Apparatus and method for characterizing fiber crimps
AssigneeHoneywell International Inc.
InventorsYejia Wu, Nicholas Leoncavallo, Jr., Thomas Yui-Tai Tam
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Abstract
Apparatus and method are described for measuring and controlling the crimp characteristics of a moving crimped tow. A light source illuminates a section of the moving crimped tow and at least one progressive scanning camera acquires a non-interlaced video image of the tow. The acquired image is digitized and a processor analyzes the non-interlaced image. Crimp characteristics are derived based on this analysis.
Claims21
A method for measuring crimp characteristics of fibers in a moving crimpin tow, said method comprising the steps of:
- a) illuminating said crimping tow with a continuous wave light source;
- b) acquiring a non-interlaced video image of the crimped tow;
- c) digitizing said video image;
- d) processing said image;
- and
- e) displaying crimp characteristics based on said processed image.
A system for measuring crimp characteristics of fibers in a moving crimped tow, said system comprising:
- a processor and associated stored program wherein the program is stored in a computer readable medium;
- a continuous wave light source positioned over said moving crimped tow for illuminating a section of said moving crimped tow;
- at least one progressive scanning camera for capturing at least one non-interlaced video image of said section of said moving crimped tow;
- digitizing means for digitizing said at least one non-interlaced video image into digital data;
- processing means for said digital data using said processor and associated stored program;
- and
- a display for displaying crimp characteristics based on said processing of said data.
A system for measuring crimp characteristics of fibers in a moving crimped tow, said system comprising:
- a processor and associated stored program wherein the program is stored in a computer readable medium;
- a continuous wave light source positioned over said moving crimped tow for illuminating a section of said moving crimped tow;
- a plurality of progressive scanning cameras for substantially covering a full width of the moving crimped tow, each one of said plurality of progressive scanning cameras capturing a non-interlaced video image of said section of said moving crimped two;
- digitizing means for digitizing the non-interlaced video image of each one of said plurality of cameras into digital data;
- processing means for said digital data using said processor and associated stored program;
- and
- a display for displaying crimp characteristics based on said processing of said data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.