Vehicle parking apparatus
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A distance indicating apparatus for determining the distance between a fixed object and a moving object, comprising:
- first and second spaced-apart projectors mounted on a selected one of the fixed object and the moving object for projecting first and second images onto a projection target surface of the selected one of the fixed object and the moving object, said first projector projecting said first image along a first path and said second projector projecting said second image along a second path, said first and second images creating a visual distance indication when the fixed object and the moving object are within a preselected distance from each other by projecting both the first and second images upon the projection target area in which both are visible,wherein one of the first and second images provides a distance indicating scale and the other of the first and second images provides an index for the distance indicating scale that moves relative to the distance indicating scale on the projection target area as the distance between the fixed object and the moving object varies and is less than the preselected distance.
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Abstract
A distance indicating apparatus and method determine the distance between a fixed object and a moving object (such as a motor vehicle, airplane or water vessel) by using two spaced-apart projectors to project a distance indicating scale (which can include non-linear markings) and an index along two different paths onto a projection target surface where they are visible to create a visual distance indication that varies as the fixed and moving objects vary in distance less than a certain distance.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A distance indicating apparatus for determining the distance between a fixed object and a moving object, comprising:
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first and second spaced-apart projectors mounted on a selected one of the fixed object and the moving object for projecting first and second images onto a projection target surface of the selected one of the fixed object and the moving object, said first projector projecting said first image along a first path and said second projector projecting said second image along a second path, said first and second images creating a visual distance indication when the fixed object and the moving object are within a preselected distance from each other by projecting both the first and second images upon the projection target area in which both are visible, wherein one of the first and second images provides a distance indicating scale and the other of the first and second images provides an index for the distance indicating scale that moves relative to the distance indicating scale on the projection target area as the distance between the fixed object and the moving object varies and is less than the preselected distance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for indicating a variable distance between a fixed object and a moving object when the fixed and moving objects are within a preselected distance of each other, comprising:
projecting a distance indicating scale and a distance identifier onto a projection target surface of a selected one of the fixed object and the moving object when said fixed object and said moving object are within the preselected distance of each other, wherein the distance indicating scale is projected along a first path and the distance identifier is projected along a second path, the distance indicating scale and the distance identifier creating a variable visual distance indication on the projection target surface when distance between the fixed object and the moving object changes varies and is less than the preselected distance. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
Specification