Methods and systems for small parts inspection
AssigneeInnoventor Engineering, Inc.
InventorsDavid S. Meyer, James A. Muir, Daniel J. Seidel, Kent F. Schien
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of automatically sorting and placing parts for inspection is described which includes orienting the parts within a feeder and delivering the oriented parts from the feeder to an escapement. Once the parts are delivered, they are advanced from the escapement, one at a time, down a ramp, and caught by a resilient material. The parts are then transferred ring from the resilient material to a parts fixture and positioned for inspection in the parts fixture within ±0.001 inch in a vertical direction and within 0.002 inches in x and y directions, x and y defining a horizontal plane.
Claims35
A method of automatically sorting and placing parts for inspection comprising:
- orienting the parts within a feeder;
- delivering the oriented parts from the feeder to an escapement;
- advancing the parts from the escapement, one at a time, down a ramp;
- catching the parts from the ramp with a resilient material;
- transferring the parts from the resilient material to a parts fixture;
- and
- positioning the part for inspection in the parts fixture within ±0.001 inch in a vertical (z) direction and within 0.002 inches in x and y directions with x and y defining a horizontal plane.
A parts inspection system comprising:
- a bowl feeder;
- a hopper configured to provide parts for inspection to said bowl feeder;
- an escapement configured to accept one part at a time for advancement and prevent additional parts from advancing;
- a delivery chute configured to convey parts for inspection from said bowl feeder to said escapement;
- a plurality of part fixtures configured to hold parts for inspection;
- an apparatus onto which said parts fixtures are mounted;
- a resilient material configured to receive the parts, one at a time, dropped from said escapement and further configured to position the part for inspection into one of said parts fixtures, said resilient material configured to decelerate the part upon impact and return to an original position;
- and
- an inclined ramp mounted along a portion of a perimeter of said apparatus, said ramp configured to engage a top of a part within each fixture, the incline forcing the part into a position for inspection as said apparatus where said parts fixtures are mounted advances.
A parts fixture for a parts inspection system, said fixture comprising:
- a face;
- a curved surface within said face, a radius of said curved surface matched to a radius of the parts to be inspected;
- a mechanism for holding parts in place within said curved surface;
- and
- a mounting portion attached to said face.
A parts positioning apparatus comprising:
- a parts fixture;
- an escapement configured to release one part at a time;
- a resilient material configured to receive the parts dropped from said escapement, decelerate the part upon impact and return to an original position, and position the part for insertion into said parts fixture;
- and
- an inclined ramp, said inclined ramp configured to gradually force a top of the part inserted into said fixture into a position for inspection as said part fixture passes said inclined ramp.
A method for resetting memory within a controller, said method comprising:
- writing an integer zero to a register;
- copying the register to all integer memory locations;
- writing a logic zero to a register;
- and
- copying the register to all binary memory locations.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.