Opto-electronic device for detecting and locating a radiant source
First Claim
1. An opto-electronic device for detecting and locating radiant sources comprising:
- --a plane, four-quadrant detector for producing four signals, one for each quadrant,--an optical receiver preceding said detector and including a plane diaphragm parallel to the detector, formed by a transparent central zone of an opaque mask, so as to enable said detecting and locating of sources in a wide field of observation greater than ±
45°
in elevation and in azimuth, and--circuits for processing and deviation measurement of the four signals detected by the quadrant detector to locate a direction of the source with respect to a reference optical direction of the device, formed by an axis of said field passing through a center of the detector and a center of the diaphragm wherein the central zone of said diaphragm is circular, and wherein the four-quadrant detector has a circular shape, and a diameter of the diaphragm is being equal to a radius of the four-quadrant detector.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The device permits a wide field of detection with high sensitivity and high locating precision. To this end, the device has a four-quadrant detector associated with a diaphragm formed by the central transparent zone of an opaque mask. The diaphragm preferably has a circular shape and no focusing lens. These elements are in parallel planes so that the line joining the centers of the diaphragm and the detector is perpendicular to these planes. The set is placed in a housing and is shielded by a transparent window. With a deviation measurement circuit that processes the detected signals, the assembly enables the computation of the angular offset of a pinpoint radiant source. With two elementary sensors of this type, it is possible to compute the spatial location of the source, for example a laser.
21 Citations
18 Claims
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1. An opto-electronic device for detecting and locating radiant sources comprising:
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--a plane, four-quadrant detector for producing four signals, one for each quadrant, --an optical receiver preceding said detector and including a plane diaphragm parallel to the detector, formed by a transparent central zone of an opaque mask, so as to enable said detecting and locating of sources in a wide field of observation greater than ±
45°
in elevation and in azimuth, and--circuits for processing and deviation measurement of the four signals detected by the quadrant detector to locate a direction of the source with respect to a reference optical direction of the device, formed by an axis of said field passing through a center of the detector and a center of the diaphragm wherein the central zone of said diaphragm is circular, and wherein the four-quadrant detector has a circular shape, and a diameter of the diaphragm is being equal to a radius of the four-quadrant detector. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. An opto-electronic device for detecting and locating radiant sources comprising;
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--a plane, four-quadrant detector for producing four signals, one for each quadrant, --an optical receiver preceding said detector and including a plane diaphragm parallel to the detector, formed by a transparent central zone of an opaque mask, so as to enable said detecting and locating of sources in a wide field of observation greater than ±
45°
in elevation and in azimuth, and--circuits for processing and deviation measurement of the four signals detected by the quadrant detector to locate a direction of the source with respect to a reference optical direction of the device, formed by an axis of said field passing through a center of the detector and a center of the diaphragm, wherein the central zone of said diaphragm is circular, and wherein the diaphragm can be adjusted to modify a diameter of the central zone and can also be shifted to modify its distance from the plane detector so as to modify its distance from the plane detector so as to modify the angular aperture of the field of observation. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
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9. An opto-electronic device for detecting and locating radiant sources in a wide field of observation comprising:
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--an optical receiver receiving unfocussed radiant energy from said radiant sources, comprising a plane diaphragm having a specified aperture with a center O'"'"', said plane diaphragm formed by a transparent central zone of an opaque mask; --a plane detector located to receive unfocussed radiant energy from said optical receiver, having four quadrants which are bounded by two orthogonal axis OX, OY, where O is a center of said plane detector, for respectively detecting four signals, one indicative of radiant energy on each said quadrant, when a radiant source is in the field of observation, said diaphragm and said detector being parallel, and orthogonal to an axis OO'"'"' between said center O and said center O'"'"' which axis is a reference optical direction for the device, and --means for processing and deviation measurement, receiving the for signals, and determining a direction of said source in relation to said reference optical direction for a deviation measurement curve determined according to a distance D between a plane in which said diaphragm is located and a plane in which said detector is located and to a shape and dimension of the aperture of said diaphragm. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An opto-electronic device for detecting and locating radiant sources in a wide field of observation comprising:
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a light receiver assembly which has no focusing device consisting essentially of; (a) an optical receiver comprising a plane diaphragm having a specified aperture with a center O'"'"', said plane diaphragm formed by a transparent central cone of an opaque mask; and (b) a plane detector having four quadrants which are bounded by two orthogonal axis oX, OY where O is a center of said plane detector, for respectively detecting four signals, one indicative of radiant energy on each said quadrant, when a radiant source is in the field of observation, said diaphragm and said detector being parallel, and orthogonal to an axis OO'"'"' between which is a reference optical direction for the device, and --means for processing and deviation measurement, receiving the four signals, and determining a direction of said source in relation to said reference optical direction from a deviation measurement curve determined according to a distance D between a plane of said diaphragm and a plane of said detector and to a shape and dimension of the aperture of said diaphragm. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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Specification