United States Patent U9]
Sekendur
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US005477012A [ii] Patent Number: 5,477,012 [45] Date of Patent: Dec. 19, 1995
[54] OPTICAL POSITION DETERMINATION
[76] Inventor: Oral F. Sekendur, 399 W. Fullerton
Pkwy., #15W, Chicago, 111. 60614
[21] Appl. No.: 862,977
[22] Filed: Apr. 3,1992
[51] Int. CI.6 G08C 21/00
[52] U.S. CI 178/18; 345/179
[58] Field of Search 178/18, 19; 340/710,
340/709; 341/5, 23, 13; 253/456; 345/179, 180, 181, 182
[56] References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
4,572,952 2/1986 March 341/13 X
4,712,100 12/1987 Tsunekuni et al 178/18
5,051,736 9/1991 Bennett et al 345/180
5,075,558 12/1991 Nakagawa 250/556
5,086,197 2/1992 Liou 178/18
5,128,526 7/1992 Yoshida 235/456
5,128,528 7/1992 Heninger 235/456
5,214,426 5/1993 Minohara et al 341/13
Primary Examiner—Stephen Chin
Assistant Examiner—Paul Loomis
[57] ABSTRACT
This invention relates to a coordinate sensor for detecting the position of a moveable detector relative to a data space coded with coordinate information by detecting and processing the coordinate information. It may be used for obtaining both two and three dimensional position related information, such as might be used for determining the position of a pen/pencil on paper for handwriting data input. It also may be used for detecting angular, rotational, and linear motion. The coordinate sensor provides an apparatus for precisely locating the position of a movable element within a space. More particularly, it provides an input/output apparatus for use with a computer that includes a movable element, whose exact position within a space can be determined without any physical connection between the movable element and the space. It comprises a data space formatted with a code for designating the coordinates of a point in the data space, a detector for detecting the code, a processor for processing data from the detector to determine the position of the point in the data space, and a data output method for human interface to the coordinate sensor.
DataSweep 2, Specification Sheet, Soricon Corp., Jul. 6, 1992.
18 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
