Method and apparatus for plotting a specific area of an object under an observation instrument

Claim 3

The method of claim 1, in which the drawing surface comprises an electrically insulating base sheet having a thin removable electrically conductive outer surface; in which the drawing operation produces local removal of said thin surface, whereby that part of the conductive surface within the drawn outline is electrically insulated from that part of the conductive surface outside the drawn outline; and in which said probing step scans the drawing surface for local differences in electrical resistance.

Claim 4

Apparatus for photometric analysis of a specimen, comprising a first stage for supporting the specimen, an enlarging optical system including an aperture stop and positioned to place an enlarged image of the specimen at a plane including said stop, photoelectric means responsive to light passing said stop, a measuring device coupled to the output of said photoelectric means, and a two-coordinate drive for displacing said stage with respect to the axis of said optical system, whereby said stop is caused to scan a field which includes the specimen; a second stage having a drawing surface, means including an optical system and a viewing device positioned to create a viewable image of said drawing surface at said viewing device, means including an optical element in the first of said optical systems for imaging the specimen at said viewing device in superposed relation to the viewing of said drawing surface, a two-coordinate drive for displacing said second stage with respect to the axis of said second optical system, whereby the axis of said second optical system is caused to scan said drawing surface, said drives being proportionally synchronized to assure coordination in the viewed images of the specimen and the drawing surfaces, means for drawing on the drawing surface in the course of such coordinated drive whereby a closed line may be drawn as the outline of the field of the specimen while simultaneously observing the superposed images, whereby the drawn outline is distinguishable from the part of the drawing surface outside of the outline; means programming the operation of said drives to achieve coordinated scans of the respective fields of the specimen and of the drawn outline; means probing the drawing surface in the course of such coordinated-drive operation and producing an electrical output responsive to instantaneous positioning of the scan axis with respect to the drawn outline; and a control connection from the output of said probe means and operatively connected to effectively suppress the electrical signal from said photoelectric means to said measuring device when the instantaneous scan axis is outside the drawn outline.

Claim 5

Apparatus for photometric analysis of a specimen, comprising a first stage for supporting the specimen, an enlarging optical system including an aperture stop and positioned to place an enlarged image of the specimen at a plane including said stop, photoelectric means responsive to light passing said stop, a measuring device coupled to the output of said photoelectric means, and a two-coordinate drive for displacing said stage with respect to the axis of said optical system, whereby said stop is caused to scan a field which includes the specimen; a second stage having a drawing surface, means including an optical system and a viewing device positioned to create a viewable image of said drawing surface at said viewing device, means including an optical element in the first of said optical systems for imaging the specimen at said viewing device in superposed relation to the viewing of said drawing surface, a two-coordinate drive for displacing said second stage with respect to the axis of said second optical system, whereby the axis of said second optical system is caused to scan said drawing surface, said drives being proportionally synchronized to assure coordination in the viewed images of the specimen and the drawing surfaces, means for drawing on the drawing surface in the course of such coordinated drive whereby a closed line may be drawn as the outline of the field of the specimen while simultaneously observing the superposed images, whereby the drawn outline is distinguishable from the part of the drawing surface outside of the outline; means programming the operation of said drives to achieve coordinated scans of the respective fields of the specimen and of the drawn outline; means probing the drawing surface in the course of such coordinated-drive operation and producing an electrical output responsive to instantaneous positioning of the scan axis with respect to the drawn outline; and a control connection from the output of said probe means and operatively connected to effectively suppress the electrical signal from said photoelectric means to said measuring device when the instantaneous scan axis is outside the drawn outline.

Claim 6

Apparatus according to claim 3, in which said drawing surface comprises vapor-deposited metal coating on a transparent dielectric sheet; in which said drawing means comprises a stylus for locally removing said coating, whereby upon making the drawn outline, the coating within the outline is electrically insulated from the coating outside the outline; and in which said probing means responds to detected discontinuity in electrical conductivity of said surface in the course of scanning the same.

Claim 7

Apparatus according to claim 4, in which said probe means comprises a conductive peg on the instantaneous scan axis and in an electrical circuit which includes a voltage source, an electrical resistance, and said surface in the region outside the drawn outline.

Claim 8

Apparatus according to claim 4, in which the connection of said photoelectric means to said measuring device includes a trigger, and a control connection from said probe means to said trigger.