Position sensing apparatus
First Claim
1. A position sensing apparatus comprising:
- a. first and second base stations, each base station comprising a radiation generator for generating a rotating beam of radiation in a common plane at a constant angular velocity and in an opposite direction relative to the other base station, and in which the radiation generators are spaced apart a known distance along a datum line;
b. a separate datum sensor associated with each radiation generator for detecting the beam of radiation generated by its associated radiation generator and generating a timing signal indicative thereof; and
c. A movable sensor for detecting each rotating beam of radiation, timing means at the movable sensor and coupled thereto, said timing means being responsive to the timing signals generated by the datum sensors of the first and second base stations, for determining positional angles defined between position lines between the movable sensor and each radiation generator and relating to the datum line by determining the time delays between the receiving of each radiation beam by its datum sensor and by the movable sensor.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A position sensing apparatus 1 having two base stations spaced-apart a known distance on a datum line L. The base stations each comprise generators 2(a) and 2(b) which emit a rotating laser beam. The rotating laser beams are detected by a movable sensor 6 and datum sensors 7(a), 7(b) which are associated with the generators 2(a), 2(b) and are located on the datum line L. The time difference between detection of each laser beam by the movable and datum sensors 7(a), 7(b) is determined and is used to calculate positional angles α and β between position lines between the movable sensor and each base station and the datum line L. As there are only two laser beams, they are differentiated by contra-rotation in the same horizontal plane. Vertical position is determined according to the vertical position on the movable sensor 6 at which the beams are detected. The position and level values may be continuously displayed in a vehicle having a movable sensor and they may be used for automatic control or may be stored for analysis.
249 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A position sensing apparatus comprising:
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a. first and second base stations, each base station comprising a radiation generator for generating a rotating beam of radiation in a common plane at a constant angular velocity and in an opposite direction relative to the other base station, and in which the radiation generators are spaced apart a known distance along a datum line; b. a separate datum sensor associated with each radiation generator for detecting the beam of radiation generated by its associated radiation generator and generating a timing signal indicative thereof; and c. A movable sensor for detecting each rotating beam of radiation, timing means at the movable sensor and coupled thereto, said timing means being responsive to the timing signals generated by the datum sensors of the first and second base stations, for determining positional angles defined between position lines between the movable sensor and each radiation generator and relating to the datum line by determining the time delays between the receiving of each radiation beam by its datum sensor and by the movable sensor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of determining the position of a movable sensor relative to a datum line comprising the steps of:
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a. establishing the datum line between a pair of radiation generators, each having an associated datum sensor sensing the radiation beam generated by its associated radiation generator and producing a timing signal indicative thereof; b. generating a separate radiation beam of radiation from each generator at a constant angular velocity in a common plane and with each radiation beam being generated in an opposite direction of rotation relative to the other radiation beam; c. detecting each radiation beam at the movable sensor, and differentiating the radiation beams at the movable sensor by detecting their directions of rotation; and d. at the movable sensor, monitoring the time delays between the reception of a radiation signal by each datum sensor as indicated by the timing signals therefrom and detection of each radiation beam by the movable sensor to provide a measure of the positional angle defined between position lines between the movable sensor, and each radiation generator and relative to the datum line. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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Specification