Back to results
US 5,507,097 AGranted
Apparatus for measuring the accuracy of parallel platen tie bars
AssigneeIntra Corporation
InventorsDavid H. Duey, John A. Battista
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A laser apparatus for inspecting machine tie bars. The apparatus broadly comprises a laser emitter, a photocell target, a control unit, a computer, a display unit and precision adapters for mounting the emitter and target. The laser emitter is mounted on a fixed platen and oriented substantially square to a surface of the fixed platen. The target is mounted on the tie bar and intercepts a laser beam from the emitter to generate voltages which are processed in the control unit and computer. Angular and lateral deviations of the laser beam from a rotational axis of the target, which are indicative of tie bar straightness and squareness, are displayed on the display unit.
Claims15
A laser apparatus for inspecting a tie bar of a machine comprising:
- a laser emitter for transmitting a collimated laser beam;
- an adapter for mounting said laser emitter on a surface of a fixed platen of the machine such that said laser beam is substantially square with said surface of said fixed platen of said machine;
- a target mounted on said tie bar for intercepting said laser beam to produce output voltages which are indicative of the deviation in straightness of said tie bar at the position of said target on said tie bar;
- an adapter for mounting said target at alternate longitudinal positions on said tie bar and orienting said target to intercept said laser beam at each of said alternate positions;
- and a means for processing said voltages at each of said longitudinal positions to determine the straightness of said tie bar.
2 more elements
A laser apparatus for inspecting the straightness and squareness of a tie bar of a machine comprising:
- a laser emitter for transmitting a narrow collimated laser beam, said laser emitter having a control surface which is substantially perpendicular to a centroid of said collimated laser beam;
- an adapter for mounting said laser emitter on a surface of a fixed platen of the machine and orienting said laser beam substantially perpendicular to said surface of said fixed platen;
- a target for intercepting said laser beam to produce output voltages which are indicative of the position of said centroid of said laser beam from the center of a photocell of said target or are indicative of the straightness of said tie bar;
- an adapter for mounting said target at alternate longitudinal positions on said tie bar and orienting said target to intercept said laser beam at each of said alternate positions;
- and a means for processing said voltages at each of said longitudinal positions to determine the straightness or squareness of said tie bar.
2 more elements
A laser apparatus for inspecting the straightness and squareness of a tie bar of a machine comprising:
- a laser emitter for projecting a collimated laser beam;
- a means for mounting said emitter on a surface of a fixed platen of the machine and orienting said emitter to project said collimated laser beam such that a centroid of said laser beam is substantially perpendicular to said surface of said fixed platen;
- a photocell target for intercepting said laser beam and produce voltages which are indicative of angular and lateral deviations of said centroid of said laser beam from a center of said photocell of said target;
- and a means for mounting said target at alternate longitudinally spaced positions on said tie bar.
1 more element
A method for inspecting machine tie bars comprising the steps of:
- mounting a laser emitter on a fixed platen of a machine to project a laser beam in a direction which is substantially perpendicular to a fixed platen of said machine;
- mounting a photocell target on a tie bar of said machine at a first position for intercepting said laser beam;
- projecting the laser beam from said laser emitter toward said target to intercept the photocell in said target and generate voltages which are indicative of the straightness of said tie bar at said first position;
- processing said voltages from said target to determine the deviation of said tie bar in straightness at said first position;
- longitudinally moving said target on said tie bar to a second position for intercepting said laser beam at said second position;
- projecting a laser beam from said laser emitter toward said target at said second position to intercept said photocell in said target and generate voltages which are indicative of the straightness of said tie bar at said second position;
- processing said voltages from said target at said second position to determine the deviation of said tie bar in straightness at said second position;
- and visually displaying said deviations, said deviations being indicative of said straightness of said tie bar at said first and second positions of said target.
5 more elements
A method for inspecting machine tie bars comprising the steps of:
- mounting a laser emitter on a fixed platen of a machine to project a laser beam in a direction which is substantially perpendicular to a fixed platen of said machine;
- mounting a photocell target at longitudinally spaced apart positions on a tie bar of said machine for intercepting said laser beam at each target position;
- projecting the laser beam at each target position toward said target to intercept the photocell in said target and generate voltages which are indicative of the straightness of said tie bar at said position;
- processing said voltages at each of said target positions to determine the deviation in straightness of said tie bar at each of said positions;
- and visually displaying said deviations, said deviations being indicative of said straightness of said tie bar at each of said positions of said target.
2 more elements
A method for inspecting machine tie bars comprising the steps of:
- mounting a laser emitter on a fixed platen of a machine to project a laser beam in a direction which is substantially perpendicular to a fixed platen of said machine;
- mounting a photocell target at two longitudinally spaced apart positions on a tie bar of said machine for intercepting said laser beam;
- at each position of said target projecting the laser beam from said target emitter toward said target to intercept the photocell in said target and generate voltages which are indicative of the position of a centroid of said laser beam with respect to a center of said photocell;
- processing said voltages from said target at each of said target locations to determine the position of said centroid of said laser beam with respect to said center of said photocell at each of said locations;
- determining the slope of said tie bar between said two target locations by dividing the difference in location of the said centroid of said laser beam with respect to said center of said photocell by the longitudinal distance between said positions;
- displaying said slope, said slope being indicative of the squareness of said tie bar with respect to said fixed platen.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.