System for measuring objects viewed through a borescope
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A device for measuring the size of objects viewed with a borescope comprising:
- a source of object illumination;
contrasting shadow generating means operatively associated with said illumination source to project a contrasting shadow on the object to be viewed;
image detecting means disposed adjacent said source of illumination to detect the image of the object to be viewed and the contrasting shadow;
display means for viewing the image and shadow as detected by said image detecting means; and
means for measuring parameters of the contrasting image on said display so that measurement of the object image on the display can be modified in proportion to its distance from the image detecting means.
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Abstract
This is a device for measuring objects viewed with a borescope by creating an auxiliary image such as a shadow, and projecting it on the object from the general illumination source in a way that its video image changes position or size in proportion to the distance of the image sensing head from the object. A pre-calibrated object magnification and distance overlay for the geometry of the borescope is placed on the video display to indicate the modification factor for the physical measurement of the object on the display screen. Alternatively, electronic calibration and measurement circuitry is provided.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A device for measuring the size of objects viewed with a borescope comprising:
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a source of object illumination; contrasting shadow generating means operatively associated with said illumination source to project a contrasting shadow on the object to be viewed; image detecting means disposed adjacent said source of illumination to detect the image of the object to be viewed and the contrasting shadow; display means for viewing the image and shadow as detected by said image detecting means; and means for measuring parameters of the contrasting image on said display so that measurement of the object image on the display can be modified in proportion to its distance from the image detecting means.
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2. A device for measuring the size of objects viewed with a borescope comprising:
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a source of object illumination including a thin strip of fiber optic material having a width substantially greater than its thickness; contrasting image generating means operatively associated with said illumination source to project a contrasting image on the object to be viewed; image detecting means disposed adjacent said source of illumination to detect the image of the object to be viewed and the contrasting image; display means for viewing the images as detected by said image detecting means; and means for measuring parameters of the contrasting image on said display so that measurement of the object image on the display can be modified in proportion to its distance from the image detecting means. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A device for measuring the size of objects viewed with a borescope comprising:
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a source of object illumination including an annular ring of fiber optic elements positioned about the image detecting means of the borescope; contrasting image generating means operatively associated with said source of illumination to project a contrasting image on the object to be viewed; image detecting means disposed adjacent said source of illumination to detect the image of the object to be viewed and the contrasting image; display means for viewing the images as detected by said image detecting means; and means for measuring parameters of the contrasting image on said display so that measurement of the object image on the display can be modified in proportion to its distance from the image detecting means. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. The method of measuring objects viewed on a display of a borescope having a general illumination source and an image detecting device mounted in the distal end of an insertion tube and a video display for viewing illuminated objects which comprises:
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illuminating the object to be measured by a source of general illumination; superimposing on the source of general illumination an auxiliary image for projection with the general illumination onto the object to be measured; causing the image detecting device to pick up said auxiliary image along with the image of the object to be measured and project them on a video display; causing at least one parameter of said contrasting image to change as it is viewed on said video display in proportion to the distance said object is from the image detecting device; measuring the image of the object on the video display; measuring the changing parameter of the contrasting image; and modifying the measurement of the object in accordance with the changing parameter measurement.
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13. The method of measuring objects viewed on a display of a borescope having a general illumination source and an image detecting device mounted in the distal end of an insertion tube and a video display for viewing illuminated objects which comprises:
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illuminating the object to be measured by a source of general illumination; creating a shadow line in said general illumination; projecting said shadow line and general illumination on the object to be measured; causing said image detecting device to present images of the object and shadow line on a video display; causing said shadow line at a first object distance to coincide with a first margin of the display means; causing said shadow line to move toward a second margin of the display means as the object distance is increased; measuring the image of the object on the video display; measuring the changing displacement of the contrasting image; and modifying the measurement of the object in accordance with the changing displacement measurement. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. The method of measuring objects viewed on a display of a borescope having a general illumination source and an image detecting device mounted in the distal end of an insertion tube and a video display for viewing illuminated objects which comprises:
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illuminating the object to be measured by a source of general illumination; projecting a constant size image within the illumination source in the borescope head onto the objects to be measured; causing said image detecting device to present images of the object and constant size image on a video display; causing the size of said object to change when viewed on the display screen proportionally to the distance of the lens system from the object being viewed; measuring the size of the object being viewed on the video display; and modifying the measurement of the object in accordance with the change in size on the display of the constant size object image. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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19. In a borescope having an image viewing screen and an insertion tube including an image sensing head and an illumination source disposed in the distal end of said tube for viewing remote objects, object measuring means comprising:
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a source of object illumination; auxiliary image creating means superimposed on the source of illumination for the borescope; said image creating means being disposed to cause the auxiliary image created to change at least one characteristic in proportion to the distance the object to be measured is from the image sensing head; and measuring means for determining the change in characteristic of said auxiliary image, so that the true physical size of the object to be measured can be determined from a measurement of the object image displayed on the image viewing screen and the measurement of the change in characteristic of said auxiliary image.
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Specification