High-speed, 3-D method and system for optically measuring a geometric dimension of manufactured parts

A high-speed, 3-D system for optically measuring a geometric dimension of a plurality of manufactured parts, the system comprising:

• a part transfer subsystem including a transfer mechanism adapted to consecutively transfer the parts so that each of the parts travel along a path which extends to a vision station at which each of the parts has a predetermined position and orientation for optical measuring and to transfer each of the parts after measuring at the vision station so that the parts travel along the path which extends from the vision station, each of the parts having an exterior end surface and an interior end surface at a first end of the part, the first end of each of the parts having a length and a width, each of the parts having a part-holding pocket extending from the exterior end surface to the interior end surface, the part-holding pocket having a depth defined between the exterior end surface and the interior end surface;
• a projector to project a line of radiation having a predetermined orientation onto the end surfaces to obtain reflected line segments of radiation from the end surfaces;
• at least one lens and detector assembly to form optical images of the reflected line segments of radiation and to detect the optical images to obtain electrical signals;
• and
• a processor to process the electrical signals utilizing a depth algorithm to determine the depth of the part-holding pocket between the exterior end surface and the interior end surface.