Patent Document ID: 8073234
Application ID: 11845177
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for automatically inspecting a golf ball, said method comprising the steps of: (i) producing at least two images of said first golf ball having different optical properties using an imaging system having at least two image sensors, wherein said image sensors produce at least two separate images in the same spectral range of the electromagnetic spectrum from the same perspective using a common light source to provide incident light for each image, said images being produced at different times in succession and wherein each image is of different brightness so that each image shows the same surface of the golf ball, each image having a different light exposure time so that different levels of incident light are captured and each image shows different visible areas and shadowed areas of the surface; combining said images from step (i) into one image, the single combined image showing the same surface of the golf ball as shown in the separate images, the different areas of the surface being equally visible on the combined image; and (iii) comparing the combined image to master images of an exemplary golf ball using an analyzer coupled to said imaging system via an electronic link so that defects on the surface of the first golf ball are detected.