US 12,268,474 B2
Compact intraoral scanner
Yossef Atiya, Modiin-Maccabim-Reut (IL); Tal Verker, Ofra (IL); and Nir Makmel, Tel Aviv (IL)
Assigned to Align Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed by Align Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed on Mar. 19, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/610,122.
Application 18/610,122 is a continuation of application No. 18/190,026, filed on Mar. 24, 2023, granted, now 11,950,880.
Application 18/190,026 is a continuation of application No. 17/570,285, filed on Jan. 6, 2022, granted, now 11,638,525, issued on May 2, 2023.
Application 17/570,285 is a continuation of application No. 17/037,398, filed on Sep. 29, 2020, granted, now 11,369,271, issued on Jun. 28, 2022.
Application 17/037,398 is a continuation of application No. 16/820,505, filed on Mar. 16, 2020, granted, now 10,835,128, issued on Nov. 17, 2022.
Application 16/820,505 is a continuation of application No. 14/741,172, filed on Jun. 16, 2015, granted, now 10,772,506, issued on Sep. 15, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/021,608, filed on Jul. 7, 2014.
Prior Publication US 2024/0215831 A1, Jul. 4, 2024
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A61B 5/00 (2006.01); A61C 9/00 (2006.01); F21V 8/00 (2006.01); G01B 11/24 (2006.01); G01B 11/245 (2006.01); G02B 5/04 (2006.01); G02B 6/00 (2006.01); G02B 6/26 (2006.01); G02B 13/16 (2006.01); G02B 23/24 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 5/0088 (2013.01) [A61C 9/0066 (2013.01); G01B 11/24 (2013.01); G01B 11/245 (2013.01); G02B 5/04 (2013.01); G02B 6/0006 (2013.01); G02B 6/0046 (2013.01); G02B 6/262 (2013.01); G02B 13/16 (2013.01); G02B 23/2461 (2013.01); G01B 2210/50 (2013.01); G02B 2006/0098 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus for intraoral imaging, the apparatus comprising:
a housing;
a light source, disposed within the housing, for generating light;
an optics system, disposed within the housing, for focusing the light, wherein the optics system is configured such that, after having passed through the optics system, an outermost chief ray of the light with respect to an optical axis of the optics system is divergent to the optical axis and an outermost marginal ray of the light with respect to the optical axis is parallel or divergent to the optical axis;
a detector for detecting returning light reflected off of an intraoral object, wherein the detector comprises an array of detector elements; and
a focus shifting mechanism configured to shift a focal plane of the optics system, wherein the focus shifting mechanism comprises a motor configured to shift one or more moveable lenses of the optics system along the optical axis to shift the focal plane of the optics system.