Measurement probe
AssigneeRenishaw PLC
InventorLiam Hall
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An ultrasound probe is described that comprises a transducer for transmitting and receiving ultrasound. The probe also includes a coupling element, such as a spherical ball of self-lubricating or hydrogel material, for contacting and acoustically coupling to an object to be inspected. The ultrasound probe also includes an analyser that is arranged to analyse the ultrasound signal received by the transducer and thereby determine if there is contact between the coupling element, and the surface of an object. The probe can thus be used for internal (ultrasound) inspection of objects as well as measuring the position of points on the surface of the object. The probe may be mountable to a coordinate measuring machine or other moveable platforms.
Claims17
A coordinate positioning apparatus having an ultrasound probe mounted thereon, the ultrasound probe comprising:
- a transducer for transmitting and receiving ultrasound;
- a sensing tip acoustically coupled to the transducer and configured to contact and acoustically couple to an object to be inspected;
- and
- an analyzer having a processor that is configured to analyze ultrasound signal received by the transducer and determines from the ultrasound signal received by the transducer if there is contact between the sensing tip and a surface of the object to be inspected,
- wherein the processor is configured to generate a trigger signal that is output from the ultrasound probe to the coordinate positioning apparatus when the processor determines a presence of a contact between the sensing tip and the surface of the object, the trigger signal being used to determine a position of one or more points on the surface of the object to be inspected.
A method of operating a pulse-echo ultrasound probe mounted to a coordinate positioning apparatus to acquire surface position measurements of an object to be inspected, the pulse-echo ultrasound probe comprising a transducer for transmitting and receiving ultrasound and a sensing tip acoustically coupled to the transducer, the method comprising:
- using the coordinate positioning apparatus to move the sensing tip of the pulse-echo ultrasound probe into contact with the object to be inspected;
- and
- monitoring echoes of the received ultrasound for changes indicative of the contact with the object to be inspected, the changes indicative of the contact with the object to be inspected being used to determine a position of one or more points on a surface of the object to be inspected.
A coordinate positioning apparatus having an ultrasound probe mounted thereon, the ultrasound probe comprising:
- a transducer for transmitting and receiving ultrasound;
- a sensing tip acoustically coupled to the transducer and configured to contact and acoustically couple to an object to be inspected;
- and
- an analyzer having a processor configured to execute monitoring of echoes of an ultrasound signal received by the transducer for changes indicative of contact of the sensing tip with the object to be inspected, and configured to generate a trigger signal that is output from the ultrasound probe to the coordinate positioning apparatus when the processor determines from the changes indicative of the contact of the sensing tip with the object to be inspected that the sensing tip is in contact with a surface of the object, the trigger signal being used to determine a position of one or more points on the surface of the object to be inspected.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.