Mechanisms to determine position and orientation in space
First Claim
1. A system to move an object in space, that comprises:
- an articulated structural mechanism for applying forces and moments to position an object held by the structural mechanism, said structural mechanism comprising a plurality of structural beams, a measuring beam associated with each structural beam, each measuring beam being in contact only with the associated structural beam, each said structural beam further including support device means that provides the only physical contact between the structural beams and the associated measuring beam such that the structural beam applies no significant loads on the associated measuring beam; and
measuring means, which includes said measuring beam, operable to determine the actual position and orientation of said each structural beam with respect to a spatial reference.
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Abstract
A system to move an object in space. The system includes a structural mechanism having interconnected structural beams for applying translational forces and movements to position an object held by the structural mechanism. The system has a measuring mechanism to determine, with precision, the actual position and orientation of each structural beam with respect to its attached neighboring structural beam. The structural mechanism includes at least one structural beam and an associated measuring beam. The measuring beam is in contact only with its associated structural beam, the contact being effected through support devices that provide the only physical contact between the structural beam and the associated measuring beam.
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Citations
41 Claims
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1. A system to move an object in space, that comprises:
- an articulated structural mechanism for applying forces and moments to position an object held by the structural mechanism, said structural mechanism comprising a plurality of structural beams, a measuring beam associated with each structural beam, each measuring beam being in contact only with the associated structural beam, each said structural beam further including support device means that provides the only physical contact between the structural beams and the associated measuring beam such that the structural beam applies no significant loads on the associated measuring beam; and
measuring means, which includes said measuring beam, operable to determine the actual position and orientation of said each structural beam with respect to a spatial reference. - 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, 27, 30)
- an articulated structural mechanism for applying forces and moments to position an object held by the structural mechanism, said structural mechanism comprising a plurality of structural beams, a measuring beam associated with each structural beam, each measuring beam being in contact only with the associated structural beam, each said structural beam further including support device means that provides the only physical contact between the structural beams and the associated measuring beam such that the structural beam applies no significant loads on the associated measuring beam; and
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28. A sensor to measure one large rotational degree of freedom, two small rotational degrees of freedom and three small translational degrees of freedom, comprising:
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a substantially flat plate with a circular raised portion extending out of the plane of the plate, the cross dimensions of the raised portion being smaller than the cross dimensions of the plate; a ring with bumps formed in it at the inner surface thereof, the ring being placed adjacent to but spaced from the plate such that the bumps face the raised portion of in a nested configuration wherein the raised portion is the outer beam and is free to revolve about an axis that is common to the ring and the circular raised portion said ring having a planar surface juxtaposed with respect to the flat plate and facing the flat plate; at least three first non-contacting distance measuring devices which measure the distance between the flat plate and said planar surface; and at least three further non-contacting distance measuring devices which measure the distance between said raised inner surface of the flat plate and said bumps on the ring such that one sensor is alway reading distance between said raised surface and the steepest sloping part of a bump.
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29. A sensor to measure angular rotation and position of two beams configured to permit relative rotation between the beams that comprises:
a first beam of the two beams, having a series of fine bumps disposed in a circular configuration and at least three non-contacting measuring devices disposed in a circular nested fashion with respect to the circularly-disposed series of fine bumps, the measuring devices being spatially out of phase with one another with respect to the bumps so that one sensor of the three sensor senses the peak of a bump, another sensor senses the ramp of a bump, and the other sensor senses the trough between bumps, the combined sensor serving to provide angular and position (runout of the angular motion axis) information with respect to the two beams.
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31. A system that comprises:
a plurality of links in an articulated arrangement, each link comprising a structural beam, a measuring beam and connecting means to attach the measuring beam to the structural beam to provide three degrees of freedom between the measuring beam and the structural beam such that deflections of the structural beam do not impose any significant load on the measuring beam, said connecting means providing the only connection between the structural beam and the measuring beam. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
Specification