USH341H
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Dual mode scanner/tracker
Assignee: United States Department of the Army
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Filing: 1984-11-09
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Granted: 1987-10-06
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Expires: 2004-11-09
Abstract
Abstract The beam of a laser radar is moved over the field of view by means of a p of scanner/trackers arranged in cascade along the laser beam. One of the scanner/trackers operates at high speed, with high resolution and a narrow field and is located in the demagnified portion of the laser beam. The other scanner/tracker operates at low speed with low resolution and a wide field and is located in the magnified portion of the laser beam. The two scanner/trackers complement each other to achieve high speed, high resolution scanning as well as tracking of moving targets. A beam steering telescope for an airborne laser radar which incorporates the novel dual mode scanner/tracker is also shown.
Inventors
- 👤 Robert J. Mongeon
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 13:25
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01S; G01S7/00; G01S7/48; G01S7/481; G01S7/4811; G01S7/4812; G01S17/00; G01S17/02; G01S17/06; G01S7/4817
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim
110 words
A dual mode scanner/tracker system for an optical radar, said radar comprising a laser beam having magnified and demagnified portions, a first programmable scanner/tracker located in said demagnified portion of said laser beam, said first scanner/tracker being high speed, high resolution and having a narrow field, a second programmable scanner/tracker located in the magnified portion of said laser beam, said second scanner/tracker being low speed, low resolution and having a wide scan angle, said two scanner/trackers being each driven by programmable drives which complement each other to produce efficient scanning of said laser beam and efficient tracking of randomly moving targets in the field of view of said optical radar.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
110 words
A dual mode scanner/tracker system for an optical radar, said radar comprising a laser beam having magnified and demagnified portions, a first programmable scanner/tracker located in said demagnified portion of said laser beam, said first scanner/tracker being high speed, high resolution and having a narrow field, a second programmable scanner/tracker located in the magnified portion of said laser beam, said second scanner/tracker being low speed, low resolution and having a wide scan angle, said two scanner/trackers being each driven by programmable drives which complement each other to produce efficient scanning of said laser beam and efficient tracking of randomly moving targets in the field of view of said optical radar.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
26 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said first and second scanner/trackers are separated by a beam expanding telescope, said beam expanding telescope comprising an entrance pupil.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
89 words
The system of claim 2 wherein said first scanner/tracker comprises a pair of orthogonally mounted, electrically driven reciprocating mirrors which produce linear sawtooth scanning with a bandwidth from zero to 1.0 kHz, relay optics located at the output of said first scanner/tracker arranged to constrain the output of said first scanner/tracker to the said entrance pupil of said beam expanding telescope, said second scanner/tracker comprising a pair of in-line, transparent, rotating wedges or prisms, said wedges having separate programmable drives and separate readouts for indicating the instantaneous wedge positions.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
124 words
A beam steering telescope forming part of an airborne optical radar, comprising; an aircraft, a rotating turret mounted on the underside of said aircraft, said beam steering telescope comprising a first high speed, high resolution and narrow field programmable scanner/tracker located in the demagnified portion of the laser beam of said optical radar, the output of said first scanner/tracker being applied to a beam expanding telescope the output of which is a magnified laser beam, a fixed 45° mirror arranged to direct the said output of said beam expanding telescope along the axis of rotation of said turret to another fixed 45° mirror which directs said expanded beam through a second programmable scanner/tracker which has a wide field, low resolution, and low scanning speed.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
124 words
A beam steering telescope forming part of an airborne optical radar, comprising; an aircraft, a rotating turret mounted on the underside of said aircraft, said beam steering telescope comprising a first high speed, high resolution and narrow field programmable scanner/tracker located in the demagnified portion of the laser beam of said optical radar, the output of said first scanner/tracker being applied to a beam expanding telescope the output of which is a magnified laser beam, a fixed 45° mirror arranged to direct the said output of said beam expanding telescope along the axis of rotation of said turret to another fixed 45° mirror which directs said expanded beam through a second programmable scanner/tracker which has a wide field, low resolution, and low scanning speed.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
18 words
The beam steering telescope of claim 4 wherein said first scanner/tracker is integrated with said beam expanding telescope.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
40 words
The beam steering telescope of claim 4 wherein said first scanner/tracker comprises a pair of orthogonally mounted electrically driven reciprocating mirrors and said second scanner/tracker comprises a pair of transparent rotating wedges through which the said magnified laser beam passes.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
83 words
A dual mode scanner/tracker system for an optical radar, said radar comprising a laser beam having magnified and demagnified portions, a first programmable scanner/tracker located in said demagnified portion of said laser beam, said first scanner/tracker being high speed, high resolution and having a narrow field; a second programmable scanner/tracker located in the said magnified portion of said laser beam, said second scanner/tracker being lower speed, lower resolution and having a wider scan angle, relative to the same characteristics of said first scanner/tracker.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
83 words
A dual mode scanner/tracker system for an optical radar, said radar comprising a laser beam having magnified and demagnified portions, a first programmable scanner/tracker located in said demagnified portion of said laser beam, said first scanner/tracker being high speed, high resolution and having a narrow field; a second programmable scanner/tracker located in the said magnified portion of said laser beam, said second scanner/tracker being lower speed, lower resolution and having a wider scan angle, relative to the same characteristics of said first scanner/tracker.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1990-10-05 | 1991-04-06 | 1991-10-06 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1994-10-05 | 1995-04-06 | 1995-10-06 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1998-10-05 | 1999-04-06 | 1999-10-06 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |