Compact optical contour digitizer

1. An optical contour digitizer comprising:

a radiation source for emitting radiation therefrom;

a first mirror for folding said radiation emitted from said radiation source towards an object being measured;

a second mirror for folding a reflection of a said radiation from said object being measured;

a sensor for sensing said reflected radiation folded by said second mirror;

a transparent surface located above said radiation source and said sensor; and

a transverse column spacer disposed on or above said transparent surface, wherein said transverse column spacer allows at least a portion of said reflected radiation to pass therethrough.

2. The optical contour digitizer of claim 1 , wherein said object being measured is disposed on or above said transparent surface.

3. The optical contour digitizer of claim 1 , wherein said transverse column spacer forms an air gap between said transparent surface and an upper support surface of said transverse column spacer.

4. The optical contour digitizer of claim 1 , wherein said transverse column spacer comprises a plurality of spaced apart structures oriented transverse to said transparent surface.

5. The optical contour digitizer of claim 1 , further comprising a second radiation source for directly illuminating said object being measured with radiation from said second radiation source.

6. The optical contour digitizer of claim 5 , wherein said second radiation source is movable along an axis of said optical contour digitizer.

7. The optical contour digitizer of claim 5 , wherein said second radiation source is disposed substantially near one end of said optical contour digitizer.

8. The optical contour digitizer of claim 5 , further comprising at least one additional mirror for folding a reflection of said radiation of said second radiation source reflected from said object being measured.

9. The optical contour digitizer of claim 8 , wherein said at least one additional mirror cooperates in folding said reflection of said radiation of said second radiation source toward said sensor.

10. The optical contour digitizer of claim 1 , further comprising a filter disposed between said sensor and said reflected radiation folded by said second mirror.

11. The optical contour digitizer of claim 10 , wherein said filter is selected from a group consisting of: a band pass, a high pass, and a low pass filter.

12. The optical contour digitizer of claim 1 , wherein said radiation source is selected from a group consisting of: a light, a light emitting diode, a laser, an infrared generator, and an acoustic wave generator.

13. The optical contour digitizer of claim 1 , further comprising a shield for shielding unwanted radiation from at least said second mirror.

14. The optical contour digitizer of claim 1 , wherein said sensor is selected from a group consisting of: a digital camera, a photodiode, a CCD (charge-coupled device), and a computing interface.

15. The optical contour digitizer of claim 1 , further comprising a transverse column spacer having a plurality of spaced apart structures.

16. The optical contour digitizer according to claim 15 , wherein said optical contour digitizer comprises a transparent surface, such that said transverse column spacer is disposed between said object to be measured and said transparent surface.

17. The optical contour digitizer according to claim 16 , wherein said transverse column spacer forms an air gap between said transparent surface and an upper support surface of said transverse column spacer.

18. The optical contour digitizer according to claim 16 , wherein said spaced apart structures of said transverse column spacer are oriented transverse to said transparent surface.

19. The optical contour digitizer according to claim 16 , wherein said spaced apart structures are disposed between said object to be measured and said transparent surface, thereby eliminating or minimizing fogging, surface refraction, and/or flattening of said foot when weight is applied thereto.

20. The optical contour digitizer according to claim 16 , wherein said transverse column spacer is dispose above and parallel to said transparent surface.

21. The optical contour digitizer according to claim 15 , wherein said object is a foot and wherein said transverse column spacer contacts said foot in at least a subset of the overall plantar surface of said foot.

22. The optical contour digitizer according to claim 21 , wherein said transverse column spacer allows weight to be placed on said foot and still allowing the natural shape of said foot to be measured.

23. The optical contour digitizer according to claim 15 , wherein said spaced apart structures are ribs.

24. The optical contour digitizer according to claim 15 , wherein each said spaced apart structure has a cross section of about 3 mm.

25. An method of capturing contour data using an optical contour digitizer comprising:

locating a transparent surface above a radiation source and a sensor of said optical contour digitizer;

disposing a transverse column spacer disposed on or above said transparent surface, wherein said transverse column spacer allows at least a portion of radiation to pass therethrough;

emitting said radiation from said radiation source;

folding radiation emitted from said radiation source towards an object to be measured with a first mirror;

folding radiation reflected from said objected to be measured by second mirror; and

sensing said reflected radiation folded by said second mirror by a sensor.

26. The method of claim 25 , wherein said transverse column spacer supports said object to be measured thereon in a spaced relation to said transparent surface.

27. The method of claim 25 , further comprising directly illuminating said object to be measured with radiation from a second radiation source.