US Patent 7453563 Device and method for detecting scratches

The invention relates to a device and a corresponding method for detecting scratches on the surface (2) of a material, in particular glass. Said device comprises an illumination unit (3) and a recording unit (4), which register a scanning line (6) on the surface (2) of the material and can be displaced in relation to said surface (2). In order to more accurately identify scratches, the illumination unit (3) comprises at least one light strip (9), which generates parallel light pools transversally to the scanning line (6), said pools being diffuse or quasi-diffuse along the scanning line (6) and preferably at least one light source (16), which generates a diffuse or quasi-diffuse light transversally to the scanning line (6).