Method and apparatus for monitoring the surface profile of a moving workpiece
US5056922A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 6, 1989 |
| Grant date | Oct 15, 1991 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 6, 2009 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01B11/245
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An optical inspecting apparatus and the method thereof, including a series of optical units for rapidly acquiring the three-dimensional surface profile of a moving object. Each optical unit contains a multiple-beam light source to project a number of luminous spots on the object surface which are imaged through a properly oriented line-array camera. The surface position on both sides of the object, and thus the object thickness, is inferred at the position of each luminous spot from an analysis of their camera image. The projected luminous spots are preferably elliptically shaped and the line array elements are elongated in a direction perpendicular to their longitudinal axis in order to reduce speckle and other optical noise. The described optical configuration results in a superior performance in terms of spatial resolution and response speed.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.