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:
Apr. 01, 1997
Filed:
May. 16, 1995
YuZhong Dai, Coventry, RI (US);
Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Company, North Kingstown, RI (US);
Abstract
A device for measuring an angle between pivotally connected, intersecting sides of a parallelogram includes a grating having a pattern of parallel, straight grating lines formed on a substrate, and a read head. The grating is mounted in a fixed position with respect to a first side of the parallelogram. The read head includes a sensor positioned for sensing displacement of the grating lines in response to an angular change between the intersecting sides of the parallelogram and generating a scale reading. The read head is mounted in a fixed position with respect to a second side of the parallelogram that is parallel to the first side. In one embodiment, the grating includes a single pattern of grating lines and is used to measure an angular change relative to a reference angle. In a second embodiment, the grating includes first and second grating patterns and is used to measure an absolute value of the angle between the intersecting sides of the parallelogram. The precision angle measuring device is particularly useful in coordinate measuring machines, but is not limited to such use.