Absolute position controller
First Claim
1. A position location system including a marking means, the marking means being defined along a path and including a pattern, the pattern comprising an irregular sequence of contiguous spacings, each spacing having a dimension selected from a predetermined set of non-equal dimensions, a cell being defined as a group of a predetermined number of adjacent spacings, the sequence of spacings being arranged whereby any cell within the sequence uniquely locates an associated region of the marking means;
- pointing means adapted for relative movement adjacent the path of the marking means, the pointing means including means for identifying marking means cells and means for computing the position of the pointing means along the marking means path.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus for determining the absolute position of a point on a surface or along a path including a tablet, scale, or overlay and a moveable mouse-type cursor. The tablet includes a unique pattern of lines or regions along rectilinear or other axes. A series of adjacent spaces formed by the lines define unique cells on the tablet. The mouse includes one or more linear imaging arrays adapted to detect the presence of tablet lines adjacent thereto. An integrated processor identifies the line types, computes line spacings and ratios, and identifies subtending cells by comparison to the known tablet topography. The processor further computes the precise location of a point defined on the mouse.
103 Citations
8 Claims
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1. A position location system including a marking means, the marking means being defined along a path and including a pattern, the pattern comprising an irregular sequence of contiguous spacings, each spacing having a dimension selected from a predetermined set of non-equal dimensions, a cell being defined as a group of a predetermined number of adjacent spacings, the sequence of spacings being arranged whereby any cell within the sequence uniquely locates an associated region of the marking means;
- pointing means adapted for relative movement adjacent the path of the marking means, the pointing means including means for identifying marking means cells and means for computing the position of the pointing means along the marking means path.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
Specification