavelengths, providing a direct measurement of a constant optical pa... | 07/20/1976 |
