US12736328 - Inspection system for shell casings
The patent describes an inspection system for shell casings that utilizes lasers and cameras to assess the dimensions of recessed regions within the casings. The system is designed to project laser lines onto the lateral interior surfaces of the casings and capture images to estimate the dimensions of these pockets accurately.
Claim 1
1 . An inspection system for casings comprising: first and second lasers (i) disposed on first and second opposing sides of the casings, respectively, (ii) oriented at first and second angles relative to longitudinal axes of the casings, respectively, and (iii) configured to project first and second laser lines onto a lateral interior surface and not onto a bottom interior surface of each casing, wherein the lateral interior surface and bottom interior surface of each casing are positioned within a pocket that is defined by each casing, the lateral interior surface of each casing extends inward from an exterior surface to the bottom interior surface within the pocket of each casing, and the first and second laser lines are projected onto the lateral interior surface of each casing along an angle relative to the longitudinal axes of the casings such that a depth at which the first and second laser lines extend into the pocket of each casing along the lateral interior surface of each casing increases from outer ends of the first and second laser lines to apexes of the first and second laser lines; first and second cameras (i) disposed on the first and second opposing sides of the casings, respectively, (ii) oriented at third and fourth angles relative to the longitudinal axes of the casings, respectively, and (iii) configured to capture a set of images of the first and second laser lines on the lateral interior surface of each casing; and a controller programmed to estimate a dimension of each pocket based on a corresponding set of images of the first and second laser lines on a corresponding lateral interior surface of each casing. first and second lasers (i) disposed on first and second opposing sides of the casings, respectively, (ii) oriented at first and second angles relative to longitudinal axes of the casings, respectively, and (iii) configured to project first and second laser lines onto a lateral interior surface and not onto a bottom interior surface of each casing, wherein the lateral interior surface and bottom interior surface of each casing are positioned within a pocket that is defined by each casing, the lateral interior surface of each casing extends inward from an exterior surface to the bottom interior surface within the pocket of each casing, and the first and second laser lines are projected onto the lateral interior surface of each casing along an angle relative to the longitudinal axes of the casings such that a depth at which the first and second laser lines extend into the pocket of each casing along the lateral interior surface of each casing increases from outer ends of the first and second laser lines to apexes of the first and second laser lines; first and second cameras (i) disposed on the first and second opposing sides of the casings, respectively, (ii) oriented at third and fourth angles relative to the longitudinal axes of the casings, respectively, and (iii) configured to capture a set of images of the first and second laser lines on the lateral interior surface of each casing; and a controller programmed to estimate a dimension of each pocket based on a corresponding set of images of the first and second laser lines on a corresponding lateral interior surface of each casing.
Google Patents
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USPTO PDF
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