Position determination equipment

• US 4,357,833 A
• Filed: 09/02/1980
• Issued: 11/09/1982
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/1980
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Geotronics AB
• Original Assignee: AGA AB (Linde Plc)
• Inventors: Ericsson, Lars, Wiklund, Klas R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gill, James J.
• Application Number:
  US06/183,669
• Time in Patent Office: 798 Days
• Field of Search: 73/490, 73/510, 73/518, 73/178 R, 73/1 D, 364/454, 364/424, 364/448, 364/449, 364/451, 364/561, 340/24
• US Class Current: 73/490
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 22/00 Measuring distance traversed on the ground by vehicles, persons, animals or other moving solid bodies, e.g. using odometers, using pedometers

Abstract

An apparatus for determining the position of an object which is moving along an axis at frequent intervals of time and without making mechanical contact with the object, comprising position determinator means for providing an accurate position determination of said object at relatively long intervals of time or position, means associated with said object comprised either of the combination of speedometer means and electronic integration means for time integrating the output of said speedometer means at relatively frequent time intervals for providing an instantaneous measurement signal or the combination of accelerometer means and electronic integration means for double time integrating the output of said accelerometer means at relatively frequent time intervals for providing an instantaneous measurement signal, and means for correcting the value of said instantaneous measurement signal at said relatively long intervals of time or position to be equal to said position determination made by said position determinator means.

Claims

1. An apparatus for accurately determining the position of an object which is moving along an axis with respect to a fixed reference on the axis without making mechanical contact with the object, comprising first position determination means which can only be operated at relatively long intervals of time for determining the absolute position of said object with respect to said reference at said relatively long intervals of time, said position determination means including means mounted on said object for cooperating with means at said reference to provide said position determination, second position determination means associated with said object for determining the instantaneous position of said object along said axis at relatively frequent intervals of time, said second position determination means including differential position determining means comprising either the combination of speedometer means and electronic integration means for time integrating the output of said speedometer means at relatively frequent time intervals of the combination of accellerometer means and electronic integration means for double time integrating the output of said accellerometer means at relatively frequent intervals of time, and means for correcting the value of said instantaneous measurement signal at said relatively long intervals of time to be equal to said position determination made by said first position determination means.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position determination means is an electronic distance meter aligned in the direction of the axis and arranged to measure the distance between said fixed reference and a predetermined specific point on the object.