Planar Electroluminescent Illuminator for Recessed Surface Inspection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional light sources fail to uniformly illuminate recessed reflective surfaces, leading to hot spots, shadows, and inadequate lighting of small structures, which hampers visual inspection and machine vision applications.
Innovation Solution
A planar electroluminescent illuminator is positioned within a fixture to direct uniform light onto recessed surfaces, using an aperture alignment system that ensures optimal illumination for imaging devices, overcoming the limitations of conventional light sources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If conventional light sources (ring lamps, hemispherical reflecting illuminators, grazing illuminators) are used to illuminate recessed reflective surfaces, then the light sources can be positioned externally, but they create hot spots and shadows on the surface, failing to provide uniform illumination
Solution Approach 1:
The illuminator is nested within the housing that contains the recessed surface, with the illuminator positioned inside the housing aperture. This nested configuration allows the light source to be placed in a position that enables uniform illumination of the recessed surface while avoiding external positioning limitations of conventional light sources.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from external light sources illuminating the surface from outside the housing to an internal illuminator positioned within the housing aperture. This dimensional change in light source positioning enables the light to be directed precisely into the recessed areas, eliminating hot spots and shadows by illuminating the surface from a different spatial dimension.
2Area of stationary object
If larger light sources are used to provide sufficient illumination area, then the illumination coverage increases, but the physical spacing requirements exceed the short focal length capabilities of the camera
Solution Approach 1:
The illuminator is nested within the housing aperture, positioning the light source close to the recessed surface. This nested configuration reduces the physical spacing between the light source and the surface while still providing adequate illumination coverage, thereby satisfying the short focal length constraint of the camera.
Solution Approach 2:
The illuminator is designed as a planar component with an aperture that segments the light emission pattern. This segmentation allows the light to be directed in a controlled manner into the recessed areas, providing sufficient illumination coverage without requiring the illuminator to be physically distant from the surface.
3Length of stationary object
If conventional light sources are positioned close to the surface for short focal camera operation, then the spacing requirement is satisfied, but the light cannot be directed sufficiently into recesses, creating shadows
Solution Approach 1:
The internal positioning of the illuminator within the housing aperture changes the spatial dimension of light emission. This allows the light to be directed precisely into the recessed areas from an internal perspective, improving penetration into recesses while maintaining close physical spacing for short focal camera operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The illuminator is designed with local quality characteristics, where the light emission is optimized for specific directions and areas. The planar structure with aperture creates localized light paths that are specifically directed into the recessed surfaces, ensuring adequate illumination in those specific regions while maintaining close proximity to the surface.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution provides uniform illumination, reducing shadows and hot spots, enhancing both manual and automated inspection capabilities by ensuring consistent lighting for recessed surfaces, thereby improving the detection of defects in machine vision systems.
Implementation Method 1
A planar electroluminescent illuminator is held in the fixture within a pocket of the fixture in which the housing is received. The illuminator uniformly emits light in response to electrical power applied thereto
Data Source
AI summary
A fixture retains a housing in a fixed position relative to an imaging device. The housing has an aperture through which a surface recessed into the housing is aligned with the imaging device by the fixture. A planar electroluminescent illuminator is held in the fixture within a pocket of the fixture in which the housing is received. The illuminator uniformly emits light in response to electrical power applied thereto and the illuminator has an aperture formed therein held in alignment by the fixture with the aperture in the housing such that the light emitted by the illuminator is directed towards the recessed surface. An imaging device generates an image of the recessed surface through the aperture in the housing and the aperture in the illuminator.