Method and apparatus for improving the performance of an aperture monitoring system
First Claim
1. A method of improving the performance of a monitoring system associated with an aperture, said monitoring system comprising an emitter for emitting radiation adjacent said aperture and a receiver for receiving reflected radiation, said method comprising the steps of:
- applying a material to a surface adjacent said aperture for altering the intensity of said emitted radiation as reflected from said surface, said material covering at least a portion of said surface;
emitting said radiation adjacent said aperture by said emitter;
receiving, by said receiver, at least a portion of said reflected radiation from said material; and
comparing, by said monitoring system, said received radiation to a threshold value.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A monitoring system for use in detecting the presence of an obstacle in or proximate to an aperture. Materials are applied to one or more reflecting surfaces adjacent the aperture, enabling the improvement of the signal-to-noise ratio in the system without requiring tuning the system for the particular environment. The choice of specific material depends upon the type of radiation used for aperture monitoring and whether an obstacle is detected as an increase or decrease in reflected radiation. A calibration LED within the monitoring system enables predictable performance over a range of temperatures. The monitoring system is also provided with the capacity to adjust to variations in the background-reflected radiation, either automatically by monitoring trends in system performance or by external command. The latter case includes the use of a further element for communicating to the monitoring system directly or indirectly.
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Citations
73 Claims
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1. A method of improving the performance of a monitoring system associated with an aperture, said monitoring system comprising an emitter for emitting radiation adjacent said aperture and a receiver for receiving reflected radiation, said method comprising the steps of:
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applying a material to a surface adjacent said aperture for altering the intensity of said emitted radiation as reflected from said surface, said material covering at least a portion of said surface; emitting said radiation adjacent said aperture by said emitter; receiving, by said receiver, at least a portion of said reflected radiation from said material; and comparing, by said monitoring system, said received radiation to a threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A system for monitoring a space within or proximate to an aperture, said system comprising:
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an emitter for emitting radiation adjacent said aperture; a surface adjacent said aperture for reflecting a portion of said emitted radiation; a material applied to said surface for altering an intensity of said reflected radiation; a receiver adapted to receive at least a portion of said reflected radiation; and a processing element for determining if an intensity of said reflected radiation received by said receiver equals or exceeds a threshold level, wherein said material improves a signal-to-noise ratio of said receiver as compared to a monitoring system not comprising said material. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A system for monitoring a space within or proximate to an aperture, said system comprising:
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an emitter for emitting radiation adjacent said aperture; a receiver adapted to receive said radiation as reflected from said space and to generate an output signal based upon said received radiation; a reference source for providing a reference signal to said receiver; and a processing element for comparing said output signal to a threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method of monitoring a space adjacent to or within an aperture comprising the steps of:
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generating first reference radiation by applying a first reference drive signal to a reference emitter; receiving said reference radiation by a receiver; generating a first receiver output signal based upon said received reference radiation; adjusting said first reference drive signal until a desired value for said output signal is generated by said receiver; generating measurement radiation by applying a first measurement drive signal, based upon said first reference drive signal, to a measurement emitter; receiving reflected measurement radiation by said receiver; and generating a second receiver output signal based upon said received, reflected, measurement radiation. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A system for monitoring a space adjacent to or within an aperture, comprising:
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an emitter for emitting radiation adjacent said aperture; a receiver adapted to receive said radiation as reflected from said space; a processing element for determining if an intensity of said reflected radiation received by said receiver equals or exceeds a threshold level; and a calibrating element for calibrating said system based upon said intensity of said reflected radiation. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A method of calibrating a system for monitoring a space adjacent to or within an aperture, said system comprising an emitter for emitting a radiation field adjacent said aperture, a receiver for receiving at least a reflected portion of said radiation field and for generating an output signal indicative of an intensity of said reflected radiation field, and a processing element for comparing said output signal with a threshold value, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a calibration signal to said processing element; emitting said radiation field by said emitter; receiving said reflected portion of said radiation field by said receiver and generating said output signal; and adjusting, by said processing element, characteristics of said emitter and/or said receiver in response to said output signal. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. A system for monitoring a space within or proximate to an aperture, comprising:
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an emitter for emitting radiation adjacent said aperture; a receiver for receiving said radiation as reflected from said space and for generating an output signal based upon said received radiation; and a processing element for calculating a difference between said output signal and a first threshold value and for controlling one or both of said emitter and said receiver based upon said calculated difference. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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64. A method of monitoring a spatial volume proximate an aperture, said method comprising the steps of:
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emitting radiation adjacent said aperture; receiving a portion of said radiation reflected from a surface in said aperture environment; generating an output signal based upon said received radiation; calculating a difference between said output signal and a first threshold value; and controlling one or both of said emitting and said generating steps based upon said calculated difference to effect said calculated difference. - View Dependent Claims (65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
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Specification