Coating thickness measurement gauge

Abstract

A coating thickness measurement gauge includes a measurement transducer and a particularly advantageous probe arrangement. The probe arrangement includes a probe assembly and a probe housing that encircles the probe assembly. The probe assembly may include an inductor that forms a part of an LC oscillator. The gauge is able to measure the thickness of coatings on magnetic and non-magnetic substrates through use of the same probe assembly. Alternatively, the probe assembly can include a capacitor forming a part of an LC or an RC oscillator. The bottom surface of the probe housing has two oppositely positioned V-shaped grooves formed therein for facilitating the measurement of coating thicknesses on convex surfaces. The outer peripheral surface of the probe housing includes two spaced apart flat surfaces connected together by two arcuate surfaces for stabilizing the gauge during measurement of coating thicknesses on concave surfaces. The probe assembly is mounted within the gauge housing in a manner that is adapted to facilitate movement of the probe assembly in a substantially vertical plane. All functions of the gauge can be operated through the use of the two keys and the gauge only requires a zeroing adjustment rather than a several step calibration procedure. In addition, a cover and supporting arrangement is movable between one position in which it covers an opening in the probe assembly through which the probe assembly extends, and another position in which it provides a supporting leg for supporting the gauge.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.