Measuring and testing – Instrument proving or calibrating – Displacement – motion – distance – or position
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-10
2003-01-28
Williams, Hezron (Department: 2856)
Measuring and testing
Instrument proving or calibrating
Displacement, motion, distance, or position
Reexamination Certificate
active
06510725
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gage inspecting apparatus and a gage inspecting method for inspecting the indication accuracy of an object to be inspected by an indicated value of the object to be inspected when a measuring spindle which is made to abut against a probe of the object to be inspected is displaced to a predetermined position. In particular, the present invention relates to a gage inspecting apparatus and a gage inspecting method excelling in operational efficiency and suitable for use in the inspection of various indicators including dial gages, lever type dial indicators, microindicators, digital type indicators, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the numbers of dial gages and the like used in manufacturing companies are on an ever-increasing trend. The reason for this is that in addition to the conventional method in which dial gages and the like are used as general-purpose comparators, cases are increases in which the dial gages or the like are used for the purpose of continuously measuring the acceptability of workpieces by attaching the dial gages to exclusive-use measuring jigs or the like.
Incidentally, in the control of dial gages and the like, inspection methods have been standardized in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), or the Deutsche Industrie-Normen (DIN). For this reason, in conventional apparatuses for inspecting dial gages and the like, inspection methods based on ISO, JIS, ANSI or DIN standards are programmed in advance. An inspecting apparatus which makes it possible to perform the inspection of dial gages and the like in accordance with such a program has been developed (e.g., Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Sho. 63-91508).
When the inspection of dial gages and the like is carried out by using such an inspecting apparatus, a measuring spindle of the inspecting apparatus is first driven to respective measurement positions. Then, readings on the gage and readings on the inspecting apparatus are inputted, and“the reading on the gage minus the reading on the inspecting apparatus” at the respective measurement position is conventionally set as the indication accuracy at the corresponding measurement position.
Conventionally, however, since the micrometer head, for example, is manually moved to displace the measuring spindle, the operation has involved time and trouble. In particular, there has been a problem in that it takes time in the movement between measurement positions.
To overcome such a problem, as a semiautomatic inspection apparatus for driving the measuring. spindle by a motor, it is conceivable to automatically position the measuring spindle just short of a measurement target position by using a personal computer. However, in a case where the feeding speed of the measuring spindle is fixed irrespective of the scale interval of gages to be inspected, at the time of the spindle operation in the setup of inspection for executing the rough positioning of a reference position of measurement (an initial measurement position, e.g., a zero point) after the mounting of the gage on the inspecting apparatus, it is impossible to obtain satisfactory operational efficiency for both gages having large scale intervals and gages having small scale intervals since the scale interval of the gage is not reflected on the feeding speed of an operating button.
In addition, in a case where the moving direction of the measuring spindle is constantly set reversible irrespective of the present measuring direction (e.g., from a small value to a large value, or from a large value to a small value), there are cases where the movement in a direction opposite to the measuring direction occurs due to the erroneous operation of an operating knob. This is not allowed during the measurement during which scale adjustment to the measurement position is being effected, so as to prevent the hysteresis of the gage. Accordingly, in such a case, there has been a problem is that there are cases where the measurement must be retried from the beginning.
In addition, at the time of inspecting the indication accuracy or repetitive accuracy of the dial gage, it is necessary to drive the measuring spindle so that the hysteresis of the gage is not included in the result of measurement in accordance with the inspection standard.
To ensure that the hysteresis of the gage is not included in the result of measurement, it is sufficient to drive the measuring spindle only in a predetermined direction (which will be referred to as the measuring direction). However, when an operator adjusts the needle of the gage to the scale at a measurement target position, there are cases where the needle of the gage overshoots the scale at the measurement target position due to an operation error. In such a case, it is necessary to carry out the measurement for the relevant position once again after the measuring spindle is retracted by a distance greater than that corresponding to the value of the hysteresis of the gage. However, there have been problems in that the automatic positioning using a personal computer cannot be made use of, and that an increase in the inspection time and the operator's fatigue are entailed.
In addition, in the case of the semiautomatic inspecting apparatus, the operator's operation error (operation error in scale adjustment) is unavoidable, so that remeasurement for a measurement point which has been measured is required. In addition, if the result of measurement was poor, since there are cases where it is impossible to distinguish whether the poor result of measurement was due to a measurement error or the accuracy of the gage, remeasurement for the measurement point which has been measured becomes necessary for the sake of confirmation.
However, in the event that the operator is late in becoming aware that there has been a measurement error in the measurement data which has been measured, all the data need to be measured once again from the beginning by invalidating all the multiplicity of pieces of measured data. Accordingly, there has been a problem in that an increase in the inspection time and the operator's fatigue are entailed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a first object of the invention to provide a gage inspecting apparatus and a gage inspecting method excelling in the operational efficiency, thereby overcoming the above-described problems of the conventional art.
A second object of the invention is to facilitate the retrial of the present measurement.
A third object of the invention is to facilitate the remeasurement of the result of immediately previous measurement.
A fourth object of the invention is to facilitate the remeasurement of the result of measurement of an arbitrary point among a multiplicity of pieces of measured data.
To attain the above-described first object, a gage inspecting apparatus, in accordance with a first aspect of the invention, detects the indication accuracy of an object to be inspected on the basis of an indicated value of the object to be inspected at a time when a measuring spindle which is made to abut against a probe of the object to be inspected is displaced to a predetermined position.
The gage inspecting apparatus comprises a jog dial for controlling an amount of displacement of the measuring spindle at a time when the position of the measuring spindle is finely adjusted, and a shuttle ring for controlling the driving direction and driving speed of the measuring spindle at a time when the position of the measuring spindle is roughly adjusted.
In addition, in the above-described gage inspecting apparatus, the relationship between the amount of rotation of the jog dial and the amount of displacement of the measuring spindle can be set in correspondence with a scale interval of the gage.
In addition, in the above-described gage inspecting apparatus, the driving direction of the measuring spindle
Igasaki Shiro
Toida Yoichi
Tsunoda Eiichi
Yamagata Masaoki
Zhang Yuwu
Garber C D
Mitutoyo Corporation
Rankin, Hill Porter & Clark LLP
Williams Hezron
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