MANUALLY PROGRAMMABLE MOTORIZED MACHINE FOR MEASURING COORDINATES

• US 20110056085A1
• Filed: 08/30/2010
• Published: 03/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tesa Sa (Hexagon AB)
• Original Assignee: Tesa Sa (Hexagon AB)
• Inventors: Jordil, Pascal
• Granted Patent: US 8,516,710 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 33/503
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/03 by measuring coordinates of points
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 21/045 Correction of measurements G01B9/02055 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 5/008 using coordinate measuring machines

Abstract

Multidimensional coordinate measuring machine having a programming mode in which the measuring head can be displaced manually by an operator and a measuring mode in which a control unit is designed for automatically optimizing and reproducing the displacements of the measuring head recorded during the programming mode.

Claims

1. A coordinate measuring machine (CMM) having:

a measuring head provided with a measuring probe;

one or several measurement axes;

one or several actuators designed to displace said measuring head along said measuring axes;

one or several encoders designed for supplying one or several measurement coordinates of the part to be measured;

a control unit for controlling said actuator or actuators, characterized in that;

the measuring machine includes a programming mode in which said measuring head can be displaced by an operator through manual actions on said measuring head and said control unit is designed for recording the displacements of said measuring head and memorize the measurement points during contact between said measuring probe and said part to be measured;

wherein the measuring machine includes a measuring mode in which said control unit is designed to control said actuators and reproduce the displacements of said measuring head recorded during said programming mode.

2. The coordinate measuring machine of claim 1, wherein said actuators can be uncoupled, said control unit being designed for uncoupling said actuators during said programming mode.

3. The coordinate measuring machine of claim 1, having devices for varying the torque, controlled by said control unit, designed for varying the torque transmitted between said actuators.

4. The coordinate measuring machine of claim 3, wherein said torque-varying devices are frictions.

5. The coordinate measuring machine of claim 1, wherein said measuring head is multi-directional, the machine having angular actuators designed for modifying the orientations of said measuring head and controlled by said control unit, and angular encoders, connected to said control unit and supplying information on the orientation of said measuring head.

6. The coordinate measuring machine of claim 5, wherein said control unit is designed for controlling said actuators, during said programming mode, according to manual actions of the operator on said head or on said measuring probe or on sensors.

7. The coordinate measuring machine of claim 1, wherein the mechanical power necessary to the movement of the CMM in the programming mode is manually applied by the operator.

8. The coordinate measuring machine of claim 1, wherein the mechanical power necessary to the movement of the CMM in the programming mode is supplied partly or entirely by said actuators.

9. The coordinate measuring machine of claim 1, wherein the mechanical power necessary for maintaining the position of the CMM in the programming mode is supplied by said actuators.

10. The coordinate measuring machine of claim 9, having force and/or torque sensors in the transmission system of the actuators.

11. The coordinate measuring machine of claim 5, having one or several interface elements sensitive to the operator'"'"'s manual actions.

12. The coordinate measuring machine of claim 1, having at least one means for entering instructions, designed for programming transition points or points of specific operations.

13. The coordinate measuring machine of claim 1, wherein the orientation of said probe can be modified and memorized in said programming mode.

14. The coordinate measuring machine of claim 1, wherein said control unit is programmed for subtracting from the memorized measurement points the deflection caused by the external force from the operator.

15. The coordinate measuring machine of claim 1, having at least one programming mode and one measuring mode, the mode switch being initiated by an action of the operator on an instruction input means or on said measuring head.

16. The coordinate measuring machine of claim 1, wherein said control unit is programmed so as to adapt the frame of references of said measuring program according to the orientation of each part to be measured.

17. The coordinate measuring machine of claim 1, wherein said control unit is programmed to correct the displacements of said measuring head in order to correct the approach vectors to the surfaces to be measured.

18. The coordinate measuring machine of claim 1, wherein said control unit is programmed to determine the orientation of the surfaces measured from the elementary shape resulting from a plurality of measurement points.

19. The coordinate measuring machine of claim 1, having an editing mode that allows additional points to be added and points already memorized in the program for displacing said measuring head to be modified.

20. The coordinate measuring machine of claim 1, having a validation mode that allows the quality of the points necessary for the displacements of said measuring head to be checked.

21. A method for controlling a coordinate measuring machine (CMM), with the machine having:

a measuring head provided with a measuring probe;

one or several measurement axes;

one or several actuators designed to displace said measuring head along said measuring axes;

one or several encoders designed for supplying one or several measurement coordinates of the part to be measured;

a control unit for controlling said actuator or actuators, said method including;

a programming step in which said measuring head is displaced by an operator through manual actions on said measuring head and the displacements of said measuring head and the measurement points during contact between said measuring probe and said part to be measured are memorized by said control unit; and

a measuring step in which said control unit controls said actuators to reproduce the displacements of said measuring head recorded during said programming mode.

22. The method of claim 21, further having an editing step in which said operator can add additional points and/or modify the recorded measurement points.

23. The method of claim 22, further having a validation step in which the deflection caused by the external force from the operator is subtracted from said measurement points and/or the approach vector(s) to the surface to be measured are corrected.