Method of determining an object's position and associated apparatus
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of optically determining an object'"'"'s position, the method comprising the steps of:
- producing a light grid including at least two beacons;
disposing the object within the light grid;
reflecting each of the at least two beacons off of the object to thereby produce corresponding at least two reflected beacons; and
receiving each of the at least two reflected beacons into a respective one of at least two light sensors.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of determining an object'"'"'s position and associated apparatus provides positional information in a form that may be conveniently communicated to a computer system to calculate the object'"'"'s position. In a disclosed embodiment, representatively incorporated in a computer keyboard, a method of determining an object'"'"'s position includes forming an optical grid of overlapping beacons and detecting reflections of the beacons produced by the object when it intersects the grid. The disclosed embodiment utilizes two focused beacons to produce the optical grid.
133 Citations
34 Claims
-
1. A method of optically determining an object'"'"'s position, the method comprising the steps of:
-
producing a light grid including at least two beacons; disposing the object within the light grid; reflecting each of the at least two beacons off of the object to thereby produce corresponding at least two reflected beacons; and receiving each of the at least two reflected beacons into a respective one of at least two light sensors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A method of determining an object'"'"'s position, the method comprising the steps of:
-
providing first and second modules, the first module being capable of producing a first beacon and sensing the first beacon when it is reflected off of the object, and the second module being capable of producing a second beacon and sensing the second beacon when it is reflected off of the object; positioning the first and second modules relative to a surface, so that a light grid is produced overlying the surface; reflecting the first and second beacons off of the object; and sensing the reflected first and second beacons. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. Apparatus for optically determining an object'"'"'s position relative to a surface, the apparatus comprising:
-
first and second beacon generators positioned relative to the surface; and first and second light sensors, each of the first and second light sensors being disposed relative to a respective one of the first and second beacon generators, so that a first beacon produced by the first beacon generator and reflected off of the object is receivable by the first light sensor, and a second beacon produced by the second beacon generator and reflected off of the object is receivable by the second light sensor, the apparatus being free of reflective material for reflecting any portions of the first and second beacons that are not reflected off of the object to the first and second light sensors. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
-
-
30. A computer system for optically determining an object'"'"'s position, the computer system comprising:
-
a monitor; a central processing unit interconnected to the monitor; a surface relative to which the object'"'"'s position is to be determined; first and second beacon generators positioned relative to the surface; and first and second light sensors interconnected to the central processing unit, each of the first and second light sensors being disposed relative to a respective one of the first and second beacon generators, so that a first beacon produced by the first beacon generator and reflected off of the object is receivable by the first light sensor, and a second beacon produced by the second beacon generator and reflected off of the object is receivable by the second light sensor, the computer system being free of reflective material for reflecting any portions of the first and second beacons that are not reflected off of the object to the first and second light sensors. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34)
-
Specification