Optics: measuring and testing – Of light reflection
Reexamination Certificate
2005-01-26
2008-08-26
Nguyen, Sang (Department: 2886)
Optics: measuring and testing
Of light reflection
C356S614000
Reexamination Certificate
active
07417738
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to the measurement of the depth of a contaminant, e.g. snow, found on a roadway or runway from a moving vehicle by measuring the distance between where a beam of light hits the upper surface of the contaminant and where the beam of light should have hit the roadway or runway based on the position of the light source. To eliminate the effects of pitch and roll on the measurements a second light source provides a reference spot, whereby the contaminant depth calculations can be performed independent of the distance between the roadway or runway and the light sources. A video recording device, such as a digital camera, is used to capture images of the spots, whereby the distances can be measured by adding the number of pixels between the spots in the images. The present invention can also be used for determining the surface texture/roughness and the coefficient of friction of the roadway or runway by increasing the sensitivity of the recording device to capture minute changes in relative spot position, and by utilizing complex signal processing to correlate the changes in relative spot position to surface texture/roughness.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3671726 (1972-06-01), Kerr
patent: 4074104 (1978-02-01), Fulkerson
patent: 4375921 (1983-03-01), Morander
patent: 4525315 (1985-06-01), Greten
patent: 4773760 (1988-09-01), Makkonen
patent: 5222729 (1993-06-01), Wallaschkowski
patent: 5351126 (1994-09-01), Takada et al.
patent: 5355223 (1994-10-01), Magome
patent: 5416591 (1995-05-01), Yoshimura et al.
patent: 5686841 (1997-11-01), Stolarczyk
patent: 5864059 (1999-01-01), Sturm et al.
patent: 2003/0137673 (2003-07-01), Cox et al.
patent: 666349 (1988-07-01), None
patent: 3204477 (1983-05-01), None
patent: 3317298 (1985-01-01), None
patent: 19503017 (1995-09-01), None
patent: 2000121749 (2000-04-01), None
Spitzer Daniel
Taylor Charles Leonard
MacLean Doug
Nguyen Sang
Teitelbaum Neil
Teitelbaum & MacLean
Tradewind Scientific Ltd.
LandOfFree
Determining surface properties of a roadway or runway from a... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Determining surface properties of a roadway or runway from a..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Determining surface properties of a roadway or runway from a... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3997942