Renishaw Plc

Reinshaw Plc

Stephen Paul Hunter

Hugo George Derrick

David R McMurtry

Geoffrey McFarland

Khaled Mamour

David Andrew Larkham

Kevyn Barry Jonas

Stephen Mark Angood

Michael Robert John Reeve

David Sven Wallace

Martin Simon Rees

Brendon Noel Joseph Callinan

Brendan Noel Joseph Callinan

Colin M Felgate

James Richard Philip Huntley

A pallet loader for a positioning apparatus, including at least two pallet bays and at least one intermediate member, arranged such that at least two pallet bays are located on different sides of the intermediate member, such that at least one pallet can be driven i) from one pallet bay to another, and ii) from one pallet bay to a positioning apparatus, in which the apparatus includes cooperating guide features on the underside of the at least one pallet and on one or more of the intermediate member and pallet bays for guiding the pallet along a predetermined path and/or for controlling the rotational orientation of the pallet about a vertical axis, as the pallet moves across the intermediate member/pallet bay.

Loading apparatus

A coordinate positioning apparatus having a load bearing structure. The load bearing structure has at least one elongate corner piece providing at least two bearing surfaces, one on each side of the corner, for a carriage moveable along the load bearing structure, and at least one piece of sheet material which extends along the at least one elongate corner piece and provides at least one load bearing facet.

Load bearing structure

A positioning apparatus including a moveable member moveable along a bearing guideway in a first dimension, the moveable member including at a first end thereof at least first and second bearing members which are preloaded against corresponding first and second sides of a concave corner of the bearing guideway.

Bearing arrangement

A positioning apparatus, having first and second members relatively moveable in a substantially vertical degree of freedom. At least one energy conduit is mounted to at least one of the first and second members, which imparts a load on at least one of the members it is mounted to that varies dependent on the relative position of the first and second members. A compensatory member is configured to apply a load that varies, dependent on the relative position of the first and second members, inversely to the variation in load applied by the at least one energy conduit, so as to at least partially counteract the variation in load applied by the at least one energy conduit on said at least one of the members.

Positioning apparatus

A positioning apparatus comprising first and second relatively moveable members, and a linear motor comprising at least one elongate stator assembly and at least one armature assembly respectively mounted to the first and second moveable members for effecting relative movement of the first and second moveable members, configured so at to permit longitudinal expansion and/or contraction of the at least one elongate stator assembly and/or of the at least one armature assembly relative to its respective member.

Positioning apparatus with relatively moveable members and a linear motor mounted thereon

A coordinate positioning apparatus comprising first and second relatively moveable bodies, at least the first body comprising at least one sheet or plate of material arranged to provide a load-bearing structure comprising a plurality of planar load-bearing members and on which at least one member is mounted to the first body via a mount which is coupled to at least three, non-parallel planar load-bearing members of the first body, such that the planes of said at least three non-parallel planar load-bearing members intersect each other at a common point.

Bearing mount

A coordinate positioning apparatus for inspecting an artefact. The coordinate positioning apparatus includes at least one moveable member moveable in at least one degree of freedom, and at least one motor and at least one bearing arrangement for facilitating said movement. At least a part of the at least one motor and/or at least one bearing arrangement are located inside a protective housing therefor. A ferromagnetic contamination trap comprising at least one magnet is provided and configured to attract and retain ferromagnetic contamination entering the protective housing.

Contamination trap

A method of determining sub-divisional error of an encoder apparatus, which is configured to measure relative position of relatively moveable parts of an apparatus on which an inspection device for inspecting an artefact is mounted, includes causing the inspection device to inspect a feature so as to obtain measurements of a surface of the feature by relatively moving the relatively moveable parts of the apparatus. The method also includes using the measurements of the surface of the feature obtained by the inspection device during the inspection of the feature to determine the sub-divisional error of the encoder apparatus.

Method of determining sub-divisional error of an encoder apparatus configured to measure relative position of relatively moveable parts

A metrology apparatus including a body and a first member rotatable relative to the body about a first axis of rotation, said first axis being defined by first bearing and a first motor for actuating rotation of the first member relative to the body about the first axis of rotation. A surface sensing device is attachable to the first member such that the surface sensing device can move with the first member, relative to the body. The first motor may include a first magnet and at least one metal coil spaced apart along the first axis and mounted such that the first magnet and the at least one metal coil are moveable relative to one another.

Metrology apparatus

Metrology apparatus is described that includes a first structure rotatably connected to a second structure by a bearing arrangement. The bearing arrangement includes at least a first friction bearing including parts in sliding contact during rotation of the first structure relative to the second structure. The apparatus includes at least one magnet that relieves the load on the first friction bearing. Multiple magnets, provided in an attracting or repelling arrangement, may be used. The metrology apparatus may include an articulating probe head for a coordinate positioning apparatus.

An analogue probe for use with a coordinate positioning machine. The analogue probe comprises a temperature actuator which can be modulated so as maintain the temperature of at least a part of the analogue probe at a substantially constant predetermined temperature.

Analogue probe and method of operation

A method of fabricating a bearing surface for a gas or air bearing is described. The method comprises taking a bulk bearing portion having at least one bearing surface region and providing a coating on the bearing surface region to define at least one gas pocket. The at least one gas pocket has a depth substantially equal to the thickness of the coating. In one example, laser ablation is used to remove part of the coating to form the gas pockets. The coating may be an anodized coating and the bulk bearing portion may be formed from aluminum. An air bearing component formed using the method is also described.

Gas bearing and fabrication method

A rotary gas bearing is described that comprises a first part rotatable relative to a second part. The first part comprises a support member and a first portion and a second portion attached to the support member. The first portion comprises a first bearing surface and the second portion comprising a second bearing surface. Both the first portion and the second portion are attached to the support member by screw thread connections. The second part may comprise complimentary bearing surfaces. Epoxy may be used to fix the first and/or second portions to the support member. A method of determining the bearing working gap by measuring gas flow through the bearing is also described.

Gas bearings

A method and apparatus for measuring a surface using a surface sensing device mounted on a scanning head on a member of a coordinate positioning apparatus. The coordinate positioning apparatus may be operated to produce relative movement between the scanning head and the surface profile and the scanning head includes a drive for producing rotational movement of the surface sensing probe about one or more axis. The coordinate positioning apparatus is driven to provide relative movement between the member and the surface profile in a circular path and the scanning head is driven to move the surface sensing device about said one or more axes, such that the surface sensing device maintains a nominally constant lead angle. The motion of the coordinate positioning apparatus and scanning head is synchronous.

Apparatus and method of measuring workpieces

A method of fabricating a bearing surface for a gas or air bearing is described. The method comprises taking a bulk bearing portion having at least one bearing surface region and providing a coating on the bearing surface region to define at least one gas pocket). The at least one gas pocket has a depth substantially equal to the thickness of the coating. In one example, laser ablation is used to remove part of the coating to form the gas pockets. The coating may be an anodized coating and the bulk bearing portion may be formed from aluminium. An air bearing component formed using the method is also described.

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Bristol, United Kingdom

Stephen Paul Hunter