JPH0363502A - Apparatus and method for inspecting work profile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To detect accurately and in a short period by a method wherein a contact member is rotated centering a vertical axis, an end part element of an arm of the contact member is moved to displace a probe, and variations of a surface contour line from a predetermined reference line are measured. CONSTITUTION: A contact member 24 is rotated centering a vertical axis by drive means 30, an end part element 50 of one arm 46 of the contact member 24 coming into contact with a surface contour line 20 of a structure 10 is moved along a specific reference line, and an end part element 52 of the other arm 48 coming into contact with a probe 58 of one measuring device 26 in response to this is moved to displace the probe 58. As described above, the measuring device 26 measures variations of the surface contour line 20 from a predetermined reference line is measured.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to workpiece contour inspection, and more particularly to automatic inspection of workpiece surface contours such as circumferential grooves of roll dies in cold vigaring equipment used in the manufacture of nuclear fuel rod cladding tubes. It concerns a measuring device and method.

Check out the first J! 41 - The cold vigaring method is a well-known method in which a tube is advanced over a stationary mandrel and simultaneously compressed using two opposing rolling dies to reduce its cross-sectional area and Extended. The diameter and wall thickness of the tube are reduced by the tapered shape of the mandrel and the circumferentially tapered side surface of the core of the roll die.

The roll die surrounds the tube from above and below the mandrel, and moves back and forth along the tube in a constant cycle.

Each roll die is manufactured by conventional hot isostatic compression molding. ? II is machined to the final contoured side profile using conventional electrical discharge machining methods and/or diamond edge grinding techniques followed by a polishing finish. The groove profile of newly manufactured roll dies is inspected prior to use to ensure that the tubes have wall thicknesses and diameters that meet detailed specifications. Roll dies are also inspected after a certain period of use.

Traditionally, such inspections have been performed by skilled workers manually measuring the groove profile. As a result,
The reliability of roll die inspection varies depending on the attentiveness and technical level of each worker. Accordingly, there is a need for improved techniques to reduce or eliminate operator effort in inspection operations.

The present invention provides an inspection apparatus and method designed to satisfy the above-mentioned needs. Workpiece surface contours such as can be automatically inspected, eliminating the operator effort required for the multiple measurements that must be performed to perform the inspection. These measurements are informed and displayed in one of three forms, depending on the worker's request: The form refers to (1) the overall side shape of the workpiece, (2>i1!) individual contour lines at defined coordinates, and (3) discrete data points of the contour line. The inspection method can be performed more reliably and in a shorter time, and
It is possible to provide highly accurate information on the side profile of the surface.

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an inspection device for measuring workpiece surface contours, such as roll die grooves. The inspection apparatus includes: (a) support means for supporting a workpiece to orient the surface contour of the workpiece to a predetermined position for measurement; and (b) one end element extending in opposite directions. (C) at least one, preferably one pair, each comprising an elongated contact member having a pair of arms; (C) a displaceable contact probe; and electrical means for measuring the displacement of the contact probe; (d) such that the end element of the arm of the contact member is movable in a plane containing the first and second axes arranged orthogonally to each other; mounting means for mounting the contact member in a substantially vertical orientation so as to be placed in contact with one or the other of the displaceable contact probes of the measuring device and the surface contour of the workpiece to be measured, respectively; , is equipped with.

In one measurement mode, the contact member is rotated by the drive means of the device about a vertical axis, and the end element of one arm of the contact group, which is tangent to the surface contour of the workpiece, is moved along a predetermined reference line. and correspondingly move an end element of the other arm adjoining the probe of one measuring device to displace the probe;
The measuring device measures the deviation of the surface contour from a predetermined reference line.

On the other hand, in other measurement modes, the support means supporting the workpiece along a horizontal axis serve to rotate the workpiece about this horizontal axis, and one arm of the contact member in contact with the workpiece is The probe is displaced by following the end element to its surface contour and correspondingly moving the end element of the other arm that is in contact with the probe of the measuring device, so that the measuring device moves to a predetermined reference point. Measure the deviation of the surface contour from the line.

The invention is also directed to a workpiece contour inspection method for measuring the surface contour of a workpiece. This inspection method is
(a) supporting the workpiece so that the surface contour of the workpiece is in a predetermined position for measurement; and (b) in a plane including first and second axes disposed orthogonally to each other. such that the end elements of opposing arms of the elongated contact member are movable and each said end element has at least one
mounting the contact member in a substantially vertical orientation so as to be disposed in contact with two displaceable measurement probes and a surface contour of the workpiece.

In one measurement mode, the contact member is rotated about a vertical axis and the end element of one arm of the contact member, which is tangent to the surface contour of the workpiece to be measured, is moved along a predetermined reference line. and correspondingly move the end element of the other arm which is in contact with the probe of one measuring device to displace the probe. Thereby, the deviation of the surface contour line from the predetermined reference line is measured.

On the other hand, in other measurement modes, the workpiece is rotated about a horizontal axis and the end element of one arm of the contact member in contact with the workpiece follows its surface contour and measures accordingly. The end element of the other arm of the device, which is in contact with the probe, is moved to displace the probe, so that the measuring device can measure the deviation of the surface contour from a predetermined reference line.

These and other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from reading the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention, taken in conjunction with the drawings in which embodiments of the invention are illustrated. Dew.

of! C. In the following description, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts throughout the drawings. In addition, in the following explanation, words such as "front", "back", "left", "right", "upper", and "lower" are used for convenience and are interpreted as limiting terms. Referring to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, there is shown a workpiece 10 inspected by a workpiece contour inspection apparatus 12 according to the present invention of FIG. The illustrated workpiece 1o is in the form of a conventional cylindrical roll die 14 commonly used, for example, in cold rolling or cold pilgering machines for producing nuclear fuel rod cladding. However, it will be appreciated that the present inspection apparatus 12 may be usefully applied to workpieces of other contours.

This workpiece 10 comprises, in addition to a roll die 14, a mandrel 16 attached to the roll die 14.Normally, the roll die 14 is heated before being placed on the mandrel 16, so that the roll die 14 When cool, an interference fit is formed between the roll die 14 and the mandrel 16. A circumferentially extending groove 18 is defined on the circumferential surface of the roll die 14, and this groove 18 is formed in the inspection apparatus shown in FIG. The contour surface measured by f12 is constructed.

Unlike the conventional method, the inspection is performed with the roll die 14 attached to the mandrel 16 (the condition used in a cold vigaring device). This is because some error will later be caused by the mandrel 16 in the separated state, but such error will be discovered during inspection.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the groove 18 has a generally tapered side profile to reduce the wall thickness and diameter of the tube. The tapered side profile of the groove 18 can be represented by a plurality of gradually varying, continuous laterally internal arcuate contours, as shown by dotted lines 20 in FIG.
The width changes from the maximum width and maximum depth to the minimum width and minimum depth along the circumferential direction of 8. As shown clearly in FIG.
A and the outer tube release portion 18b. The portions 18A, 18B of the groove 18 in each contour 20 have different radii R1, R2, and the radius R of the tube release portion 18B.
2 is a continuous contour line 20 that is longer than the radius R1 of the tube engaging portion 18A and defines the overall side shape of the inner tube engaging portion 18A; This is very important from the point of view of accuracy.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a workpiece contour inspection system 12 constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention. Basically, this testing device 12 comprises support means 22 for supporting a roll die 14, an elongated contact member 24, at least one, preferably a pair of measuring devices 26, and a contact member 24 attached thereto. spindle 28 and contact member 2
4 and a drive mechanism 30 for rotating the test device 12. The support means 22 of the inspection device 12 supports the roll die 14 along the horizontal axis A and is in a predetermined position for the measurements described below. Groove 18 is oriented in a position where it can be easily observed by personnel monitoring the inspection process.

The support means 22 comprises a base plate 32 having a central opening 32A and a vertical support structure 34 located at an end portion of the base plate 32 on one side of the central opening 32A.

Further, the support means 22 of the inspection device 12 includes a clamp mechanism 36
The clamping mechanism 36 includes a vertical support ellipse 34
Manual movable clamp part 3 rotatably attached to
8 and a fixed clamp portion 40 attached to the end portion of the plate 32 on the other side of the opening 32A. The clamping portion 38 , 40 has workpiece engaging elements 38 A, 40 A configured to engage each end of the mandrel 16 of the roll die 14 .

Additionally, the movable clamp portion 38 is connected to the fixed clamp portion 40.
The clamping mechanism includes a handle 42 for use by an operator when approaching or separating the clamping mechanism 36 is driven between an open, unclamped state and a closed, clamped state to enable insertion, removal, and clamping of the roll die 14 from the measurement position shown in FIG.

Furthermore, the support means 22 of the inspection device 12 comprises a rotary drive mechanism 44 integrated into the stationary clamping part 40 and fitted with a workpiece engaging element 40A. The other work-engaging element 38A is rotatably mounted to the movable clamp portion 38. Therefore, the roll die 14 is clamped N
When the rotary drive f% mechanism 44 is actuated when clamped by the clamp portion 38.4071 of the goblin 36, rotational motion is transmitted and the roll die 14 rotates at the measurement position.

An elongated contact member 24 , a measuring device 26 and a spindle 28 are used by the testing device 12 to perform automatic testing of the clamped roll die 14 . The contact member 24 has a pair of upper and lower points or arms 46, 48 which are rigidly connected to each other at their inner ends and extend in opposite directions. Upper arm 46
The outer end of the lower arm 48 has a workpiece contacting element 50 and the outer end of the lower arm 48 has a measuring device contacting element 52;
These are both in the form of globules and necessarily have the same dimensions. The outer end elements 50.52 of the opposing arms 46.48 of the contact member 24 are arranged equidistantly from the center point 54. Contact member 24 is pivotally mounted to spindle 28 at this center point 54 . Each measuring device 26 of the inspection device 12 is provided with a housing 56,
Each housing 56 includes a reciprocatable contact probe 58.
and electrical means 60, such as a coil, for producing an analog signal representative of the measured displacement of the contact probe 58.

The spindle 28 of the inspection device 12 is itself a conventional device and can be moved along mutually orthogonal X, Y, and X axes by actuation of suitable means, such as a stepper motor, and is capable of moving workpieces of various sizes. The contact member 24 is placed in the desired initial position and also allows movement of the contact member 24 for measurement. The contact member 24 is mounted on the spindle 28 for measurement in a generally vertical orientation as shown in FIG. It is biased so as to be tangent to line 20. The center point 54 of the contact member 24 is located on the horizontal axis B. This horizontal axis B is the X axis of the spindle 28 and extends parallel to the horizontal axis A, which is the axis of rotation of the roll die 14 by the support means 22. The spindle 28 is arranged vertically, i.e. along two directions: NN
With a specific contour 20 of the groove 18 in a horizontal plane that includes the horizontal axis of rotation A of the roll die I4, the contact member 2
The outer end element 50 of the upper arm 46 of 4 may be initially placed in contact with the roll die 14 . Since the spindle 28 is movable along the (parallel to the x-axis and y-axis, respectively) in a horizontal plane. At the same time, the external end element 52 of the lower arm 48 of the contact member 24 engages the displaceable contact probe 58 of the measuring device 26 and moves one or the other of the probes 58. By mounting the contact member 24 vertically rather than horizontally, the contact member z4 is no longer subjected to stress (deflection) due to gravity, resulting in higher accuracy.

The inspection device 12 inspects the roll die 1 in two different modes.
It is possible to measure the side shape of the 4 arms 18.

In the first measurement mode, the roll die 14 is positioned stationary and a set of radius measurements representing the contour of the roll die 14 at this position is determined before indexing is performed to determine the next Each contour line 20 is rotated into position (approximately 2 degrees), as shown in FIG. 2, from a set of radius measurements (a plurality of spaced points) from which contour measurements are made. Then, by measuring the continuous contour line 20 shown in Fig. 1, the overall side shape of the section 18 of the roll die 14 is obtained. Mounted at right angles, the plane (radius measurement plane) defined by the spindle 28, the contact member 24 and the measuring device 26 is rotatable about a vertical axis, namely the Z axis, so that each point of radius measurement is positioned from a common center point. be done.

During each radius measurement, the spindle 28 and thus the contact member 24
The drive mechanism 3 is communicatively connected to the spindle 28.
0 to move the outer end element 50 of the upper arm 46 of the contact member 24 which is rotated about an axis perpendicular to the radius measuring plane located at the center point 54 and is tangent to the contour line 20 of the groove 18. It has become.

At the same time, the outer end element 52 of the lower arm 48 of the contact member 24, which is in contact with the 10-p 58 of one measuring device 26, moves, thereby displacing the probe 58, and the electrical means 60 of the measuring device 26 rolls. The radius of the contour line 20 of the eraser 18 of the die 14 is measured. This measurement mode also allows the section 18 of the curve 18 at each contour 20 to have radii R1, R2.
A, 18B can be determined (see FIG. 2), each set of contour measurements consisting of data from R1 and data from R2. Therefore, each time a contour is measured, a correction is made for each radius or arc by suitably determining the appropriate drive mechanism.

In another measurement mode, the roll die 14 is rotated continuously about the horizontal axis A at a constant low speed with the drive mechanism 30 not activated. In this mode, measurements are taken along the circumference of groove 18 rather than across 711118 as described above. however,
The outer measuring end elements 50.52 of the upper arm 46 and the lower arm 48 of the contact member 24 are respectively engaged with the roll die 14 and the measuring device 26 in the same manner as before. Contact member 2
The end element 50 of the upper arm 46 of 4 follows the plane of the arm 18, the end element 52 of the lower arm 48 displaces one of the probes 58, and the electrical means 60 of the measuring device 26 follows the plane of the arm 18 of the roll die 14. Measure the radius of the circumferential contour line of 18.

After each measurement is completed, the drive mechanism 30 is actuated to rotate the spindle 28, or contact member 24, for indexing;
Measure other adjacent circumferential contours.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that inspection apparatus 12 is used as part of an automatic roll die inspection system. Although not shown, the automatic roll die inspection system uses a personal computer, an interactive multimedia video display, a programmable motion controller, a two-way serial communication link, and digital measurement equipment. The automatic roll die inspection system also includes a touch-free operating software M control with interactive menu display of all system activities. System activities include continuous display of system operation and status, programmable workpiece profiles, system diagnostics, practice and help functions represented in various forms, i.e. drawings, digital and synthesized speech using multi-mezzo displays, and , disk touring, plotter, and printer management.

The present invention and its many attendant advantages will be appreciated from the foregoing description. In addition, various changes may be made in form, construction, and arrangement without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing its substantial advantages, and therefore, the foregoing description may It will be clear that the embodiments described are merely preferred embodiments of the invention.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a roll die for cold piggering, a mandrel attached to this roll die, and a circumferential groove on the roll die, which is the contour surface measured by the machine tool contour inspection device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing the surface of a roll die, which is the contour surface measured by the workpiece contour inspection device of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing the workpiece contour inspection device of the present invention. be. In the figure, IO...workpiece 12...workpiece contour inspection device 14...roll die 18...groove 20...
- Contour line 24... Contact member 28... Spindle 44... Rotary drive mechanism 50,52... End element 60... Electric means 22... Support means 26... Measuring device 30.・・Drive mechanism 46.48・2・Arm 58・・Contact probe FIG FIG, 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A workpiece contour inspection device for measuring the surface contour of a workpiece, comprising: (a) supporting the workpiece so that the surface contour of the workpiece is directed toward a predetermined measurement position; (b) an elongate contact member having a pair of arms with respective end elements extending in opposite directions; (c) a displaceable contact probe and a displaceable contact probe; at least one, preferably a pair of measuring devices each comprising electrical means for measuring; (d) said end element in a plane comprising a first and a second axis arranged orthogonally to each other; movable and such that the end elements are respectively arranged in contact with one or the other of the surface contour of the workpiece to be measured and the displaceable contact probe of the measuring device; mounting means for mounting said contact member in a substantially vertical orientation; (e) moving said end element of one of said arms in contact with said surface contour and correspondingly moving said end element of one of said arms in contact with said contact probe of said measuring device; means for rotating the contact member about a vertical axis such that the end element of the arm is moved to displace the contact probe so that the measuring device measures a radius of the surface contour; A workpiece contour inspection device equipped with the following. 2. A workpiece contour inspection device for measuring a surface limbus line of a workpiece, comprising: (a) supporting means for supporting the workpiece so that the surface contour line of the workpiece is directed toward a predetermined measurement position; (b) an elongate contact member having a pair of arms with respective end elements extending in opposite directions; (c) ) a displaceable contact probe and at least one electrical means for measuring the displacement of the contact probe;
(d) such that the end element is movable in a plane including first and second horizontal axes arranged orthogonally to each other;
and the contact members are mounted in a substantially vertical orientation such that each of the end elements is placed in contact with the surface contour of the workpiece to be measured and the displaceable contact probe of the measuring device. attachment means, wherein when the workpiece is rotatably moved about its horizontal axis, the end element of one of the arms abutting the workpiece snaps into the surface contour of the workpiece. following the line and correspondingly moving the end element of the other arm of the measuring device in contact with the contact probe, thereby displacing the contact probe so that the measuring device follows the surface contour line. A workpiece contour inspection device that measures the radius. 3. A workpiece contour inspection method for measuring the surface contour of a workpiece, comprising: (a) supporting the workpiece so that the surface contour of the workpiece is directed toward a predetermined measurement position; (b) ) such that end elements of oppositely extending arms of the elongated contact member are movable in a plane containing first and second axes arranged orthogonally to each other; and at least one
(c) moving the end element of one of the arms tangent to the surface contour; , correspondingly moving said end element of the other said arm contacting said measuring probe to displace said measuring probe, said contact member about a vertical axis such that said radius of said surface contour can be measured. a method for inspecting a workpiece contour, the method comprising: rotating the workpiece; 4. A workpiece contour inspection device for measuring the surface contour of a workpiece, comprising: (a) supporting the workpiece so that the surface contour of the workpiece is directed toward a predetermined measurement position; and (b) ) rotating said workpiece about a horizontal axis; and (c) ends of oppositely extending arms of an elongate contact member in a plane containing first and second horizontal axes disposed orthogonally to each other. the contact member is oriented substantially vertically so that the elements can be moved and the end elements are respectively arranged in contact with the surface contour of the workpiece and the at least one displaceable measuring probe; and attaching the end element of one of the arms that contacts the workpiece to the surface contour of the workpiece when the workpiece is rotatably moved about its horizontal axis. tracking and correspondingly moving the end element of the other arm in contact with the measuring probe to displace the measuring probe, such that the measuring probe measures the radius of the surface contour. A workpiece contour inspection method.