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:
Jun. 27, 2000
Filed:
Jun. 18, 1997
Toshikazu Kawashima, Shijonawate, JP;
Minoru Yoshida, Katano, JP;
Satoshi Furukawa, Hirakata, JP;
Kenichi Hagio, Katano, JP;
Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd., Osaka, JP;
Abstract
Automatic tracking lighting equipment for automatically tracking a target to be illuminated. A spotlight is supported for pivoting in horizontal and vertical directions on a ceiling surface. A horizontal drive mechanism changes the horizontal angle of the spotlight and a vertical drive mechanism changes the vertical angle of the spotlight. A CCD camera picks up the image of a target area to be illuminated. An image recognition unit processes the image from the CCD camera to recognize the target to be illuminated and to specify its coordinates. A coordinate calculation unit calculates how far to move the spotlight based on a distance of the target to be illuminated. A movable control unit converts the output of the coordinate calculation unit into drive signals for the horizontal drive mechanism and for the vertical drive mechanism and outputs drive signals to pivot the spotlight in a desired direction.