Apparatus and method whereby wave energy is correlated with geometry of a manufactured part or the like or to positional relationships in a system

Abstract

A way of automatically inspecting a machined part, for example, to a tolerance of 0.001 inches. A minicomputer monitors a change in phase of acoustic wave energy impinging upon a sample part and compares it with a change in phase of such energy for a standard or master part, any difference between the monitored changes being interpreted to determine if the sample is within acceptable tolerance limits. The inspection approach described uses no moving parts and can be used to inspect many dimensions of a part simultaneously in less than a second. Acoustic wave energy can be used to inspect parts of any shape. The inspection system disclosed can be used, as well, to monitor the geometry of an object over time to note any changes in said geometry. And the concepts of the inspection system can be employed in conjunction with robot-controlled devices to provide close-positioning data for such devices.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.