Device and method for mutually aligning bodies

Abstract

The spatial position of rollers or other mutually adjacent articles is measured or examined by indirect transport of a reference direction. To this end, an adaptor is placed on one of the rollers. The adaptor is equipped with a light source which emits a light beam substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of a roller. The light beam is sensed by a movable sensor unit. The latter determines, at the same time, the angle of incidence of the light beam according to two axes, relative to the sensor unit, and the orientation of the sensor unit relative to a reference axis system (laboratory system). A multi-axially operating gyroscope is used for the last-mentioned measurement. A suitably programmed electronic system or computer determines, from the two measured values, the orientation of the adaptor and of the roller with respect to azimuth and elevation in the laboratory system. The measured values which are determined can be utilized for the purpose of making a comparison with the corresponding values of further rollers or articles, so that an apparatus for parallelism measurements which is easy to handle is provided.