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US 4,966,460 AGranted
Laser gauging of rotary cutting tools
AssigneeThe Ingersoll Milling Machine Company
InventorTheodore E. Kahley
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A laser-optical gauging system is disclosed for measuring the diameter of the cutting path of a rotary cutting tool while rotating in the machine spindle at speeds approximating the desired cutting speed for the intended cut, and for determining the axial location of the tip of a tool.
Claims12
Apparatus for gauging a rotary cutting tool while rotating in the spindle of a machine tool, comprising:
- a transmitter for producing a scanning laser beam movable perpendicularly of itself in a scanning plane through a predetermined scanning range at a predetermined velocity and with a scanning frequency which is a substantial mixed number multiple of the rotational frequency of the tool chosen to rotate the image of the tool slowly relative to the scanning frequency,
- a light-sensing receiver positioned to detect the impingement of the moving laser beam thereupon,
- means for positioning said transmitter and receiver on opposite sides of the spindle axis and with the cutting tool breaking the scanning plane within said scanning range,
- means for slowly moving the cutting tool axially through the scanning plane to assure the exposure of the cutting tip of the cutter to the scanning beam, and
- means for measuring the minimum elapsed time of the sensed impingement of the scanning laser upon the receiver during multiple successive scans of the laser beam between an edge of the scanning range and the nearest encountered point of said tool as a measure of the distance between said edge and said nearest point.
2 more elements
The method of gauging a cutting tool in the spindle of a machine tool while the cutting tool is rotating, comprising the steps of
- rotating the spindle at desired cutting speed,
- positioning the rotating tool within the predetermined scanning range of a laser beam movable perpendicularly of itself in a scanning plane at a predetermined velocity with a scanning frequency which bears a mixed number ratio to the rotational speed of the tool, chosen to rotate the image of the tool slowly relative to the scanning frequency,
- slowly moving the cutting tool axially through the scanning plane to assure the exposure of the cutting tip of the cutter to the scanning beam, and
- measuring the minimum elapsed time for the traverse of the laser beam between an edge of its predetermined range and the nearest point of the tool during multiple successive scans as a measurement of the distance between said edge and said nearest point.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.