Patent · US Expired

Displacement measuring apparatus and method

US4776701A · kind A · utility

61Cited by
2References
13Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateMay 20, 1985
Grant dateOct 11, 1988
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 20, 2005

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01D5/38
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

Displacement measuring apparatus comprises a light source (10), a lens (12), and index grating (14), a reflective scale grating (16), and three photodetectors (18) at positions corresponding to the zero order and positive and negative first order images of the source (10). The index grating (14) has a castellated surface profile with a mark/space ratio (a/b, FIG. 3) and a castellation height (h, FIG. 3) chosen so that the three photodetectors (18) see wavefronts having a phase separation of 120. The electrical signals from the photodetectors (18) are used to sense the magnitude and direction of movement of a reading head carrying the components (10, 12, 14 and 18) with respect to the scale grating (16).

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.