US3719922A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Digital camera
Assignee: Individual
•
Filing: 1971-06-24
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Granted: 1973-03-06
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Expires: 1991-06-24
Abstract
Abstract A digital camera capable of forming a picture of pattern of objects either radiating or reflecting energy, which includes an oscillator which can generate a ping-type or continuous-wave signal, which may be amplified and if the target is not selfradiant, transmitted to a stationary illuminator, which ''''illuminates'''' the target. The target reflects or radiates energy to a rectangular array or matrix of transducer elements, each of which corresponds to an element of the object observed, and each of which is connected to an analog-to-digital converter and then to a digital computer, or to logical circuitry arranged to form a digital computation. The computer determines the phase and amplitude from each element at a frequency of interest, stores the values in an ordered array corresponding to the transducer array, and performs the mathematical operation known as a two-dimensional finite Fourier transform on the values to produce a new array of values in complex notation. A similar array of absolute values derived from the complex values, when fed into a printer, forms a pictorial representation of the target which corresponds to the intensities of the signal sources of the various parts of the target.
Inventors
- 👤 L Lopes
- 👤 O Thomas
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 09:29
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01S; G01S7/00; G01S7/02; G01S7/04; G01S15/00; G01S15/88; G01S15/89; G01S15/8906; G01S15/8977; G01S7/52; G01S7/523; G01S7/526; G01S7/527
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim
247 words
An apparatus for forming an image from incident energy in the sonar to microwave range, comprising: an array of acoustic receiving transducers, such as hydrophones, consisting of at least one row of transducers, for receiving the incident energy, the directivities of all of the transducers being parallel; an amplifier, whose input is connected to the outputs of said receiving transducers, for amplifying the received signals; an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter, whose input is connected to the output of the amplifier, for sampling the input signals and converting them into a series of digital pulses, to form words of binary information; a transform calculator, whose input is connected to the output of the A/D converter, comprising: a vector calculator connected to the A/D converter, which determines the complex numbers which represent the magnitude and phase of each frequency of the words of binary information received from the A/D converter; a memory, connected to the vector calculator, which stores the words of information representing the series of complex numbers; an inverse transform circuit connected to the memory, which performs an inverse transform on the words of information, to result in a second series of complex numbers; a peaking circuit, connected to the inverse transform circuit, which determines the absolute value of each complex number, the assembly of absolute values forming the representation of the image of the object; and a recording apparatus, such as a printer, connected to the peaking circuit, which displays the relative magnitude of the complex numbers.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
247 words
An apparatus for forming an image from incident energy in the sonar to microwave range, comprising: an array of acoustic receiving transducers, such as hydrophones, consisting of at least one row of transducers, for receiving the incident energy, the directivities of all of the transducers being parallel; an amplifier, whose input is connected to the outputs of said receiving transducers, for amplifying the received signals; an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter, whose input is connected to the output of the amplifier, for sampling the input signals and converting them into a series of digital pulses, to form words of binary information; a transform calculator, whose input is connected to the output of the A/D converter, comprising: a vector calculator connected to the A/D converter, which determines the complex numbers which represent the magnitude and phase of each frequency of the words of binary information received from the A/D converter; a memory, connected to the vector calculator, which stores the words of information representing the series of complex numbers; an inverse transform circuit connected to the memory, which performs an inverse transform on the words of information, to result in a second series of complex numbers; a peaking circuit, connected to the inverse transform circuit, which determines the absolute value of each complex number, the assembly of absolute values forming the representation of the image of the object; and a recording apparatus, such as a printer, connected to the peaking circuit, which displays the relative magnitude of the complex numbers.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
247 words
An apparatus for forming an image from incident energy in the sonar to microwave range, comprising: an array of acoustic receiving transducers, such as hydrophones, consisting of at least one row of transducers, for receiving the incident energy, the directivities of all of the transducers being parallel; an amplifier, whose input is connected to the outputs of said receiving transducers, for amplifying the received signals; an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter, whose input is connected to the output of the amplifier, for sampling the input signals and converting them into a series of digital pulses, to form words of binary information; a transform calculator, whose input is connected to the output of the A/D converter, comprising: a vector calculator connected to the A/D converter, which determines the complex numbers which represent the magnitude and phase of each frequency of the words of binary information received from the A/D converter; a memory, connected to the vector calculator, which stores the words of information representing the series of complex numbers; an inverse transform circuit connected to the memory, which performs an inverse transform on the words of information, to result in a second series of complex numbers; a peaking circuit, connected to the inverse transform circuit, which determines the absolute value of each complex number, the assembly of absolute values forming the representation of the image of the object; and a recording apparatus, such as a printer, connected to the peaking circuit, which displays the relative magnitude of the complex numbers.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
247 words
An apparatus for forming an image from incident energy in the sonar to microwave range, comprising: an array of acoustic receiving transducers, such as hydrophones, consisting of at least one row of transducers, for receiving the incident energy, the directivities of all of the transducers being parallel; an amplifier, whose input is connected to the outputs of said receiving transducers, for amplifying the received signals; an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter, whose input is connected to the output of the amplifier, for sampling the input signals and converting them into a series of digital pulses, to form words of binary information; a transform calculator, whose input is connected to the output of the A/D converter, comprising: a vector calculator connected to the A/D converter, which determines the complex numbers which represent the magnitude and phase of each frequency of the words of binary information received from the A/D converter; a memory, connected to the vector calculator, which stores the words of information representing the series of complex numbers; an inverse transform circuit connected to the memory, which performs an inverse transform on the words of information, to result in a second series of complex numbers; a peaking circuit, connected to the inverse transform circuit, which determines the absolute value of each complex number, the assembly of absolute values forming the representation of the image of the object; and a recording apparatus, such as a printer, connected to the peaking circuit, which displays the relative magnitude of the complex numbers.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the array of receiving transducers comprises a plurality of rows of transducers, the array thereby being rectangular.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
27 words
An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the transform calculator is a Fourier transform calculator; and the inverse transform circuit is a discrete finite Fourier transform circuit.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
19 words
An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the discrete finite Fourier transform circuit is a fast Fourier transform circuit.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
48 words
An apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising an oscillator, capable of operating at some frequency in the sonar to microwave range; and a projector, connected to the oscillator, for projecting energy against a target, thereby causing the reflected energy to be incident upon the array of hydrophones.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
33 words
An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the oscillator is capable of operating over a band of frequencies, with the result that an increase in the operating frequency results in an amplified image.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
36 words
An apparatus according to claim 6, comprising: only one amplifier; and further comprising: a multiplexing arrangement, connected to each of the receiving transducers and the amplifier, for successively connecting the amplifier to each of the hydrophones.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
22 words
An apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising: a number of amplifiers connected to and equal to the number of receiving transducers.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
29 words
An apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: a power amplifier whose input is connected to the output of the oscillator, for amplifying the output frequency of the oscillator.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
207 words
An apparatus for forming an image from incident energy received from a target, in the sonar to microwave range, comprising: an array of acoustic receiving transducers, such as hydrophones, consisting of at least one row of transducers, for receiving the incident energy, the directivities of all of the transducers being parallel; an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter, whose input is connected to the receiving transducers, fOr sampling the input signals and converting them into a series of digital pulses, to form words of binary information; means whose input is connected to the output of the A/D converter for determining the complex numbers which represent the magnitude and phase, at a frequency of interest, of the words of binary information received from the A/D converter; means connected to the determining means for storing the words of information representing the series of complex numbers; and means connected to the storing means for inversely transforming the words of information, to result in a second series of complex numbers; and means connected to the inverse transforming means for determining, from the inversely transformed words, a set of absolute values, one value for each complex number, the set of values corresponding to the intensities of the signal sources of various parts of the target.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
207 words
An apparatus for forming an image from incident energy received from a target, in the sonar to microwave range, comprising: an array of acoustic receiving transducers, such as hydrophones, consisting of at least one row of transducers, for receiving the incident energy, the directivities of all of the transducers being parallel; an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter, whose input is connected to the receiving transducers, fOr sampling the input signals and converting them into a series of digital pulses, to form words of binary information; means whose input is connected to the output of the A/D converter for determining the complex numbers which represent the magnitude and phase, at a frequency of interest, of the words of binary information received from the A/D converter; means connected to the determining means for storing the words of information representing the series of complex numbers; and means connected to the storing means for inversely transforming the words of information, to result in a second series of complex numbers; and means connected to the inverse transforming means for determining, from the inversely transformed words, a set of absolute values, one value for each complex number, the set of values corresponding to the intensities of the signal sources of various parts of the target.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
50 words
The apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising: a recording apparatus, such as a printer, connected to the output of the second-named determining means, which displays the relative intensities of the signal sources of various parts of the target, the totality of intensities forming a pictorial representation of the target.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
24 words
An apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the array of receiving transducers comprises a plurality of rows of transducers, the array thereby being rectangular.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
28 words
An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the first-named determining means is a Fourier transform calculator; and the inverse transforming means is a discrete finite Fourier transform circuit.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US3484740A
Cited
US3631384A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-03-05 | 1976-09-04 | 1977-03-06 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-03-05 | 1980-09-04 | 1981-03-06 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-03-05 | 1984-09-04 | 1985-03-06 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |