APPARATUS FOR MEASURING BACKLASH IN SPECIMEN GEAR
First Claim
1. An apparatus for measuring backlash in a specimen gear, the apparatus including:
- a test gear mounted on a forward portion of a spindle, the test gear configured to mesh with the specimen gear and form an electrical circuit upon contact with the specimen gear;
an encoder rotatably connected to the spindle and configured to output a rotation angle of the spindle;
an interrupt unit configured to detect an opening and closing of the electrical circuit and generate one or more interrupt signals based on the opening and the closing of the electrical circuit; and
a measuring unit operatively coupled to the encoder and the interrupt unit, the measuring unit configured to start measurement, and stop measurement of backlash based on the interrupt signal.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for measuring a backlash in a specimen gear is provided. The apparatus includes a test gear mounted on a forward portion of a spindle, the test gear is configured to mesh with the specimen gear and form an electrical circuit upon contact with the specimen gear. An encoder is rotatably connected to the spindle and configured to output a rotation angle of the spindle. An interrupt unit is configured to detect an opening and closing of the electrical circuit and generate one or more interrupt signals based on the opening and the closing of the electrical circuit. A measuring unit is operatively coupled to the encoder and the interrupt unit, the measuring unit is configured to start measurement, and stop measurement of backlash based on the interrupt signal.
16 Citations
19 Claims
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1. An apparatus for measuring backlash in a specimen gear, the apparatus including:
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a test gear mounted on a forward portion of a spindle, the test gear configured to mesh with the specimen gear and form an electrical circuit upon contact with the specimen gear; an encoder rotatably connected to the spindle and configured to output a rotation angle of the spindle; an interrupt unit configured to detect an opening and closing of the electrical circuit and generate one or more interrupt signals based on the opening and the closing of the electrical circuit; and a measuring unit operatively coupled to the encoder and the interrupt unit, the measuring unit configured to start measurement, and stop measurement of backlash based on the interrupt signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. The apparatus of claim 13 further including an assist unit configured to display operating instructions relating to rotation of the test gear with respect to the specimen gear.
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14. A method of measuring backlash in a ring gear of an engine, the method comprising:
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meshing a test gear with the ring gear such that the test gear is configured to form an electrical circuit upon contact with the ring gear; rotating the test gear with respect to the ring gear such that test gear loses contact with a tooth on the ring gear and opens the electrical circuit; starting measurement of backlash upon opening of the electrical circuit; rotating the test gear with respect to the ring gear such that test gear contacts an adjacent tooth of the ring gear and closes the electrical circuit; and stopping measurement of backlash upon closing of the electrical circuit. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification