Patent Document ID: 20070211240
Application ID: 11707293
Patent Status: 0

Claim One:
1. A method of inspecting condition of a target surface of a target object, said target surface including portions having different curvatures, said method comprising the steps of: carrying out a preparation for sequentially inspecting a plurality of target objects having a same shape; obtaining an image of said target surface by regularly reflected light for a plurality of times by using an illuminating device and a camera that are fixed and by supporting said target object such that the position and orientation of said target object are variable; and processing the obtained images of said target surface; wherein said preparation comprises the steps of determining the position and orientation that are to be taken by each of said target objects at each of said plurality times and determining target inspection areas on the obtained images to thereby generate set data that represent results of the steps of determining; wherein said image of said target surface is obtained by supporting said target object in the position and orientation according to said set data; and wherein the position and orientation of the target objects and said target inspection areas are determined such that each of said target inspection areas is determined as the area where the corresponding image by regularly reflected light is obtained or a portion of said area and that the image of any point on said target surface will be included in at least one of said target inspection areas of any of the images obtained in said plurality of times.