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:
Sep. 15, 1987
Filed:
Jun. 12, 1984
Olaf T von Ramm, Durham, NC (US);
Stephen W Smith, Rockville, MD (US);
Other;
Abstract
An acoustic pulse echo imaging system capable of producing an image of a three-dimensional object utilizing a two-dimensional display having perspective capabilities is described. In the system angular relationships of targets at all ranges are maintained for display. The system uses a two-dimensional transducer array of piezoelectric elements; the array is steered to assume transmit and receive orientations in both azimuth and elevation by producing (1) a directed transmit pulse and many similarly directed receive orientations or (2) a non-directed transmit pulse and many directed receive orientations. For each transmit pulse a parallel processing system produces several unique image points whose locations in the image correspond to the tangents of the angles of the receive orientations in the azimuth and elevation planes. The brightness of each image point is the weighted integral of the echo data received along each receive path. As an option, range discrimination capability is provided by means of a range dependent gain control, brightness shading as a function of range or a color display in which data originating from different ranges is displayed in different hues.