JP2008309688A - Test indicator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a test indicator capable of facilitating measuring work and improving measurement accuracy. <P>SOLUTION: The test indicator is provided with a freely rockable gauge head 3; a first arm connected to the gauge head 3; a second arm having a sector gear; a pinion engaged with the sector gear; a rotary encoder for detecting the amount of rotation of the pinion; a display unit 4 rotatably supported at a main body case 1; and an operation display part for displaying the detected amount of rotation of the pinion on the display unit 4. The rotary encoder includes a rotor and a stator coaxially provided for the pinion. The display direction of the display unit 4 can be changed in an easily recognizable direction to facilitate measuring work. Since the rotor is arranged at a part corresponding to a conventional crown gear, it is possible to eliminate the need for conventional crown gears and center pinions, exclude the effects of errors of their engagement, and achieve high accuracy. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a test indicator, and more specifically, a measuring element having a contact part with an object to be measured and supported so as to be swingable, a measuring element connected to a distal end part, and a sector gear provided to a base end part. The present invention relates to a test indicator having an arm.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a test indicator that enlarges the swing amount of an arm connected to a measuring element based on the lever principle and displays it as a rotation amount of a pointer (see, for example, Patent Document 1). According to such a test indicator, it is possible to detect a slight swing amount of the measuring element as a large displacement amount of the pointer.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the test indicator described in Patent Document 1 includes a probe 3, a first arm 5, a second arm 6, and a pointer 23. In FIG. 5, the main body case and the cover are omitted, and only the main part is displayed.

The first arm 5 is connected to the probe 3 having a contact portion 31 with the object to be measured at the distal end portion, and the first shaft portion 51 is provided at the connection portion, and the bearing portion of the body case (not shown) is provided. Is swingably supported. Further, a main body case (not shown) includes a second arm 6 that enlarges the amount of swing of the first arm 5, a pinion 71 for transmitting the swing of the second arm 6 to the pointer 23, and the crown gear 21. And are provided.
The second arm 6 is disposed adjacent to the first arm 5 and is swingably supported by a second shaft portion 62 formed at an intermediate portion thereof. Moreover, the pinion 71 and the crown gear 21 are integrated and rotatably attached.

Further, the first arm 5 is formed with a moving surface 52 and a moving surface 53 that move according to the swing of the first arm 5 on the opposite side of the first shaft portion 51 from the measuring element 3. Has been.
The second arm 6 is in contact with each of the moving surfaces 52 and 53 formed on the first arm 5 and transmits the swing of the first arm 5 to the second arm 6. Pins 63 and 64 are provided. Further, a sector gear 61 that meshes with the pinion 71 is provided at the end of the second arm 6.

A mechanism for converting the swing amount of the probe 3 into the rotation amount of the pointer 23 in such a structure will be described below.
When the tracing stylus 3 swings in the U direction, the first arm 5 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 5 around the first shaft portion 51, and accordingly, the moving surface 53 is Move down. Due to the downward movement of the moving surface 53, the transmission pin 64 of the second arm 6 is also pushed downward, and accordingly, the second arm 6 rotates counterclockwise around the second shaft portion 62. To turn. At this time, the moving amount of the transmission pin 64 of the second arm 5 is larger than the swinging amount of the measuring element 3 in the U direction, and further, the moving amount of the sector gear 61 is larger than the moving amount of the transmission pin 64. Therefore, the swinging amount of the probe 3 is enlarged and converted into the moving amount of the sector gear 61.
Then, as the second arm 6 rotates counterclockwise, the pinion 71 is rotated clockwise via the sector gear 61. Further, the center pinion 22 provided integrally with the pointer 23 is rotated via the crown gear 21, and the pointer 23 is also rotated via the rotating shaft 24. In this way, the swing amount of the probe 3 is displayed as the rotation amount of the pointer 23.

On the other hand, when the tracing stylus 3 swings in the D direction, the first arm 5 pivots clockwise in FIG. 5 around the first shaft portion 51, and this time the moving surface 52 moves upward. Moving. Along with this, the transmission pin 63 of the second arm 6 is pushed upward, and the second arm 6 is counterclockwise in the same manner as the swinging of the measuring element 3 in the U direction around the second shaft portion 62. Rotate around.
In other words, the pointer 23 is always rotated in the same direction regardless of the swinging direction of the probe 3.

JP-A-6-109401

However, since the test indicator described in Patent Document 1 includes a mechanism that mechanically converts the amount of swing of the probe into the amount of rotation of the pointer, the restriction that the display means must be fixed to the main body case. was there. Usually, the position and orientation of the test indicator are easily limited according to the size and shape of the object to be measured, and if the display means is fixed to the main body case, the indication of the pointer may not be visible to the measurer. In particular, when the measurer needs to perform measurement while visually recognizing the display value of the pointer, the measurer must move to a position where the display value can be seen.
Also, with the conventional test indicator, the mechanical error due to the center pinion and crown gear has an effect on the displayed value, and it has been difficult to eliminate this effect and achieve high accuracy.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a test indicator that can facilitate measurement work and can improve measurement accuracy.

  The test indicator of the present invention includes a main body case, a measuring element supported in a swingable manner in the main body case, having a contact portion with the object to be measured, a measuring element connected to the distal end, and a sector gear at the proximal end. The provided arm, the pinion that meshes with the sector gear and rotates as the probe swings, the rotary encoder that detects the amount of rotation of the pinion, the display means, and the rotation of the pinion detected by the rotary encoder And a control means for converting the amount into a swinging amount of the probe and displaying it on the display means. The rotary encoder is disposed so as to face the pinion and the rotor on the same axis with a predetermined gap between the rotor and the main body case. The display means is rotatably supported by the main body case.

Here, it is preferable that the rotary encoder is capable of converting the amount of rotation of the rotor into an electric signal and outputting it. And as a display means, what can digitally display the electric signal output from the rotary encoder is preferable.
According to the present invention, the swing of the probe is mechanically converted into the rotation of the pinion via the arm and the sector gear provided at the base end portion of the arm. A rotary encoder detects the rotation amount of the pinion. Then, the rotation amount of the pinion detected by the control means is converted into the swing amount of the measuring element and displayed on the display means. Therefore, since there is no mechanism for mechanically converting the rotation amount of the pinion to the rotation amount of the pointer via the crown gear and the center pinion as in the conventional case, there is a restriction that the display means must be fixed to the main body case. Can be eliminated. Thereby, the display means can be rotatably supported by the main body case, the display direction of the display means can be made variable, and the measurement work can be facilitated.

  In addition, since the rotor is arranged in the part corresponding to the conventional crown gear, the conventional crown gear and center pinion are unnecessary, and the meshing error of the crown gear and center pinion can be eliminated, and high accuracy can be achieved. It becomes.

  In the test indicator of the present invention, the main body case is formed with a bearing portion for display means, and the display means has a leg portion extending toward the bearing portion and rotatably supported by the bearing portion. It is preferable.

  According to the present invention, since the bearing portion is formed in the main body case, and the leg portion of the display case is rotatably supported by the bearing portion, the measurement value is obtained by rotating only the display case at the time of measurement. Can be easily recognized. For example, even after the test indicator is set on the object to be measured, the display direction of the display means can be easily adjusted.

In the test indicator of the present invention, it is preferable that the rotating shaft of the display means is coaxial with the rotating shaft of the rotor.
Here, it is preferable that the display means can be rotated 90 degrees or more with respect to the main body case.

Conventionally, a vertical model with a pointer indicator attached to the opposite side of the measuring element along the longitudinal direction of the arm, and a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the arm and perpendicular to the rotation axis of the crown gear The vertical model (model shown in Fig. 5) with the indication of the pointer attached to the orientation was used, but an appropriate model must be selected according to the measurement state. For this purpose, two types of models had to be prepared.
On the other hand, according to the present invention, since the display means can be rotated around the rotation axis of the rotor, for example, by rotating the display means by 90 degrees, both functions of the conventional vertical type and vertical type models can be achieved. Can be exhibited. Further, if it is configured to be rotatable by 180 degrees, the display direction can be reversed. In this way, it is not necessary to prepare two types of conventional models according to the measurement state, and the convenience of the test indicator is improved.

  In the test indicator of the present invention, the display means includes a display case and a display substrate housed in the display case and having a digital display unit, and the display substrate and the stator are formed as an integral substrate. Preferably it is formed.

According to the present invention, the rotating shaft of the display means is formed coaxially with the rotating shaft of the rotor, and further, the display substrate and the stator are formed as an integral substrate. Therefore, when the display device is rotated, the display substrate is integrated with the display substrate. The formed stator rotates around the rotation axis of the rotor. Therefore, even if the display means is rotated, the stator can always be kept facing the rotor, and the rotation amount of the rotor can be acquired by the stator.
Moreover, the number of components can be reduced by forming the display substrate and the stator as an integrated substrate. Further, if the stator is positioned with respect to the main body case, it is not necessary to position the display substrate separately, and the assembly work can be made more efficient. Furthermore, a transmission path for transmitting the information on the rotation amount of the rotor acquired by the stator to the display means is necessary. By forming this transmission path on the integrated substrate, the assembly of the transmission path is performed at the time of assembly. Therefore, the work such as wiring is omitted, and the assembling work is simplified.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the test indicator of the present embodiment. 2 and 3 are a side view and a plan view for explaining a usage pattern of the test indicator. FIG. 4 is a perspective view partially showing the internal structure of the test indicator.
As shown in FIG. 1, the test indicator is a main body case 1, a cover 2, a measuring element 3 that is swingably supported by the main body case 1, and display means for digitally displaying the amount of swinging of the measuring element 3. The display unit 4 is provided.

The measuring element 3 is pivotally supported by the bearing members 14 formed on the pair of bearing portions 12 and 13 of the main body case 1 while being exposed from the insertion holes 11 formed in the main body case 1. Further, another pair of display bearing portions 15 is formed on the end portion of the body case 1 on the side opposite to the bearing members 14 and the cover 2. The pair of display bearing portions 15 are formed coaxially with a rotation shaft of the rotor 7 described later.
The display unit 4 is formed in a flat disk shape, and includes a display case 41 rotatably supported by the main body case 1 and a display substrate 42 accommodated in the display case 41. A digital display unit 43 is formed on the substrate of the display substrate 42, and the digital display unit 43 is visible from a display window 44 opened on the upper surface of the display case 41. Two switches 54 and 55 are arranged on the upper surface of the display case 41 along with the digital display unit 43. Of the two switches 54 and 55, the switch 54 functions as a power on / off switch, and the switch 55 functions as a peak hold switch.

The display case 41 has a pair of leg portions 47 formed at positions sandwiching the main body case 1. The pair of leg portions 47 are pivotally supported by a pair of display bearing portions 15 formed on the main body case 1 and the cover 2, respectively. With such a configuration, the display unit 4 is rotatable around the display bearing portion 15 with respect to the main body case 1.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, arcuate curved surface portions 19 and 20 centering on the display bearing portion 15, respectively, at the ends of the main body case 1 and the cover 2 opposite to the probe 3 side. Is formed. These display bearing portions 15 constitute a bearing portion for display means of the present invention.
Then, from the state in which the digital display unit 43 of the display case 41 faces the same direction as the swinging of the measuring element 3 in the U direction (position indicated by a solid line in the drawing), Can move along the curved surface portions 19 and 20 until they face in the opposite direction (position indicated by a two-dot chain line in the figure), and also face in the same direction as the swinging of the probe 3 in the D direction (in the figure The position of the digital display unit 43 can be changed. That is, the display case 41 is configured to be rotatable with respect to the main body case 1 within a range of 180 degrees.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the main body case 1 is formed with an elongated rectangular opening 16 along the curved surface portion 19. The opening 16 is formed integrally with the display substrate 42, and a later-described stator 45 provided so as to protrude from the back surface of the display case 41 toward the main body case 1 is inserted therethrough. The opening 16 is covered with a pair of flexible gap members 17 and 18 attached along the longitudinal direction of the opening 16. These gap members 17 and 18 cover the opening portion of the opening 16 other than the insertion portion of the stator 45 without hindering the rotation operation of the stator 45 to prevent foreign matter from entering the inside of the main body case 1. Yes.

Next, the internal structure of the test indicator will be described with reference to FIG.
Inside the main body case 1, there is a first arm 5 that connects the measuring element 3, and a second arm 5 that is adjacent to the first arm 5 on the opposite side of the measuring element 3 and has a sector gear 61 at the end. An arm 6, a pinion 71 that meshes with the sector gear 61, and a rotary encoder 8 that can detect the amount of rotation of the pinion 71 as an electrical signal are housed. Among these, the 1st arm 5 and the 2nd arm 6 comprise the arm of this invention. The measuring element 3, the first arm 5, and the second arm 6 have the same configuration as the conventional example and perform the same operation, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the difference from the conventional example is that, in the conventional example, the crown gear and the center pinion integrally formed with the pinion 71 are arranged, but in this embodiment, instead of the crown gear and the center pinion. Is that a rotary encoder 8 is arranged.
The rotary encoder 8 includes a pair of rotors 7 and a stator 45, and is an ABS (absolute) type rotary encoder that detects an absolute angle within one rotation of the rotor 7.

The rotor 7 is integrated with the pinion 71 and is pivotally supported by the main body case 1. The rotor 7 is formed in a small disc shape and is configured to be rotatable via a pinion 71 by a sector gear 61 of the second arm 6.
The stator 45 is formed as a substrate integrated with the display substrate 42 of the display unit 4 described above. That is, the stator 45 and the display substrate 42 are formed orthogonal to each other and have a substantially T-shaped cross section as a whole. The stator 45 is disposed at a position facing the rotor 7 with a predetermined gap from the rotor 7, and is rotatable with respect to the main body case 1 around the rotation axis of the rotor 7 together with the display substrate 42. It is configured.

  A pattern (not shown) for detecting the rotational position of the rotor 7 is formed on each surface of the rotor 7 and the stator 45 facing each other. With these patterns, the stator 45 is rotated once per rotation of the rotor 7. A phase signal indicating a change in period is output. Since the rotor 7 rotates in accordance with the swing of the probe 3, the phase signal output from the stator 45 shows a change in one cycle due to the swing of the probe 3. In FIG. 4, the gap between the rotor 7 and the stator 45 is widened for easy viewing.

  In such a configuration, when the contact portion 31 of the measuring element 3 is brought into contact with the object to be measured and the measuring element 3 swings according to the surface shape of the measured object, the swing of the measuring element 3 is the first , Mechanically converted to rotation of the pinion 71 via the second arms 5 and 6 and the sector gear 61. Then, the rotation amount of the pinion 71 is detected by the rotary encoder 8, and the swing amount of the probe 3 is applied to the digital display unit 43 of the display substrate 42 by a calculation control unit (not shown) as control means based on the detected electrical signal. Is displayed.

  Further, when the display unit 4 is rotated, the stator 45 integrally formed with the display substrate 42 is rotated around the rotation axis of the rotor 7, so that the state where the stator 45 always faces the rotor 7 can be maintained. it can. In this way, regardless of the display direction of the display unit 4, the rotation amount of the pinion 71 is detected by the rotary encoder 8, and the swing amount of the probe 3 is displayed by the display unit 4.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be achieved.
(1) Since the rotary encoder 8 detects the rotation amount of the pinion 71 after the swing amount of the probe 3 is mechanically converted into the rotation amount of the pinion 71, the rotation amount of the pinion as in the prior art is the crown. It is possible to eliminate the restriction that the display unit 4 must be fixed to the main body case 1 without providing a mechanism that mechanically converts the rotation amount of the pointer through the gear and the center pinion. Therefore, the display direction of the display unit 4 can be made variable, and the measurement work can be facilitated.
Specifically, the display bearing portion 15 is formed in the main body case 1, and the leg portion 47 of the display case 41 is rotatably supported by the display bearing portion 15. Only 41 can be rotated to make it easy to visually recognize the measured value. For example, even after the test indicator is set on the object to be measured, the display direction of the display unit 4 can be easily adjusted.

(2) Since the rotor 7 is arranged in a portion corresponding to the conventional crown gear, the conventional crown gear and center pinion are not required, and the influence of the meshing error of the crown gear and center pinion can be eliminated. Accuracy can be achieved.

(3) Since the display unit 4 can be rotated 180 degrees around the rotation axis of the rotor 7, both functions of a conventional vertical model and a vertical model can be provided. That is, if the display unit 4 is configured to be able to rotate 90 degrees, the vertical state can be changed to a vertical state, and if the display unit 4 is configured to be able to rotate 90 degrees, the display direction can be reversed. . In this way, it is not necessary to prepare a plurality of models according to the measurement state, and the convenience of the test indicator can be improved.

(4) Since the display substrate 42 and the stator 45 are formed as an integrated substrate, the number of components can be reduced. Further, if the stator 45 is positioned with respect to the main body case 1, it is not necessary to position the display substrate 42 separately, and the efficiency of the assembly work can be improved. Furthermore, a transmission path for transmitting the electrical signal detected by the stator 45 to the display substrate 42 can be formed on the integrated substrate, and work such as wiring for the transmission path can be omitted during assembly. This makes assembly work easier.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and modifications, improvements, and the like within the scope that can achieve the object of the present invention are included in the present invention.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, it has been described that the arm of the present invention is configured by the first arm 5 and the second arm 6, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the arm may be configured by a single unit. As the arm, it is sufficient that at least the probe is connected to the tip and the sector gear is provided at the base.
In the above-described embodiment, the display case 41 has been described as being rotatable with respect to the main body case 1 within a range of 180 degrees. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the display case 41 may be rotatable within a range of 180 degrees or more. Alternatively, it may be rotatable within a range of 180 degrees or less.
In addition, the support method of the display unit 4 is not limited to the support method of the above-described embodiment. For example, the display unit 4 may be rotatable in both a vertical model and a horizontal model. Alternatively, the display unit may be rotatable in both forms of a conventional horizontal model and a vertical model.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is used for a test indicator such as a lever-type dial gauge having a contact portion that is in contact with an object to be measured and is supported so as to be swingable and an arm having a contact portion connected to the tip portion it can.

The perspective view which shows the test indicator which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The side view explaining the usage pattern of the said test indicator. The top view explaining the usage pattern of the said test indicator. The perspective view which shows the internal structure of the said test indicator. The perspective view which shows the test indicator of a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Body case 3 ... Measuring element 4 ... Display unit (display means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 5 ... 1st arm 6 ... 2nd arm 7 ... Rotor 8 ... Rotary encoder 15 ... Bearing part for display (bearing part)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 31 ... Contact part 41 ... Display case 42 ... Display board 43 ... Digital display part 45 ... Stator 47 ... Leg part 61 ... Sector gear 71 ... Pinion.

Claims (4)

A body case,
A measuring element supported by the main body case so as to be swingable and having a contact portion with an object to be measured;
An arm having the tip connected to the distal end and a sector gear provided at the proximal end;
A pinion that meshes with the sector gear and rotates as the probe swings;
A rotary encoder that detects the amount of rotation of this pinion;
Display means;
Control means for converting the amount of rotation of the pinion detected by the rotary encoder into a swing amount of the measuring element and displaying it on the display means;
The rotary encoder includes a rotor provided coaxially with the pinion, and a stator disposed on the main body case so as to face the rotor via a predetermined gap,
The test indicator, wherein the display means is rotatably supported by the main body case. The test indicator of claim 1, wherein
The main body case is formed with a bearing portion for the display means,
The display indicator includes a leg portion extending toward the bearing portion and rotatably supported by the bearing portion. The test indicator according to claim 1 or claim 2,
The test indicator characterized in that the rotation axis of the display means is coaxial with the rotation axis of the rotor. The test indicator according to claim 3,
The display means includes a display case, and a display substrate housed in the display case and having a digital display unit,
The test indicator, wherein the display substrate and the stator are formed as an integral substrate.

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