APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ACQUIRING A TWO-DIMENSIONAL IMAGE OF THE SURFACE OF A THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECT

The invention relates to an apparatus for acquiring a two-dimensional image of the external surface of a three-dimensional object (3) comprising: - displacing means (5) for supporting and displacing the object (3); - a single camera (15) for capturing images of portions of the object surface; - rotating means (10) for rotating the object (3), whereby the single camera (15) is able to capture images corresponding to successive exposed portions (3a) of the object surface. The single camera (15) is configured to sequentially capture the images as respective single frames and the apparatus further comprises electronic processing means adapted to * read out a sub-frame from the single frame, * store said sub-frames; and * assemble the successive sub-frames into an assembled frame corresponding to a two-dimensional image of an unpeeled surface area of the object. The invention also relates to a corresponding method of acquiring a two-dimensional image of the external surface of a three-dimensional object (3).