Patents by Inventor Robert J. Thoreson

Robert J. Thoreson has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 4730930
    Abstract: A scanner and scanning method for scanning a sheet such as a chart. The scanner includes scanning means and detection means. The scanning means includes means for supporting and mounting the sheet, and illumination means for directing light onto an illuminated area of the sheet, the illuminated area being elongated along a scan direction. The scanning means also includes means for causing the illuminated area to move across the sheet in a movement direction normal the scan direction. The detection means comprises a photodetector array and a coherent fiber optic bundle. The coherent fiber optic is tapered, such that it has a comparatively wide aperture adjacent the illuminated area, and a comparatively small aperture adjacent the photodetector array. In a related aspect, the illuminated area is caused to move in a first direction across the sheet such that the illumination means sequentially directs light onto a series of pixel areas of the sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 15, 1988
    Assignee: Technical Arts Corporation
    Inventors: Robert J. Thoreson, Steven J. White