Measuring instrument and method
First Claim
1. A measuring instrument comprising:
- a support,first and second work surface contacting means supported by said support,means for moving said first surface contacting means with respect to said support and an article positioned between said first and second surface contacting means to cause said first surface contacting means to engage a first portion of the surface of said article while an opposite portion of said article is engaged by said second surface contacting means,means for sensing movement of said first surface contacting means and generating an electrical analog signal which varies in accordance with the movement of said first surface contacting means,analog-to-digital conversion means for receiving and digitizing said electrical analog signal and generating digital signals indicative of the degree of movement of said first surface contacting means with respect to said support,microminiature electronic circuit synthetic speech signal generating means operable for generating speech signals of words of numbers including the numbers "0" to "9", andfirst control signal generating means connected between said analog-to-digital conversion means and said microminiature electronic speech signal generating means for receiving digital signals generated on the output of said analog-to-digital conversion means and operable to output control signals for controlling the operation of said microminiature electronic circuit synthetic speech signal generating means to cause the latter to generate a chain of synthetic speech signals defining a sequence of numbers which are indicative of measurements made by said device,force sensing means connected to said first surface contacting means and operable to generate a measurement indicating control signal upon sensing a force applied between said first surface contacting means and a workpiece, andmeans for applying said measurement indicating control signal to said first control signal generating means to cause the latter to control the operation of said microminiature electronic circuit synthetic speech signal generating means to generate a plurality of synthetic speech signals which are indicative of the distance between said first and second surface contacting means when a workpiece is disposed therebetween and said first and second surface contacting means are in contact with opposite surfaces of said workpiece and when said first surface contacting means engages one surface of said workpiece with a predetermined, andmeans for receiving and transducing said synthetic speech signals to sounds of words defining a sequence of numbers which indicate the measurement made by said measuring instrument.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A measuring device, such as a micrometer or other form of dimensional measuring instrument, capable of indicating a dimensional measurement by means of sounds of speech such as a train of numbers defining the measurement made. In one form, the device has a C-frame defining a housing for electronic circuit elements for effecting measurements, controlling a display to display the results and controlling operation of a synthetic speech generator to generate speech signals indicative of measurements made. In another form, an electronic memory is also provided for recording measurements and other data such as indications of the dimensions measured and identifying the article, assembly or part measured.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A measuring instrument comprising:
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a support, first and second work surface contacting means supported by said support, means for moving said first surface contacting means with respect to said support and an article positioned between said first and second surface contacting means to cause said first surface contacting means to engage a first portion of the surface of said article while an opposite portion of said article is engaged by said second surface contacting means, means for sensing movement of said first surface contacting means and generating an electrical analog signal which varies in accordance with the movement of said first surface contacting means, analog-to-digital conversion means for receiving and digitizing said electrical analog signal and generating digital signals indicative of the degree of movement of said first surface contacting means with respect to said support, microminiature electronic circuit synthetic speech signal generating means operable for generating speech signals of words of numbers including the numbers "0" to "9", and first control signal generating means connected between said analog-to-digital conversion means and said microminiature electronic speech signal generating means for receiving digital signals generated on the output of said analog-to-digital conversion means and operable to output control signals for controlling the operation of said microminiature electronic circuit synthetic speech signal generating means to cause the latter to generate a chain of synthetic speech signals defining a sequence of numbers which are indicative of measurements made by said device, force sensing means connected to said first surface contacting means and operable to generate a measurement indicating control signal upon sensing a force applied between said first surface contacting means and a workpiece, and means for applying said measurement indicating control signal to said first control signal generating means to cause the latter to control the operation of said microminiature electronic circuit synthetic speech signal generating means to generate a plurality of synthetic speech signals which are indicative of the distance between said first and second surface contacting means when a workpiece is disposed therebetween and said first and second surface contacting means are in contact with opposite surfaces of said workpiece and when said first surface contacting means engages one surface of said workpiece with a predetermined, and means for receiving and transducing said synthetic speech signals to sounds of words defining a sequence of numbers which indicate the measurement made by said measuring instrument. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of effecting and vocally indicating a measurement comprising:
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operating a measuring insturment in a manner to detect a variable to be measured, wich variable may vary quantitatively and wherein the quantitative value thereof may be detected by said measuring insturment and such quantitative value may be expressed in terms of a number having a decimal point, generating a first signal when a first quantitative variable is detected by said insturment wherein said first signal is indicative of the degree of the quantitative variable being measured, generating a second signal which indicates that said measuring insturment and a workpiece are predeterminately positioned with respect to each other, using said second signal to cause a measurement reading to be effected by activating a speech signal synthesizing circuit, processing said first signal and deriving control and address signals therefrom and presenting such control and address signals to address and control said speech signal synthesizing circuit means, which speech signal synthesizing means is operable, when automatically controlled and addressed, to generate selected speech signals in sequence which speech signals are representative of selected of the numbers "1" to "9" and "0" as well as the word "point" which is indicative of a decimal point, controlling said speech signal synthesizing means by means of said control and address signals to generate a plurality of selected synthetic speech signals which synthetic speech signals define a train of numbers and additional speech signals defining the word "point" wherein such signals are generated sequentially on an output and are indicative of a decimal pointed number defining a measurement made, and presenting said synthetic speech signal in a selected sequence to an electrical-to-sound transducer for transducing a sequence of sounds in the form of words providing a train of words of speech of numbers and the word "point" in an order defining a numerical indication of the measurement made including a quantity thereof which is less than one. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A measuring instrument comprising:
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a support, first and second work surface contacting means supported by said support, means for moving said first surface contacting means with respect to said support and an article positioned between said first and second surface contacting means so as to cause said first surface contacting means to engage a first portion of the surface of said article while an opposite portion of said article is engaged by said second surface contacting means, means for sensing movement of said first surface contacting means and generating electrical signals which vary in accordance with movement of said first surface contacting means, first electrical circuit means for receiving and processing said electrical signals and generating signals representative of the degree of movement of said first surface contacting means with respect to said support, microminiature electronic circuit synthetic speech signal generating means operable for generating speech signals of words of numbers including the numbers "0" to "9", second electrical circuit means for receiving signals from said first electrical circuit means and responsive thereto for controlling said microminiature electrical circuit synthetic speech signal generating means to cause said synthetic speech signal generating means to generate specific speech signals defining words of speech of numbers in an order which signals are indicative of the distance between said first and second work surface, surface detection means operable when said first surface contacting means engages a surface to generate first control signals and for causing said microminiature electronic circuit means to generate said speech signals defining the distance between said first and second work surfaces, means for receiving and transducing said synthetic speech signals to sounds of words of a sequence of numbers which numbers indicate the measurement made by said measuring instrument, said microminiature electronic circuit synthetic speech signal generating means including means for generating speech signals defining the word "point" for indicating a decimal point in the numerical indication of measurements made with said measuring instrument, said first electrical circuit means being operable to discriminate the signals received thereby which are representative of the degree of movement of said first surface contacting means with respect to said support in terms of fractions of a unit of the distance being measured and to generate a control signal in proper sequence with the signals repesentative of the degree of movement in said first surface contacting means for addressing said electronic synthetic speech signal generating means and causing same to generate synthetic speech signals of numbers and the word "point" which signals are transducable to words of speech in an order indicative of the measurement made when said first and second surface contacting means sense opposite surfaces of a workpiece disposed therebetween. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification