Apparatus for measuring optical properties
First Claim
1. An apparatus for determining optical characteristics of an object, comprising:
- a probe having one or more light sources and a plurality of light receivers, wherein the probe provides light to a surface of the object from the one or more light sources, and receives light from the object through a plurality of light receivers, wherein one or more of the light receivers are coupled to one or more first optical sensors for generating data indicative of spectral characteristics of the object, and wherein one or more of the light receivers are coupled to one or more second optical sensors for generating data indicative of translucence characteristics of the object; and
a processor, wherein the processor controls the taking of a plurality of first and second measurements with the first and second optical sensors, wherein the optical characteristics of the object are determined based on the first and second measurements.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Color measuring systems and methods are disclosed. Perimeter receiver fiber optics are spaced apart from a central source fiber optic and receive light reflected from the surface of the object being measured. Light from the perimeter fiber optics pass to a variety of filters. The system utilizes the perimeter receiver fiber optics to determine information regarding the height and angle of the probe with respect to the object being measured. Under processor control, the color measurement may be made at a predetermined height and angle. Various color spectral photometer arrangements are disclosed. Translucency, fluorescence and/or surface texture data also may be obtained. Audio feedback may be provided to guide operator use of the system. The probe may have a removable or shielded tip for contamination prevention.
138 Citations
379 Claims
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1. An apparatus for determining optical characteristics of an object, comprising:
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a probe having one or more light sources and a plurality of light receivers, wherein the probe provides light to a surface of the object from the one or more light sources, and receives light from the object through a plurality of light receivers, wherein one or more of the light receivers are coupled to one or more first optical sensors for generating data indicative of spectral characteristics of the object, and wherein one or more of the light receivers are coupled to one or more second optical sensors for generating data indicative of translucence characteristics of the object; and a processor, wherein the processor controls the taking of a plurality of first and second measurements with the first and second optical sensors, wherein the optical characteristics of the object are determined based on the first and second measurements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
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57. A apparatus for determining optical characteristics of an object, comprising:
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a probe having one or more light sources and a plurality of light receivers, wherein the probe provides light to a surface of the object from the one or more light sources, and receives light from the object through the plurality of light receivers, wherein light from the light receivers is coupled to one or more optical sensors; and a processor, wherein the processor controls the taking of a plurality of first and second measurements with the one or more optical sensors, wherein the first and second measurements include at least measurements taken at first and second distances from the surface of the object, wherein data indicative of translucence characteristics and data indicative of color characteristics are generated based on the first and second measurements, respectively. - View Dependent Claims (58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108)
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109. The apparatus of clam 57, wherein data indicative of color characteristics are adjusted based on data indicative of translucence characteristics.
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110. A apparatus for determining optical characteristics of an object, comprising:
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a probe having one or more light sources and a plurality of light receivers, wherein the probe provides light to a surface of the object from the one or more light sources, and receives light from the object through the plurality of light receivers, wherein light from the light receivers is coupled to one or more optical sensors, and a processor, wherein the processor controls the taking of a plurality of measurements with the one or more optical sensors, wherein the plurality of measurements include at least measurements taken at first and second distances from the surface of the object; wherein data indicative of translucency characteristics of the object are generated based on the measurements, and data indicative of color characteristics of the object are generated based on the measurements. - View Dependent Claims (111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162)
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163. A apparatus for determining optical characteristics of an object, comprising:
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a probe having a one or more light sources and a plurality of light receivers, wherein the probe provides light to a surface of the object from the one or more light sources, and receives light from the object through the plurality of light receivers, wherein light from the light receivers is coupled to one or more optical sensors; and a processor, wherein the processor controls the taking of a plurality of measurements with the one or more optical sensors, wherein the plurality of measurements include at least measurements taken at first and second distances from the surface of the object; wherein second data are determined based on the measurements indicative of translucence characteristics of the object, and first data are determined based on the measurements indicative of color characteristics of the object, wherein the first data are adjusted based on the second data. - View Dependent Claims (164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214)
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215. A apparatus for determining optical characteristics of an object, comprising:
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a probe having one or more light sources and a plurality of light receivers, wherein the probe provides light to a surface of the object from the one or more light sources, and receives light from the object through the plurality of light receivers, wherein light from the light receivers is coupled to one or more optical sensors; and a processor, wherein the processors controls the taking of a plurality of measurements with the one or more optical sensors, wherein at least a peak intensity of received light is determined based on the measurements as the probe is a distance away from the surface of the object, and at least an intensity of light is determined as the probe is at or about the surface of the object, wherein data indicative of translucence characteristics and data indicative of color characteristics are generated based on at least the peak intensity and the intensity. - View Dependent Claims (216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267)
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268. A apparatus for determining optical characteristics of an object, comprising:
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a probe having one or more light sources and a plurality of light receivers, wherein the probe provides light to a surface of the object from the one or more light sources, and receives light from the object through the plurality of light receivers; and a processor, wherein the processor determines the intensity of light received by more than one of the light receivers with second optical sensors, and controls the taking of a measurement of the optical characteristics of the object with first optical sensors based on light received by one or more of the light receivers in response to the intensity determinations made by the second optical sensors, wherein the measurement produces data indicative of the optical characteristics of the object. - View Dependent Claims (269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323)
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324. An apparatus for generating data indicative of optical characteristics including at least spectral and translucence characteristics of an object, comprising:
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a probe providing light to a surface of the object and receiving light from the object, wherein the received light is coupled to one or more optical sensors for generating data indicative of said spectral and translucence characteristics of the object; and a processor, wherein the processor controls the taking of first and second measurements with the optical sensors as the probe is directed towards the surface of the object, wherein the first and second measurements measure light that is incident on the surface of the object and returned from the object, wherein the processor determines said data indicative of optical characteristics of the object based on the first and second measurements, wherein data indicative of the translucence characteristics of the object are determined based on the probe being directed towards the object and without requiring the positioning of an optical implement behind the object. - View Dependent Claims (325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 352, 353, 354, 355, 356, 357, 358, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370, 371, 372, 373, 374, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379)
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Specification