Taylor Hobson Limited

Anthony Paul Smith

Ian Hopkins

Dipak Daudia

Simon Mark Smith

Keith Hall

A position-to-electrical transducer circuit primarily intended for use in meteorological instruments for measuring a characteristic of a surface of a workpiece. An excitation signal generator provides to a transducer an excitation signal whose voltage varies in a known manner with time and a processor analyzes an electrical signal from the transducer to generate a measurement signal. The processor corrects for any phase shift between excitation signal and the electrical signal to provide an accurate measurement. A meteorological instrument for measuring a characteristic of a surface of a workpiece in which a pivotably-mounted arm holding a stylus is traversed relative to the surface of the workpiece and a variable transducer converts the position of the stylus into a corresponding electrical signal. The variable inductance transducer has at least two coils located on a core, the two coils being spaced apart along the length of the arm so that pivotal movement of the arm causes different changes in the inductance of the coils to provide an indication of the position of the stylus.

Transducer circuit

A metrological instrument for measuring surface characteristics such as surface form of a component ( ). The instrument includes a slideway ( ) to cause relative movement between a surface sensing probe ( ) and the component which allows the probe to traverse a surface of the component. A probe carriage ( ) supports the probe to allow the probe to move as a body in a measurement direction relative to the carriage so as to follow a surface being sensed. An optical sensor ( ) provides a signal indicative of the displacement of the probe relative to the probe carriage. A controller ( ) acts in response to a signal from the optical sensor, to move the probe carriage so as to maintain the probe in an operational range. A further sensor ( ) measures measurement of displacement of the probe in the measurement direction as it follows a surface during use of the instrument.

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Nottingham, United Kingdom

Anthony Paul Smith