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:
Nov. 30, 1993
Filed:
Nov. 27, 1991
Richard A Meinzer, Glastonbury, CT (US);
Bruce E Zepke, Glastonbury, CT (US);
United Technologies Corporation, Hartford, CT (US);
Abstract
A laser diode distance measurement device includes a laser diode 10 which emits light 20 to a lens 22 which provides focussed light 24 incident on a target 26. The light 24 is reflected from the target 26 back to the laser diode 10 which causes the laser diode 10 to emit a light 28 which exhibits intensity pulses (due to coherent interference) related to the distance L to the target 26. A photodetector 30 provides a feedback signal indicative of the intensity of the light 28 to a distance measurement circuit 18. The laser diode 10 is driven by an up-ramp signal that reduces electronic processing and at a frequency that reduces speckle noise. The distance measurement circuit 18 blanks-out a portion of the feedback signal during discontinuities of the laser diode drive signal to minimize associated noise from distorting the distance measurement.