Method of inspecting articles
First Claim
1. A method of inspecting an article with respect to a list of reference features each identified by its coordinate location, comprising:
- scanning the article to generate online data, identifying detected features and their coordinates detected during the scanning of the article;
transforming the coordinates of the detected features according to registration transformation parameters to correct for global misregistration of the article;
and comparing the transformed coordinates of the detected features with those of the reference features for matches;
said registration transformation parameters of the overall article being determined by;
scanning an initial area of the article;
generating for said initial area, a list of said detected features with their coordinates;
pairwise matching said detected features and their coordinates with said reference features and their coordinates for said initial area;
computing an initial estimate of optimal registration transformation parameters required to minimize disparities between said pairwise matched detected and reference features in said initial area according to a misregistration transformation model;
and dynamically improving said initial estimate of the optimal transformation parameters by progressively increasing the scanned area of said article and progressively updating said initial estimate of the optimal transformation parameters according to said misregistration transformation model to provide optimal registration for the detected and reference features with respect to the complete area scanned.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of inspecting an article with respect to a stored list of reference features by scanning the article to detect online features, transforming their coordinates according to registration transformation parameters to correct for misregistration of the article, and comparing the transformed coordinates of the online features with those of the stored reference features for matches. According to this method, an initial estimate of the required registration transformation parameters is provided and is dynamically improved by continuously computing and periodically updating the estimate from the coordinates of the online features detected during the scanning of the article and the coordinates of the stored reference features.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method of inspecting an article with respect to a list of reference features each identified by its coordinate location, comprising:
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scanning the article to generate online data, identifying detected features and their coordinates detected during the scanning of the article; transforming the coordinates of the detected features according to registration transformation parameters to correct for global misregistration of the article; and comparing the transformed coordinates of the detected features with those of the reference features for matches; said registration transformation parameters of the overall article being determined by; scanning an initial area of the article; generating for said initial area, a list of said detected features with their coordinates; pairwise matching said detected features and their coordinates with said reference features and their coordinates for said initial area; computing an initial estimate of optimal registration transformation parameters required to minimize disparities between said pairwise matched detected and reference features in said initial area according to a misregistration transformation model; and dynamically improving said initial estimate of the optimal transformation parameters by progressively increasing the scanned area of said article and progressively updating said initial estimate of the optimal transformation parameters according to said misregistration transformation model to provide optimal registration for the detected and reference features with respect to the complete area scanned. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of inspecting an article with respect to a list of reference features each identified by its coordinate location and feature type, comprising:
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computing an initial estimate of optimal registration transformation parameters of the overall article by; optically scanning an initial area of the article to generate online data identifying detected features and their coordinates detected during the scanning of the article; computing a displacement vector list of disparities between the detected features relative to the corresponding reference features; computing an initial estimate of optimal registration transformation parameters required, according to a misregistration transformation model, to correct for said disparities due to misregistration of the article; and dynamically improving said initial estimate of the optimal registration transformation parameters by progressively increasing the scanned area of said article and progressively updating said initial estimate of the optimal transformation parameters according to said misregistration transformation model to provide optimal registration for the detected and reference features with respect to the complete area scanned. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification