Inspection apparatus and method
First Claim
1. A method of facilitating inspection of an object having a generally planar surface containing a plurality of light-reflective area arranged in individual arrays, comprising the steps of:
- (a) capturing an image of each of a plurality selected portions of each array of light-reflective areas;
(b) arranging the images of like portions of like arrays in a single frame such that the light-reflective areas in the frame are oriented and arranged separately in a two-dimensional array having large scale regularity to de-randomize and de-locate the arrays of light-reflective areas so that the light-reflective areas lie in at least one row and generally exhibit the same orientation from row-to-row; and
(c) displaying the frame on a display device for observation and inspection by a human operator to detect which if any light-reflective areas are defective, missing or misaligned.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Human inspection of an object (12) having a light-reflective areas (20) thereon arrayed in individual arrays (21) is enhanced by first capturing the image of selected portions of the arrays via one or more image capture devices (34). The images are processed to create a single image frame in which like portions of like arrays of light-reflective are uniformly spaced and oriented in a two-dimensional array having large scale regularity. The single image frame is then displayed on a display (48) for observation by a human operator (29). Because the displayed image frame of the light-reflective areas has large scale regularity, the operator bility to detect defects associated with missing or misaligned light-reflective areas will be enhanced.
54 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method of facilitating inspection of an object having a generally planar surface containing a plurality of light-reflective area arranged in individual arrays, comprising the steps of:
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(a) capturing an image of each of a plurality selected portions of each array of light-reflective areas; (b) arranging the images of like portions of like arrays in a single frame such that the light-reflective areas in the frame are oriented and arranged separately in a two-dimensional array having large scale regularity to de-randomize and de-locate the arrays of light-reflective areas so that the light-reflective areas lie in at least one row and generally exhibit the same orientation from row-to-row; and (c) displaying the frame on a display device for observation and inspection by a human operator to detect which if any light-reflective areas are defective, missing or misaligned. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. Apparatus for facilitating inspection of an object having a generally planar surface containing light-reflective areas arranged in individual arrays, comprising:
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at least one image-capture device for capturing the image of at least one selected portion of at least one array of light-reflective array; means for imparting a relative motion between the image-capture device and the object so that the image capture device captures successive selected portions of successive arrays of light-reflective arrays; means for arranging the images captured by the image-capture device so that the images of like portions of like arrays are oriented and arranged separately in a single-image frame in which the light-reflective areas are arrayed in a two-dimensional array having large scale regularity to de-randomize and de-locate the arrays of light-reflective areas so that the light-reflective areas lie in at least one row and generally exhibit the same orientation from row-to-row; and a display coupled to the means for arranging the images for displaying the single image frame for observation by an operator. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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Specification