Measuring device primarily for use with vehicles
First Claim
1. An apparatus for measuring the relative locations of selected points on a vehicle, comprising:
- a plurality of reference emitters, adapted to be fixed relative to the vehicle and to provide reference emitter signals;
at least one probe moveable to at least one selected point on the vehicle and including at least two probe emitters for providing probe emitter signals;
a camera, including at least three sensors for receiving said reference emitter signals and said probe emitter signals and for providing reference and probe emitter location data signals; and
a computer for receiving said reference and probe emitter location data signals and having access to standard vehicle data and for calculating the relative location of said at least one selected point and for comparing the relative location of said at least one selected point to the standard vehicle data.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for measuring the points on a vehicle includes reference emitters fixed relative to the vehicle, electromagnetic radiation-emitting probes, a camera, and a computer. The camera senses the direction of the emitter from three different locations so the computer can triangulate to determine the position of the emitter. The position is then put onto a standard coordinate system and is compared to standard data for the type of vehicle to determine the extent of deviation of the measured point from the standard data. This provides real time data to a person who is straightening the vehicle or aligning parts of the vehicle to know when the straightening or aligning is complete.
71 Citations
15 Claims
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1. An apparatus for measuring the relative locations of selected points on a vehicle, comprising:
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a plurality of reference emitters, adapted to be fixed relative to the vehicle and to provide reference emitter signals; at least one probe moveable to at least one selected point on the vehicle and including at least two probe emitters for providing probe emitter signals; a camera, including at least three sensors for receiving said reference emitter signals and said probe emitter signals and for providing reference and probe emitter location data signals; and a computer for receiving said reference and probe emitter location data signals and having access to standard vehicle data and for calculating the relative location of said at least one selected point and for comparing the relative location of said at least one selected point to the standard vehicle data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for determining the relative shape of an object, comprising the steps of:
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mounting a plurality of reference emitters at fixed locations relative to the object for providing reference emitter signals in at least one direction relative to said object; providing probe emitter signals from at least one electromagnetic radiation-emitting probe and positioning said probe at selected points on said object; communicating to a computer the standard shape of said object and the locations on said standard shape that correspond to the selected points on said object; receiving said reference emitter signals and said probe emitter signals and determining therefrom the relative locations of the selected points on said object; calculating the deviation of the determined locations of the selected points on said object from the locations of said selected points relative to said standard shape. - View Dependent Claims (9)
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10. A method of measuring the location of a point on a vehicle relative to a standard coordinate system, comprising the steps of:
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providing a plurality of electromagnetic-radiation-emitting reference emitters in fixed relation to the vehicle; accessing standard, stored data for the vehicle; placing an electromagnetic-radiation-emitting probe at a point on the vehicle; sensing the electromagnetic-radiation from the reference emitters and from the probe; and relating the location of the probe to the standard, stored data.
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11. An apparatus for measuring vehicle body alignment, comprising:
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a set of reference emitters positioned at fixed locations relative to a vehicle that are static during vehicle body alignment; a probe having at least two emitters positionable at an arbitrary point on the vehicle tending to vary in position upon vehicle body alignment; sensors positionable for viewing the probe and reference emitters and providing corresponding sensor signals; and a computer connected to receive the sensor signals and programmed to compare said signals with reference data to measure body alignment. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for measuring the deviation of selected points on a vehicle relative to standard dimensions for the vehicle type measured, comprising the steps of:
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providing data having standard dimensions for selected points on the vehicle; positioning reference emitters at fixed locations relative to the vehicle; affixing probe emitters to a plurality of selected points on the vehicle; detecting the locations of the probe emitters relative to the reference emitters; and comparing the detected locations of the probe emitters to the standard dimensions for selected points on the vehicle.
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Specification