Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
214 words
A system for measuring a displacement of points on a contoured surface relative to a known plane, comprising: illumination means for projecting a grating pattern on said contoured surface; image acquisition means for viewing an image of said grating pattern on said contoured surface; phase shifting means for shifting a phase of said viewed image of said grating pattern independent of variations in the displacement of points on the contoured surface relative to the known plane; contour interval altering means for altering a contour interval of the viewed image of said grating pattern; control means responsive to a plurality of phase shifted viewed images at a first contour interval for determining a first phase of preselected points on the contoured surface, said control means being further responsive to a second plurality of phase shifted viewed images at a second contour interval for determining a second phase of said preselected points, said control means having means responsive to said determined first and second phases for determining the displacement, relative to said known plane, of said preselected points; and, compensation means optically intermediate said illumination means and said image acquisition means for providing comparison information to said control means to correct for positional errors caused by said phase shifting means and said contour interval altering means.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
214 words
A system for measuring a displacement of points on a contoured surface relative to a known plane, comprising: illumination means for projecting a grating pattern on said contoured surface; image acquisition means for viewing an image of said grating pattern on said contoured surface; phase shifting means for shifting a phase of said viewed image of said grating pattern independent of variations in the displacement of points on the contoured surface relative to the known plane; contour interval altering means for altering a contour interval of the viewed image of said grating pattern; control means responsive to a plurality of phase shifted viewed images at a first contour interval for determining a first phase of preselected points on the contoured surface, said control means being further responsive to a second plurality of phase shifted viewed images at a second contour interval for determining a second phase of said preselected points, said control means having means responsive to said determined first and second phases for determining the displacement, relative to said known plane, of said preselected points; and, compensation means optically intermediate said illumination means and said image acquisition means for providing comparison information to said control means to correct for positional errors caused by said phase shifting means and said contour interval altering means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
28 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said illumination means includes a light source and an optical grating, wherein said grating pattern is projected directly on said contoured surface.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
30 words
The system of claim 2 wherein said contour interval altering means is operative to move said light source in said known plane toward or away from said image acquisition means.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of the claim 3 wherein said contour interval altering means is further operative to move said optical grating together with said light source.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
50 words
The system of claim 4 wherein said image acquisition means includes a lens having a principal axis, and wherein said contour interval altering means is operative to move said light source and optical grating vertically along a line parallel to said principal axis to thereby field shift said grating pattern.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
16 words
The system of claim 2 wherein said light source emits a narrow straight line of light.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
46 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said compensation means includes a reflective reference surface positioned in known relationship to said known plane and a pair of mirrors disposed to reflect a portion of said grating pattern into the field of view of said image acquisition means.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
34 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said contour interval altering means comprises a second illumination means spaced apart from said first illumination means for projecting a second grating pattern having a second contour interval.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
24 words
The system of claim 8 wherein said first and second illumination means project respective first and second grating patterns having different colors of light.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
28 words
The system of claim 1 further comprising a photoreactive material disposed in an optical path of said viewed image for reducing light intensity variation of said viewed image.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said illumination means includes an active device for changing said grating pattern.