Apparatus and method for monitoring the surface character of circular objects
First Claim
1. Apparatus for monitoring the surface character of an elongated generally circular test object, such as a coated cable, the test object being longitudinally movable along a path relative to said apparatus, said apparatus comprising:
- an optical system having an apparent axis substantially coincident with the centerline of said test object path, said optical system comprising means for providing a source beam of electromagnetic radiation, means for rotating said beam about the apparent optical axis, means for dividing the rotating source beam into a plurality of beams, each beam of the plurality traversing an arc of predetermined angular extent about its own respective optical axis, at least one of said divided-beam axes differing from said apparent optical axis, the cumulative angle traversed by said plurality of divided beams being at least about 360°
, means for directing each of said plurality of divided beams toward said apparent optical axis such that it is incident with and scans a respective arcuate segment of the 360°
circumference of any said test object thereat, thereby avoiding interruption of said rotating beam by a test object on said object path and affording a scan of the entire 360°
circumference of any said test object such that the beam is reflected by the scanned portion of the circumference of the surface of any said test object thereat, and means for detecting the beam reflected from said scanned portion of the circumference of the test object and providing electrical signals indicative of the intensity thereof; and
utilization means responsive to said electrical signals for providing an indication of the surface character of the test object.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and method for optically scanning the circumference of a generally circular section of a test object, and especially for monitoring the surface character of cables and the like. An optical system has its apparent axis substantially concentric with the centerline of the path along which the cable moves relative to the scanning optics. A beam of radiation is caused to rotate or orbit about that axis and is then directed into near-normal incidence with the surface of the test object such that it is specularly reflected by the surface. The optical system redirects the reflected beam toward one or more detectors, the intensity of outputs of which provide an indication of the surface character of the object.
In a preferred embodiment, a radiation source beam offset from the actual cable path is rotated by a pair of oscillating mirrors such that it describes a divergent conical shape. Certain optics direct a 180° portion of that rotating beam along one path to intersect with a corresponding 180° segment of the cable and a dividing mirror and similar optics direct the other 180° portion of the beam along another path to intersect with the remaining or complementary 180° segment of the cable. By so dividing the beam paths, a full 360° scan of the cable surface is obtained without the cable "shadowing" any part of the incoming beam. The reflected radiation is "returned" along two respective paths to a respective pair of detectors. Some of the optical elements may be movable relative to others to facilitate coupling and uncoupling the apparatus with the cable.
46 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. Apparatus for monitoring the surface character of an elongated generally circular test object, such as a coated cable, the test object being longitudinally movable along a path relative to said apparatus, said apparatus comprising:
-
an optical system having an apparent axis substantially coincident with the centerline of said test object path, said optical system comprising means for providing a source beam of electromagnetic radiation, means for rotating said beam about the apparent optical axis, means for dividing the rotating source beam into a plurality of beams, each beam of the plurality traversing an arc of predetermined angular extent about its own respective optical axis, at least one of said divided-beam axes differing from said apparent optical axis, the cumulative angle traversed by said plurality of divided beams being at least about 360°
, means for directing each of said plurality of divided beams toward said apparent optical axis such that it is incident with and scans a respective arcuate segment of the 360°
circumference of any said test object thereat, thereby avoiding interruption of said rotating beam by a test object on said object path and affording a scan of the entire 360°
circumference of any said test object such that the beam is reflected by the scanned portion of the circumference of the surface of any said test object thereat, and means for detecting the beam reflected from said scanned portion of the circumference of the test object and providing electrical signals indicative of the intensity thereof; andutilization means responsive to said electrical signals for providing an indication of the surface character of the test object. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. The method of optically monitoring the surface character of an elongated generally circular test object, such as a coated cable, the test object being longitudinally movable along a path relative to said apparatus, comprising the steps of:
-
generating a source beam of electromagnetic radiation; rotating said beam about an apparent optical axis, said apparent optical axis being coincident with the centerline of the test object path; dividing the rotating source beam into a plurality of beams, each beam of the plurality traversing an arc of predetermined angular extent about its own respective optical axis, at least one of said divided-beam axes differing from said apparent optical axis, the cumulative angle traversed by said plurality of divided beams being at least about 360°
;directing each of said plurality of divided beams toward said apparent optical axis such that it is incident with and scans a respective arcuate segment of the 360°
circumference of any said test object thereat, thereby avoiding interruption of said rotating beam by a test object on said object path and affording a scan of the entire 360°
circumference of any said test object such that the beam is reflected by the scanned portion of the circumference of the surface of any said test object thereat;detecting the beam reflected from said scanned portion of the circumference of the test object and providing electrical signals indicative of the intensity thereof; and indicating from said electrical signals the surface character of the test object. - View Dependent Claims (20)
-
Specification