Claims
- 1. A portable coordinate measurement machine (CMM) for measuring the position of an object in a selected volume, comprising:
a manually positionable articulated arm having opposed first and second ends, said arm including a plurality of jointed arm segments, each arm segment including at least one position transducer for producing a position signal; a measurement probe attached to a first end of said articulated arm; an electronic circuit which receives the position signals from the transducers and provides a digital coordinate corresponding to the position of the probe in a selected volume; a protective covering over at least a portion of said articulated arm.
- 2. The CMM of claim 1 wherein:
said protective covering comprises a polymeric material for protection from impact shocks.
- 3. The CMM of claim 2 wherein said polymeric material comprises an elastomeric material.
- 4. The CMM of claim 2 wherein said polymeric material comprises a rigid plastic material.
- 5. The CMM of claim 1 wherein at least one of said arm segments includes said protective covering in the form of an outer sleeve.
- 6. The CMM of claim 5 wherein said outer sleeve is replaceable.
- 7. The CMM of claim 6 wherein said outer sleeve comprises a two-part clam shell.
- 8. The CMM of claim 7 wherein said clam shell is attached by at least one of threaded fasteners and spring clips.
- 9. The CMM of claim 5 wherein said outer sleeve has an outer tapered configuration.
- 10. The CMM of claim 5 wherein said outer sleeve comprises a rigid polymeric material.
- 11. The CMM of claim 5 wherein said outer sleeve includes at least one support post for resting against an adjacent arm segment and preventing the impact between adjacent arm segments.
- 12. The CMM of claim 5 wherein said jointed arm segments include pairs of long jointed arm segments and short jointed arm segments, each of said long jointed arm segments being substantially perpendicular to said short jointed arm segments and wherein:
said outer sleeve surrounds at least one of said long jointed arm segments.
- 13. The CMM of claim 1 wherein at least one of the joints of the jointed arm segment includes said protective covering in the form of at least one bumper.
- 14. The CMM of claim 13 wherein said bumper comprises an elastomeric material.
- 15. The CMM of claim 13 wherein said bumper has a circular perimeter.
- 16. The CMM of claim 13 wherein said jointed arm segments include pairs of long jointed arm segments and short jointed arm segments, each of said long jointed arm segments being substantially perpendicular to said short jointed arm segments and wherein:
said bumper is positioned on at least one of said short jointed arm segments.
- 17. The CMM of claim 1 wherein at least one of the joints of a jointed arm segment includes said protective covering in the form of an outer sleeve and at least one of the joints of the jointed arm segment includes said protective covering in the form of at least one bumper.
- 18. The CMM of claim 17 wherein said jointed arm segments include pairs of long jointed arm segments and short jointed arm segments, each of said long jointed arm segments being substantially perpendicular to said short jointed arm segments and wherein:
said outer sleeve surrounds at least one of said long jointed arm segments; and said bumper is positioned on at least one of said short jointed arm segments.
- 19. The CMM of claim 1 wherein said protective covering includes surface features for providing gripping locations.
- 20. The CMM of claim 1 including a base attached to said second end of said arm and wherein:
said protective covering surrounds said base.
- 21. The CMM of claim 20 wherein said base covering comprises a two-part clam shell.
- 22. The CMM of claim 21 wherein said base covering comprises a rigid polymeric material.
- 23. The CMM of claim 1 wherein said probe includes said protective covering in the form of an outer sleeve.
- 24. The CMM of claim 23 wherein said outer sleeve is replaceable.
- 25. The CMM of claim 24 wherein said outer sleeve comprises a two-part clam shell.
- 26. The CMM of claim 23 wherein said outer sleeve comprises a rigid polymeric material.
- 27. The CMM of claim 16 wherein said at least one short jointed arm segment includes a pair of opposed ends and including:
a bumper on each of said opposed ends.
- 28. A portable coordinate measurement machine (CMM) for measuring the position of an object in a selected volume, comprising:
a manually positionable articulated arm having opposed first and second ends, said arm including a plurality of jointed arm segments, each arm segment including at least one position transducer for producing a position signal; a probe at said first end of said arm; a base at said second end of said arm, said base including at least one mounting location for mounting a computer; and an electronic circuit which receives the position signals from the transducers and provides a digital coordinate corresponding to the position of the probe in a selected volume.
- 29. The CMM of claim 28 wherein:
said mounting location comprises a boss.
- 30. The CMM of claim 28 including:
said mounting location includes a ball mount.
- 31. The CMM of claim 30 including:
an extension having a pair of opposed ends, said extension pivotably mounted at one end on said ball mount; and a computer support mounted on the other end of said extension.
- 32. The CMM of claim 28 including a pair of opposed mounting locations on said base.
- 33. The CMM of claim 32 wherein each of said mounting locations comprise a boss.
- 34. The CMM of claim 32 including:
a ball mount on at least one of said mounting locations.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of provisional application Nos. 60/357,599filed Feb. 14, 2002 and 60/394,908 filed Jul. 10, 2002, all of the contents of both provisional applications being incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60357599 |
Feb 2002 |
US |
|
60394908 |
Jul 2002 |
US |