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. 12, 2001
Filed:
Mar. 08, 1999
Applicant:
Inventors:
Barclay J. Tullis, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Mark T. Smith, San Mateo, CA (US);
Larry McColloch, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Assignee:
Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01N 2/186 ; G01D 5/34 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G01N 2/186 ; G01D 5/34 ;
Abstract
An optical encoder can detect relative movement of a target without the use of a systematic pattern on the target. Natural features of different areas of the target are imaged by a photosensor array. The photosensor array generates a sequence of data frames of the imaged areas, and a processor processes patterns in the data frames of the imaged areas to detect a relative motion or displacement of the target. The processor can determine incremental relative motion or rate of relative motion.