I claim:
1. An umbrella comprising:
a tube including an upper portion and a lower portion having a handle provided thereon,
a whale bone device pivotally secured to said upper portion of said tube and movable between an open position and a folded position,
a barrel slidably engaged on said tube, said barrel including a channel formed therein and including a cavity formed therein and communicating with said channel of said barrel,
means for coupling said barrel to said whale bone device,
two spring-biased catches received in said upper portion and said lower port ion of said tube respectively and selectively engageable into said cavity of said barrel when said cavity of said barrel is aligned with either of said catches, and
a latch slidably received in said barrel, said latch including an actuator slidably received in said cavity of said barrel for selectively disengaging said catches from said barrel to release said barrel from said tube,
said cavity of said barrel having a cross section corresponding to that of said catches for allowing said catches to be snugly fitted in said cavity of said barrel and for preventing said barrel from rotating relative to said tube.
2. The umbrella according to claim 1, wherein said latch is ring-shaped is slidably received in said channel of said barrel for slidably receiving said tube therein, and includes a knob extendible outward of said barrel.
3. The umbrella according to claim 2, wherein said barrel includes a depression formed therein for receiving said knob.
4. The umbrella according to claim 1, wherein said cavity of said barrel includes a width smaller than that of said channel of said barrel for snugly receiving said catches.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
What is claimed is:
1. A method for imaging an object comprising the steps of:
a) illuminating at least a portion of the object with light transmitted by a light source;
b) detecting light reflected from the object at a first preselected position;
c) forming a bright-field image of the illuminated portion of the object as a function of the light detected in step b);
d) simultaneously with step b), detecting light reflected from the object at a second position;
e) forming a dark-field image of the illuminated portion of the object as a function of the light detected in step d);
f) determining the entropy of a first portion of the bright-field image corresponding to a first portion of the object;
g) determining the entropy of a first portion of the dark-field image corresponding to the first portion of the object;
h) selecting either the first portion of the bright-field image or the first portion of the dark-field image as a function of the bright-field entropy and the dark-field entropy;
i) determining the entropy of a second portion of the bright-field image corresponding to a second portion of the object;
j) determining the entropy of a second portion of the dark-field image corresponding to the second portion of the object;
k) selecting either the second portion of the bright-field image or the second portion of the dark-field image as a function of the bright-field entropy and the dark-field entropy; and
l) combining the selected first portion and the selected second portion to form a composite image.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the illuminating step comprises the step of:
scanning the at least portion of the object with a collimated light source.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the illuminating step comprises the step of:
scanning the at least portion of the object with a focused light source.
4. A method of imaging an object comprising the steps of:
a) illuminating at least a portion of the object with light transmitted by a light source;
b) detecting light reflected from the object at a first preselected position;
c) forming a first image of the illuminated portion of the object as a function of the light detected in step b);
d) simultaneously with step b), detecting light reflected from the object at a second preselected position;
e) forming a second image of the illuminated portion of the object as a function of the light detected in step d);
f) dividing the first image into a plurality of first subimages;
g) dividing the second image into a plurality of second subimages;
h) determining the entropy of one of the plurality of first subimages corresponding to a first portion of the object;
i) determining the entropy of one of the plurality of second subimages corresponding to the first portion of the object;
j) comparing the determined entropy of the one of the plurality of first subimages with the determined entropy of the one of the plurality of second subimages;
k) selecting either the one of the plurality of first subimages or one of the plurality of second subimages as a function of the result of step j);
l) determining the entropy of a second of the plurality of first subimages corresponding to a second portion of the object wherein the second portion is different than the first portion;
m) determining the entropy of a second of the plurality of second subimages corresponding to the second portion of the object;
n) comparing the determined entropy of the second of the plurality of first subimages with the determined entropy of the second of the plurality of second subimages;
o) selecting either the second of the plurality of first subimages or second of the plurality of second subimages as a function of the result of step n); and
p) combining the subimage selected in step k and the subimage selected in step o to form a composite image.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the illuminating step comprises the step of:
scanning the at least portion of the object with a collimated light source.
6. The method of claim 4 wherein the illuminating step comprises the step of:
scanning the at least portion of the object with a focused light source.
7. A method for imaging an object comprising the steps of:
a) illuminating at least a portion of the object with light transmitted by a light source;
b) detecting light reflected from the object at a first preselected position;
c) forming a bright-field image of the illuminated portion of the object as a function of the light detected in step b);
d) simultaneously with step b), detecting light reflected from the object at a second position;
e) forming a dark-field image of the illuminated portion of the object as a function of the light detected in step d);
f) determining a first gradient image as a function of the bright-field image;
g) determining a second gradient image as a function of the dark-field image; and
h) determining a composite image as a function of the first gradient image and the second gradient image.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein the illuminating step comprises the step of:
scanning the at least portion of the object with a collimated light source.
9. The method of claim 7 wherein the illuminating step comprises the step of:
scanning the at least portion of the object with a focused light source.
10. A method of imaging an object comprising the steps of:
a) illuminating at least a portion of the object with light transmitted by a light source;
b) detecting light reflected from the object at a first preselected position;
c) forming a first image of the illuminated portion of the object as a function of the light detected in step b);
d) simultaneously with step b), detecting light reflected from the object at a second preselected position;
e) forming a second image of the illuminated portion of the object as a function of the light detected in step d);
f) determining a first gradient image as a function of the first image;
g) determining a second gradient image as a function of the second image; and
h) determining a composite image as a function of the first gradient image and the second gradient image.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein the illuminating step comprises the step of:
scanning the at least portion of the object with a collimated light source.
12. The method of claim 10 wherein the illuminating step comprises the step of:
scanning the at least portion of the object with a focused light source.
13. The method of claim 10 further wherein the determining step h) comprises:
adding the first gradient image to the second gradient image.
14. A method of imaging a semiconductor package comprising the steps of:
a) illuminating at least a portion of the semiconductor package with light transmitted by a light source;
b) detecting light reflected from the semiconductor package at a first preselected position;
c) forming a first image of the illuminated portion of the semiconductor package as a function of the light detected in step b);
d) simultaneously with step b), detecting light reflected from the semiconductor package at a second preselected position;
e) forming a second image of the illuminated portion of the semiconductor package as a function of the light detected in step d);
f) determining a first gradient image as a function of the first image;
g) determining a second gradient image as a function of the second image; and
h) determining a composite image as a function of the first gradient image and the second gradient image.
15. A method for determining reflectance properties of an object comprising the steps of:
a) illuminating a first portion of the object with light transmitted by a light source;
b) detecting light reflected from the first portion of the object at a plurality of preselected positions simultaneously;
c) generating a plurality of intensity signals corresponding to an intensity of light value detected at each of the plurality of preselected positions;
d) comparing the plurality of intensity signals; and
e) determining the reflectance property of the first portion of the object as a function of a result of the comparing step.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein the detecting step b) comprises the step of:
detecting light reflected from the first portion of the object at a plurality of preselected positions simultaneously, wherein the preselected positions are substantially uniformly angularly spaced with respect to the object.
17. The method of claim 15 further comprising the steps of:
f) storing a representation of the reflectance property of the illuminated portion of the object at a position in a matrix corresponding to the first portion of the object; and
sequentially repeating each of steps a)-f) for a plurality of different portions of the object.
18. The method of claim 17 further comprising the step of:
using the matrix to read a Bar Code.
19. The method of claim 17 further comprising the step of:
using the matrix to read a data matrix symbol.
20. The method of claim 15 wherein the determining step d) comprises the steps of:
determining a reference intensity signal as a function of step e);
comparing the reference intensity signal to each of the plurality of intensity signals; and
determining the reflectance property of the first portion.
21. The method of claim 15 wherein the determining step e) comprises the steps of:
identifying the first portion as diffuse if the plurality of intensity signals are substantially equal; and
identifying the first portion as reflective if one of the plurality of intensity signals is larger than the others of the plurality of intensity signals by a predetermined amount.
22. The method of claim 15 wherein the determining step e) comprises the steps of:
determining a standard deviation of the plurality of intensity signals; and
identifying the portion of the object as matte if the standard deviation is less than a predetermined value.
23. The method of claim 15 wherein the determining step e) comprises the steps of:
adding each of the intensity values represented by each of the plurality of intensity signals to determine a total detected intensity;
determining a number of the plurality of intensity signals that represent a predetermined fraction of the total detected intensity; and
identifying the portion of the object as reflective is the determined number is less than a predetermined number.
24. A method for determining reflectance properties of an object comprising the steps of:
a) illuminating a first portion of the object with light transmitted by a light source;
b) detecting light reflected from the first portion of the object at a plurality of preselected positions simultaneously;
c) generating a plurality of intensity signals corresponding to an intensity of light detected at each of the plurality of preselected positions;
d) comparing the plurality of intensity signals; and
e) identifying the first portion as diffuse if the plurality of intensity signals are substantially equal; and
f) identifying the first portion as reflective if one of the plurality of intensity signals is larger than the others of the plurality of intensity signals by a predetermined amount.
25. A system for imaging an object comprising:
a light source positioned to illuminate at least a portion of the object;
a plurality of photodetectors each generating a signal in response to detected light; and
a plurality of light guides each having an input end positioned to receive light reflected from the object, and transmitting received light to the plurality of photodetectors wherein the input ends of the plurality of light guides are spaced substantially equally along at least a portion of a surface of an imaginary hemisphere surrounding the object.
26. The system of claim 25 wherein the object is a semiconductor package.
27. A system for imaging an object comprising:
a light source positioned to illuminate at least a portion of the object;
a plurality of photodetectors each generating a signal in response to detected light; and
a plurality of light guides each having an input end positioned to receive light reflected from the object, and transmitting received light to the plurality of photodetectors wherein the input ends of the plurality of light guides are substantially uniformly angularly spaced with respect to the object.
28. A system for imaging an object comprising:
a light source positioned to transmit light along a first path for illuminating at least a portion of the object;
a first photo sensitive device positioned to detect light reflected from the object at a first preselected position and generating a first signal representing information concerning the light detected;
a photodetector array having a plurality of photodetectors positioned to detect light reflected from the object at a second preselected wherein said photodetector array generates a plurality of second signals representing information concerning the light detected;
a summing amplifier, in communication with the photodetector array, that receives the plurality of second signals and generates a third signal as a function of the plurality of second signals; and
a processor in communication with the first photo sensitive device and the summing amplifier that receives the first signal and generates a first image of the at least a portion of the object as a function of the first signal, and that receives the third signal and generates a second image of the at least a portion of the object as a function of the third signal.
29. The system of claim 28 further comprising:
a lenslet array having a plurality of lenses positioned to focus light reflected from the object onto the photodetector array wherein each lens of the plurality of lenses focuses light onto one of the photodetectors of the plurality of photodetectors.
30. A system for imaging an object comprising:
a light source positioned to transmit light along a first path for illuminating at least a portion of the object;
a first photo sensitive device positioned to detect light reflected from the object at a first preselected position and generating a first signal representing information concerning the light detected;
a photodetector array having a plurality of photodetectors positioned to detect light reflected from the object at a second preselected wherein said photodetector array generates a plurality of second signals representing information concerning the light detected;
a photodetector, in communication with the photodetector array, that receives the plurality of second signals and generates a third signal as a function of the plurality of second signals; and
a processor in communication with the first photo sensitive device and the summing amplifier that receives the first signal and generates a first image of the at least a portion of the object as a function of the first signal, and that receives the third signal and generates a second image of the at least a portion of the object as a function of the third signal.
31. The system of claim 30 further comprising:
a plurality of light guides positioned to transmit the plurality of second signals to the photodetector.
32. A system for imaging a semiconductor package comprising:
a light source positioned to transmit light along a first path for illuminating at least a portion of the semiconductor package;
a first photo sensitive device positioned to detect light reflected from the semiconductor package at a first preselected position and generating a first signal representing information concerning the light detected;
a photodetector array having a plurality of photodetectors positioned to detect light reflected from the semiconductor package at a second preselected wherein said photodetector array generates a plurality of second signals representing information concerning the light detected;
a photodetector, in communication with the photodetector array, that receives the plurality of second signals and generates a third signal as a function of the plurality of second signals; and
a processor in communication with the first photo sensitive device and the summing amplifier that receives the first signal and generates a first image of the at least a portion of the semiconductor package as a function of the first signal, and that receives the third signal and generates a second image of the at least a portion of the semiconductor package as a function of the third signal.
33. The system of claim 32 further comprising:
a plurality of light guides positioned to transmit the plurality of second signals to the photodetector.