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:
Dec. 24, 1991
Filed:
Jan. 30, 1991
Charles B Muse, Dallas, TX (US);
Kenneth K Colson, Dallas, TX (US);
Jack R Markle, Tucson, AZ (US);
George W LeCompte, Tucson, AZ (US);
Patrick A Whipps, Palmdale, CA (US);
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX (US);
Hughes Aircraft Company, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Abstract
An infrared tracker for tracking a carrier in clutter comprises a pyrotechnically heated emitter, a beam concentrator, and a blanking means all of which are mounted on the carrier, and a command link, a thermal detector, a display signal storage means, a display, and a comparator all of which are located remotely to the carrier, said command link operative to provide an emitter start-up signal and a blanking command signal, said emitter and blanking means operative in response to the command signals sent to the carrier when there is clutter present that might be confused with the carrier, respectively, to actuate the emitter and blanking means, said display storage means operative to store a first video frame of the carrier while the emitter is blanked out, and said comparator for ocmparing the first video frame without the emitter to a subsequent video frame including the emitter to distinguish between the clutter is being substantially canceled.