Mitutoyo Corporation

Travis Matthew Eiles

An inductive linear encoder configured to measure a relative position between two elements along a measuring axis direction includes a scale including a periodic scale pattern and a detector portion configured to move along the measuring axis direction relative to the periodic scale pattern, wherein the detector portion and the scale are separated by a gap. The detector portion includes a field generating portion configured to generate a changing magnetic flux, and a sensing portion configured to provide detector signals which respond to a local effect on the changing magnetic flux provided by adjacent signal modulating elements of the scale pattern. The encoder includes one or more actuators coupled to the detector portion and configured to be electronically controlled to adjust a position of the detector portion so as to adjust the gap based at least in part on the detector signals from the sensing portion.

Inductive linear encoder with gap adjustment

A coordinate measuring machine (CMM) system is provided including utilization of a vision probe (e.g., for performing operations for determining and/or measuring surface profiles of workpieces, etc.) The angular orientation of the vision probe may be adjusted using a rotation mechanism so that the optical axis of the vision probe is directed toward an angled surface of a workpiece (e.g., in some implementations the optical axis may be approximately perpendicular to the angled workpiece surface). X-axis, y-axis and z-axis slide mechanisms (e.g., moving in mutually orthogonal directions) may in conjunction move the vision probe to acquisition positions along an image stack acquisition axis (which may approximately coincide with the optical axis) for acquiring a stack of images of the angled workpiece surface. Focus curve data may be determined from analysis of the image stack, which indicates 3-dimensional positions of surface points on the angled surface of the workpiece.

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Bothell, WA, United States of America

Travis Matthew Eiles