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:
Sep. 04, 2001
Filed:
Apr. 28, 2000
John M. Herron, Gibsonia, PA (US);
Other;
Abstract
A noncontacting method of inspecting a transparent article in order to determine the thickness thereof including: directing a light beam having generally parallel rays onto a first point of the exterior surface of the article, directing reflected light from the first portion onto a first sensor, establishing relative movement between the light beam and the article to a second point where the light refracted into the article is directed out of the first point and onto the first sensor, and employing the reflected and refracted light to determine wall thickness of the article. The method may be repeated a plurality of times in order to determine wall thickness of the article at a number of locations. The angle of the wall being inspected is preferably determined in order to enhance the accuracy of the wall thickness determination. The apparatus of the present invention includes a light source, a first sensor for receiving light reflected from a first point on the exterior surface of the article and converting the light into a corresponding electrical signal. A first sensor also receives light entering at a second point, refracted into the article and reflected from the rear surface of the article through the same first point and converts that refracted light into a corresponding electrical signal and processor means are provided for converting the reflected and refracted light, and the relative beam movement into a determination of wall thickness at the first point. A measurement based on the angles of the wall at the first point and the second point is determined in order to enhance accuracy of the thickness determination.