Contact measurement of container dimensional parameters

Abstract

A system and method for contact measurement of dimensional parameters of a container in which rollers coupled to LVDT sensors are placed in contact with a container as the container is rotated about its central axis so that the sensors develop analog signals that vary as a function of variations in geometry of the container. The sensor output signals are fed through multiple input channels to an a/d convertor/multiplexer, which is controlled by a central microcontroller for selecting in turn among the plurality of sensor signals. Within the microcontroller, each sensor signal is compared to a threshold indicative of maximum acceptable deviation of the corresponding dimensional parameter, and the container under test is rejected if the parameter exceeds such threshold. The microcontroller includes facility for real-time display of measured parameters in English or metric units at the selection of an operator, and for communication of measurement data to a remote computer.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.