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:
Aug. 22, 1995
Filed:
Dec. 02, 1993
Gary R Redford, Tucson, AZ (US);
Hughes Aircraft Company, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Abstract
A sensor system includes a sensor having a planar array of sensor elements, each of which produces an output responsive to an energy input. The sensed energy reaching the sensor elements is controlled by at least two, and preferably a plurality of, light valves. A controller selects one of the light valves at a time to transmit energy of a scene segment impinging upon the light valve. An optical fiber bundle includes an optical fiber cable for each light valve extending from the sensor to the respective light valve. Each optical fiber cable has an optical fiber for each element of the sensor array. Preferably, each light valve is divided into a plurality of pixels, arranged such that the optical fibers of each optical fiber cable map the energy impinging upon each pixel of one of the light valves to a corresponding respective planar sensor element of the sensor array. A lens focuses a scene onto the light valves, such that a segment of the scene is imaged onto each of the light valves.