ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,461,403, issued on Nov. 4, was assigned to The Boeing Co. (Arlington, Va.).
"Acousto-optic modulation for photoreceptor protection" was invented by Brian Gunther (St. Louis).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An acousto-optic modulator system for protecting a photoreceptor from an incident laser beam from a laser source includes a transducer array that is connected to a glass portion. The glass portion is arranged in a predicted path of the laser beam between the laser source and the photoreceptor. An electronic control unit ("ECU") selectively energizes the transducer array and causes the transducer array to emit sound pressure waves into the...