JPH0339610B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a height gauge, and more particularly to a height gauge used for measuring the dimensions, shape, etc. of an object to be measured.

[Background Art and Problems] Conventionally, as means for raising and lowering the slider of a height gauge along a support, there have been two methods: a manual slide type in which the slider is directly gripped, and a rack carved into the support without directly gripping the slider. It can be roughly divided into the handle-driven type, in which the pinion that meshes with the handle is rotated by operating the handle.

The former manual slide type has the problem that fine adjustment is difficult and the slider falls in a free state. In this respect, the latter handle-driven type has the advantage of being able to make fine adjustments and being stationary at the current position without the need for special stoppers or balance weights.

However, even with the handle-driven type, the labor required to move up and down is considerable, and there is a problem in that work efficiency is extremely low, especially in the case of long height gauges.

[Object of the Invention] An object of the present invention is to provide a height gauge that can solve such problems, ensure safety, improve work efficiency, and eliminate errors due to contact direction. .

[Means and effects for solving the problem] Therefore, the present invention makes the slider stand still at the moment when the gauge head etc. comes into contact with the object to be measured or when the pressure applied to the gauge head etc. reaches a predetermined pressure. We focused on the fact that automatic driving is possible if possible, and that if the measured value can be read at the moment of contact or at a predetermined pressure, the automatic driving can be effectively achieved without having to perform simultaneous driving and reading operations. This system satisfies the following requirements and introduces automatic drive.

In other words, there is a slider mounted on a base so that it can be moved up and down along a column, an encoder for detecting the amount of relative displacement between the slider and the column, and a measured value based on the output from this encoder. A height gauge equipped with a digital display that displays digitally, a driving device that is engaged with the slider and the support column to automatically move the slider up and down along the support support, and a probe body provided on the slider and a spherical tip. The gauge head is always held in a predetermined attitude with respect to the probe body and is displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the support and can be returned to the predetermined attitude. a detection device that generates a touch signal when the spherical portion is displaced by an amount equivalent to the radius due to contact with an object; and a detection device that stops the drive device when the touch signal is generated from the detection device;
It has a hold means for holding the measured value displayed on the digital display as it is, and a hold release means for releasing the held state of the measured value displayed on the digital display on the condition that the drive device is restarted. It is characterized by being provided with a control circuit.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the entirety of this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a front view of the height gauge body, FIG. 3 is a side view thereof, and FIG. 4 is a rear view thereof.
In these figures, the base 1 has a
A connector 3A to which the AC adapter 2 is connected and a connector 3B to which the cord 106 from the joystick 104 is connected are provided, and a support 4 is vertically erected on the upper surface. The support column 4 is constituted by a pair of rod-shaped members 4A and 4B having a circular cross section and whose upper ends are connected to each other by a connecting member 5 and which are arranged parallel to each other at a predetermined interval. These rod-like members 4A and 4B are provided with a scale 6 along the inner longitudinal direction of one of the rod-like members 4A and a rack 7 along the inner longitudinal direction of the other rod-like member 4B, A slider 8 is mounted between members 4A and 4B so as to be movable up and down.

On the front of the slider 8, in addition to a digital display 11 that digitally displays the amount of relative displacement between the slider 8 and the column 4, that is, the height position of the slider 8, there is also a power switch 12, a preset digit designation switch 13, and a A preset number switch 14, a hold switch 15, and a zero set switch 16 are provided for sequentially presetting numerical values from 0 to 9 in the display digits of the digital display 11 designated by the designation switch 13.
Further, a motor 21 capable of forward and reverse rotation is fixed to the upper surface of the slider 8, and an L-shaped support arm 32 is fixed to the other side of the slider 8 via a fixing member 31.

A clamp frame 3 is attached to the horizontal portion of the support arm 32.
3, a prismatic slide bar 34 is provided so as to be movable and fixed in a direction parallel to and orthogonal to the bar members 4A and 4B. A touch signal probe 36 as a detection device is attached to the tip of the slide bar 34 via a clamp mechanism 35 so that its posture can be changed in the vertical direction. The touch signal probe 36 includes a probe body attached to the tip of the slide bar 34 via a clamp mechanism 35 so that its posture can be changed in the vertical direction, and a spherical portion at the tip, which is always in a predetermined posture with respect to the probe body. The gauge head 38 includes a measuring element 38 which is held in the support column 4 and is rotatably displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the support 4 and capable of returning to a predetermined posture. It is configured to emit a touch signal when dynamically displaced. Here, a touch signal is output when there is an angular displacement corresponding to the radius of the spherical tip of the probe 38. The touch signal from the touch signal probe 36 is transmitted to the lead wire 3.
9 to a control circuit provided within the slider 8.

Further, within the slider 8, as shown in FIG. 5, a drive shaft 41 is rotatably supported between and perpendicular to the pair of rod-shaped members 4A and 4B. A pinion 42 that meshes with the rack 7 formed on the rod-shaped member 4B is attached to the drive shaft 41 at a portion located inside the slider 8, and a pulley 43 is attached to the portion protruding toward the back side of the slider 8. The handles 44 are rotatably attached to each other and spaced apart from each other at regular intervals. A belt 46 is wound between the pulley 43 and a pulley 45 attached to the output shaft of the motor 21. Further, disc-shaped gears 47 and 48 are integrally formed on the facing surfaces of the pulley 43 and the handle 44, respectively, and a clutch body 49 is attached to the drive shaft 41 between the pulley 43 and the handle 44.
1, and is provided so as to be rotatable in synchronization with 1 and movable in the axial direction by a switching means 50.

On the outer periphery of both end surfaces of the clutch body 49, there are disc-shaped gears 51, which correspond to the disc-shaped gear 47 of the pulley 43 and the disc-shaped gear 48 of the handle 44, respectively.
52 are each integrally formed. As a result, when the disc-shaped gear 52 of the clutch body 49 is meshed with the disc-shaped gear 48 of the handle 44, rotation of the handle 44 is directed to the drive shaft 41 via the disc-shaped gears 48, 52 and the clutch body 49. On the other hand, when the clutch body 49 moves to the left in FIG. , are transmitted to the drive shaft 41 via the disc-shaped gears 47, 51 and the clutch body 49. When the drive shaft 41 rotates, the pinion 42 meshing with the rack 7 rotates, so that the slider 8 moves up and down along the column 4. Here, the joystick 104 and the motor 21
The drive device 55 of this embodiment is composed of the pulleys 45, 43, the belt 46, the clutch body 49, the drive shaft 41, and the pinion 42.

The switching means 50 also includes a bearing member 62 that is suspended and screwed onto the outer end surface of the handle 44 at the open end of a hollow portion 61 formed along the axial direction at the center of the drive shaft 41, and this bearing member. A movable member 63 is inserted into the center of the hollow portion 62 so as to be slidable in the axial direction, and is slidably displaceable in the axial direction within the hollow portion 61 at the front end thereof.
a movable shaft 64 having a movable shaft 64;
and a pair of grooves 67 inserted from the outer circumferential surface of the clutch body 49 toward the center and formed along the axial direction of the drive shaft 41 to pass through a pair of grooves 67. It consists of a pair of pins 68 that connect the child 63 and the clutch body 49 to each other. As shown in FIG. 6, the pin 68 is formed in the shape of a round bar with a diameter smaller than the width of the groove 67. Further, the pin 68 and the clutch body 49 are connected with each other with the pin 68 being freely inserted in the radial direction of the clutch body 49. Therefore, the clutch body 49 has a groove width of the groove 67 and the pin 6.
Clearance with the outer diameter of 8 and clutch body 4
Drive shaft 41 by the clearance between 9 and pin 68
Since the disc-shaped gear 47,
51 or the disc-shaped gears 48 and 52 can be smoothly and reliably engaged.

Further, between the bearing member 62 and the movable shaft 64, a switching knob 66, that is, a movable shaft 64 is connected to the drive shaft 64.
Positioning means 71 is provided for selectively locking in one of two positions in one axial direction. The positioning means 71, as shown in FIG.
A retaining groove 7 formed in the radial direction of the bearing member 62
At least two holes are inserted into the hole into which the movable shaft 64 is inserted.
U-shaped spring 73 inserted so that the sides are aligned
and a pair of V-shaped locking grooves 74 formed at predetermined axially spaced positions of the movable shaft 64 and selectively locked to the spring 73. As a result, when the front locking groove 74 is locked with the spring 73, the disk-shaped gear 52 of the clutch body 49 is locked with the disk-shaped gear 48 of the handle 44, and the rear locking groove 74 is locked with the spring 73. In the stopped state, the disc-shaped gears 51 of the clutch body 49 are meshed with the disc-shaped gears 47 of the pulley 43, respectively.

Further, a recess 81 is provided on the outer end surface of the handle 44.
is formed, and a bearing member 82 is screwed into this recess 81. A slide shaft 84 is inserted into the center of the bearing member 82 so as to pass through the handle 44 and is always urged leftward in FIG. 5 by a spring 83 so as to be slidable in the same direction as the drive shaft 41. A small gear 87 is fixed to the front end of the slide shaft 84 and selectively meshes with a large gear 86 fixed to the slider 8 via a holding member 85.
A slight rotation knob 88 fitted around the outer periphery of the bearing member 82 is fixed to the rear end. A positioning mechanism 89 is provided between the inner circumferential surface of the fine rotation knob 88 and the outer circumferential surface of the bearing member 82 to hold the slide shaft 84 at two positions in the axial direction.

The positioning mechanism 89 includes a ball 92 housed in a holding hole 90 formed radially toward the outer circumference of the bearing member 82 and always urged by a spring 91 in a protruding direction, and the fine rotation knob. and locking mechanisms 93 that are formed at predetermined axially spaced positions on the inner circumferential surface of the ball 88 and selectively engage with the ball 92. An elastic member 94 such as sponge or rubber is attached in an annular manner along the outer periphery of the inner surface of the large gear 86 to provide a certain resistance to the small gear 87 . Thereby, even if the drive shaft 41 rotates due to the power from the motor 21, the handle 44 remains stationary without rotating.

Further, the touch signal from the touch signal probe ₃₆ , as shown in _FIG .
The signal is supplied to the control circuit 101. Control circuit 10
1 is the amount of relative displacement between the support column 4 and the slider 8, that is, the amount of movement of the slider 8.
After the output of the encoder 102 read from the scale 6 formed at A is subjected to predetermined processing, it is displayed on the digital display 11. At the same time, when the signals L _H and L _L from the limit switch or the touch signal from the touch signal probe 36 are applied,
Motor drive circuit 10 that drives the motor 21
3, the motor 21 is stopped via the motor drive circuit 103, and the measured value displayed on the digital display 11 is held as is. Further, when the touch signal from the touch signal probe 36 disappears due to restart of the motor 21, the hold is released. Here, the control circuit 103 includes a hold means that stops the motor 21 when a touch signal is issued from the touch signal probe 36 and holds the measured value displayed on the digital display 11 as it is; A hold release means is provided for releasing the hold state of the measured value displayed on the digital display 11 on condition that the motor 21 is restarted. A joystick 104 is connected to rotate the motor 21 in forward and reverse directions. The joystick 104 has different characteristics depending on the direction in which the operating stick 105 is tilted. For example, motor 2
If the slider 8 rises when the motor 1 rotates in the forward direction, and descends when it rotates in the reverse direction, then when the operating stick 105 is tilted in a direction that rotates the motor 21 in the forward direction, the direction in which the operating stick 105 is tilted causes the motor 21 to rotate in the forward direction. The rotational speed of the motor 21 is set to be higher in the case of the lower position. Note that a DC voltage converted by the AC adapter 2 connected to the connector 3A is supplied to each of these circuits through a spiral flexible cord 110 between the base 1 and the slider 8. ing.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. First, push the switching knob 66 to the left in FIG.
The rear locking groove 74 is locked to the spring 73. Then, as the movable shaft 64 moves, the clutch body 49 moves to the left in FIG. Here, when the motor 21 is driven by operating the joystick 104,
The rotation of the output shaft of the motor 21 is controlled by a pulley 45,
Belt 46, pulley 43, disc-shaped gears 47, 51
and is transmitted to the drive shaft 41 via the clutch body 49. As a result, the pinion 42 fixed to the drive shaft 41 rolls along the rack 7 formed on the rod-shaped member 4B, so that the slider 8 is moved up and down along the column 4. Therefore, the slider 8 can be moved up and down quickly and easily.

At this time, as the drive shaft 41 rotates, the handle 44 rotatably supported by the drive shaft 41 also tries to rotate in the same direction, but the pinion 87 of the slide shaft 84 passing through the handle 44 is rotated by an elastic member. 9
4, the handle 44 does not rotate.

As the slider 8 moves up and down, the probe 38 of the touch signal probe 36 comes into contact with the object W to be measured, and when the probe 38 further moves by the radius of the spherical portion of the probe 38, a touch signal is transmitted from the touch signal probe 36 to the control circuit 101.
Output to. Then, the control circuit 101 gives a stop command to the motor drive circuit 103 to stop the motor 21 via the motor drive circuit 103, and at the same time outputs the measured value displayed on the digital display 11, that is, the encoder 102. The detected amount of movement of the slider 8 is held. Therefore, when the probe 38 of the touch signal probe 36 comes into contact with the object W to be measured, the drive of the motor 21 is stopped, so the measurer is concerned about damage to the equipment due to overrun after the contact. It does not need to be handled with care. Although there is some overrun after contact, the contact point 38 of the touch signal probe 36
However, since the structure is such that it can tolerate this, there is no problem with damage to the equipment after contact. At the same time, since the measured value at that time is held, the operator can be freed from simultaneous driving and reading operations. Furthermore, since this measured value is a value in which an error corresponding to the radius of the spherical tip of the measuring element 38 has been corrected, there is no error due to the measurement direction.

Thereafter, when the motor 21 is restarted via the motor drive circuit 103 by operating the joystick 104, the contact point 3 of the touch signal probe 36 is activated.
When the probe 8 moves away from the object to be measured W, the touch signal from the touch signal probe 36 disappears. Then,
The control circuit 101 releases the measured value held on the digital display 11. Therefore, it does not interfere with the next measurement.

In this manner, when the slider 8 reaches the upper limit position or the lower limit position of the support 4 while sequentially performing measurements, signals L _H and L _L from each limit switch are applied to the control circuit 101.
Then, like the touch signal from the touch signal probe 36, the motor 21 is stopped via the motor drive circuit 103, so that safe work can be performed without the problem of damage to the device.

On the other hand, when the switching knob 66 is moved to the right in FIG.
is brought into a state in which the handle 44 is meshed with the disc-shaped gear 48. In this state, even if the rotation from the motor 21 is transmitted to the pulley 43, the rotation of the pulley 43 is not transmitted to the clutch body 49.
The drive shaft 41 is not driven by the rotation from . That is, in this state, the rotation of the handle 44 is transmitted to the drive shaft 41 via the disc-shaped gears 48, 52 and the clutch body 49.
Rotate the handle 44 to move the slider 8 to the column 4.
It can be moved up and down along the Therefore,
By switching the switching means 50, the raising and lowering of the slider 8 can be switched from automatic to manual and from manual to automatic.

At this time, if the positioning mechanism 89 is switched and the small gear 87 is engaged with the large gear 86, and the slight rotation knob 88 is rotated, the small gear 87 will rotate along the large gear 86, so the handle 44 can be rotated slightly. In other words, the slider 8 can be moved up and down little by little along the support 4.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, since the slider 8 is automatically raised and lowered by the motor 21, the labor required to move the slider 8 up and down can be reduced, and the measurement work can be carried out quickly. You can expect it.

Furthermore, when the probe 38 of the touch signal probe 36 comes into contact with the object W to be measured due to the vertical movement of the slider 8, the drive of the motor 21 is stopped based on the touch signal emitted from the touch signal probe 36. The measurer does not have to handle the device carefully for fear of damage to the device due to overrun after contact. At the same time, the measured value displayed on the digital display 11 is held, so
The measurer can be freed from the simultaneous work of driving and reading operations, and quick and accurate measurements can be performed.

Moreover, even when the slider 8 reaches its upper and lower limit positions, the motor 21 is stopped based on the signal from the limit switch, so the work can be done safely without damaging the equipment.

Furthermore, since the hold is released when the motor 21 is restarted by a command from the joystick 104, the next measurement will not be hindered.

Furthermore, even when the slider 8 moves upward and downward, the contact point 38 of the touch signal probe 36
Since the touch signal is emitted when the tip is rotated by the radius of the spherical tip, the touch signal is always emitted on the neutral axis of the probe 38. Therefore, the touch signal is always emitted on the neutral axis of the probe 38, so there is no need to change the drive control system or correct the data.
It can be operated both vertically and vertically without changing the configuration.

On the other hand, the pulley 4 to which the rotation of the motor 21 is transmitted
3 and the rotation of the handle 44 are selectively transmitted to the drive shaft 41 via the clutch body 49 that selectively engages with them. Can be switched to automatic.

Furthermore, this switching is extremely simple since it is only necessary to switch the switching knob 66 to two positions in the axial direction. Furthermore, since the positioning means 71 for holding the movable shaft 64 in two positions is provided, the respective meshes will not be disengaged. Furthermore, since the clutch body 49 can rotate slightly with respect to the drive shaft 41,
Smooth and reliable meshing can be achieved even when switching the meshing.

Also, if you turn the slight rotation knob 88, the small gear 87
rotates along the large gear 86, that is, the handle 44
Since the slider 8 rotates slightly, the slider 8 can be raised and lowered little by little. Furthermore, the small gear 87 is connected to the large gear 8.
6, the pinion gear 87 is provided with resistance by the elastic member 94.
Even if the drive shaft 41 rotates, the handle 44 does not rotate.

In addition, in implementation, the encoder may be of any type, such as a photoelectric type, a capacitance type, or an electromagnetic type, as long as it can detect the amount of relative movement between the column 4 and the slider 8.

Further, as the touch signal probe 36, when the measuring stylus 38 comes into contact with the object W to be measured, the stylus 38
It is possible to use a structure in which a contact point is closed by rotational displacement of the contact point, thereby emitting a touch signal.

Further, in the above embodiment, the hold is released when the touch signal disappears, but the hold may be released, for example, when an automatic feed operation signal for driving the motor 21 is received.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a height gauge that can improve work efficiency while ensuring safety, and can also eliminate errors due to the contact direction.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figures show one embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is an overall perspective view, Fig. 2 is a front view, Fig. 3 is a side view, Fig. 4 is a rear view, and Fig. 5 is a drive device. 6 is a sectional view showing the main parts, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the relationship between the pin and the groove, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line -- in FIG. 5, and FIG. 8 is a block diagram. 1... Base, 4... Support, 7... Rack, 8... Slider, 11... Digital display, 21... Motor, 36
...Touch signal probe as a detection device, 38...
Measuring head, 42... Pinion, 55... Drive device, 10
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Control circuit, 102...Encoder, 104...Joy stick, 105...Operation stick.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A slider mounted on a base so as to be movable up and down along a column erected thereon, an encoder for detecting the amount of relative displacement between the slider and the column, and an output from the encoder. A height gauge equipped with a digital display that digitally displays measured values based on the height gauge, comprising: a drive device that is engaged with the slider and the support column and automatically moves the slider up and down along the support support; and a probe provided on the slider. The measuring tip includes a main body and a probe having a spherical portion at the tip and is always held in a predetermined attitude with respect to the probe main body, and is provided so as to be displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the support and returnable to the predetermined attitude. a detection device that generates a touch signal when the probe is displaced by an amount equivalent to the radius of the spherical portion due to contact with the object to be measured; and a detection device that stops the drive device when the detection device generates the touch signal; A control having a hold means for holding the measured value displayed on the digital display as it is, and a hold release means for releasing the held state of the measured value displayed on the digital display on the condition that the drive device is restarted. A height gauge characterized by having a circuit and. 2. In claim 1, the drive device includes a joystick whose characteristics differ depending on the direction in which the operation stick is tilted, a motor that is driven in connection with a tilting operation of the operation stick of the joystick, and a motor that rotates the slider. A height gauge comprising a transmission mechanism that is freely supported and that includes a pinion that engages with a rack carved in the support column and that transmits rotation of the output shaft of the motor to the pinion.