Image reproduction system which detects subject by sensing intensity ratios

Claim 2

An image sensing system comprising: an array of photocells adapted to have an image focused thereon, means interconnecting said photocells in a regular sequence to produce ratio signals representing brightness ratios between adjacent image increments focused on pairs of adjacent photocells in said array, and means responsive to said ratio signals to produce a lightness signal corresponding to each of said image increments and representing the sequential product of each brightness ratio determined for a given photocell pair and the brightness ratios determined for the preceding photocells pairs in said sequence.

Claim 3

An image sensing system comprising an array of photocells adapted to have an image focused thereon, said photocells being connected in pairs to sense light from adjacent increments of such image, and analog means responsive to the output signals of said photocells to produce lightness-characterizing signals for each of said increments and representing the product that results from the multiplication of the ratio of light intensities at any given pair of adjacent image increments times the sequential product of the ratios of light intensities at pairs of adjacent image increments preceding said given pair of increments in said sequence.

Claim 4

An image sensing system comprising an array of photocells adapted to have an image focused thereon, said photocells being connected in pairs to sense light from adjacent increments of such image, and analog means responsive to the output signals of said photocells to produce lightness-characterizing signals for each of said increments and representing the product that results from the multiplication of the ratio of light intensities at any given pair of adjacent image increments times the sequential product of the ratios of light intensities at pairs of adjacent image increments preceding said given pair of increments in said sequence.

Claim 5

An image sensing system comprising an array of photocells adapted to have an image focused thereon, said photocells being connected in sequential pairs to sense light from adjacent increments of said image, and analog means responsive to the output signals of said photocells to produce an output signal for each one of said increments and representing a ratio between the light intensity at said one image increment and the light intensity at an adjacent image increment multiplied by the ratios between light intensities at pairs of adjacent image increments preceding said one increment in said array.

Claim 6

An image sensing system comprising an array of photocells adapted to have an image focused thereon, said photocells being connected in sequential pairs to sense light from adjacent increments of said image, and analog means responsive to the output signals of said photocells to produce an output signal for each one of said increments and representing a ratio between the light intensity at said one image increment and the light intensity at an adjacent image increment multiplied by the ratios between light intensities at pairs of adjacent image increments preceding said one increment in said array.

Claim 7

An image sensing system comprising an array of photocells arranged in a regular sequence and adapted to have an image focused on said array of photocells, pairs of said photocells being arranged to sense light from adjacent increments of the image focused on said array, each pair sensing light from image increments adjacent to the increments sensed by a preceding pair of photocells in said sequence, and analog means responsive to the output signals of the photocells of said array to produce an output signal corresponding to each increment of said image representing the product that results from the multiplication of the ratio between the intensities sensed by a given pair of said photocells times the sequential product of the ratios between the intensities sensed by the preceding photocell pairs in said sequence.

Claim 8

An image sensing system comprising an array of photocells arranged in a regular sequence and adapted to have an image focused on said array of photocells, pairs of said photocells being arranged to sense light from adjacent increments of the image focused on said array, each pair sensing light from image increments adjacent to the increments sensed by a preceding pair of photocells in said sequence, and analog means responsive to the output signals of the photocells of said array to produce an output signal corresponding to each increment of said image representing the product that results from the multiplication of the ratio between the intensities sensed by a given pair of said photocells times the sequential product of the ratios between the intensities sensed by the preceding photocell pairs in said sequence.

Claim 9

An image reproduction system comprising an image sensing system as recited in claim 4 and output means responsive to the output signals of said analog means to produce an image in accordance with the output signals of said analog means to thereby reproduce the image focused on said array of photocells.

Claim 10

An image reproducing system as recited in claim 5 wherein said output means comprises a lamp array including a lamp for each of said pairs of photocells connected to be energizeD to produce an output intensity in accordance with the product represented by the corresponding output signal of said analog means, each lamp of said array being located in a position in said lamp array corresponding to the position of a respective image increment impinging on said photocell array.

Claim 11

An image sensing system as recited in claim 4 wherein there is provided means to produce a logarithmic signal corresponding to each photocell and representing the logarithm of the intensity of the light focused on such photocell and wherein said analog means includes means to subtract the logarithmic signal corresponding to one of the photocells of each of said pairs from the other and to add the resulting difference to the output signal of the analog means corresponding to the preceding pair of photocells to provide said output signal corresponding to each pair of photocells.

Claim 12

An image reproduction system comprising an image sensing system as recited in claim 7 and a lamp array including a lamp for each pair of photocells connected to be energized in accordance with the corresponding output signal of said analog means, each lamp producing light of an intensity proportional to the antilogarithm of the energizing signal, each lamp of said array being located in a position in said lamp array corresponding to the position of a respective image increment focused on said photocell array.

Claim 13

An image reproduction system as recited in claim 7 wherein each of said photocells has a resistance proportional to the intensity of the light focused thereon and wherein said means to provide a logarithmic signal corresponding to each of said photocells comprises a circuit including a plurality of diodes connected in series with said photocell.

Claim 14

An image sensing system comprising an array of photocells and arranged in a sequence of succeeding pairs and adapted to have an image focused on said array, each of said pairs being arranged to sense light from adjacent increments of the image focused on said array, each pair of photocells sensing light from increments adjacent to the increments sensed by the preceding pair of photocells in said sequence, and analog means responsive to the output signals of said photocells to produce an output for each of said photocell pairs representing a lightness ratio determined by the ratio between the intensities sensed by the photocells of such pair multiplied by the sequential products of the ratios represented by the output signals of said analog means corresponding to all preceding photocell pairs in said sequence.

Claim 15

An image sensing system comprising an array of photocells and arranged in a sequence of succeeding pairs and adapted to have an image focused on said array, each of said pairs being arranged to sense light from adjacent increments of the image focused on said array, each pair of photocells sensing light from increments adjacent to the increments sensed by the preceding pair of photocells in said sequence, and analog means responsive to the output signals of said photocells to produce an output for each of said photocell pairs representing a lightness ratio determined by the ratio between the intensities sensed by the photocells of such pair multiplied by the sequential products of the ratios represented by the output signals of said analog means corresponding to all preceding photocell pairs in said sequence.

Claim 16

An image reproduction system comprising an image sensing system as recited in claim 10 and means responsive to the output signals of said analog means to produce an image in accordance with said output signals to thereby reproduce the image focused on said array of photocells.

Claim 17

An image reproduction system as recited in claim 11 wherein said output means comprises a lamp array including a lamp for each of said pairs of photocells connected to be energized to produce light with an intensity proportional to the ratio represented by the corresponding output signal of said analog means, each lamp of said array being located in a position in said lamp array corresponding to the position of a respective image increment focused on said photocell array.

Claim 18

An image sensing system as recited in claim 10 wherein the increment of said image focused on the last photocell in said sequence is adjacent to the increment of said image focused on the first photocell and wherein the ratio represented by the output signal corresponding to the first pair of photocells is determined by multiplying the ratio of intensities sensed by the photocells of said first pair times the ratio represented by the output signal of the analog means corresponding to the last pair of photocells in said sequence.

Claim 19

An image sensing system as recited in claim 10 wherein there is provided means to produce a logarithmic signal corresponding to each of said phOtocells representing the logarithm of the intensity of the light focused on such photocell and wherein said analog means comprises means to subtract the logarithmic signals corresponding to one photocell of each pair from the other and to add the resulting difference to the output signal of the analog means corresponding to the preceding pair of photocells to thereby produce said output signal corresponding to each pair of photocells.

Claim 20

An image reproduction system comprising an image sensing system as recited in claim 14 and a lamp array including a lamp for each pair of photocells in said photocell array connected to be energized in accordance with a corresponding output signal of said analog means, each lamp producing an output intensity proportional to the antilogarithm of the energizing signal.

Claim 21

An image sensing system comprising an array of photocells arranged in a predetermined sequence and adapted to have an imagewise distribution of light focused thereon, means for obtaining from adjacent pairs of said photocells in said array signals representing the ratio of brightness sensed by said photocells at closely adjacent points at separate increments of said distribution, analog means responsive to said signals representing brightness ratios to produce signals representing the brightness ratios sensed by each of said adjacent pairs of said photocells multiplied times the sequential product of all brightness ratios sensed by said photocells preceding such adjacent pair in a predetermined sequence to establish a hierarchical scale of lightness values of said increments, said analog means including means responsive to the establishment of a lightness value at any particular one of said increments more extreme than at any preceding one of said increments for interrupting the sequence of multiplication at said particular increment and for starting a new sequence of multiplication of successive brightness ratios detected by said array at said particular increment.

Claim 22

An image sensing system comprising an array of photocells arranged in a predetermined sequence and adapted to have an imagewise distribution of light focused thereon, means for obtaining from adjacent pairs of said photocells in said array signals representing the ratio of brightness sensed by said photocells at closely adjacent points at separate increments of said distribution, analog means responsive to said signals representing brightness ratios to produce signals representing the brightness ratios sensed by each of said adjacent pairs of said photocells multiplied times the sequential product of all brightness ratios sensed by said photocells preceding such adjacent pair in a predetermined sequence to establish a hierarchical scale of lightness values of said increments, said analog means including means responsive to the establishment of a lightness value at any particular one of said increments more extreme than at any preceding one of said increments for interrupting the sequence of multiplication at said particular increment and for starting a new sequence of multiplication of successive brightness ratios detected by said array at said particular increment.

Claim 23

An image reproduction system comprising an image sensing system as recited in claim 16 wherein said analog means produces an output signal representing each sequential product determined by said multiplying means in said multiplication sequence, and output means responsive to the resulting output signals to produce an image in accordance with the output signals of said analog means to thereby reproduce said imagewise distribution of light focused on said array of photocells.

Claim 24

An image reproducing system as recited in claim 17 wherein said output means comprises a lamp array including a lamp for each of said output signals and means to energize each of said lamps to produce light of an intensity in accordance with the sequential product represented by the corresponding output signal.

Claim 25

An image sensing system as recited in claim 17 wherein said means for interrupting said sequence of multiplication carries out said interruption of the sequence of multiplication by providing each sequential product in said sequence of multiplication with a predetermined maximum value.