Oct 27, 2026

US12774871 - Addressable vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser for aiming and pointing beams

A system includes a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) die that includes individually addressable VCSEL elements, the individually addressable VCSEL elements respectively including one or more lasing segments etched into the VCSEL die; a controller that designates a selected VCSEL element, of the individually addressable VCSEL elements of the VCSEL die, based on a spatial pattern to be projected from the system in a downfield direction toward a target; and a driver system that selectively applies a drive signal to the selected VCSEL element in response to the selected VCSEL element being designated by the controller.

Assignee: B.E. Meyers & Co., Inc.
Inventors: Spencer Nelson, Miles Elledge, Alexander Bigby, Thomas Alldredge
Filing date: 2024-09-09

laseraimingfirearm

The patent describes a system utilizing a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) die with individually addressable elements to project spatial patterns for aiming a firearm. The system includes a controller that designates specific VCSEL elements based on aiming adjustments, allowing for precise targeting by selectively applying drive signals to the designated elements.

Claim 1

1 . A system, comprising: a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) die comprising individually addressable VCSEL elements, the individually addressable VCSEL elements respectively comprising one or more lasing segments etched into the VCSEL die; a controller unit that designates a first selected VCSEL element, of the individually addressable VCSEL elements of the VCSEL die, based on a first spatial pattern to be projected from the system in a downfield direction toward a target, the first spatial pattern facilitating aiming of a firearm associated with the system; and a driver system that selectively applies a drive signal to the first selected VCSEL element in response to the first selected VCSEL element being designated by the controller unit, wherein the controller unit further designates a second selected VCSEL element, of the individually addressable VCSEL elements of the VCSEL die, based on a second spatial pattern representative of an adjusted aiming point of the firearm with reference to the target, and wherein the driver system selectively applies the drive signal to the second selected VCSEL element instead of the first selected VCSEL element in response to the second selected VCSEL element being designated by the controller unit. a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) die comprising individually addressable VCSEL elements, the individually addressable VCSEL elements respectively comprising one or more lasing segments etched into the VCSEL die; a controller unit that designates a first selected VCSEL element, of the individually addressable VCSEL elements of the VCSEL die, based on a first spatial pattern to be projected from the system in a downfield direction toward a target, the first spatial pattern facilitating aiming of a firearm associated with the system; and a driver system that selectively applies a drive signal to the first selected VCSEL element in response to the first selected VCSEL element being designated by the controller unit, wherein the controller unit further designates a second selected VCSEL element, of the individually addressable VCSEL elements of the VCSEL die, based on a second spatial pattern representative of an adjusted aiming point of the firearm with reference to the target, and wherein the driver system selectively applies the drive signal to the second selected VCSEL element instead of the first selected VCSEL element in response to the second selected VCSEL element being designated by the controller unit.

Google Patents

https://patents.google.com/patent/US12774871

USPTO PDF

https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/12774871