Hughes Aircraft Company

Joseph M Haggerty

Stephen J Reinsch

A hand held instrument for measuring roughness of a surface, such as the 'orange peel' on a painted surface, employs a scanning disc (42) which mounts a light source (56) to project a light beam at the surface being measured in a circular scan pattern. Light reflected from the surface is received by a sensor (90) which produces an output electrical signal having an amplitude and frequency that follow the amplitude and frequency of reflected light received by the sensor. Electrical signals representing amplitude and frequency are suitably combined (134) to provide an output display (114) that reads the value of orange peel according to a set of values determined by calibration of the instrument from a set of calibration panels.

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Carlsbad, CA, United States of America

Joseph M Haggerty