Patent EP0382687A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
Patent EP0048346A1 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0048346A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Automatic measurement of areas
Assignee: University of Birmingham
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Filing: 1981-08-24
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2001-08-24
Abstract
Abstract The invention provides an apparatus for determining the size of a test piece (10) comprising means to support the test piece (10) in a predetermined position, means (S) to direct a medium onto the test piece (10), means (11) responsive to said medium to provide a signal (30) which varies in accordance with variations in intensity of said medium reflected from or transmitted from or past the test piece (10), electrical processing means (12) to process the signal (30) to provide an output (0) dependent upon the size of the test piece (I) which can be interpreted to determine the size of the test piece (I).
Inventors
- 👤 Donald Arthur Hobbs
- 👤 Geoffrey Whaley Rowe
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 19:30
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01N; G01N3/00; G01N3/40; G01N3/42; G01B; G01B11/00; G01B11/28; G01B11/285; G01N2203/00; G01N2203/0058; G01N2203/0076; G01N2203/0078; G01N2203/008; G01N2203/0098; G01N2203/02; G01N2203/06; G01N2203/0641; G01N2203/0647; G01N2203/067; G01N2203/0682
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
135 words
An apparatus for determining the size of a test piece (10) or of part (I) of a test piece (10) comprising means to support the test piece (10) in a predetermined position, means (15) to direct a medium onto the test piece (10), means (11) responsive to said medium to provide a signal (30) which varies in accordance with variations in intensity of said medium reflected from or transmitted from or past said test piece (10) or part (I) of the test piece (10), electrical processing means (20) to process the signal to provide an output (0) dependent upon the size of the test piece (10) or the part (I) of the test piece which can be interpreted to determine the size of the test piece (10), or part (I) of the test piece (10).
Claim 2
Independent Claim
135 words
An apparatus for determining the size of a test piece (10) or of part (I) of a test piece (10) comprising means to support the test piece (10) in a predetermined position, means (15) to direct a medium onto the test piece (10), means (11) responsive to said medium to provide a signal (30) which varies in accordance with variations in intensity of said medium reflected from or transmitted from or past said test piece (10) or part (I) of the test piece (10), electrical processing means (20) to process the signal to provide an output (0) dependent upon the size of the test piece (10) or the part (I) of the test piece which can be interpreted to determine the size of the test piece (10), or part (I) of the test piece (10).
Claim 3
Independent Claim
136 words
A method of determining the size of a test piece or part (I) of a test piece (10) including the steps of directing a medium onto the test piece or part of a test piece, sensing the medium reflected from or transmitted from or past said test piece or part of the test piece with a medium responsive means (11) which provides a signal (30) which varies in accordance with variations in intensity of said reflected or transmitted medium, to an electrical processing means (12), processing said signal with said electrical processing means (12) to provide an output (0) dependent upon the size of the test piece (10) or part (I) of the test piece, interpreting said output (0) to determine the size of the test piece (10), or part (I) of the test piece (10).
Claim 4
Independent Claim
136 words
A method of determining the size of a test piece or part (I) of a test piece (10) including the steps of directing a medium onto the test piece or part of a test piece, sensing the medium reflected from or transmitted from or past said test piece or part of the test piece with a medium responsive means (11) which provides a signal (30) which varies in accordance with variations in intensity of said reflected or transmitted medium, to an electrical processing means (12), processing said signal with said electrical processing means (12) to provide an output (0) dependent upon the size of the test piece (10) or part (I) of the test piece, interpreting said output (0) to determine the size of the test piece (10), or part (I) of the test piece (10).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
71 words
The invention according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the medium is visible light and the medium responsive means comprises a television camera (11) the electrical processing means (12) integrating each line signal (32) in the signal (30) from the television camera (11) for a single frame to give an output (0) dependent upon the total area of the test piece (10) or part (I) of the test piece (10).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
29 words
The invention according to claim 3 wherein an image (15) of the test piece (10) or part (I) of the test piece (10) is displayed on a screen (14).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
70 words
The invention according to claim 3 or claim 4 wherein the test piece (10) or part (I) of the test piece (10) is of regular configuration and in known orientation, and the line signal (16) in the signal (30) from the television camera (11) corresponding to the largest horizontal dimension of the image (15) is selected by said electrical processing means (12) and further processed to provide the output (0).
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
37 words
The invention according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the test piece (10) comprises a metal block having an indentation (I), the indentation (I) having been caused by the indenter (D') of a hardness tester.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
46 words
The invention according to claim 6 wherein the electrical processing means (12) further comprises means (21) programmed to convert the output (0) which is dependent on the area of the indentation (I), into a hardness number on a known scale and to display said hardness number.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
71 words
The invention according to claim 6 or claim 7 wherein the indenter (D') is of inverted pyramid configuration, and the indentation (I) is illuminated and the light reflected from one facet of the indentation (I) only directed to said medium responsive means (11) and not from the non- indented surface, electrical processing means (12) processing the signal (30) to give an,output (0) dependent upon the total area of the indentation (I).
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
90 words
The invention according to any one of claims 6 to 8 wherein the indenter (D') comprises a ball and the medium which is reflected from the area surrounding the indentation (I), passes to said medium responsive means (11) to provide said signal (30), an obturating means (P) being provided in the path of said medium, prior to the medium impinging upon the test piece, said indentation (I) to prevent medium falling on or being reflected from the bottom of the ball shaped indentation (I) into said medium responsive means (11).
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
49 words
The invention according to any one of claims 6 to 9 wherein the medium responsive means (11), in use, is positioned or positionable at a location substantially coincident, relative to the indentation (I, I'), with the support means of the indenter when the indenter (D, D') made the indentation.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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