Control for coordinate measuring instruments
First Claim
1. A control system for a multi-coordinate measuring machine having an individual drive for each of a plurality of coordinate-component directions, said system comprising:
- a velocity-control circuit for each of said drives;
a control unit for simultaneously controlling at least two of said drives;
a scanning probe head movable along a path determined by said drives, said head including a probe pin that is deflectable in each of the coordinate-component directions, and plural measuring transducers for generating separate output signals which are proportional to the respective coordinate-component directions of probe-pin deflection, whereby during driven probe-head displacement with said probe pin in continuous contact with a workpiece, the output signals of said transducers are indicative of the respective component directions of path deviation with respect to workpiece contour;
input means coupled to said control unit for inputting a preselected magnitude |Vdes. | of path velocity;
said control unit including calculating means connected to said input means and to said transducers for freshly computing control-path velocity as the vector sum of instantaneous path velocity V1 and a vector Ae corresponding to the vector sum of said transducer-output signals, with the magnitude of the computed control-path velocity corresponding to said preselected magnitude;
said calculating means having separate output connections supplying velocity-component values to the respective velocity-control circuits; and
force-producing means in said probe head for producing a deflection-independent force of workpiece contact by said probe pin, wherein said force is substantially perpendicular to the instantaneous direction of path velocity.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A "scanning" work-contact probe is deflectable with respect to a measuring-machine head which is driven by the three-coordinate drive system of the measuring machine. The arrangement is such that the probe continuously tracks (scans) a desired profile of a workpiece and, in doing so, measured probe increments (decrements) of deflection with respect to the head are so mathematically combined with head-position data that, in the further circumstance of holding path-velocity magnitude |Vdes. | of the measuring machine to a constant value, the orientation of the probe head with respect to the locally contacted slope of the workpiece can also be a constant.
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Citations
9 Claims
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1. A control system for a multi-coordinate measuring machine having an individual drive for each of a plurality of coordinate-component directions, said system comprising:
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a velocity-control circuit for each of said drives; a control unit for simultaneously controlling at least two of said drives; a scanning probe head movable along a path determined by said drives, said head including a probe pin that is deflectable in each of the coordinate-component directions, and plural measuring transducers for generating separate output signals which are proportional to the respective coordinate-component directions of probe-pin deflection, whereby during driven probe-head displacement with said probe pin in continuous contact with a workpiece, the output signals of said transducers are indicative of the respective component directions of path deviation with respect to workpiece contour; input means coupled to said control unit for inputting a preselected magnitude |Vdes. | of path velocity; said control unit including calculating means connected to said input means and to said transducers for freshly computing control-path velocity as the vector sum of instantaneous path velocity V1 and a vector Ae corresponding to the vector sum of said transducer-output signals, with the magnitude of the computed control-path velocity corresponding to said preselected magnitude;
said calculating means having separate output connections supplying velocity-component values to the respective velocity-control circuits; andforce-producing means in said probe head for producing a deflection-independent force of workpiece contact by said probe pin, wherein said force is substantially perpendicular to the instantaneous direction of path velocity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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3. A control system for a multi-coordinate measuring machine having an individual drive for each of a plurality of coordinate-component directions, said system comprising:
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a velocity-control circuit for each of said drives; a control unit for simultaneously controlling at least two of said drives; a scanning probe head movable along a path determined by said drives, said head including a probe pin that is deflectable in each of the coordinate-component directions, and plural measuring transducers for generating separate output signals which are proportional to the respective coordinate-component directions of probe-pin deflection, whereby during driven probe-head displacement with said probe pin in continuous contact with a workpiece, the output signals of said transducers are indicative of the respective directions of path-deviation with respect to workpiece contour; input means coupled to said control unit for inputting a preselected magnitude |Vdes. | of path velocity; said control unit including calculating means connected to said input means and to said transducers for freshly computing control-path velocity as the vector sum of instantaneous path velocity V1 and a vector Ae corresponding to the vector sum of said transducer-output signals, with the magnitude of the computed control-path velocity corresponding to said preselected magnitude;
said calculating means having separate output connections supplying velocity-component values to the respective velocity-control circuits; andforce-producing means in said probe head for producing a deflection-dependent return force of workpiece contact by said probe pin, said return force being of magnitude proportional to that resulting from deflection of said probe pin.
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Specification