Thermal object measuring apparatus

• US 5,995,206 A
• Filed: 07/27/1998
• Issued: 11/30/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Hashimoto, Kazuhiko, Kawai, Tetsuya, Morinaka, Katsuya, Yoshiike, Nobuyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Buczinski, Stephen C.
• Application Number:
  US09/122,771
• Time in Patent Office: 491 Days
• Field of Search: 356/141.1, 356/141.5, 356/4.01, 356/5.01, 356/5.1, 340/552, 374/6
• US Class Current: 356/4.01
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/0025 Living bodies ear thermometers G01J5/0011; detecting, measuring or recording for diagnostic purposes A61B5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/047 Mobile mounting; Scanning arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/07 Arrangements for adjusting the solid angle of collected radiation, e.g. adjusting or orienting field of view, tracking position or encoding angular position optical collimating elements G01J5/0806
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/42 Simultaneous measurement of distance and other co-ordinates indirect measurement G01S15/46
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/88 Sonar systems specially adapted for specific applications seismic or acoustic prospecting or detecting G01V1/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/10 using transmission of interrupted, pulse-modulated waves determination of distance by phase measurements G01S17/32
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/86 Combinations of lidar systems with systems other than lidar, radar or sonar, e.g. with direction finders
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/88 Lidar systems specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4813 Housing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/483 Details of pulse systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/497 Means for monitoring or calibrating
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/10 Human or animal bodies, e.g. vehicle occupants or pedestrians; Body parts, e.g. hands
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19 using infrared-radiation detection systems G08B13/194 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/191 using pyroelectric sensor means
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/26 by updating and storing reference thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/23 from thermal infrared radiation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/33 Transforming infrared radiation cameras or camera modules for generating image signals from infrared radiation H04N23/20; circuitry of SSIS for transforming infrared radiation into image signals H04N25/20

Abstract

A thermal object detecting method for; obtaining a thermal image of a measuring space by two-dimensional thermal image detecting method for detecting two-dimensional thermal image information, obtaining position information of an object in the measuring space by object position detecting device, obtaining distance data between said two-dimensional thermal image detecting device and said object from the position information, and correcting the temperature level of the object in the thermal image in the measuring space or correcting the size of the object in the thermal image in said measuring space, using the distance data from the object as correction factor.

Claims

1. A thermal object detecting method comprising the steps of:

obtaining a thermal image of a measuring space by two-dimensional thermal image detecting method for detecting two-dimensional thermal image information,

obtaining position information of an object in the measuring space by object position detecting means,

obtaining distance data between said two-dimensional thermal image detecting means and said object from the position information, and

correcting the temperature level of the object in the thermal image in the measuring space or correcting the size of the object in the thermal image in said measuring space, using the distance data from the object as correction factor.

2. A human body detecting method for detecting only the human body in the measuring space, by obtaining the temperature and size of the object, by making use of the object detecting method of claim 1.

3. A human body detecting method of claim 2, wherein

the number of persons calculated by dividing an area of said detected thermal image by an area per person considering the distance between said image detecting means and the human body.

4. A thermal object detecting apparatus comprising:

two-dimensional thermal image detecting means for detecting two-dimensional thermal image information,

object position detecting means for detecting the position of an object in the measuring space, and

correcting means for correcting the temperature level of the object in the thermal image in the measuring space or correcting the size of the object in the thermal image in said measuring space, using distance data of said thermal image detecting means and said object obtained from position information from said object position detecting means as a correction factor.

5. An object detecting apparatus of claim 4, wherein said two-dimensional thermal image detecting means is infrared ray detecting means capable of obtaining a two-dimensional thermal image by continuously rotating the scanning direction of an infrared ray array sensor element having a plurality of detectors disposed in an array.

6. An object detecting apparatus of claim 4, wherein

said object position detecting means is ultrasonic detecting means for obtaining an object position by continuously rotating the scanning direction of an ultrasonic sensor for transmitting an ultrasonic wave and receiving a reflected wave.

7. An object detecting apparatus of claim 4, wherein

said object position detecting means is distance measuring means for measuring the distance by transmitting an electromagnetic wave and receiving a reflected wave.

8. A human body detecting apparatus comprising:

two-dimensional thermal image detecting means for detecting two-dimensional thermal image information,

object position detecting means for detecting the position of an object in the measuring space,

correcting means for correcting the temperature level of the object in the thermal image in the measuring space and/or correcting the size of the object in the thermal image in said measuring space, using the distance data of said thermal image detecting means and said object obtained from the position information from said object position detecting means as correction factor,

judging means for judging if the object is a human body or not, by making use of the corrected object temperature and/or object size, and

means for calculating the number of person by dividing the area of said detected thermal image by the area per person considering the distance between said image detecting means and the human body.