Contour map generator

Claim 1

APPARATUS FOR GENERATING A CONTOUR MAP IN A MAPPING VEHICLE MOVING OVER AN AREA TO BE MAPPED, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING MEANS TO TRANSMIT PULSES OF ENERGY IN A BEAM WHICH IS NARROW IN AN X DIRECTION WHICH IS APPROXIMATELY THE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL OF THE VEHICLE, AND WHICH IS WIDE IN A Y DIRECTION TRANSVERSE TO THE X DIRECTION, MEANS TO RECEIVE ENERGY REFLECTED FROM THE INTERSECTIONS OF THE NARROW AREA ILLUMINATED BY SAID BEAM WITH A PLURALITY OF COLLATERAL ADJACENT RECEIVING BEAMS WHICH ARE WIDE IN THE X DIRECTION AND NARROW IN THE Y DIRECTION, A COMPUTER RESPONSIVE TO THE RECEIVED ENERGY FOR COMPUTING Y AND Z COORDINATES DEFINING A VERTICAL PROFILE OF THE AREA BEING MAPPED, THE Z COORDINATES BEING DEPTH COORDINATES FROM THE HORIZONTAL PLANE OF THE VEHICLE, A RECORDING DEVICE HAVING MEANS TO MOVE A RECORDING CHART IN PROPORTION TO THE TRAVEL OF THE MAPPING VEHICLE, AND HAVING MEANS TO MOVE A RECORDING STYLUS REPEATEDLY ACROSS THE CHART, THE STYLUS OF SAID RECORDER BEING RESPONSIVE TO AN OUTPUT OF SAID COMPUTER FOR PRINTING A DOT AT ANY Y COORDINATE THE Z COORDINATE OF WHICH CORRESPONDS TO A PREDETERMINED CONTOUR LINE FOR THE MAP, THE SCANNING TRAVEL AND DOT PRINTING OPERATION OF THE STYLUS BEING RELATED TO THE TRAVEL OF THE VEHICLE BY MOVEMENT OF THE CHART.