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:
May. 05, 1986
Filed:
May. 26, 1983
Gerard Beni, Old Bridge, NJ (US);
Susan Hackwood, Freehold, NJ (US);
Lawrence A Hornak, Ocean, NJ (US);
Janet L Jackel, Holmdel, NJ (US);
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ (US);
Abstract
Two opposing fingers of a robot hand are each provided with an array of optical devices which are capable of being in optical communication with one another through the gap between the fingers. One finger is provided with an array of light emitters and the other is provided with an array of light recepetors. By taking advantage of the motion of the robot hand and the small size of the optical devices, the shape of an object between the fingers can be detected by using at least one linear set, and preferably at least two linear sets, of devices in each array. Illustratively, the linear sets form a T-shaped array or a U-shaped array and are disposed along the edges of the fingers. In one embodiment the emitters are GRIN rod lenses coupled through a fiber cable to a light source, and the receptors are also GRIN rod lenses coupled through a fiber cable to a camera system. A manufacturing method utilizing such a sensor to identify the shape of objects is also described.