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:
Dec. 24, 1996
Filed:
Jun. 16, 1995
Michael Y Pines, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Donald F King, Playa Del Rey, CA (US);
Hughes Electronics, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Abstract
A multispectral imaging sensor. The inventive sensor (10) includes a broadband detector (30) capable of sensing electromagnetic energy across a spectra of interest. A filter arrangement (20) is mounted within the sensor in alignment with the detector (30). The sensor arrangement (20) includes a first filter (24) with a first passband, a second filter (26) with a second passband, and a mechanism for selectively positioning either the first filter (24) or the second filter (26) in optical alignment with the detector (30). In a specific embodiment, infrared and visible light are directed to the filter arrangement by a reflective optical arrangement (16, 18, 19). The positioning arrangement includes a turntable (22) on which the first filter (24) and second filter (24) are disposed. A motor (27) activates the turntable (220 from a first position at which the first filter (24) is in alignment with the detector (30) and the reflective optical arrangement (16, 18, 19) to a second position at which the second filter (26) is in alignment with the detector (30) and the optical arrangement (16, 18, 19). Multispectral imaging sensing is effected by simply switching the appropriate filter into the optical path of the detector (30).