Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
  • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
  • G02B6/42—Coupling light guides with opto-electronic elements
  • G02B6/4201—Packages, e.g. shape, construction, internal or external details
  • G02B6/4202—Packages, e.g. shape, construction, internal or external details for coupling an active element with fibres without intermediate optical elements, e.g. fibres with plane ends, fibres with shaped ends, bundles
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
  • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
  • G02B6/42—Coupling light guides with opto-electronic elements
  • G02B6/4298—Coupling light guides with opto-electronic elements coupling with non-coherent light sources and/or radiation detectors, e.g. lamps, incandescent bulbs, scintillation chambers
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N25/00—Circuitry of solid-state image sensors [SSIS]; Control thereof

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a method for the collection and processing of information as defined in the preamble of claim 1 and to an optologic unit as defined in the preamble of claim 6 for use in said method.
• 'process' refers to practically any kind of activity, event, movement, changes in conditions or equivalent which can be controlled and about which it is possible to collect information descriptive of them.
• Such processes may comprise signal lights, moving objects or parts of objects, production lines, actions carried out on production lines, finished product testings, changes in process conditions etc.
• the CCD cameras normally used perform an A/D conversion on the entire image and this takes about 30' ms . That is absolutely too slow because the process speed in a logic system should be preferably below 1 ms . Thus, prior-art methods are simply too slow and therefore not suited for anywhere near all modern process applications.
• the object of the invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks.
• a specific object of the invention is to disclose a new type of method and an optologic unit employing the method for collecting diverse information obtained from processes by a technique as simple, fast and reliable as possible.
• the invention concerns a method and an optologic unit used in it for collecting and processing information about a process, said information being transmitted via optical fibers and used in process control.
• the information collected in the invention consists of optical information, i.e. information in the form of light, or it is converted into optical information before being processed according to the invention.
• the basic idea of the invention is that, in a normal monitoring situation, the method or optologic unit does not produce an image of a matrix, thus making it unnecessary to perform any slow A/D conversions, but instead of processing the image, only individual pixels and changes occurring in them are observed. In addition, it is not necessary to observe the entire surface of the matrix but only predeter- mined areas that are known to correspond to information obtained from certain fibers .
• the optologic unit of the invention comprises a connecting element for connecting the optical fibers carrying information about the process to the unit.
• a connecting element for connecting the optical fibers carrying information about the process to the unit.
• the optologic unit comprises a light-sensitive matrix for the detection of optical information transmitted via the optical fibers.
• the optologic unit comprises a processor unit provided with an image-processing program for reading and processing the optical information and a logic unit provided with a logic program for interpreting the optical information.
• a relay unit is connected to the optologic unit and the logic unit is arranged to control the relay unit.
• connected to the logic unit is preferably a PC, by means of which the logic program of the logic unit can be created and loaded into the logic unit as well as modified and updated as necessary. Further, using the PC, the information obtained from the matrix can preferably be examined from the end of the fiber bundle.
• the light-sensitive matrix used may consist of a CCD cell, although it is also possible to use structures having corresponding functions of other types .
• the ends of the optical fibers are preferably arranged substantially on the same surface, which is oriented facing towards the light-sensitive matrix. If it is a straight sur- face, then the surface formed by the fiber ends is preferably substantially the same size and shape as the light-sensitive matrix. Thus, the fiber ends placed near the matrix will focus the light radiation precisely to matrix areas corresponding to the fibers.
• the surface formed by the fiber ends i.e. the surface consisting of optical points is substantially larger than the light-sensitive matrix used, then it is possible to use a suitable lens with the connecting element to focus the optical information from the optical fiber to the area of the light-sensitive matrix.
• the optical fibers are preferably aligned to the focal point of the lens used.
• the ends of the fibers comprised in the same relatively compact bundle are preferably surrounded by sleeves or corresponding light-directing elements extending beyond the fiber ends so as to form a reflection shield for the light emanating from the fiber. This serves to prevent scattering of the light rays emitted from the fibers towards the light-sensitive matrix. In this way, the fibers can be packed into a more compact bundle than before and thinner optical fibers can be used as the light-sensitive matrix can accurately differentiate between light rays coming from different fibers.
• the sleeve provided, at the end of the optical fiber consists of a piece of tape or corresponding thin film arranged around the fiber sheath.
• a tape or film may only partly surround the fiber end. This may be achieved for example by placing a piece of tape onto a row of fibers, a row of fibers onto the tape, a tape onto this row, and so on. In this way, as the fiber ends are packed as densely as possible in a staggered array forming a bundle, the tapes form an undulating layer between the fibers, thus forming sufficient reflection shields for the light rays coming from the fibers .
• the sleeve consists of a hole and the end of the optical fiber is so arranged on the bottom of the hole that it opens outwards from the bottom.
• the light ray directed into the hole from its bottom, being reflected by the sides of the hole is guided in the hole as unidirectionally as possible towards the light-sensitive matrix.
• the holes may be placed very closely to each other, practically contiguously to each other, so that a light-directing sheath just barely remains in the hole.
• the pixel formed by a fiber end may provide varying information.
• the unit can identify an illumined and a dark pixel, various light intensity differences at the pixel, and light color differences at the pixel .
• the starting point is processing speed. Therefore, those areas of the matrix used to which different optical fibers focus optical information are defined.
• the matrix is scanned to detect changes in information, instead of examining the entire matrix or producing an image of the matrix, only fast scannings of the matrix area are performed to detect whether any changes have occurred, i.e. whether new information is present in given areas. If changes are detected, then the nature of the change and the actions it requires can be analyzed in detail.
• the examining of the information is preferably implemented in such manner that each pixel of the matrix in the xy-plane has an address and, based on the addresses, the pixels are examined, i.e. scanned in a suitable order.
• predetermined pixels or pixel areas are assigned priorities, i.e. an order of importance defining the reading frequencies and reading times for different pixels.
• priorities i.e. an order of importance defining the reading frequencies and reading times for different pixels.
• pixels having the highest priority are checked or read substantially continuously, e.g. at intervals of 0.5 - 1 ms, whereas pixels having the lowest priority are scanned e.g. at intervals of 10 s.
• the predetermined areas may consist of individual pixels in the matrix.
• the optical information directed by an optical fiber often comprises an area larger than only one pixel, in which case the predetermined areas preferably cover several pixels. In this case, however, a change in light intensity occurring in the area of even a single pixel constitutes information that requires action.
• An essential point about the optologic unit of the invention is that all information to be processed is in the form of light or is converted into light and the light is transmitted via optical fibers to a certain area where it can be detected for closer interpretation.
• the process can be monitored and controlled simply by using a suitable logic program.
• the optologic unit of the invention and the corresponding method have significant advantages.
• the unit of the invention is not susceptible to electric disturbances and it is not susceptible to damage.
• the unit is very visualizable and easy to handle and it can be easily and quickly moved to different places of application.
• the unit is only necessary to define the pixels, i.e. to define what information each pixel represents and what different things can be read from the pixel.
• the unit is a solid and compact assembly without any separate cameras or image areas to be imaged as in prior art, so it is not susceptible to external disturbances and conditions.
• instead of slow image processing instead of slow image processing, only fast scannings of defined areas are needed to detect possible changes. In this way, the amount of information to be processed is minimized, yet without losing any essential information.
• the optologic unit of the invention presented in the drawing comprises a chamber 1 with a CCD cell 2 functioning as a light-sensitive matrix inside.
• a connecting element i.e. a bayonet connector 3.
• the optical cables are relatively densely packed side by side in a staggered array with the ends of the optical cables aligned parallel to each other towards the CCD cell.
• a suitable filter e.g. a Polaroid film, to prevent radiation reflected back from the matrix from being reflected further from the end of the optical cable bundle to the cell, which might give rise to information defects.
• connecting element it is also possible to implement the connecting element using a suitable connecting piece comprising a large number of spaces or places where individual, separate optical cables can be fastened.
• the connecting piece then directs the light rays in the correct direction to the CCD cell.
• the optical cables are connected to the optologic unit from various information collection points that describe the process to be controlled or monitored.
• the object to be monitored may consist of a signal light 12, in which case the other end of the optical cable is placed near the signal light.
• the optical cable conveys a light ray to the optologic unit, where it is detected by the light-sensitive matrix.
• the objects to be monitored may also include various light gates 13 where different objects 15 are moving between a continuously lit signal light 14 and the end of an optical cable and the movement or existence of such objects is detected as they block the passage of the radiation emitted by the signal light through the optical cable to the optologic unit.
• a possible way of collecting information is by monitoring the operation of e.g. various electronic circuits 16.
• a circuit may comprise several light- emitting diodes (LED) , in which case it is easy to monitor their operation by placing the end of each optical cable in a position directly opposite to a LED and observing the operation of the LEDs and the circuit as a whole on the basis of the light rays transmitted via the optical cables to the optologic unit.
• LED light- emitting diodes
• Another possibility for the collection of information is to pass the light through a suitable material flow 17 into an optical cable placed on its other side.
• changes in the intensity and color of the light received by the optologic unit provide information about the material flow, e.g. the consistency of the flow and variations occurring in it.
• the CCD cell 2 forms a compact assembly with a processor unit 5, an essential part of which consists of an image-processing program 6.
• a logic unit 7 Immediately connected to the processor unit 5 is also a logic unit 7 provided with a logic program.
• a PC 8 Connected to the logic unit is a PC 8 external to the optologic unit.
• the logic program to be used in the logic unit can be created as well as modified and updated as necessary.
• the PC can also be used for directly examining the information transmitted from the CCD cell to the processor unit from the end of the optical cable bundle 4.
• an output bus 9 leads from the processor unit 5 to a relay unit 10.
• the relay unit 10 has a number of relay outputs 11 for different purposes .
• the relay outputs can be used for directly controlling some processes or parts of a process, issuing alarms, providing information in various forms to the PC, controlling different external devices etc.
• the system presented in the drawing is based on the principle that, when the CCD cell 2 receives information from the end of the optical cable bundle 4, the information received by the cell is not processed as a complete image by applying image processing techniques as in traditional methods, but the pixels and especially the changes occurring in them are examined separately for each pixel.
• image processing techniques as in traditional methods, but the pixels and especially the changes occurring in them are examined separately for each pixel.
• the significance of each individual fiber is known, in other words, as the process details corresponding to each fiber are known, it is possible to directly control the process via the relay unit 10 by using an appropriate logic program or to print out desired or required information in a suitable form or carry out other actions needed, such as alarms.

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• 2001
  • 2001-11-12 FI FI20012188A patent/FI20012188A0/fi unknown
• 2002
  • 2002-11-12 EP EP02777378A patent/EP1518404A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2002-11-12 WO PCT/FI2002/000892 patent/WO2003049437A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2002-11-12 AU AU2002338975A patent/AU2002338975A1/en not_active Abandoned

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