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US 5,756,886 AGranted
Touch probe with reseat position system
AssigneeMitutoyo Corporation
InventorsKunitoshi Nishimura, Kazuhiko Hidaka
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A touch probe which includes a fixed member, a movable member, a stylus, a bias means, and a reseat position system which permits the fixed member and the movable member to make contact with each other at pairs of contact points at positions which are spaced from one another. In the reseat position system, piezoelectric elements are provided which cause the fixed member and the movable member to move relatively in directions constrained by said pairs of contact points after a force applied to the movable member is removed. This realizes a touch probe which can secure high position reproducibility for a long period of time even if frictional forces act between the fixed member and the movable member.
Claims17
A touch probe, comprising:
- a fixed member mounted to a housing;
- a movable member;
- a reseat position system which permits said fixed member and said movable member to make contact with each other at a pair of contact points at each of three positions which are spaced from one another so as to determine directly and exclusively the relative position between said fixed member and said movable member;
- a stylus mounted to said movable member and having a contact element at the distal end thereof which comes into contact with a workpiece;
- a bias means for allowing said movable member to be displaced relative to said fixed member when a force is externally applied to said contact element and for returning said movable member to a rest position when the force applied to said contact element by the workpiece is eliminated;
- and
- a displacement system built in said fixed member or in said movable member which, when operating, causes a relative displacement between said fixed member and said movable member at each of contact points always in a fixed direction while maintaining a contacting state of said fixed member and said movable member in said reseat position system after said contact element is no longer in contact with said workpiece.
4 more elements
A touch probe, comprising:
- a fixed member mounted to a housing;
- a movable member;
- a reseat position system which permits said fixed member and said movable member to make contact with each other at pairs of contact points at each of six positions which are spaced from one another so as to determine directly and exclusively a relative position between said fixed member and said movable member;
- a stylus mounted to said movable member and having a contact element at the distal end thereof which comes into contact with a workpiece;
- a bias means for allowing said movable member to be displaced relative to said fixed member when a force is externally applied to said contact element and for returning said movable member to a rest position when the force applied to said contact element by the workpiece is eliminated;
- and
- a displacement system built in said fixed member in said movable member which, when operating, causes a relative displacement between said fixed member and said movable member at each of said pairs of contact points always in a fixed direction while maintaining a contacting state of said fixed member and said movable member at six contact points in said reseat position system after said contact element is no longer in contact with said workpiece.
4 more elements
A touch probe, comprising:
- a fixed member mounted to a housing;
- a movable member;
- a reseat position system for permitting said fixed member and said movable member to make contact with each other at pairs of contact points such that the fixed and movable members are constrained to move along a path in a fixed direction, said pairs of contact points being spaced from one another;
- a stylus mounted to said movable member and having a contact element at the distal end thereof which comes into contact with a workpiece;
- a bias means for allowing said movable member to be displaced relative to said fixed member when a force is externally applied to said contact element and for returning said movable member to a rest position when the force applied to said contact element by the workpiece is eliminated;
- and
- a displacement system which, when operating, causes a relative displacement between said fixed member and said movable member at each of said pairs of contact points always in said fixed direction while maintaining a contacting state of said fixed member and said movable member in said reseat position system after said contact element is no longer in contact with said workpiece.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.