Patents by Inventor Alfredo Carlo Lucia

Alfredo Carlo Lucia has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Strain sensor with optical fibre Bragg gratings
    Patent number: 6586722
    Abstract: Strain sensors, and in particular strain rosettes, are described and claimed, in which the strain sensing elements are fiber Bragg gratings. Strain sensors in accordance with the described invention comprise first and second fiber Bragg gratings, and a length of optical fiber connecting the gratings in series, each grating being substantially straight and the two gratings being non-parallel and having different nominal Bragg wavelengths, the connecting length of optical fiber having a bend, characterised in that a portion of the connecting length is tapered, the tapered portion including an elongate waist portion having a reduced cross sectional area and said bend is formed in the waist portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2003
    Assignee: European Community represented by Commission of the European Communities
    Inventors: Robert Patrick Kenny, Maurice Patrick Whelan, Alfredo Carlo Lucia
  • Method of improving the contrast of images obtained using the pulsed image-addition ESPI technique
    Patent number: 6362873
    Abstract: To improve the contrast of images obtained using the pulsed image-addition ESPI technique relative to a mechanically stressed object, a preliminary measuring cycle is performed, with the object in the unstressed condition, to obtain a predetermined number of interference images (110-160) differing from one another by a controlled phase shift of a fraction of the pulses traveling along one of the branches of the interferometer; a mean luminous intensity value is calculated (170) from the interference images, is memorized (180), and is subtracted (220) from each of the interference images obtained during the actual measuring cycle to improve the contrast of the images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2002
    Assignee: European Community
    Inventors: Massimo Facchini, Alfredo Carlo Lucia
  • Optical three-dimensional profilometry method based on processing SPECKLE images in partially coherent light, and interferometer implementing such a method
    Patent number: 5870196
    Abstract: An optical three-dimensional profilometry method in which are recorded SPECKLE images formed by the interference, due to different optical paths, of the rays reflected/diffused by a rough object and the rays generated by a beam source. The method presents a number of processing steps including the steps of digitizing a first SPECKLE image, modifying the optical path difference, and digitizing a second SPECKLE image recorded after modifying the optical path difference. The difference in the modulus of the corresponding pixels of the first and second digitized images is determined to generate a difference image which is subsequently analyzed. A first arbitrary value is assigned to all the difference image pixels exceeding a given threshold value, and a second arbitrary value is assigned to all the difference image pixels of a value below the threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 9, 1999
    Assignee: European Community
    Inventors: Alfredo Lulli, Alfredo Carlo Lucia, Marco Franchi