Color sensor employing optical fiber bundles with varied diameters
First Claim
1. A color sensing system for the recognition of a colored object comprising:
- a plurality of electronic light emitters, each emitting light in a predetermined narrow-band range of wavelengths;
a receiving randomized optical fiber bundle having a first and second end for conducting a reflected light from a colored object;
said first end directed at said colored object;
an electronic light receiver means coupled to said second end of said receiving randomized optical fiber bundle for converting said reflected light into an electrical signal; and
a plurality of light transmitting randomized optical fiber bundles, each bundle coupled to a respective one of said light emitters and having a cross-sectional area approximately inversely proportional to the product of a light power level of said respective light emitter multiplied by the spectral response of said electronic light receiver, said emitting light conducted through said transmitting randomized optical fiber bundle and illuminating said colored object causing light to be reflected therefrom where said transmitting randomized optical fiber bundle is substantially constant in effective cross-sectional area over its length; and
an electronic processing means connected to said electronic light receiver means for making a color recognition determination based on said electrical signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A device (1) for photoelectrically sensing the color of an object (18) includes a plurality of light emitting diodes (4, 6, 8) emitting light in a narrow range of wavelengths and where the light is transmitted through a corresponding fiber optic bundle (10, 12, 14) with a diameter in proportion to the transmission loss of the bundle and in inverse proportion to the emitted light energy of the corresponding light emitting diode and in proportion to the spectral response of a receiving photodiode (24). A receiving section (22) utilizes a PIN type photodiode (24) with an input section (40) that matches the shape of a receiving optical fiber bundle termination (42) where the photodiode (24) converts the reflected light from the object (18) into electrical signals which are then processed by a microprocessor (28) which also controls the activation of the light emitting diodes (4, 6, 8) and outputs a signal indicative of the color of the object (18).
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A color sensing system for the recognition of a colored object comprising:
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a plurality of electronic light emitters, each emitting light in a predetermined narrow-band range of wavelengths; a receiving randomized optical fiber bundle having a first and second end for conducting a reflected light from a colored object;
said first end directed at said colored object;an electronic light receiver means coupled to said second end of said receiving randomized optical fiber bundle for converting said reflected light into an electrical signal; and a plurality of light transmitting randomized optical fiber bundles, each bundle coupled to a respective one of said light emitters and having a cross-sectional area approximately inversely proportional to the product of a light power level of said respective light emitter multiplied by the spectral response of said electronic light receiver, said emitting light conducted through said transmitting randomized optical fiber bundle and illuminating said colored object causing light to be reflected therefrom where said transmitting randomized optical fiber bundle is substantially constant in effective cross-sectional area over its length; and an electronic processing means connected to said electronic light receiver means for making a color recognition determination based on said electrical signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A color sensing system for the recognition of colored objects, comprising:
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at least two light transmitters each emitting light in a predetermined narrow-based range of wavelengths; light receiving means for receiving reflected light from the colored object and converting said reflected light into individual electrical signals; at least two transmitting randomized optical fiber bundles each having a first end converted to a respective light transmitter and a second end directed at the colored object said bundles conducting said emitting light from said first end to said second end and emerging from said second end to illuminate the colored object where each of the said transmitting randomized optical fiber bundles has an approximately constant diameter approximately in inverse proportion to the light output power of said light transmitter and where each of said transmitting randomized optical fiber bundles has an approximately constant effective cross-sectional area; a receiving randomized optical fiber bundle having a first end directed at the object and a second end directed as said light receiving means; and signal processing means coupled to said individual electrical signals for generating an output signal representative of the colored surface of said object. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification