The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 24, 1993
Filed:
Oct. 23, 1991
R Emmett Hughlett, Waterbury, VT (US);
Karl Suss America, Incorporated, Waterbury Center, VT (US);
Abstract
A method of, and apparatus for, automatically focussing a microscope objective (18). The apparatus includes an image detector (26) for obtaining an image, through the microscope objective, of a surface having at least one visual feature. The apparatus further includes a processor (28) for determining, from the image, a plurality of overlapping curves, each of which represents a quality of focus for different areas of the feature. The apparatus also includes an actuator (32), controlled by the processor, for positioning the microscope objective at an optimum focus position, relative to the surface, based upon the shape, specifically the sign of the slope, of the overlapping curves.