A photoconversion device comprises a plurality of cells 1 each having a bipolar type sensor element T, the base of which is connected to a reset switch FET M and is also capacitively coupled to a control electrode. The device is read out by providing a positive pulse to the base of the sensor T through the control electrode, and is refreshed by a first operation in which the base is set to a preset level through the FET M and a second operation in which the base-emitter junction of the sensor T ...

The invention relates to optical devices, particularly to an optical displacement transducer for detecting a light flow received by a light sensor and subsequent determination of the amount of force applied to an object within which the optical displacement transducer is mounted. The transducer utilizes a light source which is mounted within a housing having a translucent face, and a light sensor mounted in a body having a corresponding translucent face. The light flow which travels between the ...

A photo-coupler apparatus has a light emitting diode, a photo-diode array, an output MOSFET which is driven by the photoelectromotive force generated by said photo-diode array, and a circuit for limiting the gate voltage of said output MOSFET below a certain value. Said limiting circuit includes a first resistor for detecting output currents, an NPN transistor, a second resistor, and a PNP transistor. In this structure, the voltages developed across the first and second resistors are used to dri...

A dental film-based radiograph which is relatively small of the order of 40 mm by 30 mm is scanned and converted to a digital image by mounting the radiograph on a table movable in a single direction at a transparent aperture of the table and by transmitting through the radiograph a beam of laser light from a line source with the line parallel to the radiograph and defining a collimated beam of parallel light at right angles to the line and lying in a single plane containing the line. A detector...

A hand scanner employs either uniformly or variably frosted scan windows to control illumination. For scanning color documents including books and magazines, a hand scanner employs a fluorescent tube mounted a certain distance above the lower surface of the scanner housing. At the fluorescent tube ends, corresponding to the illumination "dead space" of the fluorescent tube, the underlying portion of the scanner housing is recessed towards the tube.

An optical switch, or detector, is provided with a light source and a light sensitive component. The light source, which can be an infrared light emitting diode, and the light sensitive component, which can be a photodarlington pair, are associated to provide an equilibrium light emission from the light emitting diode which is sufficient to maintain conductance through the light sensitive component which regulates the amount of current flowing through the light emitting diode. This cooperative a...

This invention relates to a light detecting device comprising a first conduction-type semiconductor substrate, a first conduction-type semiconductor crystal layer formed on the surface of the substrate, and a second conduction-type first region formed in the semiconductor crystal layer. The first region is surrounded by a second conduction-type second region. On the surface of the semiconductor crystal layer, an electrode is formed on the first region, and a reflection preventing layer is formed...

Light intensity detecting circuits using reverse biased photodiodes are disclosed. Two photodiodes are fabricated with essentially the same structure in close enough proximity to each other on a single semiconductor substrate so that they both experience the same environment. In one scheme the cathode of the first photodiode is common with the anode of the second photodiode and an inverting terminal of an operational amplifier with negative feedback. A negative voltage is applied to the anode of...

An illumination system uses rotatable, polarized illumination optics to detect the direction of highly efficient excitation of fluorescent dyes coupled to a sample, or the absorption transition moment, using information on the direction of maximal fluorescence intensity, in which it is possible to detect individual dynamic changes in the internal structure or orientation of an entire protein molecule by coupling a single fluorescent dye molecule to the protein molecule. The polarized total inter...

A configurable slide imaging system includes a plurality of slide cassettes, each cassette configured for accessibly storing a plurality of specimen slides, a plurality of imagers, each operatively coupled with one or more processors for processing images obtained of respective specimen slides retrieved from the storage cassettes, and a slide transport system including a movable arm having a slide engagement mechanism, the slide transport system configured for retrieving slides from the slide ca...