Method of constructing a 3-dimensional map of a measurable quantity using three dimensional coordinate measuring apparatus
DCFirst Claim
1. A method for generating a 3-dimensional map of a measurable quantity including the steps of:
- (1) scanning at least a portion of an item to be measured with a passive coordinate measuring machine having a measuring arm with at least three degrees of freedom, said measuring arm being capable of measuring dimensional measurements including at least one of (a) position and (b) orientation, said measuring arm having attached thereto a transducer capable of measuring a selected measurable quantity, said measuring by said transducer being independent of said dimensional measurements by said arm;
(2) generating measurement signals from the transducer related to the selected measurable quantity and associating the signals with at least one of the dimensional measurements of (a) position and (b) orientation as measured by said measuring arm; and
(3) generating a 3-dimensional map of the portion of the item measured which displays the selected measurable quantity measured by the transducer with respect to at least one of its (a) position and (b) orientation in the item as measured by the measuring arm.
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Abstract
A novel, portable coordinate measuring machine comprises a multi-jointed (preferably six joints) manually positionable measuring arm for accurately and easily measuring a volume, which in a preferred embodiment, comprises a sphere ranging from six to eight feet in diameter and a measuring accuracy of 2 Sigma±0.005 inch. (It will be appreciated that "Sigma" means "one standard deviation".) In addition to the measuring arm, the present invention employs a controller (or serial box) which acts as the electronic interface between the arm and a host computer. The coordinate measuring machine of this invention is particularly useful in a novel method for constructing a 3-dimensional map of a measurable quantity (such as temperature, coating, thickness, density or the like) using an independent transducer located at the end of the measuring arm.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for generating a 3-dimensional map of a measurable quantity including the steps of:
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(1) scanning at least a portion of an item to be measured with a passive coordinate measuring machine having a measuring arm with at least three degrees of freedom, said measuring arm being capable of measuring dimensional measurements including at least one of (a) position and (b) orientation, said measuring arm having attached thereto a transducer capable of measuring a selected measurable quantity, said measuring by said transducer being independent of said dimensional measurements by said arm; (2) generating measurement signals from the transducer related to the selected measurable quantity and associating the signals with at least one of the dimensional measurements of (a) position and (b) orientation as measured by said measuring arm; and (3) generating a 3-dimensional map of the portion of the item measured which displays the selected measurable quantity measured by the transducer with respect to at least one of its (a) position and (b) orientation in the item as measured by the measuring arm. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for generating a 3-dimensional map of a measurable quantity including the steps of:
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(1) scanning at least a portion of an item to be measured with a passive coordinate measuring machine having a measuring arm with at least three degrees of freedom, said measuring arm being capable of measuring dimensional measurements including at least one of (a) position and (b) orientation, said measuring arm having attached thereto a transducer capable of measuring a selected measurable non-dimensional quantity, said measuring by said transducer being independent of said dimensional measurements by said arm; (2) generating measurement signals from the transducer related to the selected non-dimensional quantity and associating the signals with at least one of the dimensional measurements of (a) position and (b) orientation as measured by said measuring arm; and (3) generating a 3-dimensional map of the portion of the item measured which displays the selected measurable non-dimensional quantity measured by the transducer with respect to at least one of its (a) position and (b) orientation in the item as measured by the measuring arm. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification