Patents by Inventor Andrew Blowers

Andrew Blowers 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).

  • Patent number: 11181483
    Abstract: Systems and methods for illuminating and/or inspecting one or more features of a unit under test (UUT) are disclosed herein. A system configured in accordance with embodiments of the present technology can include, for example, a machine, one or more diffuser elements, and/or one or more light sources. The system can create and adjust brightfield illumination profiles (e.g., uniform, brightfield illumination profiles) on portions (e.g., on curved features) of the UUT by, for example, using the one or more light sources and/or the one or more diffuser elements to adjust diffuse and/or specular illumination projected onto the curved features of the UUT. In some embodiments, the system includes one or more darkfield light sources configured to project illumination onto second portions of the UUT to create a darkfield illumination profile. The system can capture data of the brightfield and/or darkfield illumination profiles and can thereby inspect portions of the UUT.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: Radiant Vision Systems, LLC
    Inventors: Mark Michniewicz, Andrew Blowers
  • Publication number: 20200103352
    Abstract: Systems and methods for illuminating and/or inspecting one or more features of a unit under test (UUT) are disclosed herein. A system configured in accordance with embodiments of the present technology can include, for example, a machine, one or more diffuser elements, and/or one or more light sources. The system can create and adjust brightfield illumination profiles (e.g., uniform, brightfield illumination profiles) on portions (e.g., on curved features) of the UUT by, for example, using the one or more light sources and/or the one or more diffuser elements to adjust diffuse and/or specular illumination projected onto the curved features of the UUT. In some embodiments, the system includes one or more darkfield light sources configured to project illumination onto second portions of the UUT to create a darkfield illumination profile. The system can capture data of the brightfield and/or darkfield illumination profiles and can thereby inspect portions of the UUT.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 4, 2019
    Publication date: April 2, 2020
    Inventors: Mark Michniewicz, Andrew Blowers
  • Patent number: 10527557
    Abstract: Systems and methods for illuminating and/or inspecting one or more features of a unit under test (UUT) are disclosed herein. A system configured in accordance with embodiments of the present technology can include, for example, a machine, one or more diffuser elements, and/or one or more light sources. The system can create and adjust brightfield illumination profiles on portions of the UUT by, for example, using the one or more light sources and/or the one or more diffuser elements to adjust diffuse and/or specular illumination projected onto the curved features of the UUT. In some embodiments, the system includes one or more darkfield light sources configured to project illumination onto second portions of the UUT to create a darkfield illumination profile. The system can capture data of the brightfield and/or darkfield illumination profiles and can thereby inspect portions of the UUT.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2020
    Assignee: Radiant Vision Systems, LLC
    Inventors: Mark Michniewicz, Andrew Blowers
  • Publication number: 20190204236
    Abstract: Systems and methods for illuminating and/or inspecting one or more features of a unit under test (UUT) are disclosed herein. A system configured in accordance with embodiments of the present technology can include, for example, a machine, one or more diffuser elements, and/or one or more light sources. The system can create and adjust brightfield illumination profiles (e.g., uniform, brightfield illumination profiles) on portions (e.g., on curved features) of the UUT by, for example, using the one or more light sources and/or the one or more diffuser elements to adjust diffuse and/or specular illumination projected onto the curved features of the UUT. In some embodiments, the system includes one or more darkfield light sources configured to project illumination onto second portions of the UUT to create a darkfield illumination profile. The system can capture data of the brightfield and/or darkfield illumination profiles and can thereby inspect portions of the UUT.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 3, 2018
    Publication date: July 4, 2019
    Inventors: Mark Michniewicz, Andrew Blowers
  • Publication number: 20070075279
    Abstract: A system and method are provided to rapidly inspect Liquid Crystal On Silicon (i.e., LCOS) displays to identify non-uniform cell gaps. The system includes a light source, a single polarized optical filter, and a color camera. The image acquired by the camera is analyzed to find variations in color. Excessive variations in color are used to identify excessive variations in the cell gap of the LCOS display. The arrangement of the components of the system does not require great precision and the analysis can be done very quickly.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2005
    Publication date: April 5, 2007
    Applicant: Intergral Vision, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Michniewicz, Andrew Blowers
  • Patent number: 6298474
    Abstract: A method, a system and a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a program for interactively developing a graphical control-flow structure and associated application software for use in a machine vision system is provided. The structure is a tree view structure including a control sequence having at least one node. The method includes providing a first set of control programs representing possible machine vision tasks. The first set of control programs defines a first set of standard controls. Hardware operating parameters are provided which correspond to possible hardware. The hardware operating parameters defining a second set of standard controls. Graphical representations of possible hardware and possible machine vision tasks are displayed. Commands are received from a user to select desired hardware operating parameters corresponding to desired hardware and a machine vision graphical representation and its associated first control program corresponding to a desired machine vision task.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2001
    Assignee: Intergral Vision, Inc.
    Inventors: Andrew Blowers, Jiri G. Culik, Steven F. Prehn