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, 1992
Filed:
Mar. 26, 1991
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A method and apparatus for detecting a positional relationship between first and second objects is disclosed, which includes a light source for projecting light to the first and second objects, a photodetecting system for detecting light from one of the first and second objects irradiated with the light from the light source, the detecting system being operable to detect first light whose position of incidence upon a predetermined plane is dependent upon the positional relationship of the first and second objects in a direction along the interval therebetween and in a direction perpendicular to the interval, second light whose position of incidence upon the predetermined plane is dependent upon the positional relationship of the first and second objects in the direction of the interval therebetween, and third light whose position of incidence upon the predetermined plane is independent of the positional relationship of the first and second objects in both the direction of the interval and the direction perpendicular to the interval, and a positional relationship detecting system for detecting the positional relationship of the first and second objects in the direction of the interval and the direction perpendicular to the interval, on the basis of the detection by the photodetecting system.