Electronic column gage
First Claim
1. A sizing gage having a columnar display for indicating the measured sense and degree of part size deviation from a mean size comprising:
- probe means for measuring part size;
display means including a plurality of individually excitable indicators;
means exciting one of said indicators in response to measuring a part of said mean size and also including means exciting the indicators on opposite sides thereof in response to measuring increments of part size deviation of respectively opposite sense;
said means including;
first signal means for generating a first waveform the relative timing corresponding to a size reference;
second signal means connected to said probe means for generating a second periodic waveform, said second signal including means varying the relative timing of said second waveform in accordance with measured size of said part;
comparator means sensing the degree and sense of the timing difference of said first and second waveforms;
third signal means responsive to said comparator means producing a digital count corresponding to said degree of relative timing difference between the first and second waveforms;
fourth signal means responsive to said comparator means producing a signal corresponding to the sense of said relative timing difference; and
addressable control means connecting the third and fourth signal means to the display means and responsive to the character of said count and sense to excite a particular one of said indicators.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A sizing gage for use with an LVDT probe for producing an output signal representing the deviation of part dimension from a nominally ideal dimension, and a columnar display means comprising vertically arranged light emitting diodes for indicating the degree and sense; i.e., oversize or undersize, of part size deviation according to which of the emitting diodes is lighted. The probe output is an ac signal of polarity representing the degree of deviation. The probe output signal is converted to a dc voltage the amplitude and polarity of which is representative of part size deviation. The dc signal is used as a comparison base against a precision triangle wave signal to generate a squarewave the transitions of which occur at points in time related to the amplitude and polarity of the dc signal. This squarewave is compared to a reference squarewave of fixed transition time to produce a window pulse the width of which is representative of the degree of part size deviation. The window pulse gates clock pulses from a precision oscillator to a pair of decade counters to address a diode excitation matrix. The tens signal is gated to either the oversize light bank or the undersize light bank according to whether the time variable signal leads or lags the fixed time signal. Nulling and range setting circuit details are disclosed.
11 Citations
53 Claims
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1. A sizing gage having a columnar display for indicating the measured sense and degree of part size deviation from a mean size comprising:
- probe means for measuring part size;
display means including a plurality of individually excitable indicators;
means exciting one of said indicators in response to measuring a part of said mean size and also including means exciting the indicators on opposite sides thereof in response to measuring increments of part size deviation of respectively opposite sense;
said means including;
first signal means for generating a first waveform the relative timing corresponding to a size reference;
second signal means connected to said probe means for generating a second periodic waveform, said second signal including means varying the relative timing of said second waveform in accordance with measured size of said part;
comparator means sensing the degree and sense of the timing difference of said first and second waveforms;
third signal means responsive to said comparator means producing a digital count corresponding to said degree of relative timing difference between the first and second waveforms;
fourth signal means responsive to said comparator means producing a signal corresponding to the sense of said relative timing difference; and
addressable control means connecting the third and fourth signal means to the display means and responsive to the character of said count and sense to excite a particular one of said indicators. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
- probe means for measuring part size;
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27. In a sizing apparatus for use with probe means for measuring part size and a columnar display for indicating the measured sense and degree of part size deviation from a mean size comprising:
- display means including a plurality of individually excitable indicators;
said sizing apparatus including means exciting one of said indicators in response to measuring of mean size and further including means exciting the indicators on opposite sides thereof in response to sensing increments of part size deviation of respectively opposite sense;
first signal means adapted to be connected to a probe means including means for generating a periodic wave form and means varying the relative timing of said wave form in correspondence with the degree of measured part size deviation; and
second signal means for producing a digital count corresponding to the degree of variance in the timing of said periodic waveform relative to a reference;
third signal means for producing a signal corresponding to the sense of said relative timing; and
, addressable control means connecting the second and third signal means to the display means and responsive to the character of said count and sense to excite a particular one of said indicators. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
- display means including a plurality of individually excitable indicators;
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34. In a sizing apparatus for determining part size deviations and indicating the degree and sense of a measured part size deviation from a nominally mean dimension:
- display means including a plurality of linearly arranged individually excitable indicators, including means exciting one of said indicators in response to sensing a part of said mean size and also including means exciting one of the indicators on opposite sides thereof in response to sensing increments of part size deviation of respectively opposite sense;
a plurality of row excitation conductors interconnecting said indicators and a plurality of column excitation line conductors interconnecting said indicators such that the coincident selection for excitation of a row and column line conductor operates to select a given one of said indicators;
means for producing a digital count signal representing the degree of part size deviation detectable by a probe, means for producing a second digital signal including means responsive to the sense of part size deviation detectable by a probe and means responsive to said count and second digital signals for selecting respective row and column excitation line conductors corresponding to said degree and sense signals so as to select for excitation a given one of said indicators. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37)
- display means including a plurality of linearly arranged individually excitable indicators, including means exciting one of said indicators in response to sensing a part of said mean size and also including means exciting one of the indicators on opposite sides thereof in response to sensing increments of part size deviation of respectively opposite sense;
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38. In a sizing apparatus for use with a probe for measuring part size:
- display means including a plurality of individually excitable indicators arranged linearly for indicating the degree and sense of part size deviation from a means size measured by said sizing apparatus;
said sizing apparatus including means exciting one of said indicators in response to measuring a part of said mean size and also including means exciting the indicators on opposite sides thereof in correspondence with measured increments of part size deviation of respectively opposite sense;
probe means including means for defining a pair of interconnected current loops having a common leg, tuning means including means for altering the current through said common leg in correspondence with measured part size, output means for producing an output signal corresponding to the polarity and amplitude of current through said common leg, and a variable gain amplifier means connected to receive said output means signal and to produce an amplifier signal corresponding to the polarity and amplitude of the output signal; and
means connected to said display means exciting a given one of said indicators in correspondence with the polarity and amplitude of said amplifier output signal. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40)
- display means including a plurality of individually excitable indicators arranged linearly for indicating the degree and sense of part size deviation from a means size measured by said sizing apparatus;
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41. A sizing apparatus for use with probe means for measuring part size and including:
- a columnar display including a plurality of individually excitable indicators for displaying the degree of part size deviation measured from a mean size, first signal means adapted for connection to a probe for generating a periodic waveform and including means varying the relative timing of said waveform in correspondence with measured part size relative to said mean size, second signal means for producing a digital count representing the degree in variation of timing of said periodic waveform relative a reference, and control means for connecting the digital count to the display and responsive to the number represented by said count to excite a particular one of said indicators.
- View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
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50. A sizing gage for use with a columnar display for indicating the sense and degree of part size deviation from a mean size comprising:
- probe means for measuring part size;
first signal means generating a first waveform the relative timing corresponding to a size reference;
second signal means connected to said probe means for generating a second periodic waveform and including means varying the relative timing of said first and second waveform in correspondence with measured size;
third signal means responsive to said first and second waveforms producing a digital count corresponding to the relative timing difference between the first and second waveforms;
fourth signal means responsive to said first and second waveforms producing a signal corresponding to the sense of said relative timing difference; and
addressable control means for connecting the third and fourth signal means to a display for exciting said display according to the character of said digital count and sense. - View Dependent Claims (51)
- probe means for measuring part size;
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52. A sizing gage having a columnar display for indicating the sense and degree of measured part size deviation from a mean size comprising:
- display means including a plurality of linearly arranged individually excitable indicators;
said sizing gage including means exciting one of said indicators in response to measuring a part of said mean size and further including means exciting the indicators on opposite sides thereof in response to measuring increments of part size deviation of respectively opposite sense;
timed based reference signal means;
probe means for measuring part size and producing an AC signal, said probe means including means varying the amplitude of said AC signal in correspondence with said degree of deviation measured in a part size and further includes means varying said AC signal to lead or lag said reference signal according to the the sense of the measured deviation from said mean part size;
means for adjusting the amplitude of said AC signal produced by the probe means to zero for any given part measured by said sizing gage whereby the size of said measured part defines the mean size; and
coding means interconnecting the probe means with the display means and including means exciting the said one indicator when the amplitude of said AC signal of the probe means is zero and also including means exciting one of the other indicators when the output of the probe means is other than zero, the coding means further including means responsive to the amplitude and phase of the probe AC signal coincidentally selecting said other indicator for excitation. - View Dependent Claims (53)
- display means including a plurality of linearly arranged individually excitable indicators;
Specification