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:
Feb. 11, 2014
Filed:
Feb. 06, 2012
Laurens Nunnink, Simpleveld, NL;
Carl W. Gerst, Iii, Clifton Park, NY (US);
William H. Equitz, Brookline, MA (US);
Matthew D. Engle, Watertown, MA (US);
Laurens Nunnink, Simpleveld, NL;
Carl W. Gerst, III, Clifton Park, NY (US);
William H. Equitz, Brookline, MA (US);
Matthew D. Engle, Watertown, MA (US);
Cognex Corporation, Natick, MA (US);
Abstract
This invention provides a system and method for expanding the field of view of a vision system camera assembly such that the field of view is generally free of loss of normal resolution across the entire expanded field. A field of view expander includes outer mirrors that receive light from different portions of a scene. The outer mirrors direct light to tilted inner mirrors of a beam splitter that directs the light aligned with a camera axis to avoid image distortion. The inner mirrors each direct the light from each outer mirror into a strip on the sensor, and the system searches features. The adjacent fields of view include overlap regions sized and arranged to ensure a centralized feature appears fully in at least one strip. Alternatively, a moving mirror changes position between acquired image frames so that a full width of the scene is imaged in successive frames.