|United States Patent||4,295,198|
|Copeland , et al.||October 13, 1981|
An automatic apparatus is employed to recognize certain features on a printed circuit board and display that information on a screen so that an operator can create machine instructions for operations at those specific locations. Initially a printed circuit mask is placed on an X-Y table. A scanner automatically passes over the mask and searches for holes or other specific features. An interface system is employed to interface the scanner with a conventional computer. Several operations are employed to positively identify and locate a hole by size. Hole data is then checked to throw out duplicate information. Once the hole sizes are identified the information may be placed on a CRT screen. A machine operator then uses a stylus or other means to place machine instructions into memory at the location of the displayed features. The device may also be used to provide instructions to a routing machine or to compare a drilled printed circuit board with a previously scanned master negative.
|Inventors:||Copeland; Robert K. (Pennington, NJ), Dimaggio; Richard J. (Trenton, NJ)|
Cogit Systems, Inc.
|Filed:||April 2, 1979|
|Current U.S. Class:||382/144 ; 318/568.1; 348/87; 382/291; 382/317; 700/84; 700/86; 716/126; 716/137|
|Current International Class:||G05B 19/42 (20060101); H05K 3/00 (20060101); G05B 019/42 (); H04N 007/18 ()|
|Field of Search:||364/120,474,514,515,518,488-491 358/106,107,101,139,903 318/568,577,575,640 250/23R,23CT,202,563,572 324/73PC 356/392,393|
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"Star-Trak/Printed Circuit Board Tape Programmer and Inspection System"-Digital Systems Bulletin, No. 31475-1975..