High speed digital framing camera
First Claim
1. A digital framing camera comprising:
- means for scanning an image in a horizontal direction;
a single linear array of photodetectors for receiving said image by receiving a series or vertical segments of said image in sequence, each of said vertical segments being a different portion of the image scanned by the scanning means;
storage means having a fixed capacity for temporarily storing a first quantity of the vertical segments;
first means responsive to a trigger signal for temporarily storing a predetermined further second quantity of the vertical segments into the storage means; and
second means responsive to the trigger signal for permanently storing the first and second quantities of vertical segments stored in the storage means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides a system for recording images occurring both before and after a triggering event. Temporarily stored images are continually refreshed, the most recent images replacing the oldest images, providing a continuously updated history of recent events in a memory configured as an endless loop. Upon receipt of an external trigger, a predetermined further quantity of temporary images are stored until the capacity of the temporary storage medium is reached and then all temporarily stored images are then permanently stored. The system includes a rotating polygon mirror which produces a sequence of image scan lines. A lens system focuses the scan lines onto a linear array of photodetectors. Transient digitizers or a CCD linear storage array temporarily stores image data received from the photodetectors. Upon receipt of a trigger, the temporarily stored images are transferred to permanent digital memory after a predetermined further quantity of images have been stored.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A digital framing camera comprising:
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means for scanning an image in a horizontal direction; a single linear array of photodetectors for receiving said image by receiving a series or vertical segments of said image in sequence, each of said vertical segments being a different portion of the image scanned by the scanning means; storage means having a fixed capacity for temporarily storing a first quantity of the vertical segments; first means responsive to a trigger signal for temporarily storing a predetermined further second quantity of the vertical segments into the storage means; and second means responsive to the trigger signal for permanently storing the first and second quantities of vertical segments stored in the storage means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An optoelectronic scanning system for recording images, comprising:
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a scanning optical element driven in rotation for scanning an image in a horizontal direction; a focusing optical element for focusing linear vertical segments of the image scanned by the scanning optical element, each of said vertical segments being a different portion of said image sequentially scanned by the scanning optical element; a detection system having a linear array of optical detectors for detecting segments focused by the focusing optical element; a digital system in communication with the detection system for temporarily storing a first quantity of said segments, said digital system further responsive to a trigger signal for temporarily storing a predetermined second quantity of segments so that said digital system includes the first quantity stored before said trigger signal as well as the second quantity stored thereafter. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of detecting and storing random high speed events, comprising the steps of:
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scanning an image; detecting lines of the image sequentially by a single linear array of photodetectors, each line being a different portion of the image scanned in the scanning step; temporarily storing a quantity of the detected lines; detecting a trigger signal for temporarily storing a predetermined further quantity of the detected lines; and
thenpermanently storing the quantity of temporarily stored detected lines. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification