US 6,008,905 A · Method and apparatus for determining the appearance of an object

Abstract

A method for determining the appearance of an object to be replicated and an apparatus therefor are described herein. The method consists in providing a controlled illumination to illuminate a surface of the object, measuring the object with a CCD camera to collect an image map of a plurality of points on the surface and processing that information to produce an appearance mapping of the object. Calibration of the apparatus is done by measuring calibration patches illuminated with the same illumination. When the apparatus is made in view of replicating the appearance of an object, a comparison can be done by similarly producing an appearance mapping of the replicate and by comparing it to the appearance mapping of the object.

Claims33

Dependent claims

A method for determining the appearance of an object comprising the steps of:

illuminating a surface of the object with a controlled illumination;
collecting, with a camera, color shade data corresponding to light rays reflected from a predetermined plurality of points on the illuminated surface of the object;
and
processing said color shade data to create at least one appearance map of the object.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application

09/219,132Filed 22 Dec 1998

Granted

28 Dec 1999

Term ends

Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification8 codes

G01J 3/46
Spectrometry; Spectrophotometry; Monochromators; Measuring colours: measurement of colour; Colour measuring devices, e.g. colorimeters
G01J 3/0251
Optical elements not provided otherwise, e.g. optical manifolds, diffusers, windows: colorimeters making use of an integrating sphere
G01J 3/465
Measurement of colour; Colour measuring devices, e.g. colorimeters: taking into account the colour perception of the eye; using tristimulus detection
G01J 3/50
Measurement of colour; Colour measuring devices, e.g. colorimeters: using electric radiation detectors

Method and apparatus for determining the appearance of an object

Life of this patent

Method and apparatus for determining the appearance of an object

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims33