Method and apparatus for detecting movement of an electro-optical transducer
First Claim
1. A motion sensor, comprising:
- a first electro-optical transducer converting between electricity and light in one direction;
a second electro-optical transducer converting between electricity and light in a direction opposite the conversion direction of said first electro-optical transducer, said second electro-optical transducer being optically coupled to said first electro-optical transducer;
a third electro-optical transducer converting between electricity and light in the same direction as said second electro-optical transducer, said third electro-optical transducer being optically coupled to said first electro-optical transducer;
means for resiliently mounting at least one of said electro-optical transducers so that at least one of said electro-optical transducers is displaced by acceleration imparted to said transducer thereby modulating the light optically coupled between said first electro-optical transducer and at least one of said second and third electro-optical transducers; and
means for comparing a characteristic of the light coupled between said first electro-optical transducer and said second electro-optical transducer with a characteristic of the light coupled between said first electro-optical transducer and said third electro-optical transducer whereby movement of said transducer is detected by variations in the characteristic of light coupled between said first electro-optical transducer and at least one of said second and third electro-optical transducers.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for photo-optically detecting transducer motion using a photodetector resiliently suspended inside the transducer housing and photo-optically coupled to a light source. During movement the inertia effect of the photodetector along with the resilient suspension system causes the changes in the photo-optical coupling between the photodetector and the light source. The inertia effect of the photodetector is enhanced by adding a mass to the photodetector. Either the magnitude or the phase of the photodetector output is monitored to detect movement. In another embodiment, a light emitter is resiliently suspended so that movement induced changes in the position of the light emitter alter the coupling of light to one or more light detectors.
13 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A motion sensor, comprising:
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a first electro-optical transducer converting between electricity and light in one direction; a second electro-optical transducer converting between electricity and light in a direction opposite the conversion direction of said first electro-optical transducer, said second electro-optical transducer being optically coupled to said first electro-optical transducer; a third electro-optical transducer converting between electricity and light in the same direction as said second electro-optical transducer, said third electro-optical transducer being optically coupled to said first electro-optical transducer; means for resiliently mounting at least one of said electro-optical transducers so that at least one of said electro-optical transducers is displaced by acceleration imparted to said transducer thereby modulating the light optically coupled between said first electro-optical transducer and at least one of said second and third electro-optical transducers; and means for comparing a characteristic of the light coupled between said first electro-optical transducer and said second electro-optical transducer with a characteristic of the light coupled between said first electro-optical transducer and said third electro-optical transducer whereby movement of said transducer is detected by variations in the characteristic of light coupled between said first electro-optical transducer and at least one of said second and third electro-optical transducers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of sensing movement of a transducer having an electro-optical transducer of a first type converting between electricity and light in one direction, and a pair of electro-optical transducer, of a second type optically coupled to said first type of electro-optical transducer, said second type of electro-optical transducers converting between electricity and light in a direction opposite the conversion direction of said first type of electro-optical transducer, said method comprising:
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resiliently mounting at least one of said electro-optical transducers in said transducer so that said resiliently mounted electro-optical transducer is displaced by acceleration imparted to said transducer thereby modulating the light optically coupled between said first type of electro-optical transducer and said second type of electro-optical transducer; and comparing a characteristic of the light coupled between said first electro-optical transducer and one of said second electro-optical transducers with a characteristic of the light coupled between said first electro-optical transducer and the other of said second electro-optical transducers so that movement of said transducer is indicated by variations in the differences between said characteristics. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification