Patent ID: 7460703

Claim:
A system for imaging an elongated bar extending and moving along a longitudinal axis in a manufacturing process, said system comprising: an image acquisition assembly having a field of view configured to image a first predetermined width over a circumference of a surface of said bar while said bar is moving to define an image belt and produce image data corresponding thereto, said image acquisition assembly including n digital cameras, where n is an integer 3 or greater, arranged so that a combined field of view thereof corresponds to said image belt, said cameras comprising line scan cameras; a light line assembly configured to project a light line belt having a second predetermined width onto the surface of said bar, said light line assembly being disposed relative to said image acquisition assembly such that said image belt is within said light line belt, said light line assembly being further configured such that a light intensity is substantially uniform along said image belt; a protection device comprising a tube having a first part and a second part spaced apart and offset from said first part along said longitudinal axis to define an access space, said tube being disposed intermediate the elongated bar and said image acquisition means and said light line assembly, said access space being configured in size and shape to allow (i) entry of said light line belt and (ii) exit of said image belt; a contaminant reduction mechanism configured to reduce the presence of contaminants in the space proximate said access space of said protection tube; and a computing unit coupled to said image acquisition assembly configured to receive image data for a plurality of image belts acquired by said image acquisition assembly as said bar moves along said longitudinal axis, said computing unit being further configured to process said image data to detect predetermined surface features of said bar.