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US 4,292,678 AGranted
Method of and apparatus for echo location of objects
OwnerLeslie Kayinventor
Life of this patent
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OwnerLeslie Kayinventor
Estimating the term…
A method of locating an object by wave energy reflection and an apparatus therefor in which receiving outer transducers provide directional receptivities represented by polar lobes diverging on opposite sides of a reference axis and an inner receiving transducer provide a directional receptivity represented by a narrower polar lobe centered on the reference axis. The signals received from the outer transducers are operated upon in channels of the receiver to modulate them with a frequency swept local signal derived from the transmitted signal and develop indicator signals of difference frequency between the transmitted and received frequencies and which represent the range of the object. The outer signals are displayed binaurally, to enable the user to achieve firstly approximate directional sensing by binaural effect, and thereafter more accurate directional sensing by the use of signals developed in a central channel and derived from the inner transducer or outer transducers simulating an inner transducer. Gain in channels fed from the outer transducers is preferably adjusted as an inverse function of signal strength in the channel. Higher frequency components are preferably accentuated in the inner channel to improve object character recognition.
In a method of providing information as to the existence and/or position of an object otherwise than by direct vision, including the steps of radiating wave energy (herein called the transmitted signal) from a station to a field of view, receiving at the station at least part of the transmitted signal (such part being herein called the received signal) reflected from the object, carrying out a frequency modulation of the transmitted signal to produce a frequency difference between the received signal and a correspondingly frequency modulated locally generated signal in a mode such that the magnitude of the frequency difference represents the range of the object from the station, operating upon the received signal with the locally generated signal to produce a range signal of said difference frequency, and determining or sensing the angular position of the object with respect to a reference axis extending through the station and the field of view by observation of a characteristic of the received signal and which is dependent upon the angular position of the object, the improvement comprising the further steps of:
In apparatus for providing information as to the existence and/or position of an object otherwise than by direct vision comprising transmitting means for transmitting wave energy (herein called the transmitted signal) from a station to a field of view, receiving means at the station for receiving at least part of the wave energy (this part herein being called the received signal) reflected from an object in the field of view, frequency modulating means for modulating the transmitted signal and producing a frequency difference between the received signal and a correspondingly frequency modulated locally generated signal in a mode such that the magnitude of the frequency difference is representative of the range of the object from the station, means for operating on the received signal with the locally generated signal to produce a range signal of said difference frequency, and means for producing an indicator signal from the received signal representative of the angular position of the object with respect to a reference axis extending through the station into the field of view, the improvement wherein the receiving means includes:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.