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.

Date of Patent:
Apr. 02, 1996

Filed:

Nov. 24, 1993
Applicant:
Inventors:

Masahiko Kato, Tokyo, JP;

Hiroshi Matsuzaki, Tokyo, JP;

Tadashi Morokuma, Tokyo, JP;

Assignee:
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01C / ; G01P / ; B60T / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
356-311 ; 180169 ; 342104 ; 342126 ; 367 89 ; 367 99 ; 356-309 ; 356 28 ;
Abstract

A distance-velocity predicting system has an illuminator for projecting a light beam for searching for an obstacle, and a plurality of position sensors spaced at a distance corresponding to a base line length. A minimum value of a distance component from the base line to an obstacle lying in a direction perpendicular to the base line, which is obtained from the light beam and the position sensors, or a value in the neighborhood of the minimum value, is sampled to obtain time-series data, and a relative velocity component in a direction perpendicular to the base line with respect to the obstacle is obtained in real time by using the time-series data. The relative velocity component perpendicular to the base line is compared with a predetermined threshold value, and when the relative velocity component exceeds the threshold value, a starting signal for life protecting equipment is generated.


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