US3165834A - Layout table and coordinate reader - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 19, 1965 Filed Feb. 8. 1961 R. c. BENTON 3,165,834

LAYOUT TABLE AND COORDINATE READER 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 28 f n 40 H INVENTOR. Robert 6. Benton M, Mam

HIS A TTORNE Y5 Jan 19, 1965 R. c. BENTON LAYOUT TABLE AND COORDINATE READER 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 8, 1961 INVENTOR. Robert 62 Benton HIS ATTORNE Y3 Jan. 19, 1965 R. c. BENTON LAYOUT TABLE AND COORDINATE READER 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed- Feb. 8. 1961 H 0 LHI I IIIIIIIAMUIIIIIIII Hi5 ATTORNEYS mm mm. VB 8 a n... m. M F R Y 2 2 8 w 2 m 05L 0 .i U m 1 o a W n 2 6 0 N Jan. 19, 1 965 R. c. BENTON 3,165,834

LAYOUT TABLE AND COORDINATE} READER Filed Feb. 8, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

Fig-II M flaw HIS ATTORNEYS Jan. 19, 1965 R. c. BENTON LAYOUT TABLE AND COORDINATE READER 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 8. 1961 INVENTOR. Robe f 6. Benton .llllll. llllll & HIS ATTORNEYS United States Patent I) 3,165,834 LAYOUT TABLE AND CQQRDINATE READER Robert C. Benton, State College, Pa, assignor to Centre Circuits, Inc., State College, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Feb. 8, 1961, Ser. No. 87,859 12 Claims. (Cl. 33-1) The present invention relates to a device serving as a combined layout table and coordinate reader. This device is mounted for universal rectilinear movement along two coordinate axes and when superimposed above any point within its scope of travel, it can be used to fix the coordinates of that point to a given number of decimal places fairly rapidly and with high accuracy.

One difiiculty characteristic of practice in the past is keeping the transverse bridge member of a layout table precisely at right angles to the parallel longitud nal ways which are disposed one at each end of the bridge. In moving, one end of the bridge exhibits a tendency to lead the opposite end and thusplace the bridge in a somewhat diagonal position between the ways rather than keeping square at all times in its positions.

Because of this difiiculty, it is the practice to resort in some cases to parallel lead screw arrangements on the Ways or in other cases to use pressure guides on one longitudinal way only, seeking to insure squareness of the bridge with respect to that Way. In either event, careful machining of the table parts is essential and the precision necessary and constant attention to maintenance of the table inservice leads to considerable expense.

The present invention, through use of a principle of providing opposing rows of accurately adjustable locator pins on the ways and through resort to regular micrometer gage structure for accuracy, overcomes the foregoing ditficulties, and in a practical economical way as will now be explained. Certain features, objects and advantages are either covered herein or will become apparent when, for a better understanding of the invention, reference is made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a table embodying the present invention; 7

FIGURE 2 is an elevational View in transverse section taken along the section lines IIII of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary plan view corresponding to FIGURE 1 but showing the micrometer carriage to entaken in section along the lines VIII--VIII of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary plan View of an enlarged portion of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 10 is a transverse sectional view in elevation taken along the lines X-X of FIGURE 9;-

FIGURE 11 is a plan view in section of a detail of FIGURE 10 taken along the section lines XI-XI thereof;

FIGURE 12 is a plan view in section of a detail taken along the section lines XIIXII of FIGURE 10; and

FIGURES l3 and 14 are views in longitudinal section taken along the respective section lines XIIL-XIII and XIVXIV of FIGURE 12.

More particularly, in FIGURES l and 2 of the drawings, a micrometer carriage 20 is mounted to a traversing inch away from a Zero pin 69 I slide 72.

bridge 22 according to this invention both for movement with the bridge in the Y direction toward and from the bridges zero position shown by the dotted lines 22a and for separate movement in the X direction independently 'of the bridge, toward and from the zero position of the carriage shown by the dotted lines 20a. The carriage '20 is thus capable of universal rectilinear movement with respect to a table base plate 24, and, for the ultimate purpose of this movement, it carries an instrument holder and 2 and a companion longitudinally extending right Y way 3%. The bridge ZZ'has end trucks 32 and34 carrying pluralities of sets of rollers including the rollers 36 and the roller 38 for rolling along the longitudinal ways 28 and 3b. The set of rollers 36 and the roller 38 form a three-point suspension for the sake of stability.

' A series of gusset plates 40 rigidifies the position of and directly supports the left way 2;; on the table base plate 24. The right way 3% has a base plate adjustment bar 44 i at one end connecting it to the base plate 24, whereas another series of gusset plates 42 and a base plate adjustlocatorpins 48 which are adjusted so as to be consecutive multiples of one inch away from the zero reference pin 48b. The trucks 32 and 34 are lockable to these pins 48 so that if, for example, they engage the twelfth locator pin vaway from the zero pin 48 the trucks 32 and 34 will accurately lock the bridge 22 in its twelve-inch position of advancement. The locking and unlocking is controlled by a handle-operated cam shaft 50 carried by the bridge 22 and operable to rotate a transversely extending crank shaft 52 which actually controls the locking. Thecanr shaft 5b is rotated from either end by means of twistable I handles 54 and 56 fast thereto.

An insert 58 in the bridge 22 carries another line 0 locator pins 6!} which are consecutive multiples of one Locking and unlocking of the micrometer carriage 20 with respect to the pins 60 is accomplished by a cam and cam shaft structure ;62 which is rotated by means of a hand-twisted handle 45.

handle 64. These pins 48 and 60 thus constitute accurate gages of each position of the carriage 20.

The carriage 20 supports gages consisting of a longitudinally disposed micrometer 68 and a transversely disposed micrometer 70 for positioning slides in a manner controlling the positionv of the instrument holder 26 as will now be explained.

- -More particularly, in FIGURES 3 and 4, the instrument holderifi'forms part of a longitudinally movable Sets of ball bearings 74 disposed one set on each side of the slide 72 support that longitudinalslide with respect to the upper spaced-apart ways 76 carried by a transverse slide 78. The longitudinal position of the slide 72 is controlled by a pair of return springs 80 .72 and instrument holder 26 are mounted for universal rectilinear movement with respect to the micrometer carriage 20. I

The longitudinally movable slide 72 carries an upstanding pivot bracket post 88 to which a counterweight arm 90 is pivoted at 92 for a purpose as will now be ex lained.

More particularly, in FIGURES and 6, a pivot bracket for the counterweight arm 90 is formed of a pivot bracket post 88 and a flat bracket attachment base 94 secured to the slide 72. An instrument 96 which is secured in the holder 26 is also secured to the counterweight arm 90 at its longer end. On the short end of the arm 90 which is at the opposite side of the pivot 92, a weight 98 is carried which counters the weight of the instrument 96. In this manner, the weight of the instrument is efiectively transferred to a noneccentric position thus keeping the micrometer carriage in static balance.

If the device is to be employed as a coordinate reader, the instrument 96 consists of an optical reading head providing the proper magnification and having concentric rings .in the reticle for accurately locating centers. If the device is to be employed as a layout table, the

instrument 96 consists of a suitably mounted scribe or punch by means of which a blank may be properly marked at center points each correct to precise coordinates.

The understructure of the bridge 22 comprises a full length, downwardly open channel 100 carrying a mechanism box 1112 providing connections, not shown, whereby rotation of the cam shaft 50 rotates the transversely extending crank shaft 52 for unlocking the bridge trucks (not shown) from the ways at opposite ends of the bridge 22.

The micrometer gages 68 and 70 of FIGURES 5 and 6, respectively, are axially adjustable as indicated from their dotted-line, fully retracted positions and are connected to the respective longitudinal slide 72 and the transverse slide 78 by the same general type of connection. In each case, e.g., the micrometer 70, a precision thrust bearing 104 (FIGURE 6) carries a shoe 106 by which the micrometer is connected'in slack-free engagement to the appropriate slide (78). The slides are therefore -movable to decimal readings of three place or four place accuracy as desired, up to a full'one inch length of stroke foreach micrometer.

In the carriage 20, a downwardly open channel forms the base 108 of the carriage and rides on X ways provided by short, upstanding flanges on the bridge 22. This channel-shaped carriage base 108 includes a set of horizontally disposed bridge engaging rollers 110 (FIGURES 5 and 6) providing for vertical alignment and further includes a truck 112 carrying a set of vertically disposed rollers 114 providing for rolling movement in X direction along the bridge 22.

The locator pins 60 carried by the insert 58 have an eccentric upper portion provided with a tool slot or similar means 116 whereby they can be rotatably adjusted to assume precisely equal stations from one another and from the zero reference pin 60 previously discussed. They are held from turning out of their adjusted position by an individual set screw or by jam nuts, not shown. A V-notched locking pawl 118 is slidably carried bythe carriage base 108 for engaging a selected pin'60. The pawl 118 is operated by a cam bar 120 which is carried by the pawl 118 and which is engaged by a locking spring 122, so as to afford locking as will now be explained.

In FIGURES 7 and 8, the cam bar 120 is engaged by the cam and shaft structure 62 of preceding FIGURE 3 so asto move between the solid line position and the dotted line position 120a, thus imparting corresponding movement to the pawl 118 to release it from one pin '60 so as to relock it to another. A fixed guide 124 carried by the carriage base 168 at one side of the pawl 118 cooperates with an oppositely disposed, spring biased guide 126 to keep the position of the pawl 118 aligned in engaging a pin 68 so as to insure absolute centering of the micrometer carriage in a position opposite thereto.

The following description of end truck 34 in FIGURES 9, 10 and 11 is, with the exceptions immediately pointed out, equally applicable to the opposite end truck 32 on the bridge and in the interest of brevity a description of the latter is omitted. Said truck 34 .carries a set of horizontally disposed rollers 128 in tandem relationship confronting the adjacent longitudinal way. In the case of the right way 30 only, one or more additional spring biased rollers 130 disposed in the horizontal plane are carried by the adjacent truck of the bridge 22 so as to keep the bridge at its opposite end or more particularly the rollers 128 carried by the opposite truck 32 in running contact with the opposite way 28. The spring pressure on each roller 130 is preloaded by means of a bolt 132 (FIGURE 11).

In FIGURES 12, 13 and 14, the locator pins 48 carried by each longitudinal way have an eccentric portion 7 which is engageable by a V-notched locking pawl 134 and which provides accurate center-to-center adjustability in the same manner as the locator pins 60 described in connection with FIGURE 5 preceding. The descri tion of the V-notched pawl 134 adjacent the end truck 34 of the bridge is applicable to the opposite end truck 32 and in the interest of brevity the description of the latter is omitted. A box 136 carried in depending relation by the channel of the bridge 22 supports a pair of upwardly biasing springs 138 which urge the pawl 134 into locked position wedged against a selected pin 48. A fixed guide 148 is carried by the box 136 at one side of the pawl 134 and cooperates with a spring biased guide 142 at the opposite side of the pawl 134 to keep the pawl accurately centered and free from play.

The crank shaft 52 is journalled at each of its opposite ends in an end bearing 144 and adjacent each of the end bearings the shaft 52 carries a crank 146. The crank 146 engages a cam follower 148 projecting from the pawl 134 in a manner where rotation of the crank shaft 52 in one way causes the pawl 134 to unlock and in the other way causes the pawl '134 to relock within the box 136.

In the operation of the device of the preceding figures, let it be assumed that the micrometers 68 and 70 are in their fully retracted, or zero, positions. The operator twists one of the handles 54 or 56 to unlock the bridge 22 and he then moves it and relocks it in the location at which the instrument within the holder 26 approaches the ordinate of the desired point on the table 24 to within the nearest inch. The operator then twists the handle 64 and moves and relocks the carriage so that the instrument is slightly to the left of and within an inch of the abscissa of the desired point. Thus he establishes the position of the instrument both at some whole number of inches past the zero pin 48 and; along the x axis which is transverse thereto, at some whole number of inches past the zero pin indicated at 60 The operator then rotates the micrometers 68 and 70 one at a time, so as to zero-in the instrument on the on the table base plate 24. The decimal reading of the micrometer 68 is added to the whole number of inches corresponding to the pin 48 to which the bridge 22 is locked and thus the longitudinal ordinate of the point is established. The decimal reading of the transverse micrometer '70 is added to the whole number of inches of the corresponding locked pin 60 and yields the abscissa, thus completing the fixed coordinates of the point. It will be apparent that, if the full travel of either micrometer 68 or 70 has failed to bring the instrument into coincidence with the desired point, the bridge 22 and/or the carriage 20 must be suitably advanced by one pins distance in order to aggregate the appropriate whole number and decimal reading necessary.

Following each punch marking (if doing layout work) or following each reading (if doing coordinate Work) the operator unlocks the bridge 22 and the carriage 20 whereupon the operation is repeated for the next point.

As herein disclosed, the micrometer gages 68 and 70 embodied in the invention are actually commercially procured micrometers from which the anvil and anvil jaw were removed so that the micrometer can be physically secured adjacent the slide which it controls. Spot welding was the means of afiixation employed and the mircometers read to the nearest 0.001 inch; it is evident that micrometer gages can be manufactured specially for the present purpose if desired and specially adapted so that they can be installed without further modification; it is further evident that accuracy to the nearest ten thousandth of an inch can be achieved with commercially 7 44- and 46 (FIGURE 1) the chance is obviated of having the bridge 22 take a diagonal position and instead will always be square with respect to the two longitudinal ways 28 and 30. Similarly the close proximity of the opposed rollers 110 of FIGURE 5 obviate the possibility of the carriage 20 taking a diagonal position and instead it is at all times square to the bridge 22.

Viariations within the spirit and scope of the invention described are equally comprehended by the foregoing description.

I claim:

1. In apparatus of the character described having a lockable carriage structure and a lockable supporting bridge therefor, said carriage structure mounted on said bridge for independent movement between locked poslt-ions thereon along one of two coordinate axes, said bridge mounted for movement between locked positions along the other coordinate axis, the combination of means for adjusting an instrument with respect to said carriage structure, comprising a pair of cooperating slide structures disposed one on another for establishing limited movement of travel each at right angles to the sliding movement of the other, individual screw micrometer means supported by said carriage and slide structures to make screw adjustments to the lides between points of their limited travel with respect to said carriage structure, one of said slide structures provided with first means of attachment thereon for holding said instrument, the other of said slides provided with means of attachment to said carriage structure for the limited travel aforesaid, said first means of attachment being offset with respect to the balance point of said one slide structure, and means freely pivoted to said one slide structure for countering the weight of said instrument and having separate means of attachment to the latter.

2. In apparatus comprising a pair of mutually perpendicularly disposed precision devices for holding an instrument of the character described, said devices capable of limited movement of travel each at right angles to the movement of the other: structures forming movable means for moving the pair of said devices through large increments of displacement along two axes, and comprising carriage structure for the devices and movable in a direction along one of the two axes, a fixed base plate,

a bridge structure supported by said base plate for a second direction of movement along the other axis and supporting said carriage structure for independent movement of the latter in the first-named direction, gage pins fixed along the respective paths of movement of said structures at intervals which occur efiectively at equal linear units apart, and locking means carried by said structures for locking same to the appropriate gage pins at points in their paths each corresponding to a selected multiple of said equal linear gage units, the locking means on said bridge structure comprising a manual operator disposed thereonintermediate its ends, longitudinally disposed shaft means j ournalled to said bridge structure and extending in opposite directions from said man- 6 ual operator, there being two rows of said fixed gage pins disposed in the path of said bridge structure one at each end of the bridge structure, and pawls opera tively disposed one at each outer end of saidshafit means and each engageable and disengageable with gage pins in the row at that end, said shaft means connecting said manual operator in common to said pawls for controlling their operative engagement and disengagement aforesaid in unison.

3. In apparatusof the character described having a lockable carriage structure and a lockable supporting bridge therefor, said supporting bridge mounted for movement between locked positions along one of two coordinate axes: the combination, with said carriage structure, said carriage structure being mounted on said, bridge for independent movement between locked positions thereon along the other coordinate axis, of means for adjusting an instrument with respect to said carriage structure comprising a pair of cooperating slide structures disposed one on the other for establishing limited movementof travel each at right angles to the sliding movement of the other, and loading springs and corresponding screw micrometer means supported by said carriage and slide structures to control movement of adjustment of the respective slides between points of their limited travel with respect to said carriage structure, one of said slide structures provided with first means of attachment thereon for holding said instrument and being in mutual longitudinal alignment with and separately connected to at least one loading spring and a corresponding screw micrometer .means, and the other of said slides provided with means of attachment to said carriage structure for the limited travel aforesaid, and being in mutual longitudinal alignment with and separately connected to at least one loading spring and a corresponding screw micrometer means.

4. In combination, a holder for an instrument of the class described, a fixed base plate, means for supporting the holder for point-to-point movement with respect to said base plate comprising a carriage base, a traversing bridge supporting the carriage base for movement on X ways, and guided thereby with respect to a row of points on said bridge conforming to an axis of travel parallel to the X direction, said bridge being supported for movement on said base plate by Y ways, and guided thereby with respect to spaced apart rows of points on said base plate, each of the latter said rows conforming to an axis of travel parallel to one another and to the Y direction, a locking pin disposed at each of said points and being eccentrically mounted for precise adjustment in efiectively equidistantly spaced relationship to the other pins in the row, said carriage base carrying a captive V-notched pawl selectively operatively engageable with the pins for locking said carriage base at each point to the pin at that point on the traversing bridge, and mounting means on said carriage base mounting said holder so as to render it capable of universal rectilinear movement along X and Y coordinates withrespect to said carriage base.

5. In'combination, a holder for an instrument of the class described, a fixed base plate, means for supporting the holder for point-to-point movement with respect to said base plate comprising a carriage base, mounting means on said base plate mounting said carriage base thereon for universal rectilinear movement along the X and Y coordinates, and comprising a traversing bridge on which the carriage base is guided by and moves on X ways with respect to the traversing bridge, locking means between said bridge and carriage base comprising an extended series of fixed locator pins on said bridge defining a row of points parallel to the X ways and secured to the bridge by eccentric connections afiording effective, equidistantly spaced apart locations of the fixed pins, said carriage base carrying a captive vV-notched pawl selectively engageable with the fixed pins for locking the carriage base at each point to the pin at that point on said bridge, said second mounting means on said carriage base mounting said holder so as to be capable of independent, limited universal rectilinear movement along "the X and Y coordinates with respect to said-carriage base.

6. In combination, a holder for an instrument of the class described, a'fixed base plate, means for supporting the holder for point-to-point movement with respect to said base plate comprising a carriage base, mounting means on said base plate mounting said carriage base thereon for universal rectilinear movement along the X and Y coordinates, second mounting means on said carriage base mounting said holder so as to be capable of limited universal rectilinear movement along the X and Y coordinates with respect to said carriage base, the first named mounting means including a traversing bridge and equidistantly spaced apart, fixed gage pinsand being capable of point-to-point positioning on both coordinates to a multiple of a unit of coordinate distance, there being, on the traversing bridge, a first row of said gage pins parallel to the X direction, there being, on the fixed base plate, a second row of gage pins parallel to the Y direction, .a gage-pin contacting pawl shiftably carried by the carriage base and interengageable selectively with the gage pins of the'first row, and a gage-pin contacting pawl shiftably carried by the bridge and interengageable selectively with the gage pins of the second row, said second mounting means including gage elements and being capabio of point-to-point positioning on each of the coordinates to a decimal submultiple not exceeding said unit.

7. In combination, a holder for an instrument of the class described, a fixed base plate, means for supporting the holder for point-to-point movement with respect to said base plate comprising a carriage base, a primary coordinate system comprising mounting means on said base plate mounting said carriage base thereon, a secondary coordinate system comprising mounting means on said carriage base mounting said holder with respect to said carriage base, the first-named mounting means including relatively large increment gage elements and arranged for insuring point-to-point positioning on each of the X and Y coordinates to a multiple of a whole unit of coordinate distance, said mounting means of the secondary coordinate system including relatively small increment gage elements and being capable of point-to-point positioning on the X and Y coordinates to a decimal submultiple of said whole unit, manually operated locking pawls which are elfec-tive to control the first named mounting means along the respective X and Y coordinates and comprising at least two pawls operated by a common actuator and carried by the first mounting means to interengage with selected ones of the large increment gage elements, said large increment gage elements consisting of pin means which are provided in rows and at least two rows of which are on said fixed base plate and fixed in parallel relation to the Y direction for engagement by said two pawls, and a pair of manually operated devices which are connected to the small increment gage elements and different ones of which are effective to control the secondary system along the respective X and Y coordinates.

8. In combination, a fixed base plate, a carriage base, a bridge supported on the fixed base plate and guided by Y ways thereon, and supporting the carriage base, a row of fixed gage pins adjacent each end of the bridge, and fixed to the base plate adjacent that end of the bridge and in close relation to and parallel with an adjacent Y way, remotely controlled pawls, shiftably carried by the bridge at its opposite ends and each engageable with a corresponding selected pin in the row at that end for locking the bridge, a slide member arrangement, and mounting means on said carriage base mounting said slide member arrangement on the bridge so as to be capable of universal rectilinear movement along X and Y coordinates with respect to the bridge and fixed base plate, said mounting means including a pair of micrometer gage elements each of which is eiiective to gage a position along a difierent coordinate from the other micrometer gage element, said slide member arrangement being formed of mutually-perpendicularly arranged slide members consisting of an instrument holder member and a cooperating slide member and each in axial alignment with and engaged by a difierent micrometer gage element for accurately establishing the longitudinal position taken by each slide member within the travel of its respective micrometer gage .element, said pair of micrometer gage elements being carried one on said carriage base and one on the aforesaid cooperating slide member for jointly establishing the final position of the instrument holder member.

9. Layout apparatus, including primary and secondary coordinate systems for accurately establishing X'and Y coordinates in positioning an instrument of the class described, said apparatus comprising a base plate, a pair of cooperating slides in the secondary coordinate system disposed one on the other for establishing limited movement of travel, each at right angles to the sliding movement of the other, the primary coordinate system of said apparatus comprising a carriage for carrying said pair of slides rectilinearly in the X direction, a bridge supporting said carriage on carriage-guiding X ways and supported on Y Ways on said base plate for guided rectilinear movement, locking means for locking said bridge to said base plate and said carriage to said bridge, each incident to making point-to-point movement corresponding to some multiple of a linear unit, said locking means comprising individually cngageable locator pins corresponding to each of the points aforesaid, and disposed in two rows on said base plate parallel to the Y direction and in a third row on said bridge parallel to the X direction, pawls carried by the bridge and by the carriage, manually operated means on said carriage connected to the pawl thereon for controlling same in positions of interengagement with selected locator pins in said third row, and individual micrometer means for adjusting said slides between points of their limited travel, each to a decimal submultiple ofisaid linear unit, the upper one of said slides provided with means thereon for holding said instrument.

10. Apparatus of the character described having a lockable carriage structure and a lockable supporting bridge therefor, said carriage structure being mounted on X Ways on said bridge for independent, guided movement between locked positions thereon, said supporting bridge being mounted on Y Ways for guided movement between locked positions in the Y direction, a row of locator pins on said bridge disposed parallel to the X direction and each pin corresponding to one of said locked positions, a notched pawl carried by said lockable carriage structure and interengageable with a selected pin in each position of the carriage structure, means for adjusting an instrument with respect to said carriage structure comprising a pair of cooperating slide structures disposed one on the other for establishing limited movement of travel, each at right angles to the sliding movement of the other,

-and individual screw micrometer means supported by said carriage and slide structures to make screw adjustments to the respective slide structures between points of their travel with respect to said carriage structureyone of said slide structures provided with first means of attachment capable of limited movement of travel each in a diiferent one of the X and Y directions from the other: the combination of moveable structures for moving the pair of said devices through large increments of displacement in said directions, said structures including a carriage structure for the devices and having X ways therebeneath, a fixed base plate, a bridge structure supported on Y ways by said base plate so as to be constrained in guided movement thereon, said bridge structure supporting the X ways beneath said carriage structure so that the lat er has independent, constrained, guided movement relative to the bridge structure, gage pins fixed along the respective paths of movement of said structures at points which occur effectively at equal linear units apart, said fixed base plate carrying at least two rows of said gage pins and said bridge structure carrying at least one row of said gage pins, and notched pawls mounted to and permanently carried by said structures for locking each to the appropriate gage pins and being interengageable with selected gage pins at all points in their paths, each of said gage pins having a position in its row corresponding to a selected multiple of said equal linear gage units.

12. In apparatus comprising a pair of mutually perpendicularly disposed precision devices for holding an instrument of the character described, said devices capable of limited movement of travel each in a difierent one of the X and Y directions to the other: the combination of structures constituting moveable means for moving the pair of devices through large increments of displacement in X and Y directions, said structures comprising carriage structure for the devices having X ways therebeneath, a fixed base plate, a bridge structure supported on said base plate by Y ways so as to be constrained in guided movement thereon, and supporting the X ways beneath said caniage structure so that the latter has independent,

constrained guided movement relative to the bridge structure, gage pins fixed along the respective paths of movement of said structures at points which occur at linearly equidistant units apart, said gage pins each having an engageable portion and a mounting portion which are mutually eccentric to one another, means formed on a portion of each pin for rotating it to change the position of its engageable portion relative to a companion gage pin and thus efiectively establish the pin positions so as to maintain them at said linearly equidistant units apart, and shiftable pawls mounted to and permanently carried by said structures for locking same and appropriately engageable with selected gage pins at the points in their paths, each successive gage pin having a position corresponding to a selected multiple of said linearly equidistant gage unit.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,003,766 9/11 Little 33-79 1,262,015 4/ 18 Carlson 33-80 1,665,842 4/28 Brunings 33-1845 1,668,592 5/28 Huebner 33-1845 1,977,213 10/34 Slobey 33-80 2,198,757 4/40 Bohrn et a1. 33-1 2,298,875 10/42 DOWell 33-174 2,305,167 12/42 Kasper 33-23 2,397,109 3/46 Hedin 33-26 2,445,533 7/48 Mondron et a1 33-80 2,565,608 8/51 Hoff. 2,812,580 11/57 Masinda 33-125 2,879,599 3/59 Masinda 33-125 2,889,757 6/59 Oole 33-174 2,941,303 6/60 Middlestadt 33-174 2,999,317 9/61 Alderson 33-26 FOREIGN PATENTS 541,880 12/41 Great Britain.

ISAAC LISANN, Primary Examiner.

Claims (1)

12. IN APPARATUS COMPRISING A PAIR OF MUTUALLY PERPENDICULARLY DISPOSED PRECISION DEVICES FOR HOLDING AN INSTRUMENT OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED, SAID DEVICES CAPABLE OF LIMITED MOVEMENT OF TRAVEL EACH IN A DIFFERENT ONE OF THE X AND Y DIRECTIONS TO THE OTHER: THE COMBINATION OF STRUCTURES CONSTITUTING MOVEABLE MEANS FOR MOVING THE PAIR OF DEVICES THROUGH LARGE INCREMENTS OF DISPLACEMENT IN X AND Y DIRECTIONS, SAID STRUCTURES COMPRISING CARRIAGE STRUCTURE FOR THE DEVICES HAVING X WAYS THEREBENEATH, A FIXED BASE PLATE, A BRIDGE STRUCTURE SUPPORTED ON SAID BASE PLATE BY Y WAYS SO AS TO BE CONSTRAINED IN GUIDED MOVEMENT THEREON, AND SUPPORTING THE X WAYS BENEATH SAID CARRIAGE STRUCTURE SO THAT THE LATTER HAS INDEPENDENT, CONSTRAINED GUIDED MOVEMENT RELATIVE TO THE BRIDGE STRUCTURE, GAGE PINS FIXED ALONG THE RESPECTIVE PATHS OF MOVEMENT OF SAID STRUCTURES AT POINTS WHICH OCCUR AT LINEARLY EQUIDISTANT UNITS PART, SAID GAGE PINS EACH HAVING AN ENGAGEABLE PORTION AND A MOUNTING PORTION WHICH ARE MUTUALLY ECCENTRIC TO ONE ANOTHER, MEANS FORMED ON A PORTION OF EACH PIN FOR ROTATING IT TO CHANGE THE POSITION OF ITS ENGAGEABLE PORTION RELATIVE TO A COMPANION GAGE PIN

Images