Remote-indicating magnetic compass
First Claim
1. A remote-indicating magnetic compass system for use by the general public in automobiles or the like comprising:
- a housing;
a transparent viscous damping fluid filling said housing a compass magnet;
means rotatably mounting the magnet in the housing for response to the incident magnetic field of the earth;
compensation magnets in the vicinity of the compass for imposing an additional magnetic field to compensate for magnetic fields produced by an automobile;
an encoder coupled to the compass magnet having a single light modulating arc;
a continuous light source adjacent said encoder to illuminate said arc;
phototransistors arranged equally spaced on a circle parallel to the circle traversed by said arc such that single or adjacent pairs of phototransistors are illuminated by said light modulating arc;
light annunciators corresponding to the number of phototransistor mounted to a map scale to indicate auto heading relative to map letters N. W. W. E. and;
electric means directly connecting each phototransistor to a single light annunciator.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A remote-indicating magnetic compass system for use with automobiles or the like. The system consists of a dashboard-mounted readout unit, which receives and decodes logic signals provided thereto from a remotely located electro-optical shaft encoder, the latter being responsive to and positioned by the earth'"'"'s magnetic field. The form of bearing readout is discrete rather than continuous, e. g. 8 or 16 bearing states are described. The bearing readout display may be defined by a plurality of discrete indicators, such as light-emitting diodes, or segmented alpha indicators or so forth may be employed. The electro-optical shaft encoder assembly is preferably located at a point on the vehicle distant from large bodies of iron or steel, and where the earth'"'"'s field is strong relative to fields associated with permanently magnetized auto parts.
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Citations
2 Claims
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1. A remote-indicating magnetic compass system for use by the general public in automobiles or the like comprising:
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a housing; a transparent viscous damping fluid filling said housing a compass magnet; means rotatably mounting the magnet in the housing for response to the incident magnetic field of the earth; compensation magnets in the vicinity of the compass for imposing an additional magnetic field to compensate for magnetic fields produced by an automobile;
an encoder coupled to the compass magnet having a single light modulating arc;
a continuous light source adjacent said encoder to illuminate said arc;phototransistors arranged equally spaced on a circle parallel to the circle traversed by said arc such that single or adjacent pairs of phototransistors are illuminated by said light modulating arc;
light annunciators corresponding to the number of phototransistor mounted to a map scale to indicate auto heading relative to map letters N. W. W. E. and;
electric means directly connecting each phototransistor to a single light annunciator.
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2. A remote-indicating magnetic compass system for use by the general public in automobiles or the like comprising;
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a housing; a transparent viscous damping fluid filling said housing; a compass magnet; means rotatably mounting the compass magnet in said housing for response to the incident magnetic fluid of the earth; compensation magnets in the vicinity of said compass magnet for imposing an additional magnetic field to compensate for spurious magnetic fields produced by an automobile; an encoder coupled to said compass magnet having a number of staggered arcs at different radial distances; a continuous light source adjacent said encoder to illuminate said arcs; phototransistor equal in number to the arcs arranged in a cluster such that each phototransistor senses only one arc; a light annunciator for each phototransistor the light annunciators being mounted to a map scale to indicate auto heading relative to map letters N. S. E. W. and;
electric means directly connecting each phototransistor to its corresponding light annunciator.
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Specification