US Patent 7812969 Three-dimensional shape measuring apparatus

A three-dimensional shape measuring apparatus includes a measuring section and a data integrating section. The measuring section has three-dimensional measurement dimensions, and measures a three-dimensional shape of a measurement object in a non-contact state. The measuring section measures a three-dimensional shape of a part of the measurement object multiple times by shifting the measurement dimensions to obtain multiple measurement data. The measurement dimensions are shifted in such a manner that at least portions of consecutive measurement dimensions by the shifting are lapped one over the other. The data integrating section integrates the multiple measurement data to obtain the three-dimensional shape of the measurement object. The data integrating section executes the data integration, using reliability information attributed to the respective measurement data.