Improved laser radar transceiver

Claim 1

A laser radar transceiver comprising: a sensor apparatus having a frame movable coupled to a housing; a laser actuating device being located remote from said sensor apparatus; a laser beam emitting device being disposed on said frame for movement therewith and being operatively coupled to said laser actuating device, said laser beam emitting device being adapted to emit a laser beam along a first optical path in response to receiving energy from said laser actuating device; an optical system being disposed on said frame for movement therewith and being adapted to transmit said laser beam and to receive reflections of said transmitted laser beam, said optical system comprising: a beam expander in the first optical path for expanding and collimating said laser beam; a beam segmenter comprising a plurality of beam segmenter wedges for segmenting said laser beam into a plurality of laser beams, the beam segmenter having an output axis; a device located along the output axis of the beam segmenter to direct the plurality of laser beams along a second optical path; an apertured reflector device located along the second optical path and having an aperture positioned to permit the plurality of laser beams to pass therethrough; a scanning device located along the second optical path, said scanning device being adapted to scan the plurality of laser beams in a pattern, to receive reflected laser light from a target, and to direct the reflected laser light onto the apertured reflector device along a third optical path; and a signal processing circuit being located remote from said sensor apparatus and being operatively coupled to said optical system, said signal processing circuit being adapted to process said reflected laser light.