Optical coordinate input apparatus and position indicator thereof
First Claim
1. An optical coordinate input apparatus comprising:
- a position indicator having a mirror portion with mirrored surfaces in planes perpendicular to plane XY over which the position indicator is movable, the mirrored surfaces being substantially equidistant from a central axis extending perpendicular to the plane XY;
a light source for emitting laser beams;
a first rotary mirror having a rotational axis perpendicular to the plane XY;
a second rotary mirror disposed at a position removed from said first rotary mirror by a known distance and having a rotational axis perpendicular to the plane XY;
an optical system for directing said laser beams emitted from said light source to be incident on said first rotary mirror and said second rotary mirror;
a first photosensor for detecting said laser beam which is (a) incident on said first rotary mirror, (b) reflected by said first rotary mirror and a mirrored surface of said position indicator to traverse the same optical path as one of the laser beams incident on said mirrored surface, and (c) incident on said first rotary mirror before being reflected so as to be thus detected;
a second photosensor for detecting said laser beam which is (a) incident on said second rotary mirror, (b) reflected by said second rotary mirror and a mirrored surface of said position indicator to traverse the same optical path as another of the laser beams incident on said mirrored surface, and (c) incident on said second rotary mirror before being reflected so as to be thus detected;
angle detection means for detecting the rotational angles of said first rotary mirror and said second rotary mirror; and
coordinate calculating means for calculating a coordinate of a central position of said mirrored surface of said position indicator in accordance with an output signal from said first photosensor, an output signal from said second photosensor, and in response to the detected angles and the known distance.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The position of an object including a retroreflector is determined by scanning first and second optical beams toward an axis on a planar surface from spaced sites on opposite sides of the axis. The scanned beams are incident on and reflected from the retroreflector along coincident first and second paths between the sites and the retroreflector. Indications are derived of first and second angles between a baseline between the sites and the first and second paths extending between the sites and the retroreflector. In response to the known distance between the sites and the derived indications of the first and second angles a two-coordinate direction indication of the retroreflector position is derived. The retroreflector refracts and reflects the scanned optical beams incident thereon and refracts the beams reflected thereby.
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Citations
75 Claims
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1. An optical coordinate input apparatus comprising:
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a position indicator having a mirror portion with mirrored surfaces in planes perpendicular to plane XY over which the position indicator is movable, the mirrored surfaces being substantially equidistant from a central axis extending perpendicular to the plane XY; a light source for emitting laser beams; a first rotary mirror having a rotational axis perpendicular to the plane XY; a second rotary mirror disposed at a position removed from said first rotary mirror by a known distance and having a rotational axis perpendicular to the plane XY; an optical system for directing said laser beams emitted from said light source to be incident on said first rotary mirror and said second rotary mirror; a first photosensor for detecting said laser beam which is (a) incident on said first rotary mirror, (b) reflected by said first rotary mirror and a mirrored surface of said position indicator to traverse the same optical path as one of the laser beams incident on said mirrored surface, and (c) incident on said first rotary mirror before being reflected so as to be thus detected; a second photosensor for detecting said laser beam which is (a) incident on said second rotary mirror, (b) reflected by said second rotary mirror and a mirrored surface of said position indicator to traverse the same optical path as another of the laser beams incident on said mirrored surface, and (c) incident on said second rotary mirror before being reflected so as to be thus detected; angle detection means for detecting the rotational angles of said first rotary mirror and said second rotary mirror; and coordinate calculating means for calculating a coordinate of a central position of said mirrored surface of said position indicator in accordance with an output signal from said first photosensor, an output signal from said second photosensor, and in response to the detected angles and the known distance. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6)
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2. An optical coordinate input apparatus comprising:
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a position indicator having a mirror portion with mirrored surfaces in planes perpendicular to plane XY over which the position indicator is movable, the mirrored surfaces being substantially equidistant from a central axis extending perpendicular to the plane XY; a first rotary mirror having a rotational axis perpendicular to the plane XY; a second rotary mirror disposed at a position removed from said first rotary mirror by a known distance and having a rotational axis perpendicular to the plane XY; a light source for emitting laser beams; an optical system for directing said laser beams emitted from said light source to be incident on each of said first rotary mirror and said second rotary mirror from a plurality of directions; a first group of plural photosensors positioned to correspond to angles of said plurality of directions for detecting one of said plural laser beams which is (a) incident on said first rotary mirror, (b) reflected by said first rotary mirror and a mirrored surface of said position indicator to traverse the same optical path as one of the laser beams incident on said mirrored surface and (c) incident on said first rotary mirror before being reflected so as to be thus detected; a second group of plural photosensors positioned to correspond to angles of said plurality of directions for detecting one of said plural laser beams which is (a) incident on said second rotary mirror, (b) reflected by said second rotary mirror and a mirrored surface of said position indicator to traverse the same optical path as another of the laser beams incident on said mirrored surface, and (c) incident on said second rotary mirror before being reflected so as to be thus detected; angle detection means for detecting the rotational angles of said first rotary mirror and said second rotary mirror; and coordinate calculating means for calculating a coordinate of a central position of said mirrored surface of said position indicator in accordance with an output signal from said first photosensor group, an output signal from said second photosensor group, and in response to the detected angles as well as the known distance.
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- 7. A position indicator comprising a mirror portion with mirrored surfaces in planes perpendicular to plane XY over which the position indicator is movable, the mirrored surfaces being substantially equidistant from a central axis extending perpendicular to the plane XY and being on a body having a base with a planar surface that is movable over the plane XY, the central axis and the mirrored surfaces being at right angles to the planar surface of the base.
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12. A position indicator for enabling the position of the indicator relative to a planar surface over which the indicator is moved to be optically determined comprising:
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an annular optically transparent lens member having concentric inner and outer surfaces, said inner surface being a cylinder formed by rotating a straight line extending parallel to a concentric axis of the inner and outer surfaces about said concentric axis, said outer surface being a surface of revolution formed by rotating a convex line extending parallel to the concentric axis about said axis, said convex surface of revolution having a predetermined curvature to form a lens surface having an optical axis which extends along the radial direction of said annular shape, said lens having its focal point on said inner surface; a reflection layer disposed on said inner surface of said annular lens member for reflecting light incident on a plane including said concentric axis and said radial optical axis, said reflected light being parallel to said incident light; a support member for supporting said annular lens member and for enabling the lens member to be moved over said coordinate plane with said concentric axis retained perpendicular to a given coordinate plane; and a collimating member for enabling a central point through which said concentric axis of said annular lens member passes to be optically aligned with a specific point on said coordinate plane. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. Apparatus for determining the position of an object on a region of a planar surface, the region having an axis displaced from the periphery of the region, comprising:
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means for deriving first and second scanned optical beams directed toward the axis from opposite sides thereof, the scanned beams being derived from first and second sites displaced from each other by a known distance along a base line, a retroreflector on the object, the scanned optical beams being incident on and reflected from the retroreflector so that the first and second beams are respectively reflected from the retroreflector along first and second paths that are coincident with paths from the sites from the retroreflector, optical detecting means responsive to optical energy reflected from the retroreflector and propagating along the first and second paths for deriving indications of first and second angles between the baseline and the first and second paths extending between the first and second sites and the retroreflector, and means responsive to the known distance and the derived indications of the first and second angles for deriving a two-coordinate direction indication of the retroreflector position. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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23. The apparatus of claim wherein the elements include spherical globules.
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45. Apparatus for determining the position of an object on a region of a planar surface, the region having an axis displaced from the periphery of the region, comprising:
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means for deriving first and second scanned optical beams directed toward the axis from opposite sides thereof, the scanned beams being derived from first and second sites displaced from each other by a known distance along a base line, the scanned optical beams being incident on and reflected from the object so that the first and second beams are respectively reflected from the object along first and second paths that are coincident with paths from the sites toward the object, optical detecting means responsive to optical energy reflected from the object and propagating along the first and second paths for deriving indications of first and second angles between the base line and the first and second paths extending between the first and second sites and the object, means responsive to the known distance and the derived indications of the first and second angles for deriving a two-coordinate direction indication of the object position, and means for varying the displacement of the sites relative to each other and for deriving a signal indicative of the distance between the sites along the baseline so that the signal has a value indicative of the known distance, the means for deriving a two-coordinate direction indication being responsive to the signal so that the derived position indication is controlled by the signal value indicative of the known distance. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49)
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50. Apparatus for determining the position of an object on a region of a planar surface, the region having an axis displaced from the periphery of the region, comprising:
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means for deriving first and second scanned optical beams directed toward the axis from opposite sides thereof, the scanned beams being derived from first and second sites displaced from each other by a known distance along a base line, the scanned optical beams being incident on and reflected from the object so that the first and second beams are respectively reflected from the object along first and second paths that are coincident with paths from the sites toward the object, optical detecting means responsive to optical energy reflected from the object and propagating along the first and second paths for deriving indications of first and second angles between the base line and the first and second paths extending between the first and second sites and the object, means responsive to the known distance and the derived indications of the first and second angles for deriving a two-coordinate direction indication of the object position, the means for deriving the first and second scanned beams including first and second reflectors, the first and second reflectors being turned on first and second axes extending at right angles to the planar surface at the first and second sites, respectively, and means for directing plural optical beams toward the reflector at the first site from plural directions and for directing plural optical beams toward the reflector at the second site from plural directions, the reflectors at the first and second sites and the plural directions of the plural beams directed toward the first and second reflectors being arranged so that the first scanned beam is derived in response to only one of the plural beams directed toward the reflector at the first site and the second scanned beam is derived in response to only one of the plural beams directed toward the reflector at the second site. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
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57. Apparatus for determining the position of an object on a region of a planar surface, the region having an axis displaced from the periphery of the region, comprising:
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means for deriving first and second scanned optical beams directed toward the axis from opposite sides thereof, the scanned beams being derived from first and second sites displaced from each other by a known distance along a base line, the scanned optical beams being incident on and reflected from the object so that the first and second beams are respectively reflected from the object along first and second paths that are coincident with paths from the sites toward the object, optical detecting means responsive to optical energy reflected from the object and propagating along the first and second paths for deriving indications of first and second angles between the base line and the first and second paths extending between the first and second sites and the object, means responsive to the known distance and the derived indications of the first and second angles for deriving a two-coordinate direction indication of the object position, the means for deriving the first beam including a first polarizing beam splitter in a beam path between a source of the optical energy and a first reflector at the first site, the optical detecting means including a first detector in another beam path including the first beam splitter and first reflector, the means for deriving the second beam including a second polarizing beam splitter in a beam path between a source of the optical energy and a second reflector at the second site, and the optical detecting means includes a second detector in a further beam path including the second beam splitter and second reflector. - View Dependent Claims (58, 59, 60, 61)
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- 62. An implement movable over a planar surface and including structure for enabling the position of the implement to be determined optically in response to optical energy beams propagating parallel to the planar surface, the implement having an axis substantially perpendicular to the plane while the implement is moved over the plane, the implement comprising a planar face movable over the plane, an arcuate reflecting surface that moves with the planar face and is coaxial with and extends in the direction of the axis so that the propagating optical energy beams are incident thereon, and a structure forming a lens surrounding the arcuate reflecting surface forming a lens for focusing the optical energy beams propagating parallel to the planar surface on the reflecting surface.
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70. Apparatus for determining the position of an object on a region of a planar surface, the region having an axis displaced from the periphery of the region, comprising:
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means for deriving first and second scanned optical beams directed toward the axis from opposite sides thereof, the scanned beams being derived from first and second sites displaced from each other by a known distance along a base line, the scanned optical beams being incident on and reflected from the object so that the first and second beams are respectively reflected from the object along first and second paths that are coincident with paths from the sites toward the object, optical detecting means responsive only to approximately the peak amplitude optical energy reflected from the object and propagating along the first and second paths for deriving indications of first and second angles between the baseline and the first and second paths extending between the first and second sites and the object, and means responsive to the known distance and the derived indications of the first and second angles for deriving a two-coordinate direction indication of the object position.
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71. An optical coordinate input apparatus comprising
means forming a first planar surface on which the position of an object is to be optically detected; -
the object including;
a base having a second planar surface that is movable over the first planar surface, mirrored surfaces substantially at right angles to the second planar surfaces and substantially equidistant from a central axis extending at right angles to the second planar surface;an optical source for directing optical energy at the mirrored surfaces; and means responsive to optical energy of the source incident on and reflected from the mirrored surfaces for indicating the location of the object on the first planar surface. - View Dependent Claims (72, 73, 74, 75)
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Specification