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. 12, 2003
Filed:
Dec. 30, 1999
Abstract
A surface inspecting apparatus comprises an image achieving unit for achieving an image of a surface of an object; and a controller for providing the symmetry feature of the spot or contaminant by using the magnitude of the intensity gradient and the orientation of the intensity gradient for each pixel of the achieved surface image to thereby detect a spot or contaminant on the surface. The controller detects the spot or contaminant by using a symmetry magnitude map formed by the magnitude of the intensity gradient and the orientation of the intensity gradient of each pixel, after achieving the magnitude of the intensity gradient and the orientation of the intensity gradient by using a gradient operator on the achieved surface image, wherein the symmetry magnitude map provides the internal symmetry feature of the spot or contaminant.