Method and apparatus for illumination and imaging of a surface using fast exposure time
First Claim
1. An apparatus for illumination and imaging of a surface, comprising:
- (a) means for illuminating the surface;
(b) means for obtaining an image of the illuminated surface and providing an output signal representative of said obtained image, said image obtaining means having a video frame rate; and
(c) means for limiting the exposure time of said image obtaining means to a selected fast exposure time less than the video frame rate.
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Abstract
An apparatus for illumination and imaging of a surface includes an apparatus for illuminating the surface, an apparatus for obtaining an image of the illuminated surface and providing an output signal representative of the obtained image, and an apparatus for limiting the exposure time of the image-obtaining apparatus to a selected fast exposure time less than the video frame rate of the image-obtaining apparatus. The image-obtaining apparatus may be a CCD-based camera. The CCD-based camera and the illumination apparatus may be mounted in a shroud having an opaque side wall. A first polarizing film may be provided intermediate the illumination apparatus and the surface, and a second polarizing film, having a polarization orientation orthogonal to that of the first polarizing film, may be provided intermediate the surface and the image-obtaining apparatus. Tip switches may be provided to prevent activation of the illumination apparatus and the image obtaining apparatus except when a lower edge of the shroud side wall is in contact with the surface.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. An apparatus for illumination and imaging of a surface, comprising:
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(a) means for illuminating the surface; (b) means for obtaining an image of the illuminated surface and providing an output signal representative of said obtained image, said image obtaining means having a video frame rate; and (c) means for limiting the exposure time of said image obtaining means to a selected fast exposure time less than the video frame rate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for illumination and imaging of a surface comprising the steps of:
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(a) illuminating the surface; (b) obtaining an image of the illuminated surface by using an image-obtaining apparatus having a video frame rate, while selectively limiting an exposure time to a selected fast exposure time less than the video frame rate; and (c) providing an output signal representative of the obtained image. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification