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:
May. 09, 1995
Filed:
May. 14, 1993
Calvin W Henderson, Winston-Salem, NC (US);
Wallace R Lassiter, Winston-Salem, NC (US);
William R Jarvis, Winston-Salem, NC (US);
R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Winston-Salem, NC (US);
Abstract
A method of and apparatus for automatically inspecting cigarette rods for spots and stains are disclosed in which a hopper assembly apparatus is utilized to present cigarette samples one at a time to a CCD camera which takes an image of a 36 degree slice of the surface of the outer wrapper of the cigarette. The image is digitized, analyzed and stored. The cigarette is then rotated through 360 degrees and an image of each 36 degree segment of its outer surface is obtained, analyzed and the data stored. The system then selects another cigarette and repeats the inspection and evaluation process.