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. 02, 1997
Filed:
Jun. 28, 1996
Ty A Newell, Urbana, IL (US);
Evan Hurlburt, Champaign, IL (US);
The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, Urbana, IL (US);
Abstract
A sensor system including a first layer having first and second surfaces and a first index of refraction, a second layer having a second index of refraction which is less than the first index of refraction, a mechanism for generating a first diffuse light beam which passes through the first layer from the first surface to the second surface, and a mechanism for sensing a portion of the first diffuse light beam reflected back through the first layer to the first surface as an incident of the first diffuse light beam impinging upon the second layer. Also a method of determining the properties of a medium, the method including the steps of generating a first diffuse light beam, passing the first diffuse light beam through a first surface of a first medium having a first index of refraction, causing a portion of the first diffuse light beam to pass through the first medium, to impinge upon a second medium having a second index of refraction less than the first index of refraction and to reflect back to the first surface, and sensing the portion of the first diffuse light beam reflected back to the first surface.