Coordinate measuring apparatus wherein the measuring time is optimized

US5764540A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Carl Zeiss Stiftung · DE

Inventors

• Gunter Grupp · Böhmenkirch, DE
• Ralf Bernhardt · Aalen, DE
• Otto Ruck · Ellwangen (Jagst), DE
• Berndt Kammleiter · Oberkochen, DE
• Wolfgang Wiedmann · Aalen, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Jan 29, 1997
• Grant date: Jun 9, 1998
• Expiry date: Jan 29, 2017

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01B21/045
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A coordinate measuring apparatus for measuring a workpiece with a probe head having a probe element for contacting the workpiece. The coordinate measuring apparatus includes: a plurality of sensors with each sensor supplying a signal indicative of a coordinate measurement position and a processing unit. An interface device between the plurality of sensors and the processing unit receives the signals and supplies a plurality of output signals to the processing unit representing respective position measurement values at any given instant of time. The processing unit includes at least one smoothing function block for continuously receiving a portion of the position measurement values. The smoothing function block is adapted to determine a final position measurement value (X.sub.E, Y.sub.E, Z.sub.E or R.sub.E) of the contact point of the probe element on the workpiece in a defined standstill of the apparatus by averaging a defined number of the received position measurement values to form a mean value. The processing unit further includes a function block for triggering the averaging before the apparatus reaches standstill and continuing the averaging until standstill is determined.