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:
Jan. 12, 2010
Filed:
Oct. 30, 2007
Kouji Takemura, Minato-ku, Tokyo, JP;
Kazuyuki Egashira, Minato-ku, Tokyo, JP;
Yutaka Tanaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, JP;
Kouji Takemura, Minato-ku, Tokyo, JP;
Kazuyuki Egashira, Minato-ku, Tokyo, JP;
Yutaka Tanaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, JP;
Other;
Abstract
Thermal-type infrared imaging device comprises an infrared ray detection unit in which pixels, each of which includes a bolometer, are arranged two-dimensionally; and a signal processing unit that sequentially reads signal of each bolometer in synchronization with switching operation of a horizontal shift register and a vertical shift register, integrates the read signal using an integration circuit, and outputs the integrated signal. The signal processing unit is configured so that it can set a sensitivity (for example, voltage applied to bolometer, capacitance of a capacitor in the integration circuit, and/or period of time for integrating the signal) for each pixel according to a predetermined pattern in synchronization with switching operation for classifying a plurality of pixels into a plurality of types of pixels for which different sensitivities are set, for example, high-sensitivity pixelswith a narrow temperature measurement range and a high temperature resolution and low-sensitivity pixelswith a wider temperature measurement range and a lower temperature resolution than those of the high-sensitivity pixels