Patents by Inventor Manfred Prantl

Manfred Prantl 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).

  • Illumination device for a microscope or an optical 3D surface measuring apparatus
    Patent number: 10007101
    Abstract: An illumination device for a microscope or an optical 3D surface measuring apparatus, more particularly according to the principle of focus variation. The illumination device includes LEDs arranged in a planar fashion, and an illumination optical unit for imaging the illumination spectrum onto an object to be examined. The illumination optical unit includes an arrangement of converging lenses and one Fresnel lens, and the light beams emitted by the LEDs firstly impinge on the converging lenses and then impinge in a parallel-directed manner on the Fresnel lens. The Fresnel lens is oriented in reflective arrangement such that lens vertices of a prism structure are arranged at a light exit side of the Fresnel lens, facing away from the converging lenses. The converging lenses are formed by annular segments, and adjacent annular segments adjoin one another in a planar fashion at a segment side surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2018
    Assignee: ALICONA IMAGING GMBH
    Inventors: Manfred Prantl, Stefan Scherer, Franz Helmli, Attila Saghy
  • ILLUMINATION DEVICE
    Publication number: 20170184831
    Abstract: An illumination device for a microscope or an optical 3D surface measuring apparatus, more particularly according to the principle of focus variation. The illumination device includes LEDs arranged in a planar fashion, and an illumination optical unit for imaging the illumination spectrum onto an object to be examined. The illumination optical unit includes an arrangement of converging lenses and one Fresnel lens, and the light beams emitted by the LEDs firstly impinge on the converging lenses and then impinge in a parallel-directed manner on the Fresnel lens. The Fresnel lens is oriented in reflective arrangement such that lens vertices of a prism structure are arranged at a light exit side of the Fresnel lens, facing away from the converging lenses. The converging lenses are formed by annular segments, and adjacent annular segments adjoin one another in a planar fashion at a segment side surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 24, 2015
    Publication date: June 29, 2017
    Inventors: Manfred PRANTL, Stefan SCHERER, Franz HELMLI, Attila SAGHY
  • Estimation of defocused reflectance maps for the robust determination of “shape from focus” in microscopic images
    Patent number: 9161014
    Abstract: Method for compensating illumination deficiencies in microscopic “shape from focus (SFF)”, wherein firstly the reflectance of the scene is estimated by way of a projector-camera system and then microscopic “shape from focus (SFF)” is applied to a stack of reflectance maps rather than to the original image data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2015
    Assignees: Alicona Imaging GmbH, Technische Universität Graz
    Inventors: Manfred Prantl, Stefan Scherer, Martin Lenz, Matthias Ruther, Horst Bischof
  • ESTIMATION OF DEFOCUSED REFLECTANCE MAPS FOR THE ROBUST DETERMINATION OF "SHAPE FROM FOCUS" IN MICROSCOPIC IMAGES
    Publication number: 20130113896
    Abstract: Method for compensating illumination deficiencies in microscopic “shape from focus (SFF)”, wherein firstly the reflectance of the scene is estimated by way of a projector-camera system and then microscopic “shape from focus (SFF)” is applied to a stack of reflectance maps rather than to the original image data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 26, 2011
    Publication date: May 9, 2013
    Applicants: TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT GRAZ, ALICONA IMAGING GMBH
    Inventors: Manfred Prantl, Stefan Scherer, Martin Lenz, Matthias Ruther, Horst Bischof