The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 13, 1990
Filed:
Mar. 24, 1989
Applicant:
Inventor:
Norman Fender, Hudson, MI (US);
Assignee:
Graco Robotics, Inc., Livonia, MI (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01M / ; G01B / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
738659 ; 74 8921 ;
Abstract
The present invention relates to an indicator for monitoring the position of a piston rod of a linear actuator utilized in robotic mechanisms. The indicator includes a precision toothed chain which is pulled by an extending piston rod and drawn in by a coil spring to maintain tension in the chain and a non-slipping relation with a sprocket wheel driven by the chain. A shaft encoder mounted on a shaft of the sprocket wheel delivers digitized quantities representative of the degree of rotation of the shaft and sprocket wheel and of the linear position of an actuating, linearly-movable end of the piston rod.