Patent Document ID: 5513276
Application ID: 08253006
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. An apparatus for creating a three-dimensional image of an object surface, the apparatus comprising: a light source adapted to train a projected light ray upon an object surface to produce an illuminated point on the object surface; a video camera having an optical axis, a focal length and a vanishing point, the optical axis of the video camera being substantially parallel to the projected light ray, said video camera also having a sensor matrix defining a sensor matrix plane which is substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the video camera, the vanishing point of the video camera being substantially at the focal length distance from the sensor matrix plane along the optical axis of the video camera toward the object; means for determining a source point corresponding to the intersection of the sensor matrix plane and the line defined by the projected light rays wherein the vanishing point and the source point define a vanishing point line; means for determining a sensed point lying in the sensor matrix plane and corresponding to the illuminated point on the object surface; processing means for determining a normal line perpendicular to the sensor matrix plane and passing through the sensed point, and for computing three-dimensional image coordinates for the image point defined by the intersection of the normal line with the vanishing point line; and transformation means for converting the three-dimensional image coordinates into three-dimensional object coordinates representing the object surface.