Patent · US Expired

Tangent balancing

US7196707B2 · kind B2 · utility

17Cited by
22References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateSep 10, 2004
Grant dateMar 27, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 24, 2024

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06T11/203
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

When a Bézier spline is fitted to a plurality of points the two tangent handles at each control point can be very different in length. A method of fitting a second spline to the first spline that has tangent handles of equal length at each control point is provided. A point is found on the first spline that is close to the midpoint between the two control points defining the tangent handles. This point is a new control point on the second spline. Tangent handles to the new control point are then found such that they have a slope equal to the tangent to the first spline at the new control point, the sum of their lengths is equal to the sum of the original two tangent handles and their lengths are equal to each other. A second spline found in this way closely approximates the first spline. The lengths of the tangent handles may be adjusted to provide a better fit.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.