Fiber optic laser illuminators
US4011403A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 30, 1976 |
| Grant date | Mar 8, 1977 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 30, 1996 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S385/901
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An object-illuminating and imaging system utilizing, in combination, a laser beam as a light source and an optical fiber as a light transmitter. Light-focusing means are provided and the focused laser beam is, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, directed to impinge upon a single, small-diameter optical fiber. Sensing means such as film or a television-type camera may be used visually to reproduce and/or display the illuminated object. A light-flow-disruptive means such as a vibrator, acting upon a collimated line of illumination, serves to reduce objectionable speckle effects ordinarily present in coherent light beams, thus providing enhanced clarity as viewed and in imaged reproductions.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.