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US 6,826,843 B2Granted
Electronic compass apparatus and method
AssigneeRadioShack Corporation
InventorsVincent M. T. Lam, Alan M. L. Lam, Raymond C. C. Ho
Life of this patent
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AssigneeRadioShack Corporation
InventorsVincent M. T. Lam, Alan M. L. Lam, Raymond C. C. Ho
Estimating the term…
An apparatus and method for determining the orientation of Earth's magnetic poles. A magnet is pivotally coupled to a support and is free to orient itself with Earth's magnetic pole. A detector is fixed relative to the support and outputs a signal indicative of the magnet orientation. A display displays an indication of the relative orientation of Earth's magnetic pole consistent with the output signal. Plural detectors can be employed to increase resolution of the apparatus. The detectors can be optical detectors. A shutter is fixed to the magnet and the detectors sense the shutter position. The shutter has a patterned formed thereon with transmissive portions and opaque portions. Shutter blinds are added to limit the dispersion of light.
An apparatus for determining the orientation of Earth's magnetic pole, comprising:
An electronic compass, comprising:
A method for determining the orientation Earth's magnetic pole with a device having a housing, a needle magnet that is pivotally coupled thereto, a shutter pattern fixed to pivot with the magnet, wherein the needle magnet is positioned coplanar with and constitutes a portion of the shutter pattern, plural binary detectors fixed relative to the housing, wherein the shutter pattern is formed and the plural binary detectors are positioned such that any incremental change in the orientation of the magnet will result in the change of state of no more than one of the plural binary detectors, and a display, comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.