Gifford , Krass, Groh, Sprinkle, Anderson & Citkowski, PC
Surface characterization apparatus
 A hand-held instrument provides a simple and elegant approach to determining the presence or absence of a surface condition such as roughening. A light source such as a laser diode illuminates a localized area of the surface to be characterized, and a light-sensitive detector is supported to receive light reflected by the surface and generate an electrical signal representative of the light received. An optical blocking element is placed at a first point along the axis of the reflected light, and a focussing lens is placed at a second point along the axis. If the surface is smooth or not sufficiently roughened, light is reflected substantially along the axis and blocked by the element so it does not reach the detector. If the surface is roughened, however, the reflected light is scattered off-axis and focussed by the lens onto the detector, thereby effectively bypassing the blocking element. Electrical circuitry is connected to receive the output of the detector and activate an indicator to which an operator may refer. 
Veridian ERIM International, Inc.
G
G01B
inventional
Lauren M.
Peterson