Mitutoyo Corporation

Toru Kodato

Hiroshi Koizumi

Mitsugu Sugawara

A caliper gauge having a rotatably supported outer roller mounted on a slider, an inner roller rotatably located inside the outer roller to operationally slidingly contact with a main scale, and a ratchet system regulating a transmission of rotation from the outer roller to the inner roller, so that when the inner roller reaches a maximum rotation load, the ratchet system causes the outer roller to run independently in relation to the inner roller.

Caliper gauge

A tape measure device includes a belt tape member made of a flexible material. A cursor is slidably supported for movement on and along the belt tape member. The cursor includes a housing and an encoder which includes a relative displacement sensor for detecting a relative displacement value between the belt tape member and the cursor. The displacement sensor includes a first electrode made of a conductive ink and printed at predetermined and spaced intervals on and along the belt tape member. The conductive ink first electrode printed on the belt tape member is protectively coated by an electrically nonconductive insulative membrane. A second electrode is provided on the cursor and opposes the first electrode and the insulation membrane. A circuit is provided for creating an electrical capacitance value between the first and second electrodes and for issuing signals in response to a change of electrical capacitance between the first and second electrodes. A display responsive to the signals is provided for indicating the detected relative displacement value between the belt tape member and the cursor thereon.

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Utsunomiya, Japan

Toru Kodato