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:
Jun. 05, 2001
Filed:
Jun. 15, 1999
Brent C. Rankin, Lima, OH (US);
Honda of America, Mfg. Inc., Marysville, OH (US);
Abstract
The present invention is a testing apparatus and method for automatically confirming the presence of all of at least one ring within a groove of an article of manufacture, such as a piston of a vehicle engine, during assembly of the article of manufacture. An air flow is applied on the groove, and the resulting amount of air flow through the groove depends on the presence of each of the at least one ring within the groove. This resulting amount of air flow through the groove is measured for determining whether all of the at least one ring is present within the groove. If any of the at least one ring is absent from the groove, an alarm indication of this undesired situation is provided. Use of a microcontroller allows for calibration of the components in the testing apparatus of the present invention and allows for monitoring for proper calibration of such components. Such calibration and monitoring by the microcontroller results in reliable confirmation of the presence of all of the at least one ring within the groove of the article of manufacture.