Television – Special applications – Film – disc or card scanning
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-25
2003-10-21
Le, Vu (Department: 2613)
Television
Special applications
Film, disc or card scanning
C356S605000, C356S618000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06636255
ABSTRACT:
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the priorities of Japanese Patent Application Nos. 10-32214, 10-32215, and 10-32216, each filed on Jan. 29, 1998, and Japanese Patent Application No. 10-98376 filed on Mar. 26, 1998 which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a three-dimensional image scanner for capturing three-dimensional form information and pattern information of an object to be measured and generating a three-dimensional image of the object; and, in an optical apparatus in which a light source and a heat-sensitive section are accommodated in a common housing, to a heat-insulating device provided with a heat-insulating partition for inhibiting the heat generated by the light source from being transmitted to the heat-sensitive section.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the fields of computer graphics, plastic surgery, and the like, a three-dimensional image scanner is employed as an input device for three-dimensional images. In general, the three-dimensional image scanner is configured such as to capture three-dimensional form information and pattern information of an object to be measured and generate a three-dimensional image of the object according to thus captured three-dimensional form information and pattern information.
Though a three-dimensional measuring device using a probe, an optical cutting device using an optical sensor, or the like can be chosen as a device for capturing the three-dimensional form information of the object to be measured, the three-dimensional form information can easily be captured in a short time if a moire device is employed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
When a grating shadow type moire device, which is a typical example of moire device, is used, then the following problems may occur.
Namely, as shown in
FIG. 5
, a grating shadow type moire device is configured such that light from a point light source P
1
irradiates an object to be measured 2 by way of a reference grating
102
, and a deformed grating image formed on the object
2
is observed through the reference grating
102
at an observing point P
2
, so as to yield an image formed with moire fringes. In this grating irradiation type moire device, however, the size of the measurable object
2
is restricted by the size of the reference grating
102
, and the object
2
is needed to be placed in front of the reference grating
102
, whereby there may occur a problem that the degree of freedom in measurement decreases.
In view of such circumstances, it is a first object of the present invention to provide a three-dimensional image scanner which can capture three-dimensional form information of an object to be measured easily in a short time with a high degree of freedom in measurement.
Further, since the reference grating
102
exists, the above-mentioned grating irradiation type moire device cannot be used, as it is, for capturing the pattern information of the object
2
. For capturing this information, it is necessary to take a two-dimensional image of the object
2
with the reference grating
102
being removed so that no moire fringes are formed. Since the reference grating
102
is considerably large, it cannot easily be removed.
In view of such circumstances, it is a second object of the present invention to provide a three-dimensional image scanner which can easily capture pattern information of an object to be measured, while being able to capture three-dimensional form information of the object easily in a short time with a high degree of freedom in measurement.
In an optical apparatus provided with a light source such as lamp, like the moire device mentioned above, the light source acts as a heat source so as to thermally influence its surroundings. In the case where a heat-sensitive section such as a light-receiving element or control circuit which is likely to be influenced by temperature is accommodated in the same housing with the light source, it is necessary to provide a heat-insulating structure for inhibiting the heat generated by the light source to be transmitted to the heat-sensitive section.
Therefore, an exhaust fan has conventionally been disposed at an outer wall portion of the housing, so as to discharge the air heated by the light source to the outside.
Simply providing an exhaust fan, as in the conventional cases, may not yield sufficient heat-insulating effects, however.
For example, in the case where a grating projection type moire device which is configured such as to capture not only the three-dimensional form information but also pattern information of an object to be measured employs a structure for illuminating the object with an illumination lamp, the illumination lamp often has to be disposed relatively close to the imaging section of a CCD camera or the like. In such a case, it is difficult to sufficiently inhibit the heat generated by the illumination lamp from being transmitted to the imaging section by simply providing an exhaust fan. Such a problem can similarly occur in other optical apparatus as well.
In the case employing a configuration in which a first partition for separating the light source and the heat-sensitive section from each other and a second partition disposed on the light source side of the first partition are disposed such as to form a cooling passage for guiding the heat generated by the light source to the exhaust fan, the ventilation efficiency in the cell defined by the first partition can be enhanced. This can suppress the temperature rise in the first partition, thereby inhibiting the heat from being transmitted to the heat-sensitive section through the partition to some extent.
In the case where the heat-sensitive section is extremely sensitive to heat, as in the case of CCD camera or the like, there is a demand for further effectively inhibiting the heat from being transmitted to the heat-sensitive section.
In view of such circumstances, it is a third object of the present invention to provide, in an optical apparatus in which a light source and a heat-sensitive section are accommodated in a common housing, a heat-insulating device which can effectively inhibit the heat generated by the light source from being transmitted to the heat-sensitive section.
The three-dimensional image scanner in accordance with a first aspect of the invention achieves the first object of the present invention by capturing three-dimensional form information by using a grating projection type moire device.
Namely, the three-dimensional image scanner in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention is a three-dimensional image scanner for capturing three-dimensional form information and pattern information of an object to be measured and generating a three-dimensional image of the object according to thus captured three-dimensional form information and pattern information,
wherein the three-dimensional form information is captured by a grating projection type moire device.
Preferably, the grating projection type moire device comprises grating moving means for moving at least one of a projection grating provided in a projection optical system of the grating projection type moire device and an observation reference grating provided in an observation optical system of the grating projection type moire device in a direction orthogonal to grating lines of both of the gratings within a plane orthogonal to optical axes of both of the optical systems.
Preferably, the grating projection type moire device further comprises fringe scanning means for determining, according to a plurality of sets of three-dimensional form information captured at individual moving positions of at least one of the projection grating and observation reference grating moved by the grating moving means, an irregular form of each part of the tree-dimensional form information.
Here, “grating projection type moire device” refers to a moire device comprising a projection optical system and an observation optical system, whose optical axes are in parallel to each other, in
Kobayashi Fumio
Udagawa Tetsuo
Fuji Photo Optical Co., Ltd.
Le Vu
Snider Ronald R.
Snider & Associates
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