Patent ID: 9459206
Filing Date: 2016-10-04
CPC Classification: G01N

Claim Text:
1. An apparatus for measuring the surface or volume optical characteristics of a sample comprising: a light source, configured to project a collimated light output in a direction of the sample having an optical scattering characteristic to be measured; at least one light focusing device positioned to collect light that has interacted with the sample and focus the collected light; at least one sensor array having at least one dimension L, configured with a plurality of sensor elements having a defined sensor area for measuring light incident upon it, the sensor array including a center sensor element positioned so that the sensor area of the center sensor element is positioned at a midpoint of L, the sensor array positioned relative to the at least one light focusing device such that when the collimated light is reflected off of an object light having a substantially high uniformity of surface and a substantially high degree of reflectivity and focused by the light focusing device, the resulting focused beam has a diameter that is equal to or less than the sensor area of the center sensor element of the sensor array, wherein each sensor being configured to output a signal corresponding to the amount of light incident upon the sensor area; and a processor configured to receive the signal generated from each element of the sensor array in response to light incident upon the sample and generate and output an optical scattering characteristic value of the sample as a function of the number of sensor elements having light incident upon them.