Patent ID: 7577286
Filing Date: 2009-08-18
Classification: A24C,G01B,G01N

Abstract:
1. Machine vision equipment for determining at least one physical property of a smoking article, the equipment comprising: a camera defining a field of view and being adapted to form an image of said article within said field of view, and a processing unit which processes said image to determine at least one physical property of said article; a first support which supports said article within said field of view at a predetermined distance from said camera; a second support which supports a reference object having at least one accurately known dimension; a moving mechanism which selectively moves at least one of the camera, the first support, and the second support such that a reference object placed on the second support is disposed within the camera's field of view at said predetermined distance from said camera; an adjusting unit which automatically adjusts the configuration of the camera; a processor which determines the optimum configuration of said camera by processing at least one image of a reference object placed on the second support; and a controller which controls operation of said moving mechanism, camera, adjusting unit, and processor in order to bring a reference object supported by said second support into the camera's field of view, to image said reference object, to determine the optimum configuration of the camera, and to adjust the camera to said optimum configuration, wherein said camera comprises a digital camera which is adapted to form said image as a regular array of pixels.