Patent ID: 6732929
Filing Date: 2004-05-11
Classification: G06K

Abstract:
An LED-based planar light illumination module (PLIM) for use in a planar light illumination and imaging (PLIIM)-based system, comprising:a linear-type LED array having a light emitting surface from which light rays are emitted, a focusing lens for focusing said light rays and forming a reduced size image of the light emitting source at a predetermined focal point, a collimating lens located at about the focal point of said focusing lens, for collimating the light rays associated with said reduced size image, and a cylindrical lens element for expanding said light rays from said collimating lens so as to produce a spatially-incoherent planar light illumination beam, wherein said predetermined focal point is located between said focusing lens and said collimating lens; and wherein each said optical element is mounted within a compact barrel structure, for the purpose of generating said spatially-incoherent planar light illumination beam from said compact barrel structure for use in illuminating objects to be imaged by said PLIIM-based system.