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. 08, 1978
Filed:
Mar. 14, 1977
Walter Hohne, Lewisburg, TN (US);
Robin H Hines, Tullahoma, TN (US);
Precision International, Inc., Tullahoma, TN (US);
Abstract
An apparatus including a frusto-conically shaped tube for transmitting light with internal reflection surfaces which diverge in the direction from input to output. Incident light from an LED or other substantially phase coherent source is mixed by internal reflection of rays incident at greater than a predetermined angle to minimize the non-uniform phase front and concentrate the beam to permit greater transmitted power. The apparatus finds particular utility in distance measuring instruments in which the output of the tube is directed to an object and the phase of the reflected light compared with the phase of the transmitted light to determine the distance.