Thermal tracker
US6476859B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 26, 2000 |
| Grant date | Nov 5, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 26, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01J2005/0077
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An image of a scene is focused onto a two dimensional array of passive infrared sensing elements mounted on and connected to an integrated circuit, and used to detect the location of events within the scene; for example, movement, change in temperature, or the emission of a gas. In this invention knowledge of the location of the event is derived from the detection of signals from one or more elements of the array, and is used to control the operation of a mechanism such that a portion of the scene including the event location is imaged onto a video imaging device operating in the visible or near infrared. Such mechanisms include a zoom lens or mirror arrangement and mechanical scanning in elevation and/or azimuth. Examples of suitable imaging devices for use with the thermal detector array include CCD camera chips and other electrically scanned silicon photovoltaic arrays. The CCD array might for example be used in a CCD camera, which is used to identify an intruder, or to read the number plate of a car. The event located within the scene may in addition be illuminated with a visible or infrared beam or a searchlight switched on and/or directed by the identification of an event by …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.