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:
Mar. 18, 2003
Filed:
Jul. 17, 2000
Ikuo Nishimoto, Tokyo, JP;
Yamatake Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A ball detecting apparatus having a simple structure and being capable of surely detecting balls carried in a tube using transparent liquid as a carrier without being affected by bubbles produced in the tube. The ball detecting apparatus has a surface light source for projecting diffused light having a predetermined beam cross section and a predetermined beam spread angle, from a side of a tube in which balls are carried, into the tube . A photo detector is arranged opposite to the surface light source with the tube between. The photo detector receives a component of the diffused light that travels directly toward a light receiving area and/or a component of the diffused light that has been deflected by a bubble produced in the transparent liquid to travel toward the receiving area. The light receiving area is adapted to be able to be completely shielded from the diffused light by the balls. Judging means judges the presence of the balls in the tube based on a light receiving signal sent from the photo detector.