KR20000044341A - Infra red thermal image apparatus including 2d arrangement detection part - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An infrared thermal image apparatus including 2D arrangement detection part is provided to reproduce an image without horizontal/vertical scanning, thereby reducing system size and power consumption. CONSTITUTION: An infrared thermal image apparatus including 2D arrangement detection part includes an infrared optical part(100), a reflecting mirror(102), a precision scanning part(104), a detecting part(106), and an image signal processing part(120). The infrared optical part detects an object and generates infrared signal. The reflecting mirror deflects the infrared inputted from the infrared optical part. The precision scanning part precisely scans the infrared deflected and inputted by the reflecting mirror. The detecting part detects the infrared signal with an electrical analog signal corresponding to the size of the each infrared signal. The image signal processing part processes the electrical analog signal detected by the detecting part with an image signal.

Description

Infrared Thermal Imaging Device with Two-Dimensional Array Detection

The present invention relates to an infrared thermal imaging apparatus, and more particularly, to an infrared thermal imaging apparatus having a two-dimensional array detection unit.

The operation of a general infrared thermal imaging apparatus detects an image according to a heat from an object to be imaged and applies the detection unit to convert the thermal image into an electrical analog signal by horizontally scanning the thermal image with a vertical scan. The electrical analog signal detected by the detector is converted into a digital signal, processed into a signal for image output, and then processed into an analog signal and outputted as an image. Infrared thermal imaging device has the same type of video output as RS170, so the effective vertical line should be 480 or more and horizontal pixels should be 600 or more. Similar to a Charge Couple Device (CCD) camera, when the number of pixels in the detection unit is greater than or equal to 480 × 600, the screen can be reproduced without a separate scanning device. However, since the heat detecting unit has only about 8 to 120 lines of vertical lines and only parts having 1 to 8 pixels horizontally, it is necessary to scan vertically and horizontally within the frame frame playback time. You can get video output. In order to reproduce the screen with 480 to 600, the number of pixels of the general detection unit, 120 to 8 vertical / horizontal pixel lines are scanned 60 times horizontally in one vertical scan within the screen reproduction time. If you repeat the scan 4 times, you can get the desired video output. In other words, the thermal image of the object is detected, and the vertical syringe has to scan the TV screen and the horizontal image is scanned in synchronization with the vertical scan. The detector receives signals from each scan and stores them sequentially, Will produce the same signal.

Therefore, as described above, the conventional infrared thermal imaging apparatus needs to scan horizontally and vertically at high speed in order to adjust the scanning time to the screen frame time, thereby increasing the size of the system and increasing power consumption. To solve this problem, Korean patent application No. 96-48055 filed on September 22, 1997, entitled "Infrared Imaging Device" by the applicant of the present application, has a detection unit that can cover a vertical line, and reproduces the image using only horizontal scanning. This is disclosed for one infrared thermal imaging device.

However, the "infrared imaging apparatus" previously filed by the present applicant has a detection unit that can cover all the vertical lines to remove the vertical syringe provided for vertical scanning in the conventional infrared thermal imaging apparatus to configure the infrared thermal imaging apparatus Slightly simplified, but the size and power consumption of the system was not significantly reduced because the horizontal scanning still needs to be performed at a high speed.

As described above, the conventional infrared thermal imaging apparatus still needs to perform horizontal scanning, which causes a problem that the size and power consumption of the system are not greatly reduced.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an infrared thermal imaging apparatus capable of reproducing an image without performing vertical / horizontal scanning, thereby greatly reducing the size and power consumption of the system.

1 is a block diagram of an infrared thermal imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of the detector of the device shown in FIG. 1; FIG.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an infrared thermal imaging apparatus comprising: an infrared optical unit for thermally sensing a subject to generate a thermally sensed infrared signal, a reflector for deflecting an infrared signal input from the infrared optical unit; A precision scanning unit for precisely scanning the infrared signal input by being deflected by the reflector, and a two-dimensional vertical / horizontal pixel array capable of covering vertical / horizontal lines of the infrared signal input from the precision scanning unit; And a detection unit for detecting the infrared signal as an electrical analog signal corresponding to the size of each infrared signal, and a video signal processing unit for processing the electrical analog signal detected by the detection unit as an image signal.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Many specific details are set forth in the following description and in the accompanying drawings to provide a more general understanding of the invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. And a detailed description of known functions and configurations that may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention will be omitted.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an infrared thermal imaging apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the infrared thermal imaging apparatus detects heat provided from a subject and outputs an infrared signal according to thermal detection, and an infrared signal output from the infrared optical unit 100. Reflector 102 deflects finely (for example, about one pixel in size, typically several tens of micrometers), and moves up, down, left, and right to deflect infrared signals that are deflected from the reflector 102 to be synchronized. The two-dimensional vertical / horizontal pixel array that can cover both the vertical scanning unit 104 and the vertical / horizontal line of the infrared signal with respect to the image of the subject scanned from the precision scanning unit 104. A detector 106 configured to detect the infrared signal as an electrical analog signal corresponding to the magnitude of each infrared signal, and an electrical analog signal detected by the detector 106. Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) 110 converts the digital signal into a digital signal, and converts the digital signal converted by the Analog-to-Digital Converter 110 by a System Timing Control (STC) signal. A multiplexer (MUX) 112 to be passed through, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 114 to convert a digital signal selectively passed by the multiplexer 112 into an analog video signal (DAC) (114), A video signal processor 116 extracting only a video signal from analog video signals converted by the digital-analog converter 114 and a display unit displaying the video signal extracted by the video signal processor 116 on a screen. It consists of 118.

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of a detector of the infrared thermal imaging apparatus of FIG. 1 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the operation of the infrared thermal imaging apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

An infrared thermal imaging apparatus is an apparatus that converts an image according to heat detected from an object into an electrical signal to image an object that is hardly visible at night. The infrared optical unit 100 detects infrared rays provided from a subject to be output as an image. The infrared optical unit 100 is a portion corresponding to the lens as compared to the charge coupled device camera, and does not pass visible light or ultraviolet rays provided from a subject, and passes only heat, that is, infrared light, to detect an image according to heat. The reflector 102 deflects the image of the subject due to the infrared rays detected by the infrared optical unit 100. The vertical / horizontal line of the general detection unit 106 is 480 × 600, and the vertical / horizontal line of the detection unit 106 according to the embodiment of the present invention is 240 × 320 (b) or 480 × as shown in FIG. 2. Since it is 640 (a), the screen can be reproduced without a separate vertical / horizontal scanner, so the vertical / horizontal line of the subject's thermal image by the infrared signal output from the infrared optical unit 100 is deflected using the reflector 102. Let's do it.

The precision scanning unit 104 moves the image of the subject by the infrared signal reflected from the reflecting unit 102 finely (for example, about one pixel size, typically about tens of microns). To precisely scan the deflected infrared signal in synchronization. As shown in FIG. 2, the detector 106 may cover both vertical and horizontal lines of the infrared signal with respect to the thermal image of the subject that is deflected from the reflector 102 and is 240 × 320 (b) or 480 ×. The infrared signal is detected as an electrical analog signal corresponding to the magnitude of the infrared signal by configuring a two-dimensional vertical / horizontal pixel array of 640 (a). That is, in the conventional detection unit 106 composed of 480 × 4 pixel arrays, when the 480 × 4 vertical / horizontal pixel lines are scanned vertically once within the screen reproduction time in order to reproduce the screen at 480 × 600, which is the number of normal detection unit pixels While the desired image output can be obtained by scanning 150 times horizontally, the detector 106 of the embodiment of the present invention performs a vertical / horizontal pixel arrangement of 240 × 320 (b) or 480 × 640 (a) as described above. This allows you to achieve the desired image output without vertical or horizontal scanning. In detail, when the detector 106 has a vertical / horizontal pixel array configured in two dimensions of 240 × 320 (b), the image signal processor 120 doubles the number of pixels to reproduce the screen on the screen. When the infrared signal, which is finely deflected from up and down, left and right from the scanning unit 104, is input to the detection unit 106 having a vertical / horizontal pixel arrangement configured in two dimensions of 240 × 320 (b), the detection unit 106 is used. Does not double the number of pixels by accepting a signal corresponding to 480 x 640 (a), and reproduces the signal as it is on the screen to obtain an image output. In addition, when the detector 106 has a vertical / horizontal pixel array composed of two dimensions of 480 × 640 (a), an image is output by processing the analog signal output from the detector 106 as it is and processing it on a screen. You will get

In addition, since the signal input to the detector 106 is a signal according to the size of the infrared rays detected by the subject, the temperature is present. The detector 106 is a subject of a different color according to the size of the infrared rays, that is, the temperature. From the voltage is set according to the color to output an analog signal according to the color value. The amplifier 108 amplifies the electrical analog signal detected by the detector 106. In general, since the electric analog signal for the subject output from the detector 106 is not only weak but also mixed with noise, it is difficult to output an image signal. Accordingly, the amplification unit 108 is the detector 106 as described above. The electrical analog signal for the subject output from is amplified appropriately by a preset amount of amplification for use in subsequent signal processing. The analog-digital converter 110 converts the electrical analog signal amplified by the amplifier 108 into a digital signal.

The multiplexer 112 selectively passes the digital signal converted by the analog-digital converter by the system timing control signal. Therefore, even if an infrared ray of an unwanted object is input, the multiplexer 112 is controlled by the system timing control signal so that the infrared ray is not output as an image signal. The digital-analog converter 114 converts the digital signal selectively passed by the multiplexer 112 into an analog video signal and outputs the analog video signal. The video signal processor 116 extracts only the video signal from the analog video signal converted by the digital-analog converter 114. The video signal includes an audio signal and a video signal. In the present invention, since the desired signal is a video signal, only the video signal is extracted. The display unit 118 displays the video signal extracted by the video signal processor 116 on the screen.

As described above, the present invention eliminates the need for vertical / horizontal scanning when reproducing a screen by using a detector configured to reproduce a normal screen with a vertical / horizontal pixel in the infrared thermal imaging apparatus. By eliminating the horizontal syringe, the configuration of the system can be simplified and the power consumption can be reduced.

Claims (4)

In the infrared thermal imaging device, An infrared optical unit for thermally detecting a subject and generating a thermally sensed infrared signal; A reflector for deflecting an infrared signal input from the infrared optical unit; A precision scanning unit for precisely scanning the infrared signal inputted by being deflected by the reflector; A detection unit configured of a two-dimensional vertical / horizontal pixel array capable of covering vertical / horizontal lines of the infrared signal input from the precision scanning unit, and detecting the infrared signal as an electric analog signal corresponding to the size of each infrared signal Wow, And an image signal processor configured to process the electrical analog signal detected by the detector as an image signal. The image signal processor of claim 1, wherein the image signal processor comprises: In the case where the detector has a vertical / horizontal pixel array composed of two dimensions of 240 × 320, an infrared thermal imaging apparatus having a two-dimensional array detector which doubles the number of pixels and reproduces the image on a screen. The display apparatus of claim 2, wherein the image signal processor comprises: When the infrared signal, which is finely deflected up, down, left, and right from the precision scanning unit, is input to the detection unit, the two-dimensional array detection unit is reproduced on the screen by signal processing without doubling the number of pixels. Infrared thermal imaging device. The image signal processor of claim 1, wherein the image signal processor comprises: When the detector has a vertical / horizontal pixel array composed of two dimensions of 480 × 640, an infrared signal having a two-dimensional array detector is reproduced on the screen by processing the analog signal output from the detector as it is. Thermal imaging device.