Method and apparatus for object inspection

Abstract

Abstract A method and apparatus for the inspection and handling of surface level defects is taught. Briefly stated, the object to be inspected is positioned. A laser light (195) is polarized into at least one orientation and then reflected off of a rotated polygon mirror (210). This causes the light to "move" over the area of interest. A plurality of fiber optic bundles (42,56,58,60,62) are used to receive and conduct the reflected light back to photomultipliers. The photomultiplers convert the light into electrical signals while associated electronics digitize the signals, keeping track of pixels which are produced. By keeping track of pixel edge boundaries and determining if certain thresholds are exceeded or not met as appropriate, the area of interest can be checked for a variety of defects. By comparison of the defects to a reference base, the defects and hence the items inspected can be categorized.

Inventors

• 👤 Kenneth Alfred Bird
• 👤 Douglas Yong-Shik Kim
• 👤 Stephen John Kish
• 👤 Julius Jacob Lambright
• 👤 Kurt Richard Muller
• 👤 Lawrence Daniel Thorp

Bibliographic Details