Optical Textile Cord Counting for Rubber Sheet Calendering

The patent introduces an optical intermediary system consisting of light sources and cameras that mediate between the textile cords and the detection system. The light sources illuminate the cords at specific angles, and the cameras capture the reflected or scattered light, creating an optical intermediary representation that provides sufficient contrast between the textile cords and rubber material, resolving the contrast information loss problem of x-ray detection.

The patent utilizes optical reflection and scattering properties to create visual contrast differences. By illuminating the textile cords with light and capturing the reflected light patterns with cameras, the system generates images where the cords appear with distinct brightness and texture characteristics compared to the rubber material, effectively using optical 'color' and intensity changes to achieve detectable contrast.

The patent designs the imaging system to perform multiple functions simultaneously: the same light sources and cameras used for cord detection also provide illumination and imaging for defect detection, and the captured images can be processed to extract various parameters including cord count, spacing, and defects. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated sensors for each measurement task, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while maintaining high measurement precision.

The patent creates optical copies (images) of the textile cords and sheet surface using cameras. These digital images serve as replicas that can be analyzed without physically contacting or disrupting the actual production process. The image processing system extracts cord parameters from these copies, enabling precise measurement while keeping the physical detection hardware relatively simple.

The patent replaces mechanical displacement sensors with an optical imaging system. Instead of using mechanical sensors to physically measure cord positions and calculate parameters, the system uses light sources and cameras to capture images, then applies image processing and signal analysis (such as Fourier transform or autocorrelation) to extract cord parameters directly from the image data, substituting mechanical measurement with optical and computational methods.

The patent transitions from one-dimensional mechanical displacement measurement to two-dimensional optical imaging measurement. The camera captures two-dimensional images of the cord pattern, and through image processing, extracts one-dimensional cord parameters such as count and spacing. This dimensional transition allows the system to obtain measurement information from a different domain (optical space) without requiring mechanical displacement sensors.