Target acquisition apparatus
US6054701A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 15, 1998 |
| Grant date | Apr 25, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 15, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01S7/487
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A target acquisition apparatus (10) having a laser beam source (12), wherein associated with the laser beam source (12) is an opto-mechanical tracking device (14) having a receiver (38) for reception of the laser beam which is reflected by a target (28). For evaluation of the signals of the receiver (38) there is provided an electronic evaluation device (18) which is connected together with the opto-mechanical tracking device (14). The receiver (38) has a photovoltaic four-quadrant detector (36) by which two orthogonal spatial direction co-ordinates (X, Y) are established. In order to compensate for dissimilar performance on the part of the quadrant detectors (E1, E2, E3, E4) of the four-quadrant detector (36) as is not to be ruled out for example due to temperature-induced or ageing-induced drift, the electronic evaluation device (18) is provided with switches (S1, S2, S3, S4) for signal inversion purposes.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.