System for measuring angular deviation in a transparency
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
InventorsHarry L. Task, Louis V. Genco, Kenneth L. Smith, Albert G. Dabbs
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Abstract
An improved system for measuring absolute angular deviation through transparencies, such as aircraft windscreens, uses an incoherent light source and a target configuration in the form of an opaque slide with a transparent "L"-shaped pattern. The positions of images of the legs of the "L" passed through the transparency are detected by CCD arrays for measurement of the azimuth and elevation components of angular deviation for each tested point on the transparency, uncontaminated by lateral displacement errors.
Claims6
In an improved system for measuring angular deviation in a transparency, the combination comprising:
- (a) an opaque object having a transparent pattern formed therein by a pair of transversely-aligned segments;
- (b) an incoherent light source for illuminating said object;
- (c) means for projecting an image of said transversely-aligned segments through a test region of space;
- (d) means for receiving said projected image and for transmitting it, after having removed any effects of lateral displacement of the image, into first and second channels;
- and
- (e) first and second linear detector arrays, each being positioned in one of said first and second channels for detecting a lateral shift in the position of the image of said transparent pattern segments due to angular deviation for a particular point on said transparency, the lateral shift occurring, if at all, when the transparency is inserted into the test area.
In an improved system for measuring angular deviation in a transparency, such as the windscreen of an aircraft, the combination comprising:
- (a) a target in the form of an opaque slide with transparent "L"-shaped pattern;
- (b) an incoherent light source for illuminating said target;
- (c) means for forming and transmitting an image of said "L"-shaped pattern through said transparency and free of the effects of lateral displacement into a pair of orthogonally-arranged channels;
- and
- (d) a pair of linear CCD (charge coupled device) arrays, each array being located in one of said channels for detecting the position of the image of one leg of said "L"-shaped pattern after being transmitted through said transparency and into said channel and thereby facilitating measurement of azimuth and elevation components of angular deviation in said transparency.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.