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US6008905A
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Method and apparatus for determining the appearance of an object
Assignee: CORPORATION CORTEX MACHINA/CORTEX MACHINA Corp
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Filing: 1998-12-22
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Granted: 1999-12-28
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Expires: 2018-12-22
Abstract
Abstract A method for determining the appearance of an object to be replicated and an apparatus therefor are described herein. The method consists in providing a controlled illumination to illuminate a surface of the object, measuring the object with a CCD camera to collect an image map of a plurality of points on the surface and processing that information to produce an appearance mapping of the object. Calibration of the apparatus is done by measuring calibration patches illuminated with the same illumination. When the apparatus is made in view of replicating the appearance of an object, a comparison can be done by similarly producing an appearance mapping of the replicate and by comparing it to the appearance mapping of the object.
Inventors
- 👤 Pierre Breton
- 👤 Louis Drolet
- 👤 Thomas Jelonek
- 👤 Donald Griffin Koch
- 👤 Pierre-Jules Tremblay
- 👤 Peter Whaite
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 21:08
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01J; G01J3/00; G01J3/46; G01J3/463; G01B; G01B11/00; G01B11/24; G01B11/25; G01B11/2513; G01J1/00; G01J1/42; G01J1/44; G01J3/02; G01J3/0205; G01J3/0251; G01J3/465; G01J3/50; G01J3/508; G01J3/52; G01J3/524; G01J2001/4446; G01J2001/446; G01J3/0208
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 35
Claim 1
Independent Claim
64 words
A method for determining the appearance of an object comprising the steps of: illuminating a surface of the object with a controlled illumination; collecting, with a camera, color shade data corresponding to light rays reflected from a predetermined plurality of points on the illuminated surface of the object; and processing said color shade data to create at least one appearance map of the object.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
64 words
A method for determining the appearance of an object comprising the steps of: illuminating a surface of the object with a controlled illumination; collecting, with a camera, color shade data corresponding to light rays reflected from a predetermined plurality of points on the illuminated surface of the object; and processing said color shade data to create at least one appearance map of the object.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
43 words
A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said illuminating step includes the substep of supplying an illuminator assembly including at least one light generating source and at least one illumination path between said at least one light generating source and said surface.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method as recited in claim 2, wherein said light generated by said light source in said illuminating step is a time varying monochromatic light.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
36 words
A method as recited in claim 2, wherein said light generated by said light source is a white light; said white light is further modified into a time varying monochromatic light by filtering said white light.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
40 words
A method as recited in claim 3, wherein said camera is a CCD array and said color shade data is a series of measurements of said surface of the object as the wavelength of said monochromatic light varies in time.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
17 words
A method as recited in claim 5, wherein said selected wavelengths varies across the full visible spectrum.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
42 words
A method as recited in claim 5, wherein said CCD camera is provided with three sampling bands and said color shade data processing step further includes the substep of using said series of measurements to produce three samples of the light spectrum.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
34 words
A method as recited in claim 7, wherein said color shade data processing step further includes the substep of using said three samples of light spectrum and a linear transform to compute tristimulus values.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
74 words
A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said color shade data processing step further includes the substep of performing a shade classification; said shade classification substep including the substeps of: sampling color pixel values from shade tabs to produce a shade guide; and comparing said color shade data to shade guide to determine a shade value for at least one of said plurality of points on said illuminated surface of the object .
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
19 words
A method as recited in claim 9 wherein said shade guide is in the form of a lookup table.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method as recited in claim 9, wherein said shade tab colors correspond to the colors of one of known ceramic powder, resin and composite.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
18 words
A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said at least one appearance map is a shade map.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said at least one appearance map is a translucency map; said translucency map including at least one translucency index.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method as recited in claim 13, wherein said at least one translucency index being determined with respect to a reference point; said reference point being one of said predetermined plurality of points.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
19 words
A method as recited in claim 14, wherein said reference point is from an opaque region of the object.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
17 words
A method as recited in claim 14, wherein said reference point is obtained by an iterative procedure.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
37 words
A method as recited in claim 14, wherein said at least one translucency index is based on the median over a plurality of translucency values; said plurality of translucency values calculated from the value of neighbouring points.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
30 words
A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said color shade data processing step further includes the substep of processing said color shade data to obtain a false color map.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
26 words
A method as recited in claim 18, wherein said false color map includes at least one color corresponding to the color of a known porcelain powder.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method as recited in claim 18, wherein said false color map includes at least one color corresponding to the color of a known resin.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
22 words
A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of calibrating said camera before said color shade data processing step.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
47 words
A method as recited in claim 21, wherein calibration of said camera consists of measuring a first calibration target having known color shade values and inferring a mathematical transform to convert the measured color shade values into said known color shade values of said first calibration target.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method as recited in claim 22, wherein said first calibration target is a plurality of patches of known color shades and translucencies.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
49 words
A method as recited in claim 22, wherein said calibrating step further includes a spatial correction substep; said spatial correction substep consisting in measuring a second calibration target having a uniform color shade and to compute and apply a mathematical spatial correction function to compensate for measured spatial variations.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
20 words
A method as recited in claim 21, further comprising the step of verifying the calibration after said data collecting step.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the object is selected from the group consisting of a tooth, flesh and synthetic materials.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
22 words
A method as recited in claim 26, wherein said synthetic material is selected from the group consisting of resin, acrylic and plastic.
Claim 29
Independent Claim
134 words
An apparatus for determining the color of an object, said apparatus comprising; an illuminator assembly to produce a controlled illumination onto a surface of the object; said illuminator assembly including at least one light generating source and at least one illumination path between said at least one light source and said object to project said generated light on the object; a camera to collect light reflected from a plurality of points on the surface of the illuminated object; said camera producing a first set of data consisting of a spectral image map of the illuminated surface of the object; a controller to control said at least one light source and said camera and to process said first set of data to create at least one appearance map of the illuminated surface of the object.
Claim 30
Independent Claim
134 words
An apparatus for determining the color of an object, said apparatus comprising; an illuminator assembly to produce a controlled illumination onto a surface of the object; said illuminator assembly including at least one light generating source and at least one illumination path between said at least one light source and said object to project said generated light on the object; a camera to collect light reflected from a plurality of points on the surface of the illuminated object; said camera producing a first set of data consisting of a spectral image map of the illuminated surface of the object; a controller to control said at least one light source and said camera and to process said first set of data to create at least one appearance map of the illuminated surface of the object.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
19 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 28, wherein said light source is configured to produce light from selected wavelengths.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
19 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 28, wherein said at least one illumination path is a telecentric optical system.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
29 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 30, wherein said telecentric optical system further includes a mirror to project said light at an angle on said surface of the object.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
14 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 28, wherein said camera is a CCD camera.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
42 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 28, further comprising an output device selecting from the group consisting of a display monitor, a disk drive, a CD-drive, a computer memory, a printing device, a frame grabber data acquisition board and a molding apparatus.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2002-12-27 | 2003-06-28 | 2003-12-28 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2006-12-27 | 2007-06-28 | 2007-12-28 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2010-12-27 | 2011-06-28 | 2011-12-28 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |