US4617682A
Expired / Lapsed
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Method and apparatus for automatic quantitative measurement of textures by image analysis
Assignee: Nireco Corp
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Filing: 1985-03-25
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Granted: 1986-10-14
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Expires: 2005-03-25
Abstract
Abstract A method and an apparatus for automatic quantitative measurement of textures by image analysis for measuring textures of a material containing various optically anisotropic textures. An image of the material is divided into a plurality of sections and brightness of each section is classified into a plurality of stages to be stored as gray levels of the sections or pixels. Image patterns of the textures are recognized on the basis of gray level variations observed before and after a mask movement, and the textures of the material are determined according to predetermined criteria.
Inventors
- 👤 Makihiko Mori
- 👤 Kazuo Nakamura
- 👤 Kanichiro Tanabe
- 👤 Atsushi Kimura
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-31 05:59
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06T; G06T7/00; G06T7/40; G06T7/41; G06T7/44; G06T2207/00; G06T2207/10; G06T2207/10056; G06T2207/20; G06T2207/20021
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 24
Claim 1
Independent Claim
171 words
A method of automatic quantitative measurement of textures by image analysis for measuring textures of a material containing various optical anisotropic textures, comprising the steps of; (a) picking up a microscopic texture image of the material by a TV camera, (b) dividing the texture image picked up by the TV camera into a plurality of pixels arranged vertically and horizontally, brightness of the pixels being classified into a plurality of stages to be stored in a frame memory as gray levels of the pixels, (c) selecting a portion of the image stored in the frame memory to be a base area, (d) selecting at least one reference area on the stored image, said reference area being equal in shape to the base area and displaced from the base area in an optional direction, (e) obtaining gray level variations of the reference area with respect to the base area, and (f) identifying the textures based on a correlation between the textures to be measured and the gray level variations concerning the textures.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
171 words
A method of automatic quantitative measurement of textures by image analysis for measuring textures of a material containing various optical anisotropic textures, comprising the steps of; (a) picking up a microscopic texture image of the material by a TV camera, (b) dividing the texture image picked up by the TV camera into a plurality of pixels arranged vertically and horizontally, brightness of the pixels being classified into a plurality of stages to be stored in a frame memory as gray levels of the pixels, (c) selecting a portion of the image stored in the frame memory to be a base area, (d) selecting at least one reference area on the stored image, said reference area being equal in shape to the base area and displaced from the base area in an optional direction, (e) obtaining gray level variations of the reference area with respect to the base area, and (f) identifying the textures based on a correlation between the textures to be measured and the gray level variations concerning the textures.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
71 words
A method of automatic quantitative measurement of textures as claimed in claim 1 wherein, in the step of storing the image picked up by the TV camera in the frame memory, the picked up image is divided into at least 100×100 pixels and the brightness of each of the pixels is classified into at least 64 stages to be stored in the frame memory as the gray levels of the pixels.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
69 words
A method of automatic quantitative measurement of textures as claimed in claim 2 wherein, in the step of storing the image picked up by the TV camera in the frame memory, the picked up image is divided into 512×512 pixels and the brightness of each of the pixels is classified into 256 to 1,024 stages to be stored in the frame memory as the gray levels of the pixels.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
82 words
A method of automatic quantitative measurement of textures as claimed in claim 2 wherein, in the step of obtaining the gray level variation of the reference area with respect to the base area, differences in brightness between all pixels in the base area and corresponding pixels in the reference area are obtained respectively, and a sum total of absolute values of the differences is divided by a total number of the pixels in each area, whereby the gray level variation is obtained.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
41 words
A method of automatic quantitative measurement of textures as claimed in claim 4 wherein, in the step of selecting at least one reference area, at least two reference areas displaced from the base area in at least two directions are selected.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
70 words
A method of automatic quantitative measurement of textures as claimed in claim 5 wherein, in the step of selecting the reference areas, a first reference area is selected in a position displaced horizontally from the base area, and second, third and fourth reference areas are selected at positions displaced from the base area and displaced clockwise from the first reference area by 45 degrees, 90 degrees and 135 degrees, respectively.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
58 words
A method of automatic quantitative measurement of textures as claimed in claim 5 wherein the texture identification is repeated a predetermined number of times at a plurality of different points on a measuring face of the material to be measured, component ratios of the textures in the material being automatically determined based on results of the texture identification.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
41 words
A method of automatic quantitative measurement of textures as claimed in claim 7 comprising a further step of judging from the brightness of the pixels whether or not the image stored in the frame memory is suited for the quantitative measurement.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
223 words
An apparatus for automatic quantitative measurement of textures by image analysis for measuring textures of a material containing various optical anisotropic textures, comprising; optical enlarging means for obtaining an enlarged texture image of the material to be measured, image pickup means for picking up the image obtained by the optical enlarging means, image storing means for storing the image picked up by the image pickup means, the image storing means dividing the image into a plurality of pixels arranged vertically and horizontally and stores brightness of the pixels as classified into a plurality of stages, judgment information storing means for prestoring information relating to the textures in order to identify optically anisotropic textures contained in the material to be measured, area setting means for setting a base area of a predetermined size in an optional position on the image stored in the image storing means and at least one reference area in a position on the image displaced from the base area in an optional direction, the reference area being equal in size and shape to the base area, gray level variation calculating means for obtaining gray level variations of the reference area with respect to the base area, and texture identifying means for identifying the textures from the gray level variations by using the information stored in the judgment information storing means.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
223 words
An apparatus for automatic quantitative measurement of textures by image analysis for measuring textures of a material containing various optical anisotropic textures, comprising; optical enlarging means for obtaining an enlarged texture image of the material to be measured, image pickup means for picking up the image obtained by the optical enlarging means, image storing means for storing the image picked up by the image pickup means, the image storing means dividing the image into a plurality of pixels arranged vertically and horizontally and stores brightness of the pixels as classified into a plurality of stages, judgment information storing means for prestoring information relating to the textures in order to identify optically anisotropic textures contained in the material to be measured, area setting means for setting a base area of a predetermined size in an optional position on the image stored in the image storing means and at least one reference area in a position on the image displaced from the base area in an optional direction, the reference area being equal in size and shape to the base area, gray level variation calculating means for obtaining gray level variations of the reference area with respect to the base area, and texture identifying means for identifying the textures from the gray level variations by using the information stored in the judgment information storing means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
55 words
An apparatus for automatic quantitative measurement of textures as claimed in claim 9 wherein the image storing means divides the picked up image into at least 100×100 pixels and classifies the brightness of each of the pixels into at least 64 stages to be stored in a frame memory as gray levels of the pixels.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
52 words
An apparatus for atomatic quantitative measurement of textures as claimed in claim 10 wherein the image storing means divedes the picked up image into 512×512 pixels and classifies the brightness of each pixel into 256 to 1,024 stages to be stored in the frame memory as the gray levels of the pixels.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
67 words
An apparatus for automatic quantitative measurement of textures as claimed in claim 10 wherein the gray level variation calculating means obtains differences in brightness between all pixels in the base area and corresponding pixels in the reference area, respectively, and divides a sum total of absolute values of the differences by a total number of the pixels in each area, thereby to obtain the gray level variation.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
34 words
An apparatus for automatic quantitative measurement of textures as claimed in claim 12 wherein the area setting means selects at least two reference areas displaced from the base area in at least two directions.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
63 words
An apparatus for automatic quantitative measurement of textures as claimed in claim 13 wherein the area setting means selects a first reference area in a position displaced horizontally from the base area, and second, third and fourth reference areas at positions displaced from the base area and displaced clockwise from the first reference area by 45 degrees, 90 degrees and 135 degrees, respectively.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
67 words
An apparatus for automatic quantitative measurement of textures as claimed in claim 13 further comprising arithmetic/logic means for evaluating component ratios of the textures, the arithmetic/logic means being adapted to repeat the texture identification a predetermined number of times at a plurality of different points on a measuring face of the material to be measured thereby to evaluate the component ratios of the textures in the material.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
42 words
An apparatus for automatic quantitative measurement of textures as claimed in claim 15 further comprising image judging means for judging from the brightness of the pixels whether or not the image stored in the frame memory is suited for the quantitative measurement.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
46 words
An apparatus for automatic quantitative measurement of textures as claimed in claim 16 further comprising material support means for causing the measuring face of the material to be measured at a plurality of points thereon, the material support means being movable for an automatic scanning operation.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
22 words
An apparatus for automatic quantitative measurement of textures as claimed in claim 17 wherein the optical enlarging means comprises a polarizing microscope.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
23 words
An apparatus for automatic quantitative measurement of textures as claimed in claim 18 wherein the optical enlarging means includes an automatic focusing mechanism.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
22 words
An apparatus for automatic quantitative measurement of textures as claimed in claim 9 wherein the image pickup means comprises a TV camera.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
22 words
An apparatus for automatic quantitative measurement of textures as claimed in claim 20 wherein the TV camera comprises a CCD pickup element.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
30 words
An apparatus for automatic quantitative measurement of textures as claimed in claim 18 further comprising a printer for outputting the component ratios of the textures obtained by the arithmetic/logic means.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1989-10-13 | 1990-04-14 | 1990-10-14 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1993-10-13 | 1994-04-14 | 1994-10-14 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1997-10-13 | 1998-04-14 | 1998-10-14 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |