Mitutoyo Corporation

Akihide Kimura

Joseph Daniel Tobiason

Shu Hirata

Norman Laman

Kimitoshi Ono

Tatsuhiko Mukuta

Keitaro Koyatsu

An optical encoder includes: a scale having a scale grating; a light source that emits light; and a light-receiving device that receives light that has passed through the scale. The optical encoder also has a shielding plate that shapes the beam shape, which is the shape of the light emitted from the light source. The shielding plate is disposed between the light source and the scale and defines the beam shape such that the shape of a long-length contour portion and the shape of a long-length side section have no correlation with each other. The long-length contour portion is a portion extending in the measurement direction at the contour of the beam shape of the light emitted to the light-receiving device via the scale, and the long-length side section is a section extending in the measurement direction at the contour of the light-receiving device.

Optical encoder with a beam-shaping element

An encoder includes scale and detection head. The detection head includes light source (transmitting unit) and light-receiving unit (receiving unit). The light-receiving unit includes light-receiving surface (receiving surface) and converts light received at the light-receiving surfaceinto differential detection signals with two phases and outputs the same. The light-receiving surface includes element array group including four element arrays provided in a parallel manner along an orthogonal direction, with each element array including a plurality of light-receiving elements (receiving elements). The plurality of element arrays in the element array group are disposed at positions where the sum of: (i) a distance in the orthogonal direction from a reference position to a positive phase signal element array; and (ii) a distance in the orthogonal direction from the reference position to the negative phase signal element array, is the same for all the phases of the at least two phases.

Encoder

A displacement sensor includes a radiation part that irradiates a workpiece displaceable in a predetermined displacement direction with light, a light receiving part that receives a reflected light generated when the light radiated by the radiation part is reflected on the workpiece, and a fringe generation part that includes a generation means for generating fringes on a light receiving surface of the light receiving part when the light receiving part receives the reflected light from the workpiece. The fringe generation part and the light receiving part are arranged such that the fringe generation part and the light receiving part are parallel to the displacement direction, or parallel to a virtual image of the displacement direction.

Displacement sensor and profile measurement apparatus

An optical displacement sensor includes: a splitting unit that splits the light radiated from the light source into a first light ray and a second light ray; a reflection unit including a first reflection part and a second reflection part provided at a predetermined angle with respect to the first reflection part; and a fold-back reflection unit that folds-back and reflects the light that has gone through the reflection unit to the reflection unit. The optical displacement sensor is characterized in that the reflection unit reflects the first light ray and the second light ray that are split by the splitting unit and have gone through the diffraction unit from the first reflection part to the second reflection part, and reflects the first light ray and the second light ray that are reflected by the fold-back reflection unit from the second reflection part to the first reflection part.

Optical displacement sensor

The optical angle sensor comprises a diffraction unit, a light source, a light receiving unit, and a plurality of reflection units. The diffraction unit includes a first diffraction part for generating combined light and a second diffraction part for diffracting a first light and a second light a plurality of times. The plurality of reflection units includes a first reflection unit, a second reflection unit, a third reflection unit that reflects the first light and the second light through the second diffraction part toward the second diffraction part, fourth reflection unit, and fifth reflection unit. The calculating unit, with the rotation of the diffraction unit, calculates the amount of change in the angle based on the change in the interference signal caused by the combined light generated on the light receiving surface.

Optical angle sensor

The present invention provides an optical angle sensor capable of detecting a wide range of angles with high resolution, having no scale, and specifying a reference angle. The optical angle sensor includes a light source for irradiating light, a reflection means for rotating around a predetermined axis as a measurement axis and reflecting the light irradiated from the light source, a light receiving means for receiving the light irradiated from the light source, and a calculation means for calculating the light received by the light receiving means as a signal. The light receiving means receives the light irradiated from the light source through the reflection means. The calculation means includes a specifying means for specifying the reference angle based on the light received by the light receiving means, and an angle calculating unit for calculating an absolute angle based on the light received by the light receiving means and the reference angle specified by the specifying means.

An optical encodercomprising: a light source; a splittersplits a light from the light source, a light receiving unit; a scaleis arranged on a light path and movable in a measurement direction, a grating being arranged on a main surface of the scale; and an offset diffraction gratingincludes a plurality of diffraction gratings arranged in the optical path from the splitterto the light receiving unit, the plurality of diffraction gratings diffracting the split lights with different phases, wherein, the plurality of diffraction gratingsin the offset diffraction gratingare arranged in one plane parallel to the main surface of the scale and are offset each other in an offset direction orthogonal to the measurement direction, the light receiving unitincludes a plurality of light-receiving elements-to-arranged in the offset direction.

Optical encoder

An optical encoder includes a light source, a plurality of diffraction gratings including grating faces on which a plurality of grooves are disposed in parallel, and a light-receiving unit configured to receive the light diffracted at the plurality of diffraction gratings. The diffraction gratings include a first diffraction grating that is a first-stage diffraction grating adjacent to the light source, a third diffraction grating that is a last-stage diffraction grating adjacent to the light-receiving unit, and a second diffraction grating that is an output-stage diffraction grating of the first-stage diffraction grating and an input-stage diffraction grating of the last-stage diffraction grating. The diffraction gratings are disposed such that the ratio of the first gap to the third gap equals the ratio of the second gap to the fourth gap, and a length of the first gap differs from a length of the second gap.

Optical encoder and measurement device including the same

An optical sensor in which an optical component more inexpensive than a corner cube is used as a measurement target and which has accuracy similar to that of a case where the corner cube is used is provided. An optical sensorincludes a light source, a dividing unit, a retroreflection unitthat retroreflects first light and second light divided by the dividing unit, a combining unit, a light receiving unit, and a calculation unit. The retroreflection unitincludes a first retroreflectorthat retroreflects the first light in parallel in an opposite direction of an incident direction of the first light by performing reflection thereof twice, a second retroreflectorthat retroreflects the second light in parallel in an opposite direction of an incident direction of the second light by performing reflection thereof twice, and a third retroreflectorthat retroreflects the first light, which is emitted from the first retroreflector, to the first retroreflectorand retroreflects the second light, which is emitted from the second retroreflector, to the second retroreflector

Optical sensor

An optical encoder includes a scale including a diffraction grating, a light-receiving unit configured to receive light from a light source, and an optical element located between the scale and the light-receiving unit. The optical element includes a plurality of groove portions, which are a periodic structure portion formed periodically in one face of the optical element. The plurality of groove portions is configured to divide signal diffracted light and noise diffracted light into first splitted beams traveling at a predetermined travel angle and second splitted beams traveling at a travel angle greater than the travel angle of the first splitted beams, and make a diffraction efficiency of the first splitted beams of the noise diffracted light lower than a diffraction efficiency of the first splitted beams of the signal diffracted light.

An optical encoder configuration comprises a scale, an illumination source, and a photodetector configuration. The illumination source is configured to output structured illumination to the scale. The scale extends along a measuring axis direction and is configured to output scale light that forms a detector fringe pattern comprising periodic high and low intensity bands that extend over a relatively longer dimension along the measuring axis direction and are relatively narrow and periodic along a detected fringe motion direction transverse to the measuring axis direction. The high and low intensity bands move along the detected fringe motion direction transverse to the measuring axis direction as the scale grating displaces along the measuring axis direction. The photodetector configuration is configured to detect a displacement of the high and low intensity bands along the detected fringe motion direction and provide respective spatial phase displacement signals that are indicative of the scale displacement.

Contamination and defect resistant optical encoder configuration including first and second illumination source diffraction gratings arranged in first and second parallel planes for providing displacement signals

Contamination and defect resistant optical encoder configuration including a normal of readhead plane at a non-zero pitch angle relative to measuring axis for providing displacement signals

Contamination and defect resistant optical encoder configuration outputting structured illumination to a scale plane for providing displacement signals

A detection head movable relative to a scale detects diffracted light and outputs a detection result. The diffracted light is diffracted by an incremental pattern. A signal processing unit calculates a relative displacement between the scale and the detection head. The detection head includes: a light source emitting the light to the scale; and a detection unit including a light-receiving unit receiving the diffracted light through an optical element, in which the light-receiving elements outputting detection signals are periodically arranged with a predetermined period. The number of the plurality of light-receiving elements is an even number. The predetermined period is a value obtained by multiplying a fundamental period by an odd-number. The fundamental period is a period of interference fringes formed on the light-receiving unit by +1st and &#x2212;1st order diffracted lights. A width of the light-receiving element is not equal to an integral multiple of the fundamental period.

Displacement encoder

A scale is provided with a reference mark and an incremental pattern. A detection head is relatively movable in a measurement direction with respect to the scale, and detects a light intensity distribution of diffracted beams if beams radiated onto the scale are diffracted by the reference mark, and outputs the detection result. A signal processing unit detects a reference position based on a position in the light intensity distribution where light intensity is lower than a predetermined value. The reference position has a plurality of pattern areas having a plurality of patterns arranged with a predetermined pitch in the measurement direction. At least one pattern area of the plurality of pattern areas is disposed with an offset from a neighboring pattern area in the measurement direction.

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Saitama, Japan

Akihide Kimura