Apparatus and method for determining contour characteristics of a contoured article
First Claim
1. An apparatus for determining contour characteristics of a shaped article, comprising:
- a supporting surface;
first means for determining contour of said supporting surface;
first means responsive to said first determining means for generating position reference points and reference values;
second means for determining contour of an article while supported on said supporting surface;
second means responsive to said second determining means and said first generating means for generating a thickness value for each position reference point; and
third means responsive to said first and second generating means for determining contour characteristics of the shaped article.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An inspection apparatus includes a checking fixture having an article supporting surface having a contour representative of the desired/ideal peripheral marginal edge contour of a contoured article to be inspected, such as a bent glass sheet, e.g. an automotive lite. The article is supported by the article supporting surface of the fixture. The apparatus further includes position-sensing facilities, e.g. a linear potentiometer, and facilitates, e.g. a robot, for moving the potentiometer about the periphery of the article to be inspected, to generate a plurality of signals indicative of the gap between a plurality of predetermined points around the marginal edge periphery of the article supporting surface and a corresponding plurality of points around the marginal edge periphery of the article. The apparatus further preferably includes a computer or the like for processing the generated signals to provide information about the contour characteristics of the article, e.g. bend, sag, kink, or the like. Also disclosed herein is a method for using the apparatus of this invention.
203 Citations
14 Claims
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1. An apparatus for determining contour characteristics of a shaped article, comprising:
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a supporting surface; first means for determining contour of said supporting surface; first means responsive to said first determining means for generating position reference points and reference values; second means for determining contour of an article while supported on said supporting surface; second means responsive to said second determining means and said first generating means for generating a thickness value for each position reference point; and third means responsive to said first and second generating means for determining contour characteristics of the shaped article. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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2. An apparatus for determining contour characteristics of a shaped glass article, comprising:
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a supporting surface; first means for determining contour of said supporting surface; first means responsive to said first determining means for generating position reference points and reference values; second means for determining contour of an article while supported on said supporting surface; second means responsive to said second determining means and said first generating means for generating a thickness value for each position reference point; and third means responsive to said first and second generating means for determining contour characteristics of the shaped article. - View Dependent Claims (3, 7)
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12. A method of determining contour characteristics of an article, comprising the steps of:
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determining contour of a supporting surface; positioning article on the supporting surface; determining contour of the article supported on supporting surface; and comparing contour of the supporting surface to contour of the article on the supporting surface to generate contour characteristics of the article. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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Specification