Product inspection method and apparatus
US5335293A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 16, 1992 |
| Grant date | Aug 2, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 16, 2012 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T2207/30128
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Described herein is an automated quality inspection station for evaluating color component characteristics of a product. The inspection station includes a color video camera, for capturing video frames of product images, and a control system for analyzing those video frames. The control system is programmed to perform a reference calibration and then a sample calibration. During the reference calibration an operator identifies component type areas from a displayed reference frame of a typical product assortment. The control system calculates color value density curves from the identified areas. The density curves are then calibrated to each other by scaling each of the density curves by a scaling factor. The scaling factors can either be provided directly by the operator or default values can be calculated by the control system. Default scaling factor values are calculated by summing the product of the corresponding density curve and an overall histogram of a sample video frame over a range of color values. Individual pixels are classified as one of a plurality of component types according to the highest calibrated density curve at the pixels' color value.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.