Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090050806 | VISIBLE LIGHT AND IR COMBINED IMAGE CAMERA WITH A LASER POINTER - A visible light (VL) and infrared (IR) combined image camera with a laser pointer. The laser pointer may be used for marking a hot spot on an object or for focusing an IR lens of a camera on an object. The laser pointer may be adjacent to the VL optics and offset from the IR optics. The VL sensor array may be much larger than the IR sensor array and the camera may also display the pixels of IR data with a much larger instantaneous field of view than the VL pixels. The camera may also provide audible alarms where the alarm is emitted with a tone of variable output to indicate the relative level of the alarm. | 02-26-2009 |
20090102925 | ERGONOMIC CONFIGURATIONS FOR THERMAL IMAGING CAMERAS - A housing of a thermal imaging camera includes a camera portion, in which an thermal imaging assembly is mounted, and to which a focusing assembly is mounted, on a first side thereof, and to which a display is mounted, on a second side thereof; a handle portion of the housing extends from a bottom side of the camera portion of the housing at an angle, away from the first side of the camera portion. The housing is configured for ergonomic handling wherein an index finger of a hand may readily activate the focusing assembly, when the hand is wrapped about the handle portion of the housing. The hand may be a right hand or a left hand, and the camera may further include additional features to provide support for single-handed operation. | 04-23-2009 |
20090302219 | VISIBLE LIGHT AND IR COMBINED IMAGE CAMERA - Methods, camera, and a computer-readable medium for registering on a camera display infrared and visible light images of a target scene taken from different points of view causing a parallax error. | 12-10-2009 |
20100046577 | THERMAL INSTRUMENT ENGINE - An engine for use in a thermal instrument. The engine includes an infrared camera module and may also include a visible light camera module. The engine includes several temperature sensors mounted on a printed circuit board assembly that permit the engine to provide improved radiometry functionality and improved fine offset compensation capabilities. | 02-25-2010 |
20100270469 | LENS POSITION SENSOR FOR INFRARED CAMERAS - A lens position sensor for infrared or other types of cameras, which is particularly useful in lens assemblies that have relatively limited axial travel between near field and far field lens focus positions. The camera includes a magnet or other stimulator coupled to a rotatable lens that extends within a magnet plane where the magnet plane is not normal to the optical axis of the lens. A magnetic or other sensor senses the position of the magnet, which is indicative of the lens position. | 10-28-2010 |
20110001809 | THERMOGRAPHY METHODS - A method for presenting a thermal image within a visible light image includes the steps of: identifying an outline of each object of interest within the visible light image; and, selecting an area of the visible light image, whose edge corresponds to the outline of each object of interest, in which to present the thermal image. An alternative method includes the steps of: identifying an area of interest within the thermal image; and selecting another area, separate from the area of interest, from which to remove a portion of the thermal image in order to display the visible light image therein. The visible light and thermal images are captured by a system that includes a visible light camera module and an infrared camera module. The visible light and thermal images are displayed on a display of the system, and selections are made via an interactive element of the system. | 01-06-2011 |
20120169866 | THERMAL IMAGER WITH NON-UNIFORMITY CORRECTION - Infrared cameras are susceptible to fixed-pattern noise artifacts. These artifacts are due to numerous sources and typically show up as non-uniformities in an IR image of a uniform scene. Devices for and methods of refining non-uniformity corrections in an infrared (IR) camera are provided that correct for remaining fixed pattern noise. | 07-05-2012 |
20130050453 | THERMAL IMAGING CAMERA WITH RANGE DETECTION - A thermal imaging camera may be used to capture a visible-light (VL) image and an infrared (IR) image. In some examples, the camera includes a range imaging camera module that captures the VL and an infrared camera module that captures the IR image. In such examples, the VL image may include a plurality of different portions that each correspond to a different portion of the scene and distance-to-target data associated with each of the different portions of the scene. The camera may align each of the plurality of different portions of the VL image based on the distance-to-target data associated with corresponding portions of the scene so as to correct a parallax error between the VL image and the IR image. The camera may then concurrently display the VL image in alignment with the IR image. | 02-28-2013 |
20130155248 | THERMAL IMAGING CAMERA FOR INFRARED REPHOTOGRAPHY - Thermal imaging cameras for use in retaking infrared images and methods of retaking thermal images with thermal imaging cameras and possibly employing computational rephotography on a visible light image taken concurrently with an original thermal image to help guide the camera back to the position where the original thermal image was captured. | 06-20-2013 |
20130155249 | THERMAL IMAGING CAMERA FOR INFRARED REPHOTOGRAPHY - Thermal imaging cameras for use in retaking images and methods of retaking images with thermal imaging cameras that include the creation and use of a pose template that helps guide the camera back to the position where the original image was captured. | 06-20-2013 |
20130162835 | THERMAL IMAGING CAMERA FOR INFRARED REPHOTOGRAPHY - Thermal imaging cameras for use in retaking images and methods of retaking images with thermal imaging cameras that include a position sensor that helps guide the camera back to the position where the original image was captured. The position sensor provides position data that may include location data, heading data, and orientation data. | 06-27-2013 |
20130321641 | VISIBLE LIGHT AND IR COMBINED IMAGE CAMERA - A camera producing visible light images with thermal data. The camera may include visible light lens and sensor, an infrared light lens and sensor, and a display. The display displays some of the visible light image and thermal data from the respective sensors. The visible light image is divided into an array of zones where each zone may provide thermal data associated with the corresponding portion of the target shown in the zone. The camera may sense infrared images also provide audible alarms where the alarm is emitted with a tone of variable output to indicate the relative level of the alarm. | 12-05-2013 |
20140132774 | THERMAL IMAGING CAMERA WITH REPOSITIONABLE ACTIVE PORTIONS OF FOCAL PLANE ARRAY - A thermal imaging camera with a repositionable focal plane array (FPA) is disclosed. An active portion of the FPA is used by the camera to generate a thermal image. The FPA may be positioned such that a defect in the FPA is located in an unused and inactive portion of the FPA. | 05-15-2014 |
20140160298 | CAMERA AND METHOD FOR THERMAL IMAGE NOISE REDUCTION USING POST PROCESSING TECHNIQUES - Devices and methods for generating infrared (IR) images with improved quality are disclosed. In embodiments of the invention, temporal averaging techniques are used to reduce temporal noise that may be present in thermal images. This is especially useful in low-contrast thermal scenes, where a relatively small amount of thermal noise may become exceedingly prevalent. In order to average properly, some embodiments of the invention provide methods or means for aligning multiple images that are to be averaged together to eliminate inaccuracies and misrepresentations that may result from averaging misaligned images. | 06-12-2014 |
20140198217 | SHUTTER FOR THERMAL IMAGING CAMERA - Various embodiments of shutters for thermal imaging cameras, cameras comprising such shutters, and methods for providing such shutters are disclosed. The shutter may include a substrate with various layers and components thereon, such as a temperature sensor. The shutter may resemble a printed circuit board (PCB), utilizing efficient, cost-effective materials and methods known in the art. | 07-17-2014 |