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:
Jul. 07, 1998
Filed:
Sep. 12, 1996
Lloyd G Allred, Bountiful, UT (US);
Abstract
A process and system for determining the integrity of an object by analyzing its dynamic heat properties is disclosed. A properly functioning reference object is heated and an infrared camera is positioned above the object. A digital computer collects the infrared images of the object and analyzes its dynamic heat properties. Only heat changes within predefined regions of the object are analyzed and the data is reduced to a peak temperature across each region for a given time. This data is stored and used for future reference. Next, a test object is sampled in the same manner. The reference and test object data is then compared by employing a complex neural network. The neural network uses confidence estimates and historical data on similar reference and test objects to determine the integrity of the object. Thermal images of objects under test are graphically displayed on a video screen. Out-of-profile regions are indicated on the thermal image by displaying the region's actual heating rate and a range of acceptable heating rates.