The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 25, 2026
Filed:
Oct. 25, 2023
Garmin International, Inc., Olathe, KS (US);
Robert A. Lewis, Flagstaff, AZ (US);
Joseph R. Bietry, Rochester, NY (US);
Heidi L. Hall, Webster, NY (US);
Garmin International, Inc., Olathe, KS (US);
Abstract
An ultra-compact optical receiver supporting the laser scanning of objects in three-dimensions is disclosed. The receiver's narrow field-of-view may track the movement of a transmit beam, allowing isolation of a reflected receive signal from sensitivity reducing solar background and interfering signals. Small portions of a full receive field may be selected using a Digital Light Projector (DLP) micromirror array by placing a small portion of the mirror array elements into a 'pass-state' allowing light to be directed towards the optical detector. The remaining mirror elements can be placed into a “dump state” where light is directed away from the detector. Furthermore, a unique total internal reflection (TIR) prism configuration may be used to allow the incoming receive signal to pass directly to the DLP mirror array while directing the light from pass and dump state DLP mirror orientations to the detector or optical absorbing regions of the receiver respectively.