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:
Oct. 22, 1996
Filed:
Sep. 05, 1995
Peter A Hochstein, Troy, MI (US);
Dennis Foy, Scottsdale, AZ (US);
Other;
Abstract
A method of measuring the distance between vehicles comprising the steps of; emitting light (14) from a first vehicle to define first and second light positions spaced apart a predetermined light distance (L), passing the emitted light through a lens (20) mounted on a second vehicle and having a focal length (f) to present an image (I) of the predetermined light distance (L) at the focal length (f) from the lens, sensing (22) the image (I) at the focal length, producing a signal representing the length of the image (I), storing a scale (28) on the second vehicle which is proportional to the predetermined light distance (L), comparing (26) the length of the image (I) with the scale to produce a signal representing the distance (D) between the vehicles. The method and apparatus is characterized by establishing the predetermined light distance (L) as a constant and fixed length from vehicle to vehicle by using the standard license plate or license plate holder on the first vehicle.