# US 9,427,843 B2 · Measuring apparatus and method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 9,427,843 B2 - Document ID: US9427843B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 13/037,589 - Filed: 2011-03-01 - Published: 2011-09-01 - Granted: 2016-08-30 - Earliest claimed: 2008-02-21 - Assignees: Mori Seiki Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Gregory A. Hyatt; Nitin Chaphalkar - Inventors: Gregory A. Hyatt; Nitin Chaphalkar - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9427843B2 ## CPC - B24B 49/04: involving measurement of the workpiece at the place of grinding during grinding operation - B24B 49/08: involving liquid or pneumatic means - B26F 3/004: {by means of a fluid jet (methods for use of abrasive blasting for cutting B24C1/045; guns for abrasive fluid jets B24C5/02; perforating by non-mechanical means, e.g. by fluid jet B26F1/26)} - G01B 13/10: internal diameters - B26D 5/00: Arrangements for operating and controlling machines or devices for cutting, cutting-out, stamping-out, punching, perforating, or severing by means other than cutting - B24B: MACHINES, DEVICES, OR PROCESSES FOR GRINDING OR POLISHING (grinding of gear teeth B23F, of screw-threads B23G1/36; by electro-erosion B23H; abrasive or related blasting B24C; tools for grinding, buffing or sharpening B24D; polishing compositions C09G1/00; abrasives C09K3/14; electrolytic etching or polishing C25F3/00; grinding arrangements for use on assembled railway tracks E01B31/17); DRESSING OR CONDITIONING OF ABRADING SURFACES; FEEDING OF GRINDING, POLISHING, OR LAPPING AGENTS - B26F: PERFORATING; PUNCHING; CUTTING-OUT; STAMPING-OUT; SEVERING BY MEANS OTHER THAN CUTTING (marking-out, perforating or making buttonholes A41H25/00; shoemaking A43D; surgery A61B; punching metal B21D; drilling metal B23B; cutting of metal by applying heat locally, e.g. flame cutting, B23K; cutting by abrasive fluid jets B24C5/02; details common to machines for severing B26D; drilling wood B27C; drilling stone B28D; working of plastics or substances in a plastic state B29; making boxes, cartons, envelopes or bags, of paper or similarly worked materials, e.g. metal foil, B31B; of glass C03B; of leather C14B; of textile materials D06H; for light guides G02B6/25; of tickets G07B) - G01B: MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIMENSIONS; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS - B26D: CUTTING; DETAILS COMMON TO MACHINES FOR PERFORATING, PUNCHING, CUTTING-OUT, STAMPING-OUT OR SEVERING (for growing crops or plants A01D, A01G; for fodder or straw A01F; for bulk butter A01J; for dough A21C; slaughtering A22B; for tobacco, cigars or cigarettes A24; marking-out, perforating or making buttonholes A41H25/00; manufacturing footwear A43D; brushmaking A46D; surgery A61B; disintegrating, mincing or shredding in general B02C; cutting wire, making pins or nails B21F, B21G; of the kind used formetal B23; cutting by abrasive fluid jets B24C5/02; hand-held cutting tools B26B; perforating, cutting-out, stamping-out or punching, or severing by means other than cutting B26F; for wood B27; for stone B28D; working of plastics or substances in a plastic state B29; making boxes, cartons, envelopes or bags, of paper or similarly worked materials, e.g. metal foil, B31B; article or web delivery apparatus incorporating cutting or line-perforating devices B65H35/00; for leather or upholstery B68, C14B; for glass C03B; making matches C06F; for peat C10F; for sugar C13B45/00; for textile materials D06H; civil engineering, building, mining, see Section E; for light guides G02B6/25; cutting processed photographic material G03D15/04) ## Abstract An apparatus for obtaining information about a workpiece may include a measuring device having a nozzle defining an orifice in fluid communication with a source of incompressible fluid. A fluid monitoring apparatus may monitor a parameter of the substantially incompressible fluid, and a pump may be fluidly coupled to the source and configured to supply incompressible fluid to the orifice. The pump may have a pump chamber with a first displacement setting having a first fixed volume, so that operation of the pump at a first pump speed with the pump chamber in the first displacement setting generates a first fluid flow having a substantially constant first volumetric rate. The pump may have more than one displacement setting, or the pump may be operated at different speeds to change the volumetric flow rate. The nozzle may include multiple, independent orifice sets that may be selectively provided fluid, thereby to obtain information on different parts of the workpiece with a single placement of the nozzle. Additionally, the apparatus may be incorporated into a CNC machine to perform simultaneous measurement and machining operations. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An apparatus for obtaining information about a workpiece comprising: a first holder configured to support the workpiece; a second holder movable relative to the first holder; a measuring device including: a source including substantially incompressible fluid; a nozzle disposed in the second holder and extending along a longitudinal axis, the nozzle defining a first orifice fluidly communicating with the source; a fluid monitoring apparatus associated with the measuring device for monitoring a parameter of the substantially incompressible fluid and generating electronic information indicative of fluid pressure at the orifice; and a pump fluidly coupled to the source and configured to supply incompressible fluid to the first orifice, the pump comprising a first pump speed for generating a first fluid flow through the nozzle having a substantially constant first volumetric rate; and a computer control system operatively coupled to the first holder, the second holder, the fluid monitoring apparatus, and the pump, and including a computer readable medium having disposed thereon executable code which, when executed, is configured to: cause relative movement between the first and second holders to place the nozzle in a measurement position relative to the workpiece; operate the pump at the first pump speed when the nozzle is in the measurement position; and obtain a first measurement reading based on the electronic information from the fluid monitoring apparatus while the pump operates at the first pump speed and the nozzle is in the measurement position. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, in which the pump further comprises a second pump speed for generating a second fluid flow through the nozzle having a substantially constant second volumetric rate. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, in which the measuring device is configured to conduct multiple readings in a single measuring operation, and in which the computer control system further includes an algorithm for calculating a quantitative value associated with the parameter of the substantially incompressible fluid based on the multiple readings. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The apparatus of claim 3, in which the algorithm is further configured to disregard starting high and low readings to obtain a set of remaining readings, and calculate a mean average of the remaining readings to obtain an average quantitative value associated with the parameter. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, in which the nozzle further includes a second orifice in fluid communication with the source, in which the first and second orifices are disposed on respective first and second nozzle surfaces, and in which each of the first and second nozzle surfaces is disposed at an oblique angle with respect to the nozzle longitudinal axis. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, in which the measuring device is further configured to terminate fluid flow at a predetermined threshold pressure. ### Claim 7 An apparatus for obtaining information about a workpiece comprising: a first holder configured to support the workpiece; a second holder movable relative to the first holder; a measuring device including: a source including substantially incompressible fluid; a nozzle coupled to the second holder, the nozzle defining a first nozzle conduit fluidly communicating between a first nozzle inlet and a first nozzle orifice, and a second nozzle conduit fluidly communicating between a second nozzle inlet and a second nozzle orifice, the first nozzle conduit being separate from the second nozzle conduit, wherein the first nozzle inlet is spaced from the second nozzle inlet; an adapter slidably coupled to the nozzle, the adapter including an adapter conduit having an adapter inlet fluidly communicating with the source and an adapter outlet, the adapter movable between a first position, in which the adapter outlet fluidly communicates with the first nozzle inlet, and a second position, in which the adapter outlet fluidly communicates with the second nozzle inlet; a fluid monitoring apparatus associated with the measuring device for monitoring a parameter of the substantially incompressible fluid and generating electronic information indicative of fluid pressure at the first and second orifices; and a pump fluidly coupled to the source and configured to supply incompressible fluid to the adapter inlet, the pump comprising a first pump speed for generating a first fluid flow through the nozzle having a substantially constant first volumetric rate; and a computer control system operatively coupled to the first holder, the second holder, the adapter, the fluid monitoring apparatus, and the pump, and including a computer readable medium having disposed thereon executable code which, when executed, is configured to: cause relative movement between the first and second holders to place the nozzle in a measurement position relative to the workpiece; place the adapter in the first position; operate the pump at the first pump speed when the nozzle is in the measurement position to discharge the substantially incompressible fluid through the first nozzle orifice; and obtain a first measurement reading based on the electronic information from the fluid monitoring apparatus while the pump operates at the first pump speed and the nozzle is in the measurement position. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The apparatus of claim 7, in which the first nozzle conduit includes a plurality of first nozzle orifices in fluid communication with the first nozzle inlet. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The apparatus of claim 8, in which the second nozzle conduit includes a plurality of second nozzle orifices in fluid communication with the second nozzle inlet. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The apparatus of claim 9, in which the nozzle includes a head having a first section disposed at a first radial distance from the longitudinal axis and a second section disposed at a second radial distance from the longitudinal axis, and in which the plurality of first nozzle orifices is disposed in the nozzle head first section and the plurality of second nozzle orifices is disposed in the nozzle head second section. ### Claim 11 (depends on 7) The apparatus of claim 7, in which the nozzle includes a body defining a longitudinal axis, and in which the adapter is configured to slidably receive the nozzle body to permit movement of the adapter relative to the nozzle along the longitudinal axis. ### Claim 12 (depends on 7) The apparatus of claim 7, in which the pump further comprises a second pump speed for generating a second fluid flow through the nozzle having a substantially constant second volumetric rate, and in which the executable code is further configured to: place the adapter in the second position after obtaining the first measurement reading; operate the pump at the second speed with the nozzle remaining in the measurement position to discharge the substantially incompressible fluid through the second nozzle orifice; and obtain a second measurement reading based on the electronic information from the fluid monitoring apparatus. ### Claim 13 A method of obtaining information about a workpiece as the workpiece is machined, comprising: providing a measuring device having a source of substantially incompressible fluid, a nozzle defining an orifice in fluid communication with the source, a fluid monitoring apparatus for monitoring a parameter of the substantially incompressible fluid and generating electronic information indicative of fluid pressure at the orifice, and a pump fluidly coupled to the source and configured to supply incompressible fluid at a first pump speed for generating a first fluid flow to the orifice having a substantially constant first volumetric rate; providing a cutting tool configured to remove material from the workpiece; securing the workpiece in a first holder; securing the nozzle in a second holder; securing the cutting tool in a third holder, wherein the second and third holders are supported for movement relative to the first holder; performing a measurement operation including: moving the second holder relative to the first holder to place the nozzle in a measurement position relative to the workpiece; operating the pump at the first pump speed when the nozzle is in the measurement position to disperse incompressible fluid from the source through the orifice to contact the workpiece, wherein the fluid is dispersed through the nozzle at the first volumetric rate; and obtaining a first measurement reading based on the electronic information from the fluid monitoring apparatus while the pump operates at the first pump speed and the nozzle is in the measurement position; and performing a machining operation simultaneously with the measurement operation, the machining operation including: moving the third holder relative to the first holder to place the cutting tool in contact with the workpiece; and moving at least one of the first holder and the third holder so that the cutting tool removes material from the workpiece. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, further comprising providing a computer control system operatively coupled to the first holder, the second holder, and the third holder and including a computer readable medium having disposed thereon executable code which, when executed, is configured to cause relative movement of the first holder, the second holder, and the third holder. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, in which the fluid monitoring apparatus is communicatively coupled to the computer control system. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, in which the computer control system includes a first control channel configured to operate the second holder and a second control channel configured to operate the third holder. ### Claim 17 (depends on 2) The apparatus of claim 2, in which the executable code is further configured to: operate the pump at the second pump speed after obtaining the first measurement reading; and obtain a second measurement reading based on the electronic information from the fluid monitoring apparatus while the pump operates at the second pump speed. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The apparatus of claim 17, in which the executable code is further configured to cause relative movement between the first and second holders to place the nozzle in a second measurement position relative to the workpiece prior to obtaining the second measurement reading. ### Claim 19 (depends on 7) The apparatus of claim 7, in which the executable code is further configured to: place the adapter in the second position after obtaining the first measurement reading; operate the pump with the nozzle remaining in the measurement position to discharge the substantially incompressible fluid through the second nozzle orifice; and obtain a second measurement reading based on the electronic information from the fluid monitoring apparatus.