Method and apparatus for illumination and imaging of a surface using opaque shroud
First Claim
1. An apparatus for illumination and imaging of a surface, comprising:
- (a) a shroud having an opaque side wall, a lower edge of said side wall defining a bottom opening;
(b) means, mounted in said shroud, for illuminating the surface through said bottom opening; and
(c) means, mounted in said shroud, comprising a CCD-based camera, for obtaining an image of the illuminated surface and providing an output signal representative of said obtained image;
further comprising means for preventing activation of said illumination means and said image obtaining means except when said lower edge of said shroud side wall is in contact with the surface.
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Accused Products
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
8 Claims
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1. An apparatus for illumination and imaging of a surface, comprising:
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(a) a shroud having an opaque side wall, a lower edge of said side wall defining a bottom opening; (b) means, mounted in said shroud, for illuminating the surface through said bottom opening; and (c) means, mounted in said shroud, comprising a CCD-based camera, for obtaining an image of the illuminated surface and providing an output signal representative of said obtained image;
further comprising means for preventing activation of said illumination means and said image obtaining means except when said lower edge of said shroud side wall is in contact with the surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method for illumination and imaging of a surface, comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a shroud having an opaque side wall, a lower edge of said side wall defining a bottom opening; (b) illuminating the surface through said bottom opening by employing a light source mounted in said shroud; and (c) obtaining an image of the illuminated surface, employing a CCD-based camera mounted in said shroud, and providing an output signal representative of the obtained image;
further comprising the steps of providing means for preventing carrying out of said steps (b) and (c) except when the lower edge of said side wall is in contact with the surface, and before said steps of illuminating the surface and obtaining an image, engaging the surface with said lower edge of said shroud side wall. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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Specification