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. 29, 1994
Filed:
Mar. 30, 1993
Stephen L Bellio, West Roxbury, MA (US);
The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc., Cambridge, MA (US);
Abstract
A reflex proximity sensor includes a light emitting source which directs a beam by way of a beamsplitter toward a retroreflective surface, which reflects incident light back towards the source. A non-uniform (eccentric) convex lens is positioned in the beam path to produce a beam of light which is dispersed along a sensing axis, so that an eccentric cross-section beam is directed toward the retroreflective surface. The portion of the beam which reflects off the retroreflective surface passes back through the non-uniform convex lens and reflects off of the beamsplitter, and is directed to a photodetector. As an object traverses the beam in the direction of the sensing axis, the leading (or trailing) edge establishes a change in intensity level of the beam portion that reaches the detector. The output of the detector provides a signal representative of the edge position of the object.