Color characterization for inspection of a product having nonuniform color characteristics
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A device for sensing the color characteristics of an object bearing nonuniform color patterns comprising;
- a housing, a support surface for an object bearing nonuniform color patterns positioned within said housing, a digital color sensing and imaging device mounted within said housing and spaced above said support surface to provide color imaging signals from an object bearing nonuniform color patterns located on said support surface, a plurality of light sources mounted within said housing between said digital color sensing and imaging device and said support surface, said light sources being equally spaced from said digital color sensing and imaging device and said support surface and being positioned with at least one light source on each of two opposed sides of said digital color sensing and imaging device, and a computer connected to receive color imaging signals from said digital color sensing and imaging device.
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Abstract
An apparatus and method is provided for classification of a product bearing nonuniform color patterns. A learning and classification mode is employed where the apparatus is trained with image data derived by a CCD color camera and lighting from a plurality of reference colored products, and this image data is stored to provide product color classes and subclasses. Then image data from an unknown product is compared with the stored class and subclass data to provide a classification for the unknown product.
36 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A device for sensing the color characteristics of an object bearing nonuniform color patterns comprising;
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a housing, a support surface for an object bearing nonuniform color patterns positioned within said housing, a digital color sensing and imaging device mounted within said housing and spaced above said support surface to provide color imaging signals from an object bearing nonuniform color patterns located on said support surface, a plurality of light sources mounted within said housing between said digital color sensing and imaging device and said support surface, said light sources being equally spaced from said digital color sensing and imaging device and said support surface and being positioned with at least one light source on each of two opposed sides of said digital color sensing and imaging device, and a computer connected to receive color imaging signals from said digital color sensing and imaging device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for inspection of a product bearing nonuniform color patterns which includes:
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using a digital color sensing and imaging device and lighting system to obtain a color image from a plurality of test surfaces having different desired nonuniform color patterns, storing the color images from the test surfaces, as reference images, using the digital color sensing and imaging device and lighting system to obtain a color image from a product bearing nonuniform color patterns and comparing the color image from the product bearing nonuniform color patterns with the stored reference images to identify the closest reference image for classification of the color image from the product. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification