System and method for focusing, imaging and measuring areas on a workpiece engraved by an engraver

A system for imaging an area of a cylinder in an engraver, said system comprising:

• an imager for capturing an image of said engraved area;
• said imager comprising an illuminator capable of illuminating said area to a plurality of light intensity levels;
• wherein said system comprises a video processor coupled to said imager for generating at least one dimension values corresponding to said image;
• said video processor comprising an array generator for receiving said image and for generating an array of data corresponding to said portion;
• wherein said area comprises a focus area and an engraved area, said illuminator comprising a light calibrator for illuminating said focus area to a first predetermined light intensity and said engraved area with a second predetermined light intensity.

A system for imaging an area of a cylinder in an engraver, said system comprising:

• an imager for capturing an image of said engraved area;
• said imager comprising an illuminator capable of illuminating said area to a plurality of light intensity levels;
• wherein said image comprises an undesired image having an associated plurality of chords, said system further comprising:
• an image eliminator for eliminating any of said plurality of chords which correspond to said undesired image.

A system for imaging an area of a cylinder in an engraver, said system comprising:

• an imager for capturing an image of said engraved area;
• said imager comprising an illuminator capable of illuminating said area to a plurality of light intensity levels;
• wherein said system further comprises:
• a discontinuity locator for locating a discontinuity in said image.

A system for imaging an area of a cylinder in an engraver, said system comprising:

• an imager for capturing an image of said engraved area;
• said imager comprising an illuminator capable of illuminating said area to a plurality of light intensity levels;
• wherein said imager comprises a light source, said system further comprising a light calibrator for calibrating the imager;
• wherein said light calibrator comprises a light calibration processor for generating an intensity index and focal index and also for determining an approximate focal distance using said intensity index and a actual focal distance using said focal index.

A method for imaging an area of a surface of a cylinder comprising the steps of:

• supporting the cylinder on an engraver in operative relationship with an engraving head;
• imaging the area of the cylinder with an imager coupled to the engraver to provide image data;
• and
• focusing said imager on a surface of said cylinder in response to the image data.

A method for imaging an area of a surface of a cylinder comprising the steps of:

• supporting the cylinder on an engraver in operative relationship with an engraving head;
• imaging the area of the cylinder with an imager associated with said engraving head to provide image data;
• focusing said imager on a surface of said cylinder;
• and
• illuminating said area with a first light intensity during said focusing step and a second light intensity during said imaging step.

A method for imaging an area of a surface of a cylinder comprising the stems of:

• supporting the cylinder on an engraver in operative relationship with an engraving head;
• imaging the area of the cylinder with an imager associated with said engraving head to provide image data;
• focusing said imager on a surface of said cylinder;
• focusing on a first focal area during said focusing step;
• and
• imaging a second focal area during said imaging step.

A method for imaging an area of a surface of a cylinder comprising the steps of:

• supporting the cylinder on an engraver in operative relationship with an engraving head;
• imaging the area of the cylinder with an imager associated with said engraving head to provide image data;
• focusing said imager on a surface of said cylinder;
• determining an intensity index using said image data;
• locating a first focal distance using said intensity index;
• and
• driving said imager to said first focal distance in order to image said area.

A method for imaging an area of a surface of a cylinder comprising the steps of:

• supporting the cylinder on an engraver in operative relationship with an engraving head;
• imaging the area of the cylinder with an imager associated with said engraving head to provide image data;
• focusing said imager on a surface of said cylinder;
• processing said image data to eliminate undesirable portions of said image;
• organizing said image data into a table;
• and
• identifying a plurality of connecting chords in adjacent rows using said table.

A method for imaging an area of a surface of a cylinder comprising the steps of:

• supporting the cylinder on an engraver in operative relationship with an engraving head;
• imaging the area of the cylinder with an imager associated with said engraving head to provide image data;
• focusing said imager on a surface of said cylinder;
• filling discontinuities in said image data;
• organizing said image data into a table;
• and
• locating said discontinuities using said table.

A method for imaging an area of a surface of a cylinder comprising the steps of:

• supporting the cylinder on an engraver in operative relationship with an engraving head;
• imaging the area of the cylinder with an imager associated with said engraving head to provide image data;
• focusing said imager on a surface of said cylinder;
• filling discontinuities in said image data;
• said discontinuities comprise at least one gap in a cell wall on a surface of the cylinder, said filling step comprising the steps of:
• locating any image data associated with said gap;
• and
• filling in said image data to eliminate said gap to provide a continuous image data.

A method for imaging an area of a surface of a cylinder comprising the steps of:

• supporting the cylinder on an engraver in operative relationship with an engraving head;
• imaging the area of the cylinder with an imager associated with said engraving head to provide image data;
• focusing said imager on a surface of said cylinder;
• and
• adjusting a relative position between a surface of said cylinder and said imager.

A method for imaging an area of a surface of a cylinder comprising the steps of:

• supporting the cylinder on an engraver in operative relationship with an engraving head;
• imaging the area of the cylinder with an imager associated with said engraving head to provide image data;
• focusing said imager on a surface of said cylinder;
• and
• adjusting an angular position of said imager.

A method for imaging an area of a surface of a cylinder comprising the steps of:

• supporting the cylinder on an engraver in operative relationship with an engraving head;
• imaging the area of the cylinder with an imager associated with said engraving head to provide image data;
• focusing said imager on a surface of said cylinder;
• and
• determining a best-focus position for said imager.

A method for imaging an area of a surface of a cylinder comprising the steps of:

• supporting the cylinder on an engraver in operative relationship with an engraving head;
• imaging the area of the cylinder with an imager associated with said engraving head to provide image data;
• focusing said imager on a surface of said cylinder;
• and
• adjusting a shoe into a shoe position.