OSCILLATING SCANNING PROBE WITH CONSTANT CONTACT FORCE
First Claim
1. A method for scanning a surface of a workpiece using a scanning probe mounted on a support on a coordinate measuring machine, said support containing one or more drive actuators for actuating the movement of said scanning probe relatively to said support, a control unit coupled to the drive actuators, and a memory for storing theoretical profiles and coordinates of said surface, said method comprising the steps of:
- (i) determine a first range of values for a contact force applied between the tip of said scanning probe and said surface;
(ii) operate said drive actuators to position said tip in contact with said surface;
(iii) operate said positioning machine to move the support along a determined trajectory;
(iv) operate said drive actuators to produce, simultaneously with the relative movement of the support with respect to the surface, movements of said scanning probe relative to the support;
whereby said control unit adjust the actuation of the drive actuators along a scanning path in order to maintain said contact force within said first range of values during the whole scanning operation along said scanning path.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for scanning a surface of a workpiece using a scanning probe 2 mounted on a support 3 on a coordinate measuring machine 4. The support contains drive means 5, 7 for actuating the movement of the scanning probe 2 relatively to the support 3. The method further involves detecting means 9 to measure a contact force F applied between the tip 10 of the probe and the surface 1, control means 13 coupled to the drive means, and memory means 14 for storing theoretical profiles 19 and coordinates 20 of the surface. This method is characterized by the fact that the control means 13 adjust the actuation of the drive means 5, 7 along a scanning path 18 in order to maintain the contact force 11 within the defined range of values 15 during the whole scanning operation along the scanning path 18.
47 Citations
12 Claims
-
1. A method for scanning a surface of a workpiece using a scanning probe mounted on a support on a coordinate measuring machine, said support containing one or more drive actuators for actuating the movement of said scanning probe relatively to said support, a control unit coupled to the drive actuators, and a memory for storing theoretical profiles and coordinates of said surface, said method comprising the steps of:
-
(i) determine a first range of values for a contact force applied between the tip of said scanning probe and said surface; (ii) operate said drive actuators to position said tip in contact with said surface; (iii) operate said positioning machine to move the support along a determined trajectory; (iv) operate said drive actuators to produce, simultaneously with the relative movement of the support with respect to the surface, movements of said scanning probe relative to the support; whereby said control unit adjust the actuation of the drive actuators along a scanning path in order to maintain said contact force within said first range of values during the whole scanning operation along said scanning path. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
Specification