Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for inspecting articles

US4500203A · kind A · utility

47Cited by
6References
23Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateSep 30, 1982
Grant dateFeb 19, 1985
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 30, 2002

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01B11/245
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

Apparatus for inspecting glass containers for irregularities in shape, wherein the containers are moved, in line, on a conveyor past a viewing station where there are three strobed light sources positioned at one side of the conveyor. One light is at 90.degree. with respect to the conveyor while the other two are at 45.degree. angles on either side thereof. Between the lights and the container being inspected are positioned Fresnel lenses; solid state discrete array cameras are positioned behind Fresnel lenses mounted on the opposite side of the conveyor with their viewing axes directed toward the light sources. Each backlighted container is viewed by the three cameras simultaneously and provides a profile scan of the container at a plurality of planar elevations. These scans are processed and compared electronically with input data fed to a central processing unit. A second embodiment uses an anamorphic lens on each cameras which provides a convenient system for viewing tall bottles while also utilizing the full width of the viewing area by reducing the height to diameter ratio of the bottle image.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.