# US RE49,844 E1 · Continuous high resolution surface profiling apparatus and method

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- Number: US RE49,844 E1
- Document ID: USRE49844E1
- Status: Granted
- Kind: E1
- Application number: 17/159,000
- Filed: 2021-01-26
- Granted: 2024-02-20
- Earliest claimed: 2013-04-25
- Assignees: Paul Toom
- Applicants: Paul Toom
- Inventors: Paul Toom
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/USRE49844E1

## CPC

- G01B 11/24: for measuring contours or curvatures
- G01B 5/285: {for controlling eveness}
- G01B 21/20: for measuring contours or curvatures, e.g. determining profile
- G01C 7/04: involving a vehicle which moves along the profile to be traced
- G01B: MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIMENSIONS; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS
- G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S)

## Abstract

A surface profiler including at least one front support wheel and at least one rear support wheel for travelling along the surface of a profile to be measured, the rotational axes of said wheels being longitudinally spaced, and the wheels contacting the surface being profiled in a collinear manner. A frame carried on the wheels carries at least one inclinometer and at least two vertical distance measuring apparatus such as lasers, and may also carry an optical encoder. The lasers are collinear with each other and with the wheels. Incremental to measurements of inclination angles provided by the inclinometer, together with incremental measurements of distance to the surface being measured provided by the lasers, produce a continuous, high resolution mathematical series of elevations representing the surface profile, including reproduction of surface features that are smaller than the distance between the wheels.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A surface profiling apparatus comprising:
a frame;
a plurality of wheels supporting said frame, at least two of said wheels being separated by a distance W and being aligned to contact a surface being profiled in a longitudinally collinear manner;
a longitudinal distance measuring apparatus supported by said frame;
a longitudinal inclination measuring apparatus supported by said frame to measure an angle α between said frame and said surface; and
at least two vertical distance measuring devices, said vertical distance measuring devices being collinear with said collinear wheels and separated by a distance L.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The surface profiling apparatus of claim 1 wherein said vertical distance measuring devices are equidistant from the mid-point of said frame.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The surface profiling apparatus of claim 1 wherein each of said vertical distance measuring devices is a laser.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The surface profiling apparatus of claim 3 wherein said lasers are attached to said frame at a specified separation, and wherein said separation is shorter than the distance W.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The surface profiling apparatus of claim 3 wherein said lasers are equidistant from the mid-point of said frame.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The surface profiling apparatus of claim 1, wherein said longitudinal distance measuring apparatus is positioned between said collinear wheels.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The surface profiling apparatus of claim 1 wherein said longitudinal distance measuring apparatus is positioned between said vertical distance measuring apparatuses.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The surface profiling apparatus of claim 1, wherein said longitudinal distance measuring apparatus is rotationally linked to an axle of one of said wheels.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The surface profiling apparatus of claim 8 wherein said longitudinal distance measuring apparatus is an optical encoder.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The surface profiling apparatus of claim 1 wherein said longitudinal inclination measuring apparatus is an inclinometer.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The surface profiling apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a motorized drive adapted to move the profiling apparatus along the surface to be profiled.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The surface profiling apparatus of claim 1 further comprising attachment means by which the apparatus may be attached to a motorized vehicle to move the apparatus along the surface to be profiled.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The surface profiling apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an operator interface to control said profiling apparatus.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The surface profiling apparatus of claim 13 wherein said interface is associated with a cabinet associated with said frame.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The surface profiling apparatus of claim 14 wherein said cabinet houses operational equipment, said operational equipment being selected from the group consisting of: one or more internal sensors, a power supply, power level monitor, signal conditioning equipment, real time clock, distance pulse counters, digital input/output and multi-channel 16 bit analog to digital converter, computer and non-volatile memory.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The surface profiling apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a transverse inclination measuring apparatus, supported by said frame and oriented substantially perpendicular to said longitudinal inclination measuring apparatus, to measure a transverse angle χ between said frame and said surface.

### Claim 17

A method of profiling a surface using a surface profiling apparatus mounted on a plurality of wheels, at least two of said wheels being aligned to contact the surface in a longitudinally collinear manner, the method comprising:
acquiring data relating to:
a longitudinal distance ΔD travelled by said profiler surface profiling apparatus from a longitudinal distance measuring apparatus mounted on said profiler surface profiling apparatus;
an angle α of said profiler surface profiling apparatus relative to a horizontal plane intersecting said surface at a location of one of said wheels where a point of the wheel, a vertical line and a line collinear with a diameter of the wheel intersect, from a longitudinal inclination measuring apparatus comprising a first inclinometer mounted on said profiler surface profiling apparatus; and
a vertical distance Lf between said profiler surface profiling apparatus and said surface from a first vertical distance measuring apparatus mounted on said profiler surface profiling apparatus;
a vertical distance Lr between said frame and said surface from a second vertical distance measuring apparatus mounted on said profiler surface profiling apparatus;
said first and second vertical distance measuring apparatuses being mounted collinearly with said wheels and separated by a distance L;
calculating an incremental change in surface elevation ΔE, using the formula:
Δ
⁢
E
=
ΔDsin
⁡
(
α
+
tan
-
1
(
(
L
f
-
L
r
)
L
)
)
;
and
adding said incremental change to an accumulated elevation series which represents a profile of said surface.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, wherein said method is applied at periodic intervals.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18 wherein said periodic intervals are at time increments, Δt.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19 wherein Δt is 1 millisecond.

### Claim 21 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18 wherein said periodic intervals are at longitudinal distance increments, ΔD.

### Claim 22 (depends on 21)

The method of claim 21 wherein ΔD is 1 millimeter.

### Claim 23 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, wherein said step of acquiring data further comprises acquiring data relating to a transverse angle χ of said profiler relative to surface profiling apparatus between a horizontal plane above said surface and a line transverse to a longitudinal axis of a frame of said surface profiling apparatus, from a transverse inclination measuring apparatus comprising a second inclinometer supported by mounted on said profiler surface profiling apparatus to correct said angle α for cross-axis error.

### Claim 24 (depends on 23)

The method of claim 23, wherein said method is applied at periodic intervals.

### Claim 25 (depends on 24)

The method of claim 24 wherein said periodic intervals are at time increments, Δt.

### Claim 26 (depends on 25)

The method of claim 25 wherein Δt is 1 millisecond.

### Claim 27 (depends on 24)

The method of claim 24 wherein said periodic intervals are at longitudinal distance increments, ΔD.

### Claim 28 (depends on 27)

The method of claim 27 wherein ΔD is 1 millimeter.

### Claim 29

A method of profiling a surface using a surface profiling apparatus mounted on a plurality of wheels, at least two of said wheels being aligned to contact the surface in a longitudinally collinear manner, the method comprising:
moving the profiler surface profiling apparatus a longitudinal distance increment ΔD;
obtaining a vertical distance Lf between said surface profiling apparatus and said surface from a first vertical distance measuring device, and a vertical distance Lr between said surface profiling apparatus and said surface from a second vertical distance measuring device, said first and second vertical distance measuring apparatuses being mounted on said surface profiling apparatus collinearly with said at least two wheels and separated by a distance L;
calculating a first angle β between said vertical distances Lf, Lr and said distance L using the formula:
β
=
tan
-
1
(
(
L
f
-
L
r
)
L
)
;
obtaining an angle α of said profiler surface profiling apparatus relative to a horizontal plane intersecting said surface at a location of one of said wheels where a point of the wheel, a vertical line and a line collinear with a diameter of the wheel intersect, from a longitudinal inclination measuring apparatus comprising a first inclinometer mounted on said profiler surface profiling apparatus;
calculating an incremental change in surface elevation ΔE, using the formula:
ΔE =ΔD sin(α+β);
and adding said incremental change to an accumulated elevation series which represents a profile of said surface.

### Claim 30 (depends on 29)

The method of claim 29, wherein said method is applied at periodic intervals.

### Claim 31 (depends on 30)

The method of claim 30 wherein said periodic intervals are at time increments, Δt.

### Claim 32 (depends on 31)

The method of claim 31 wherein Δt is 1 millisecond.

### Claim 33 (depends on 30)

The method of claim 30 wherein said periodic intervals are at longitudinal distance increments, ΔD.

### Claim 34 (depends on 33)

The method of claim 33 wherein ΔD is 1 millimeter.

### Claim 35 (depends on 29)

The method of claim 29 comprising the further step of correcting said angle α for cross-axis error using a transverse angle χ, said transverse angle χ being obtained from a transverse inclination measuring apparatus supported by comprising a second inclinometer mounted on said profiler surface profiling apparatus.