Chopper for thermal imaging system and method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A thermal imaging chopper, comprising:
- a disk formed of thermally transmitting material;
the disk including a structure operable to randomly scatter thermal radiation of a scene.
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Abstract
Thermal imaging chopper (20) may comprise a disk (40) formed of a thermally transmitting material. The disk (40) may include a structure (44) operable to randomly scatter thermal radiation of the scene (14).
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A thermal imaging chopper, comprising:
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a disk formed of thermally transmitting material; the disk including a structure operable to randomly scatter thermal radiation of a scene. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A thermal imaging system for producing an image of a scene in response to incident thermal radiation from the scene, comprising:
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optics for focusing incident thermal radiation emitted by the scene onto a focal plane array; a chopper disposed between the optics and the focal plane array, the chopper comprising; a disk formed of thermally transmitting material; the disk including a structure operable to randomly scatter thermal radiation of the scene incident to the focal plane array; the focal plane array including a plurality of thermal sensors mounted to a substrate, the thermal sensors operable to detect incident thermal radiation; the thermal sensors cooperating with the chopper to produce a signal; electronics for receiving and processing the signal to obtain a video signal representing radiance differences emitted by objects in the scene; and a display for receiving the video signal and for displaying an image generated in response to the video signal. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method of normalizing a thermal sensor, comprising the steps of:
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periodically disposing a phase relief pattern in a beam of thermal radiation incident to the thermal sensor; and randomly scattering the beam of thermal radiation. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27)
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Specification