SCANNING BEAM DEVICE WITH DETECTOR ASSEMBLY
First Claim
1. A scanning beam device comprising:
- a drive assembly;
a scanning element coupled to the drive assembly so that the scanning element moves and light emitted from the moving scanning element scans laterally;
a housing that surrounds the drive assembly and the scanning element;
one or more detectors positioned within the housing and distal to the drive assembly, and spaced from the scanning element; and
an optical assembly spaced from the scanning element and disposed substantially at a distal end of the housing assembly, the optical assembly adapted to direct light from the scanning element to a target area distal of the optical assembly and adapted to direct at least a portion of light reflected from the target area to the one or more detectors.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides scanning beam devices that have one or more detectors positioned within a housing of the device. The detector(s) may be disposed anywhere within the housing to receive light reflected from the target area. In one embodiment, an optical assembly of the device transmits a first portion of the reflected light to a scanning element, and a second portion of the reflected light to the detectors. In another embodiment, the optical assembly is configured to transmit substantially all of the reflected light to the scanning element. In such embodiments, the scanning element will be adapted to allow the light to exit the scanning element and impinge on the detector(s) within the housing.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A scanning beam device comprising:
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a drive assembly;
a scanning element coupled to the drive assembly so that the scanning element moves and light emitted from the moving scanning element scans laterally;
a housing that surrounds the drive assembly and the scanning element;
one or more detectors positioned within the housing and distal to the drive assembly, and spaced from the scanning element; and
an optical assembly spaced from the scanning element and disposed substantially at a distal end of the housing assembly, the optical assembly adapted to direct light from the scanning element to a target area distal of the optical assembly and adapted to direct at least a portion of light reflected from the target area to the one or more detectors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of scanning a target area, the method comprising:
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positioning a scanning beam device adjacent the target area, the scanning beam device comprising a housing that houses a scanning element coupled to a drive assembly, an optical assembly spaced from the scanning element, and one or more detectors positioned within the housing, wherein at least one of the detectors is positioned distal to the drive assembly;
delivering light from the scanning element directly to the optical assembly and onto the target area; and
receiving light reflected from the target area back into the optical assembly, wherein the optical assembly delivers a first portion of the light reflected from the target area onto the scanning element and focuses a second portion of the light reflected onto the one or more detectors in the housing of the scanning beam device or scatters the second portion of the light reflected from the target area within the housing of the scanning beam device so that the second portion of the light reflected from the target area impinges on the one or more detectors in the housing of the scanning beam device. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A scanning beam device comprising:
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a drive assembly;
a scanning element coupled to the drive assembly so that the scanning element moves and light emitted from the moving scanning element scans laterally;
a housing that surrounds the drive assembly and the scanning element;
one or more detectors positioned within the housing and distal to the drive assembly, and spaced from the scanning element; and
an optical assembly spaced from the scanning element and disposed substantially at a distal end of the housing assembly so as to directly receive light emitted from the scanning element, the optical assembly adapted to direct light from the scanning element to a target area distal of the optical assembly so that light from the moving scanning element scans laterally across the target area, and the optical assembly adapted to direct at least a portion of light reflected from the target area to the one or more detectors.
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Specification