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:
Oct. 24, 2006
Filed:
May. 14, 2004
William D. Bachalo, Los Altos Hills, CA (US);
William D. Bachalo, Los Altos Hills, CA (US);
Artium Technologies, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A compact computer-controlled fully-packaged apparatus providing reliable multi-dimensional characterization of spherical objects in a field environment is disclosed. The apparatus has a rugged, free-space, integrated optical system with up to three lasers that generate at a laser-specific wavelength the coherent light with substantially high pointing stability. The apparatus also has a receiver. Each laser generates a pair of beams crossing each other at a predetermined laser specific angle to form a sample volume such that beams from all lasers coincide in the same spot. The receiver has photodetectors to sense the light scattered from a spherical object. Three photodetectors measure a size and one of the three photodetectors measures a first velocity component, a fourth photodetector measures a second velocity component, and a fifth photodetector measures a third velocity component of the spherical object. The velocity components are orthogonal to each other.