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:
Feb. 10, 1998
Filed:
Mar. 17, 1995
Takayuki Hamaguchi, Takarazuka, JP;
Nobukazu Kawagoe, Osaka, JP;
Minolta Co., Ltd., Osaka, JP;
Abstract
A first light receiving portion and a second light receiving portion are provided on the upper surface of a moving body having driving wheels at an interval of a prescribed distance in a plane. The first light receiving portion and the second light receiving portion rotate around the axis in the vertical direction. On the other hand, a first light emitting portion and a second light emitting portion are provided on the side face of a station serving as a reference station at an interval of a prescribed distance in a plane. The first and second light receiving portions carry out sampling while rotating, so that the quantity of light reception is changed according to the directivities of the first and second light receiving portions. When the peaks of the directivities of the first and second light receiving portions match the direction of the first light emitting portion or the second light emitting portion, the quantity of light reception is maximized. Based on a rotational angle at which the quantity of light reception is maximized, the relative positions and the relative directions of the first and second light receiving portions with respect to the first and second light emitting portions are calculated.