Dolan-jenner Industries, Inc.

Dolan-jenner

Kurt Zwirner

John Stark

Tamas Hetenyi

Bernard J Dolan

Randal Chinnock

Ralph Grabowski

Edmond Vinarub

Phillip Carvey

A linear lighting system includes a rod made of a material such as glass surrounded by an outer layer of cladding of lower refractive index than the glass. The rod is ground flat on one side to produce a flat rough surface with the texture oriented transverse to the longitudinal axis of the rod. Light from a light source enters the rod at one end of the rod. As the light propagates down the rod, it is scattered by the rough flat surface. Some of the scattered light strikes the rounded surface at an angle which allows it to pass through the cladding and escape the rod, thus producing uniform linear lighting emitted from the round side of the rod.

Linear backlighting system and method

A backlighting system is comprised of a light source, a sensing portion and an imaging portion. The light source may be a linear backlight that has few hot spots and provides uniform lighting oriented primarily in a single dimension. Alternatively it may be an area backlight that provides backlighting in a uniform manner across two-dimensions. Furthermore, a line light source may be provided that provides a relatively large line source of light oriented almost exclusively in a single dimension. The imaging portion of the machine vision system preferably includes an element for homogenizing the received image onto the imaging array. The homogenization element may adopt either a dispersing approach or a condensing approach.

Lighting and detection system

A target is viewed by means of a coherent fiber optic bundle comprising a two dimensional array of fibers. A one dimensional linear light detector array, fixed relative to the coherent fiber optic bundle, receives an image of the target and detects light through only a slice of the image to provide dimensional information with respect to the edges of the target. A polyfurcated bundle may view different linear dimensions of the target and allow for the use of the single linear array to detect the multiple dimensions. Electronics provide for detection of target edges by means of a curve fitting technique, computation of dimensions and control of light source intensity and exposure time. Illumination is by a noncoherent light source and a collimator positioned behind the target or by a fiber optic bundle and a light guide plate positioned to illuminate the target from the front. An air purge of the distal optics is provided from a frustoconical annulus formed between two members and from pressurized gas introduced between the annulus and the optics.

Fiber optic imaging system for on-line monitoring

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Melrose, MA, United States of America

Kurt Zwirner