Profile measuring apparatus
First Claim
1. A profile measuring apparatus having a probe comprising:
- an arm having a stylus fixedly mounted to a distal end thereof;
an arm holding member made of a leaf spring which extends vertically such as to allow itself to deform elastically in a direction orthogonal to the vertical direction for coupling a portion close to a proximal end of the arm to a stationary part of the apparatus such as to permit the arm to be tilted in only one direction orthogonal to the vertical direction by a contact pressure during measurement; and
a detector for detecting displacement of the arm through measuring an elastic deformation of the leaf spring caused by the contact pressure exerted to the stylus being pressed against the surface of an object to be measured.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A profile measuring apparatus provided with an improved probe for measuring profiles throughout a wide area of the surface of an object with a high level of response and high accuracy. The probe 10 comprises an arm 3 having a stylus 1 fixedly mounted to the distal end thereof, which is coupled to a stationary part 11 of the apparatus by an arm holding member 5 made of a V-shaped leaf spring in such a way that the arm 3 is tilted in one axial direction by a contact pressure exerted thereto during measurement. Displacement of the arm 3 is thereby detected through measuring an elastic deformation of the leaf spring caused by the contact pressure exerted to the stylus 1 being pressed against the surface to be measured.
42 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A profile measuring apparatus having a probe comprising:
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an arm having a stylus fixedly mounted to a distal end thereof; an arm holding member made of a leaf spring which extends vertically such as to allow itself to deform elastically in a direction orthogonal to the vertical direction for coupling a portion close to a proximal end of the arm to a stationary part of the apparatus such as to permit the arm to be tilted in only one direction orthogonal to the vertical direction by a contact pressure during measurement; and a detector for detecting displacement of the arm through measuring an elastic deformation of the leaf spring caused by the contact pressure exerted to the stylus being pressed against the surface of an object to be measured. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18)
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13. A profile measuring apparatus having a probe comprising:
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an arm having a stylus fixedly mounted to a distal end thereof, an arm holding member made of a leaf spring which couples a portion close to a proximal end of the arm to a stationary part of the apparatus in such a way that the arm is tilted in only one direction by a contact pressure during measurement; and a detector for detecting displacement of the arm through measuring an elastic deformation of the leaf spring caused by the contact pressure exerted to the stylus while being pressed against the surface of an object to be measured, wherein the detector comprises a mirror fixedly mounted to the proximal end of the arm, a light projector located stationarily on a side of a reflecting surface of the mirror, and a light position detector for detecting a position of a beam of light that is emitted from the light projector and reflected by the mirror, by which an inclination angle of the stylus is determined. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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19. A profile measuring apparatus having a probe comprising:
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a stylus; an arm having the stylus fixedly mounted to a distal end thereof; an arm holding member made of a leaf spring which couples a portion close to a proximal end of the arm to a stationary part of the apparatus in such a way that the arm is tilted in only one axial direction by a contact pressure during measurement, the arm holding member has substantially a V-shape and is linked at two upper ends of the V-shape to the stationary part of the apparatus and is fixedly mounted at a lower end of the V-shape to the portion close to the proximal end of the arm, wherein the leaf spring is fixed to a rod which is supported by resilient retaining strips at the stationary part of the apparatus so that the rod is retained by a frictional force and remains stationary under a normal rate of contact pressure, while the rod rotates when an excessive rate of contact pressure is exerted on the arm; and a detector assembly for detecting displacement of the arm through measuring an elastic deformation of the leaf spring caused by the contact pressure exerted to the stylus being pressed against the surface of an object to be measured including a mirror fixedly mounted to the proximal end of the arm, a light projector located stationarily on a side of a reflecting surface of the mirror, and a light position detector for detecting a position of a reflected light by receiving a light emitted from the light projector and reflected on the mirror.
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20. In a profile measuring apparatus, the improvement comprising:
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a stylus for contacting an object to be measured; an arm mounting the stylus at a distal end thereof; a detector input member mounted on the arm; and a leaf spring mounting the arm at a distal end thereof and fixedly attached at a proximal end to a support structure to define a pivot axis for the arm and stylus to rotate about during measurement, whereby excess pressure between the stylus and the measured object can be relieved by additional pivotal movement of the arm when the leaf spring deforms. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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Specification