Underlying wall structure finder and infrared camera

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9797756-B2
Application number	US-201514921074-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 23, 2015
Priority date	Oct 24, 2014
Publication date	Oct 24, 2017
Grant date	Oct 24, 2017

Abstract

Tools used to detect underlying structures, such as behind the surface of a wall, can include a first sensor, such as an electromagnetic sensor, configured to generate data indicative of the location of the underlying structure. Tools can include an indicator that provides an indication to a user based on the data. Tools can additionally or alternatively include an infrared imaging device for generating infrared image data indicative of the heat pattern of a scene. A display can display the generated infrared image data. Underlying structures may be visible in the heat pattern of the scene. The tool can indicate the presence of an underlying structure feature to an operator via one or both of the display and the indicator.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An underlying wall structure finder comprising:
an first sensor configured to generate a first set of data indicative of the location of a stud or other underlying structure beneath the surface of a wall;
at least one indicator configured to provide an indication to a user based on the first set of data;
an infrared (IR) imaging device configured to generate IR image data indicative of the heat pattern of a target scene; and
a display configured to display IR image data generated from the IR imaging device; wherein
at least one of the at least one indicator and the display provides an indication to the user regarding the presence of an underlying wall structure at a location beneath the surface of a wall; and wherein
the indication regarding the presence of an underlying wall structure includes information regarding the likelihood that an underlying wall structure is present at the location.

2. The underlying wall structure finder of claim 1 , further comprising a user interface, and wherein a user can toggle between options of receiving an indication based on data received from the first sensor, IR image data from the IR imaging device, or a combination thereof.

3. The underlying wall structure finder of claim 1 , wherein the at least one indicator is presented on the display.

4. The underlying wall structure finder of claim 1 , further comprising a processor, wherein the processor is configured to:
receive the IR image data and first set of data; and
generate a probability map designating areas in which underlying studs or other structure may be present on the display.

5. The underlying wall structure finder of claim 1 , further comprising a visible light (VL) imaging device, and wherein the display is configured to present VL image data generated from the VL imaging device.

6. The underlying wall structure finder of claim 5 , configured to present VL image data and IR image data simultaneously.

7. The underlying wall structure finder of claim 6 , wherein the IR image data is presented selectively on the display according to whether or not the IR image data satisfies a predetermined condition.

8. The underlying wall structure finder of claim 1 , further configured to present one or more visual representations on the display indicative of the location of a stud behind a wall surface.

9. The underlying wall structure finder of claim 8 , wherein the one or more visual representations includes at least an indicator element, an outline, or a centerline.

10. The underlying wall structure finder of claim 1 , further comprising a non-contact voltage detector.

11. The underlying wall structure finder of claim 1 , wherein the first sensor comprises at least an electromagnetic sensor, a magnetic sensor, a capacitive sensor, an acoustic sensor, or a radar sensor.

12. The underlying wall structure finder of claim 1 , further comprising a laser configured to emit a laser beam toward the surface of the wall in the location of a detected underlying structure behind the wall.

13. A handheld infrared imaging device comprising:
an IR imaging sensor configured to generate IR image data representative of a target scene;
a display configured to present a representation of the generated IR image data; and
a processor configured to:
receive the generated IR image data;
process the received IR image data to determine the location of one or more underlying structures behind a surface in the IR image data; and
generate the representation of the IR image data for display, wherein:
the representation of the IR image data comprises one or more visual indicators representative of the location of an underlying structure behind the surface determined from the received IR image data.

14. The handheld infrared imaging device of claim 13 , further comprising a user interface, and wherein including, on the display, one or more visual indicators representative of the location of an underlying structure behind as surface comprises receiving, via the user interface, an indication of the location of one or more underlying structures and displaying a visual indicator at the indicated location.

15. The handheld infrared imaging device of claim 14 , wherein the interface comprises a touchscreen.

16. The handheld infrared imaging device of claim 13 , wherein the determining the location of one or more underlying structures comprises determining the likelihood that an underlying structure is located at the location and wherein the one or more visual indicators includes information related to the likelihood of underlying structure at the indicated location.

17. The handheld infrared imaging device of claim 16 , wherein the information related to the likelihood of underlying structure at the indicated location comprises the color of the one or more visual indicators.

18. The handheld infrared imaging device of claim 13 , further comprising a visible light (VL) imaging configured to generate VL image data representative of a target scene, and wherein the processor is configured to process IR image data and VL image data to generate a display including both IR image data and VL image data.

19. The handheld infrared imaging device of claim 18 , wherein the display including both IR image data and VL image data selectively includes IR image data in locations in which the IR image data satisfies a predetermined condition.

20. The handheld infrared imaging device of claim 19 , wherein the predetermined condition comprises a likelihood of the presence of underlying structure behind a surface.

21. A method for detecting underlying structure behind the surface of a wall comprising:
receiving infrared radiation from a target scene including the wall;
analyzing the heat pattern of the target scene based on the received infrared radiation;
determining the location of one or more underlying structures behind the wall surface and the likelihood of the presence of the one or more underlying structures based on the analysis of the heat pattern; and
indicating the likelihood of the presence of the one or more underlying structures behind the wall surface.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein indicating the likelihood of the presence of the one or more underlying structures behind the wall surface comprises indicating, on a display, the likelihood of the one or more underlying structures being present at one or more corresponding locations.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein indicating, on the display, the likelihood of the one or more underlying structures being present at one or more corresponding locations comprises determining whether a location in the target scene meets a likelihood threshold for including underlying wall structure, and, if the location meets the likelihood threshold, including one or more indication markers representing the location in the scene that satisfies the likelihood threshold.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein the one or more indication markers include information regarding the likelihood of underlying structure being present at the corresponding location.

25. The method of claim 22 , further comprising the step of receiving visible light radiation from the target scene including the wall, and wherein the display includes visible light image data representative of the scene.

Assignees

• Fluke Corp

Inventors

• Silva Luis R
• Stuart Michael D

Classifications

• H04N23/63

  by using electronic viewfinders · CPC title

• G01V3/15 Primary

  specially adapted for use during transport, e.g. by a person, vehicle or boat · CPC title

• G01J2005/0077

  Imaging · CPC title

• H04N5/33

  Transforming infrared radiation (cameras or camera modules for generating image signals from infrared radiation H04N23/20; circuitry of SSIS for transforming infrared radiation into image signals H04N25/20) · CPC title

• G01D5/40 Primary

  specially adapted for use with infrared light {(mechanical adjustment G01D5/264)} · CPC title