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:
Dec. 30, 1997
Filed:
May. 19, 1995
David H Cooper, Saratoga, CA (US);
Other;
Abstract
A hand held intra-oral video camera (10) is provided for capturing images from inside a dental patient's mouth which has a housing (24) having a distal end (26) and a handle portion (30). Within the distal end (26) a view port (32) is located and a sensor assembly (18) is mounted. The camera (10) may include a full featured objective assembly (14) and a main lens assembly (17), for suitably manipulating image content; a reflector (16) for capturing images from an angle substantially away from a longitudinal axis (12) of the housing (24); and, an illumination assembly (20) to illuminate the surface from which images are captured. The reflector (16) may provide mirrored or conventional image orientation. Wide angles of view, high resolution, and great depth of focus are provided by the camera (10) due to the absence within it of any purely image relaying optical elements. The camera (10) may integrate with other dental tools, either in permanent or temporary modular manner. The camera (10) may also be itself modularly constructed for ease in reconfiguring, or for ease of disposal, cleaning or sterilization of patient and operator contacting portions.