Rastering laser scanner with beam location feedback

A laser scanning apparatus comprising:

• a window;
• means for scanning laser light through said window and onto a target area;
• and
• means for determining an instantaneous position of said laser light as said laser light passes through said window, wherein said determining means comprises an array of photodiodes oriented to permit a portion of said laser light that reflects off of said window to impinge thereon.

A laser scanning apparatus comprising:

• a window;
• means for scanning laser light through said window and onto a target area;
• and
• means for determining an instantaneous position of said laser light as said laser light passes through said window, wherein said determining means comprises at least one array of photodiodes disposed along at least one boundary of said window.

A laser scanning apparatus comprising:

• a window;
• means for scanning laser light through said window and onto a target area;
• and
• means for determining an instantaneous position of said laser light as said laser light passes through said window, wherein said determining means comprises a plurality of spaced apart photosensitive electrical conductors disposed in parallel to a plane of said window.

An apparatus comprising:

• a window;
• a movable mirror disposed so as to reflect laser light through said window and onto a target area;
• a motor movably connected to said movable mirror so as to move said movable mirror to cause said laser light to sweep through a two-dimensional pattern;
• and
• means for determining a position of said laser light along said window at a point which said laser light passes through said window.

An apparatus for forming a two-dimensional image, comprising:

• a laser light emitter adapted to emit a beam of laser light and means for sweeping said laser light beam through a two-dimensional pattern;
• a detector oriented to detect an instantaneous position of said laser light beam as said laser light beam sweeps through said pattern to provide position data;
• an imaging sensor oriented to receive said laser light beam after having reflected off of a target surface area to provide image data;
• and
• means for correlating said position data with said image data to reconstruct a two-dimensional image of said target surface area.

A method for forming a two-dimensional image, comprising the steps of:

• emitting a beam of laser light and sweeping said laser light beam through a two-dimensional pattern;
• detecting an instantaneous position of said laser light beam as said laser light beam sweeps through said pattern to provide position data;
• receiving said laser light beam after having reflected off of a target surface area to provide image data;
• and
• correlating said position data with said image data to reconstruct a two-dimensional image of said target surface area.