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US 5,103,106 AGranted
Reflective optical instrument for measuring surface reflectance
OwnerMoshe Golbersteininventor
Life of this patent
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OwnerMoshe Golbersteininventor
Estimating the term…
An optical instrument for measuring characteristics of a specimen comprising a light source to project a beam onto the surface of a specimen at a selected oblique angle of incidence .beta.. The instrument also contains a photosensor to receive the beam reflected from the specimen at the same angle .beta.. A conductor connected to the photosensor is provided for carrying current to signal conditioning hardware used to compare the current from two or more photosensors or, if present, from different segments of the same photosensor to provide information concerning the specimen. Photosensor means is also positioned facing the specimen on an optical axis located normal to the surface of the specimen and intermediate the incident and reflected beams from the light source to receive a beam reflected from the specimen normal to its surface, i.e., along the optical axis. Signals from the photosensors are fed to the signal conditioning hardware to measure the optical power and to compare signals for measuring characteristics of the surface, e.g., its reflectivity or reflectance and to locate its position and/or orientation with respect to the instrument.
An optical instrument for measuring the characteristics of a specimen having a surface comprising, a light source to provide a beam of light directed at an oblique angle .beta. with respect to the normal of the surface, said beam being reflected from the surface at the same angle .beta. with respect to the normal of the surface, said instrument having an optical axis normal to the specimen, a first photosensor means optically aligned with the reflected beam for receiving the reflected beam when the specimen is at a selected standoff distance from the instrument, said photosensor including means to detect movement of the reflected beam thereon responsive to changes in the distance of the instrument from the standoff distance and to changes in the orientation of the surface with respect to the instrument which alters the point at which the reflected beam strikes the photosensor, said photosensor thereby providing signals responsive to changes in the orientation and distance between the specimen and the instrument, means providing a second beam of light directed away from the specimen along said optical axis, and a second photosensor means optically positioned to receive the second beam of light for measuring a characteristic of the specimen.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.