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. 16, 2002
Filed:
Sep. 11, 1998
Masataka Shiratsuchi, Kawasaki, JP;
Tutomu Saito, Yokohama, JP;
Kei Shimura, Yokohama, JP;
Yoshinori Honguh, Yokohama, JP;
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Kawasaki-shi, JP;
Abstract
The present invention provides a step difference detection apparatus including an illumination section for emitting illumination light, an incident section for making the illumination light emitted by the illumination section be incident on a plurality of small illumination regions on an object carried in a predetermined carrier direction from different directions, an image sensing section for inputting an image of the regions on the object illuminated with the illumination light which is made to be incident by the incident section, and a detection section for detecting a step difference on the object on the basis of the image sensed by the image sensing section.