System for measuring radiance

Abstract

Two or more triangular apertures are employed to pass radiation from a source to a detector to reduce the amount of stray radiation received by the detector. Preferably, the two apertures are equilateral triangles oriented at 60° rotated relative to each other and have dimensions proportional to their distances from the sensor. A Bessel filter is employed to reduce the effect of flicker and other rapid changes in intensity in the radiance from the source. The output of the sensor is integrated and sampled at sampling time intervals that are powers of two of time, and a reading is provided when the output of the integrator exceeds the same threshold under all radiation source intensity conditions so that the meter has a substantially constant resolution at different signal levels.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An apparatus for measuring radiance of a radiation source, comprising: 
 a sensor;    at least a first polygonal aperture for passing radiation from the source to the sensor, said sensor responsive to the radiation through the aperture to provide an output; and    a circuit providing a reading in response to the output.    
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a second polygonal aperture that does not overlap the first aperture for passing radiation from the source to the sensor.  
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein said polygonal apertures are substantially triangular in shape.  
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the shapes of said polygonal apertures are substantially equilateral triangles.  
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the first and the second apertures are of dimensions that are substantially proportional to distances between the apertures and the sensor, and wherein the two apertures are oriented so that they are rotated by 60 degrees relative to each other.  
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a filter filtering radiation from the source received at the sensor, said filter having a temporal frequency response that matches that of the human eye.  
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , said filter being a Bessel filter with an integration period of about ⅓ second.  
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein said circuit includes an integrator and a sampling device that samples an output of the integrator at time intervals that are exponential functions of time to provide the reading.  
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the sampling device samples the output of the integrator at time intervals that are powers of 2 of time.  
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , said integrator having a substantially constant resolution at different signal levels.  
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , said circuit having a dynamic range, wherein said sampling device samples the output of the integrator and provides said reading when the output exceeds a predetermined value relative to the dynamic range.  
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the sampling device samples the output of the integrator at time intervals that are powers of 2 of time, and wherein said predetermined value is not more than half or one-third of the dynamic range.  
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , said integrator including an A/D converter.  
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a collimating lens spaced at substantially a focal length from the first aperture, so that the lens focuses radiation from the source to the aperture.  
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one color filter filtering the radiation from the source to the sensor so that the apparatus measures the radiance of the source within at least one predetermined spectral pass band.  
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein said at least one color filter is such that the apparatus measures the radiance of the source within said at least one predetermined spectral pass band of a predetermined width within a range of 100 to 300 mn.  
     
     
         18 . An apparatus for measuring radiance of a radiation source, comprising: 
 a sensor;    at least one aperture for passing radiation from the source to the sensor, said sensor responsive to the radiation through the aperture to provide an output; and    a circuit providing a reading in response to the output, wherein said circuit includes an integrator and a sampling device that samples an output of the integrator at time intervals that are exponential functions of time to provide the reading.    
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 18 , wherein the sampling device samples the output of the integrator at time intervals that are powers of 2 of time.  
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 18 , said integrator having a substantially constant resolution at different signal levels.  
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , said circuit having a dynamic range, wherein said sampling device samples the output of the integrator and provides said reading when the output exceeds a predetermined value relative to the dynamic range.  
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the sampling device samples the output of the integrator at time intervals that are powers of 2 of time, and wherein said predetermined value is not more than half or one-third of the dynamic range.  
     
     
         23 . An apparatus for measuring radiance of a radiation source, comprising: 
 a sensor;    at least one aperture for passing radiation from the source to the sensor, said sensor responsive to the radiation through the aperture to provide an output;    a filter filtering radiation from the source received at the sensor, said filter having a frequency response that matches that of the human eye; and    a circuit providing a reading in response to the output.    
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 23 , said filter being a Bessel filter with an integration period of about ⅓ second.  
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 23 , further comprising a collimating lens spaced at substantially a focal length from the first aperture, so that the lens focuses radiation from the source to the aperture.  
     
     
         26 . The apparatus of  claim 23 , further comprising at least one color filter filtering the radiation from the source to the sensor so that the apparatus measures the radiance of the source within at least one predetermined wavelength pass band.  
     
     
         27 . The apparatus of  claim 23 , further comprising an integrator and a sampling device that samples an output of the integrator at time intervals that are exponential functions of time to provide the reading.  
     
     
         28 . The apparatus of  claim 27 , wherein the sampling device samples the output of the integrator at time intervals that are powers of 2 of time.  
     
     
         29 . The apparatus of  claim 27 , said integrator including an A/D converter.  
     
     
         30 . The apparatus of  claim 27 , said integrator having a substantially constant resolution at different signal levels.  
     
     
         31 . The apparatus of  claim 30 , said circuit having a dynamic range, wherein said sampling device samples the output of the integrator and provides said reading when the output exceeds a predetermined value relative to the dynamic range.  
     
     
         32 . The apparatus of  claim 31 , wherein the sampling device samples the output of the integrator at time intervals that are powers of 2 of time, and wherein said predetermined value is not more than half or one-third of the dynamic range.  
     
     
         33 . A method for measuring radiance of a radiation source, comprising: 
 passing radiation from a source to a sensor through an aperture, said sensor responsive to the radiation through the aperture to provide an output; and    integrating the output of the sensor; and    sampling the integrated output of the sensor at time intervals that are exponential functions of time to provide a reading.    
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the sampling samples the integrated output at time intervals that are powers of 2 of time.  
     
     
         35 . A method for measuring radiance of a radiation source, comprising: 
 passing radiation from the source to the sensor, said sensor responsive to the radiation through the aperture to provide an output;    filtering radiation from the source received at the sensor by a filter having a frequency response that matches that of the human eye; and    providing a reading in response to the output.