Electromechanical dimensioning device
AssigneeAgilent Technologies, Inc.
InventorJeffrey S. Ebeling
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electromechanical dimensioning device measures dimensional attributes of an object and transmits the dimensional attributes from the dimensioning device to a remote receiving device. The dimensioning device converts rotational motion of a measuring wheel into a linear distance traveled by the wheel. In one embodiment, the dimensioning device incorporates a rechargeable battery power source and a radio frequency transceiver, allowing fully portable operation. The dimensioning device also optionally includes a bar code scanner for identifying the dimensioned object.
Claims20
An electromechanical dimensioning device comprising:
- a measuring instrument for obtaining a dimensional measurement of an object, and providing a dimensional measurement signal representative of the dimensional measurement wherein the measuring instrument comprises a measuring wheel of a known circumference having an axle, at least one magnet disposed around the perimeter of the measuring wheel, and a wire coil wrapped around the axle of the measuring wheel, such that as the measuring wheel is rotated, the at least one magnet passes through the wire coil to generate electrical pulses, each electrical pulse representing an occurrence of one magnet passing through the wire coil;
- a processor coupled to the measuring instrument for receiving and processing the dimensional measurement signal to generate a set of dimensional transmission data;
- a radio transmitter coupled to the processor for receiving the set of dimensional transmission data from the processor and for transmitting the set of dimensional transmission data via radio waves;
- an optical scanner coupled to the processor, wherein the optical scanner reads optically encoded information from the object;
- and
- a housing, wherein the measuring instrument, the processor, the radio transmitter, and the optical scanner are contained within the housing.
A method of measuring dimensional attributes of an object with an electromechanical dimensioning device having a measuring wheel of a known circumference, at least one magnet disposed around the perimeter of the measuring wheel, a wire coil wrapped around an axle of the measuring wheel, and an optical scanner contained within a housing, the method comprising the steps of:
- dimensioning the object by rolling the measuring wheel along each dimensional axis of the object to produce a set of dimensional measurements wherein the dimensioning step includes:
- rotating the measuring wheel so that at least one magnet passes through the wire coil, generating electrical pulses, each electrical pulse representing an occurrence of one magnet passing through the wire coil;
- counting a number of the electrical pulses generated as the measuring wheel is rotated;
- and
- calculating a linear distance traveled by the measuring wheel, based on the number produced in the counting step and the known circumference of the wheel;
- processing the dimensional measurements generated by dimensioning the object to produce a dimensional result;
- transmitting the dimensional result via a radio interface to an external receiving device;
- scanning optically encoded information on the object with the optical scanner to produce a scan result;
- translating the scan result to produce a set of optical scanner transmission data;
- and
- transmitting the set of optical scanner transmission data via the radio interface to the external receiving device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.