Patent ID: 6786414
Filing Date: 2004-09-07
Classification: B82Y,G02B,G06K,H01S

Abstract:
A planar laser illumination and imaging system for illuminating an object and forming an image thereof, said planar laser illumination and imaging system comprising:an image formation and detection module having a field of view (FOV) focused at an image detecting array; and a planar laser illumination array (PLIA) constructed from an plurality of planar laser illumination modules (PLIMs) arranged in rectilinear manner, wherein each said PLIM comprises a visible laser diode (VLD), a focusing lens, and a cylindrical optical element arranged therewith to produce a planar laser illumination beam component; and wherein said individual planar laser illumination beam components produced from said plurality of PLIMs are optically combined to produce a composite substantially planar laser illumination beam having substantially-planar spatial distribution characteristics that extend through the field of view (FOV) of said image formation and detection module, so that laser light reflected off an object illuminated by said composite substantially planar laser illumination beam is focused along said field of view and onto said image detecting array to form an image of said illuminated object.