Ncr Canada Ltd. -- Ncr Canada Ltee

Virtek Vision Intelligence Robotics Technologies Corporation

John T King

Andrew K Wong

Mohamed Salem Kamel

Apparatus and method for inspection of surface quality of smooth surfaces

An imaging apparatus comprising an array having a central axis and a predetermined number of light responsive elements positioned in the array, with each light responsive element producing an output in response to light impinging thereon and an optical system including a lens for directing light from an image of a predetermined size onto a first number of said light responsive elements which said first number is less than said predetermined number. The apparatus also includes a selection unit for selecting a said first number of said light responsive elements which are positioned with regard to said central axis, means for receiving the outputs of said selected first number of light responsive members and also for producing a stream of data therefrom; and a switch unit for adjustably selecting the particular said first number of light responsive elements upon which light from said image impinges. The method of this invention comprises selecting a step size by which the first number of light responsive members selected may be shifted, mechanically aligning the optical system to enable the incident light from an image to fall along an initial position in the array, and selecting the particular light responsive elements which actually receive the incident light by sequentially stepping a contiguous group of the first number of the light responsive elements from the initial position until the particular light responsive members selected correspond to those actually receiving the incident light.

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Waterloo, Canada

John T King