US4063283A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Automatic envelope measuring system
Assignee: Chemetron Corp
•
Filing: 1975-04-03
•
Granted: 1977-12-13
•
Expires: 1995-04-03
Abstract
Abstract A system for automatically measuring a clearance envelope about a path of travel in a specific embodiment includes a laser and a rotating reflector mounted on a moving vehicle for radially scanning the region around the path of travel in a direction generally perpendicular to the path of travel. A television camera is mounted on the vehicle and is responsive to light from the laser that has been reflected by objects located within the viewing field of the camera. The television camera is radially scanned and provides analog video signals representative of the radial distances between the reflector and the scanned objects. An analog video tape recorder is utilized to record on video tape the distance representative video signals together with binary codes or identification numbers identifying the camera radial scanning information. The video tape may be played at a central or home office where the distance representative analog video signals may be converted to digital computer compatible binary form for suitable processing and storing by the computer.
Inventors
- 👤 Aern E. Rider
- 👤 Donald R. Neal
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-25 20:03
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01C; G01C7/00; G01C7/06
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 27
Claim 1
Independent Claim
100 words
Apparatus for determining a clearance envelope along an elongated roadbed, comprising; means for emitting illumination in a radial direction about an axis parallel to said roadbed; means including a television camera aimed in a direction parallel to said axis responsive to illumination from said emitting means reflected by an object disposed along the length of and spaced from said roadbed; means for scanning said television camera with a plurality of radial scans for providing an electrical analog indication of the radial distance between said roadbed and said objects; and means for recording on a record medium said electrical analog indication.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
100 words
Apparatus for determining a clearance envelope along an elongated roadbed, comprising; means for emitting illumination in a radial direction about an axis parallel to said roadbed; means including a television camera aimed in a direction parallel to said axis responsive to illumination from said emitting means reflected by an object disposed along the length of and spaced from said roadbed; means for scanning said television camera with a plurality of radial scans for providing an electrical analog indication of the radial distance between said roadbed and said objects; and means for recording on a record medium said electrical analog indication.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
27 words
Apparatus as recited in claim 1 further including means for generating a plurality of binary signals, each of said binary signals identifying one of said radial scans.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
20 words
Apparatus as recited in claim 2 wherein said electrical analog indication comprises a video signal representative of said radial distance.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
35 words
Apparatus as recited in claim 3 wherein said recording means includes a video tape recorder responsive to said video signal and said radial scan identifying binary signals for recording said signals on said record medium.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
20 words
Apparatus as recited in claim 4 further including keyboard entry means for recording manually entered data on said record medium.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
25 words
Apparatus as recited in claim 3 further including means for playing back said record medium and for providing a digital representation of said video signal.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
37 words
Apparatus as recited in claim 6 further including means responsive to a plurality of said video signal digital representations for generating a visual display of the clearance envelope about a predetermined point on the path of travel.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
26 words
Apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein said visual display generating means includes means for generating the clearance envelope along a predetermined portion of said axis.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
44 words
Apparatus as recited in claim 8 further including means for entering data representative of a cargo envelope into said visual display generating means for rendering said visual display generating means operative to provide a composite display of said cargo envelope and said clearance envelope.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
27 words
Apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein said record medium playing means and said visual display generating means are remotely located from said video signal recording means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
23 words
Apparatus as recited in claim 6 further including means for recording on a second record medium said digital representations of said video signal.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
15 words
Apparatus as recited in claim 5 further including means for retrieving said manually entered data.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
140 words
A system for determining the clearance envelope associated with a path of travel and objects disposed along the length of and spaced from said path of travel comprising means for directing a beam of coherent light for rotation about an axis of rotation parallel to the direction of and radially about said path of travel, a television camera directed in a direction parallel to said axis of rotation, said television camera being responsive to light reflected by objects disposed along said path of travel for providing an analog video signal indicative of the distance between the camera and said objects, means for scanning the field of said television camera, said scanning means including means for generating a digital representation for identifying each scanning line, and means for recording said video signal for subsequent processing by a remotely located processing system.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
140 words
A system for determining the clearance envelope associated with a path of travel and objects disposed along the length of and spaced from said path of travel comprising means for directing a beam of coherent light for rotation about an axis of rotation parallel to the direction of and radially about said path of travel, a television camera directed in a direction parallel to said axis of rotation, said television camera being responsive to light reflected by objects disposed along said path of travel for providing an analog video signal indicative of the distance between the camera and said objects, means for scanning the field of said television camera, said scanning means including means for generating a digital representation for identifying each scanning line, and means for recording said video signal for subsequent processing by a remotely located processing system.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
22 words
A system as recited in claim 13 wherein said scanning means includes means for radially scanning the field of said television camera.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
26 words
A system as recited in claim 14 wherein said recording means includes a video tape recorder coupled to said television camera for recording said video signal.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
36 words
A system as recited in claim 15 wherein said digital representation generating means is coupled to said recording means for recording said digital representations thereby to identify the video signal corresponding to each radial scanning line.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
41 words
A system as recited in claim 16 wherein said radial scanning means includes means responsive to said digital representations for generating signals representative of the horizontal and vertical coordinates of the radial scanning line identified by each of said digital representations.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
43 words
A system as recited in claim 17 wherein said horizontal and vertical coordinates representative signal generating means includes means for generating digital representations of the sine and cosine of the angle of the radial scanning line identified by each of said digital representations.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
18 words
A system as recited in claim 18 wherein said sine and cosine generating means includes a read-only memory.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
38 words
A system as recited in claim 18 further including means responsive to said sine and cosine digital representations for generating analog signals having amplitudes proportional to the values of each of said sine and cosine representative digital representations.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
44 words
A system as recited in claim 20 further including means connected to said analog signal generating means for integrating said analog sine and cosine representative digital representations thereby to provide horizontal and vertical scanning signals for radially scanning the field of said television caamera.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
29 words
A system as recited in claim 13 wherein said beam directing means includes a rotating reflector rotating about said axis of rotation and a laser directed toward said reflector.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
222 words
A method for determining the cross sectional envelope defined by one or more obstacles radially disposed about a longitudinal axis parallel to an elongated path of travel comprising; scanning said obstacles with a rotary beam of light emitted radially about and relatively movable along said longitudinal axis to illuminate portions of said obstacles and to cause the area so illuminated to progress helically along said obstacles; detecting the illuminated portions of said obstacles, including the steps of aiming a television camera in a direction substantially parallel to said longitudinal axis and forming an image thereof on said television camera, said image having a shape similar to the cross section of the area between said longitudinal axis and the illuminated portions of said obstacles; providing an electrical analog signal corresponding to said image, said electrical analog signal being a video signal provided by said camera, and representative of the radial distance between said illuminated portions of said obstacles and said longitudinal axis; recording substantially all of said electrical analog signal on a record medium; and wherein the step of detecting the illuminated portions of said obstacles further includes the steps of scanning said television camera with a plurality of radial scanning lines and detecting changes in the amplitude of said video signal representative of the locations of the illuminated portions of said obstacles.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
222 words
A method for determining the cross sectional envelope defined by one or more obstacles radially disposed about a longitudinal axis parallel to an elongated path of travel comprising; scanning said obstacles with a rotary beam of light emitted radially about and relatively movable along said longitudinal axis to illuminate portions of said obstacles and to cause the area so illuminated to progress helically along said obstacles; detecting the illuminated portions of said obstacles, including the steps of aiming a television camera in a direction substantially parallel to said longitudinal axis and forming an image thereof on said television camera, said image having a shape similar to the cross section of the area between said longitudinal axis and the illuminated portions of said obstacles; providing an electrical analog signal corresponding to said image, said electrical analog signal being a video signal provided by said camera, and representative of the radial distance between said illuminated portions of said obstacles and said longitudinal axis; recording substantially all of said electrical analog signal on a record medium; and wherein the step of detecting the illuminated portions of said obstacles further includes the steps of scanning said television camera with a plurality of radial scanning lines and detecting changes in the amplitude of said video signal representative of the locations of the illuminated portions of said obstacles.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method recited in claim 23 further including the steps of providing a digital identifying signal associated with each radial scanning line.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US3168023A
Cited
US3532037A
Cited
US3610754A
Cited
US3705772A
Cited
US3796492A
Cited
US3950096A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1980-12-12 | 1981-06-13 | 1981-12-13 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1984-12-12 | 1985-06-13 | 1985-12-13 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1988-12-12 | 1989-06-13 | 1989-12-13 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |