Image surface scanning system

Abstract

Abstract AN OPTICAL SCANNING SYSTEM ESPECIALLY SUITED FOR STRIP MAPPING UTILIZES IMAGE SURFACE SCANNING OF AN ARCUATE PRIMARY IMAGE BY MEANS OF A CONTINUOUSLY ROTATING CIRCULAR ARRAY OF ROOF REFLECTOR PAIRS, WITH THE EDGE OF THE DIHEDRAL ANGLE OF EACH ROOF PAIR SPACED FROM THE AXIS ROTATION BY ONE-HALF THE RADIUS OF CURVATURE OF THE PRIMARY IMAGE. THE PRIMARY IMAGE SURFACE MAY BE EITHER CONVEX OR CONCAVE TOWARD THE INCIDENT RADIATION. A PRE FERRED ALL MIRROR SYSTEM EMPLOYS AS PRIMARY OBJECTIVE A SPHERICALLY CONCAVE MIRROR WITH REFLECTING SCHMIDT CORRECTOR PLATE USED IN A TILTED OFF-AXIS CONFIGURATION WHICH PERMITS UNOBSCURED USE OF A SEMICIRCULAR AREA OF THE PRIMARY MIRROR. A REFLECTIVE RELAY OBJECTIVE COMPRISING A SLIGHTLY TILTED TORIC SURFACE RECEIVES RADIATION FROM THE SCANNING ROOFS AND REFOCUSES THE IMAGE WITH FURTHER CORRECTIONS AT A FIELD STOP TO ENERGIZE THE SENSOR OR FIELD OF SENSORS. DURING TRANSITION BETWEEN ADJACENT SCANNING ROOFS UNWANTED RADIATION IS CUT OUT BY INTERMITTENT INSERTION OF AN OPTICAL SWITCH AT THE PRIMARY IMAGE SURFACE. CONVENIENT MEANS ARE DESCRIBED FOR GENERATING MULTILEVEL CALIBRATION SIGNALS. D R A W I N G

Inventors

• 👤 C Harris
• 👤 R Neiswander
• 👤 P Sungino

Bibliographic Details