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, 1999
Filed:
Feb. 26, 1997
Steven Joseph King, Merrimack, NH (US);
Jonathan Edmund Ludlow, Lexington, MA (US);
Jon Chouinard, Goffstown, NH (US);
George Schurr, Fort Thomas, KY (US);
Acuity Imaging, LLC, Nashua, NH (US);
Abstract
An inspection system and method uses a ring illumination apparatus to illuminate one or more reflective elements, such as solder balls on an electronic component or other protruding surfaces or objects. The ring illumination apparatus includes a substantially ring-shaped light source that provides a substantially even illumination across the one or more reflective elements. An illumination detection device detects light beams reflecting off of the illuminated reflective elements for forming a reflected image. A method of processing the reflected image includes locating one or more edges of each reflected image element representing an illuminated reflective element. The edges of the reflected image elements are located by determining the maximum intensity gradient in the pixels forming the reflected image element. The inspection system and method thereby determines various characteristics such as the absence/presence, location, pitch, size and shape of each reflective element.