Temperature measurement technique and apparatus

Claim 1

The method of determining the absolute color temperature of a thermally radiating source comprising the steps of: a. collecting a solid angle of a substantial portion of the total spectral range of the radiation emitted by the source; b. forming a first pulse of the collected radiation and spectrally filtering said first pulse over the spectral bandwidth of the radiation, the factor of said filtering being a function of a first selected power of the instantaneous wavelength; c. forming a second pulse of the collected radiation and spectrally filtering said second pulse over the spectral bandwidth of the radiation, the factor of said filtering being a function of a second selected power of the instantaneous wavelength; d. deriving first and second electrical signals proportional to the time integrated first and second spectrally filtered pulses respectively; and e. ratioing the first electrical signal to the second electrical signal to obtain an electrical output signal proportional to the absolute color temperature of the source.

Claim 2

The method of determining the absolute color temperature of a thermally radiating source comprising the steps of: a. collecting a solid angle of a substantial portion of the total spectral range of the radiation emitted by the source; b. forming a first pulse of the collected radiation and spectrally filtering said first pulse over the spectral bandwidth of the radiation, the factor of said filtering being a function of a first selected power of the instantaneous wavelength; c. forming a second pulse of the collected radiation and spectrally filtering said second pulse over the spectral bandwidth of the radiation, the factor of said filtering being a function of a second selected power of the instantaneous wavelength; d. deriving first and second electrical signals proportional to the time integrated first and second spectrally filtered pulses respectively; and e. ratioing the first electrical signal to the second electrical signal to obtain an electrical output signal proportional to the absolute color temperature of the source.

Claim 3

The method of determining the absolute color temperature of a thermally radiation source comprising the steps of: a. collecting a solid angle of a substantial portion of the total spectral range of the radiation emitted by the source; b. collimating and spectrally dispersing said collected radiation into a spectrum line image; c. differentially transmitting continuous spectral portions of said spectrum line image in a first pulse to a radiation detector for durations proportional to a first selected power, m, of the wavelengths of the continuous portions to generate a detector first electrical output signal; d. differentially transmitting continuous spectral portions of said spectrum line image in a second pulse to said radiation detector for durations proportional to a second selected power, n, of the wavelengths of the continuous portions to generate a detector second electrical output signal; e. separately time integrating the detector first and second electrical output signals; and f. ratioing the time integrated detector first electrical output signal to the second electrical output signal to obtain a final electrical output signal proportional to the absolute color temperature of the source raised to the power of (m- n).

Claim 4

The method of determining the absolute color temperature of a thermally radiation source comprising the steps of: a. collecting a solid angle of a substantial portion of the total spectral range of the radiation emitted by the source; b. collimating and spectrally dispersing said collected radiation into a spectrum line image; c. differentially transmitting continuous spectral portions of said spectrum line image in a first pulse to a radiation detector for durations proportional to a first selected power, m, of the wavelengths of the continuous portions to generate a detector first electrical output signal; d. differentially transmitting continuous spectral portions of said spectrum line image in a second pulse to said radiation detector for durations proportional to a second selected power, n, of the wavelengths of the continuous portions to generate a detector second electrical output signal; e. separately time integrating the detector first and second electrical output signals; and f. ratioing the time integrated detector first electrical output signal to the second electrical output signal to obtain a final electrical output signal proportional to the absolute color temperature of the source raised to the power of (m- n).

Claim 6

An apparatus for determining the absolute color temperature of a thermally radiating source comprising: a. collecting optics for collecting a solid angle of a substantial portion of the total spectral range of the radiation emitted by the source; b. a spectRal filter intercepting the collected radiation for forming a first pulse of the collected radiation and for spectrally filtering the first pulse of the radiation by a factor of a first selected power of the instantaneous wavelength; said spectral filter further forming a second pulse of the collected radiation and spectrally filtering the second pulse of the radiation by a factor of a second selected power of the instantaneous wavelength; c. an integrating detector receiving the first and second spectrally filtered radiation pulses for generating first and second electrical signals proportional to the time integrated first and second spectrally filtered pulses respectively; and d. a ratiometer responsive to said integrating detector for ratioing the first electrical signal to the second electrical signal to obtain an electrical output signal proportional to the absolute color temperature of the source.

Claim 7

An apparatus for determining the absolute color temperature of a thermally radiating source comprising: a. collecting optics for collecting a solid angle of a substantial portion of the total spectral range of the radiation emitted by the source; b. a spectRal filter intercepting the collected radiation for forming a first pulse of the collected radiation and for spectrally filtering the first pulse of the radiation by a factor of a first selected power of the instantaneous wavelength; said spectral filter further forming a second pulse of the collected radiation and spectrally filtering the second pulse of the radiation by a factor of a second selected power of the instantaneous wavelength; c. an integrating detector receiving the first and second spectrally filtered radiation pulses for generating first and second electrical signals proportional to the time integrated first and second spectrally filtered pulses respectively; and d. a ratiometer responsive to said integrating detector for ratioing the first electrical signal to the second electrical signal to obtain an electrical output signal proportional to the absolute color temperature of the source.

Claim 8

An apparatus for determining the absolute color temperature of a thermally radiating source comprising: a. collecting optics for collecting a solid angle of a substantial portion of the total spectral range of the radiation emitted by the source; b. an optical collimator intercepting the collected radiation from said collecting optics for collimating the radiation into a parallel beam; c. dispersing means receiving the collimated parallel beam from said optical collimator for spectrally dispersing the beam into a spectrum line image; d. a rotating reticle intercepting the spectral line image from the dispersing means for forming first and second pulses of the spectrum line image. e. a spatial spectral filter carried by said rotating reticle for differentially transmitting continuous spectral portions of the first pulse of the spectrum line image for durations proportional to a first selected power, m, of the wavelength of the continuous portions and for differentially transmitting continuous spectral portions of the second pulse of the spectrum line image for durations proportional to a second selected power, n, of the wavelength of the continuous portions; f. a radiation detector receiving the first and second spectrum line pulses transmitted by said spatial spectral filter for generating first and second electrical signals; g. an electrical signal integrator electrically connected to said detector for separately time integrating the first and second electrical signals; and h. a ratiometer responsive to said integrator for ratioing the time integrated first electrical signal to the time integrated second electrical signal to obtain an electrical output signal proportional to the absolute color temperature of the source raised to the power of (m-n).

Claim 9

An apparatus for determining the absolute color temperature of a thermally radiating source comprising: a. collecting optics for collecting a solid angle of a substantial portion of the total spectral range of the radiation emitted by the source; b. an optical collimator intercepting the collected radiation from said collecting optics for collimating the radiation into a parallel beam; c. dispersing means receiving the collimated parallel beam from said optical collimator for spectrally dispersing the beam into a spectrum line image; d. a rotating reticle intercepting the spectral line image from the dispersing means for forming first and second pulses of the spectrum line image. e. a spatial spectral filter carried by said rotating reticle for differentially transmitting continuous spectral portions of the first pulse of the spectrum line image for durations proportional to a first selected power, m, of the wavelength of the continuous portions and for differentially transmitting continuous spectral portions of the second pulse of the spectrum line image for durations proportional to a second selected power, n, of the wavelength of the continuous portions; f. a radiation detector receiving the first and second spectrum line pulses transmitted by said spatial spectral filter for generating first and second electrical signals; g. an electrical signal integrator electrically connected to said detector for separately time integrating the first and second electrical signals; and h. a ratiometer responsive to said integrator for ratioing the time integrated first electrical signal to the time integrated second electrical signal to obtain an electrical output signal proportional to the absolute color temperature of the source raised to the power of (m-n).