Omnidirectional distance measurement system
First Claim
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1. A system for measuring a distance to at least one object in a predetermined non-liquid filled space comprising:
- (a) a plurality of ultrasonic transducers, each said transducer being adapted to transmit and receive ultrasonic pulses;
(b) beam shaping means associated with each said transducer for shaping the beamwidth of each said transducer in a predetermined manner enabling both widening and narrowing of said beamwidth;
(c) control means for controlling said system connected to said transducers via integrated circuit means for directly controlling transmission of pulses from said transducers and for conveying signals related to echoes received by said transducers to said control means;
(d) said control means and integrated circuit means being preprogrammed to effect time gain control of said transducers to increase gain as a function of time; and
(e) said control means being programmed to (1) measure the time from transmission of pulses by said transducers to the time from transmission of pulses by said transducers to receiving of pulses reflected from said object, and (2) therefrom to calculate the distance between the object and said transducers.
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Abstract
Disclosed herein is an omnidirectional distance measurement system which transmits and receives ultrasound waves using as many as four transmitting-receiving transducers having specially shaped beamwidths. Through the use of four such ultrasonic transducers, the system may be set up to obtain any beamwidth from 5° up to 360° in both the horizontal and vertical planes. In the preferred embodiment, the present invention is able to detect the distance and direction to up to four objects in a prescribed work area at any one time and may also detect the speed of any one of the objects if desired.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A system for measuring a distance to at least one object in a predetermined non-liquid filled space comprising:
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(a) a plurality of ultrasonic transducers, each said transducer being adapted to transmit and receive ultrasonic pulses; (b) beam shaping means associated with each said transducer for shaping the beamwidth of each said transducer in a predetermined manner enabling both widening and narrowing of said beamwidth; (c) control means for controlling said system connected to said transducers via integrated circuit means for directly controlling transmission of pulses from said transducers and for conveying signals related to echoes received by said transducers to said control means; (d) said control means and integrated circuit means being preprogrammed to effect time gain control of said transducers to increase gain as a function of time; and (e) said control means being programmed to (1) measure the time from transmission of pulses by said transducers to the time from transmission of pulses by said transducers to receiving of pulses reflected from said object, and (2) therefrom to calculate the distance between the object and said transducers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A system for locating at least one object in a predetermined space comprising:
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(a) a plurality of ultrasonic transducers, each said transducer being adapted to transmit and receive ultrasonic pulses; (b) beam shaping means associated with each said transducer for shaping the beamwidth of each said transducer in a predetermined manner enabling both widening and narrowing of said beamwidth; (c) control means for controlling said system connected to said transducers via integrated circuit means for directly controlling transmission of pulses from said transducers and for conveying signals related to echoes received by said transducers to said control means; (d) said control means and integrated circuit means being programmed to effect time gain control of said transducers; and (e) each said transducer including a grooved metallic backplate including grooved and non-grooved regions, said grooved region comprising said beam shaping means and being formed in a shape of a slot, at least one of said transducers being placed in a grounded metallic enclosure so as to be able to use said at least one transducer within a magnetic field, an electrical field or an electromagnetic field and in order for said transducer to pick less noise.
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25. A system for locating at least one object in a predetermined space comprising:
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(a) a plurality of ultrasonic transducers, each said transducer being adapted to transmit and receive ultrasonic pulses; (b) beam shaping means associated with each said transducer for shaping the beamwidth of a beam of each said transducer in a predetermined manner; (c) control means for controlling said system connected to said transducers via integrated circuit means for directly controlling transmission of pulses from said transducers and for conveying signals related to echoes received by said transducers to said control means, said integrated circuit means including a sub-circuit means for enabling time gain control, said sub-circuit means including a plurality of on-off switches, each said switch corresponding to a predetermined gain level, said switches being controlled by said control means to set a desired gain level for said pulses, said time gain control sub-circuit means being used to dynamically widen or narrow each said beam in both the horizontal and the vertical directions.
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26. A system for measuring a distance to at least one object in a redetermined non-liquid filled space comprising:
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(a) a plurality of ultrasonic transducers, each said transducer being adapted to transmit and receive ultrasonic pulses; (b) beam shaping means associated with each said transducer for shaping the beamwidth of each said transducer in a predetermined manner; (c) control means for controlling said system connected to said transducers via integrated circuit means for directly controlling transmission of pulses from said transducers and for conveying signals related to echoes received by said transducers to said control means; (d) said control means and integrated circuit means being preprogrammed to effect time gain control of said transducers to increase gain as a function of time and to dynamically widen or narrow the effective beam of a single transducer in both the horizontal and vertical directions by programming of associated software; and (e) said control means being programmed to (1) measure the time from transmission of pulses by said transducers to the time for transmission of pulses by said transducers to receiving of pulses reflected from said object and (2) therefrom to calculate the distance between the object and said transducers.
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Specification