AUTOMATED TOOL MEASUREMENT

摘要

In an apparatus for the automated measurement of a tool on a grinding machine or other machine tool having a coordinate carriage enabling the tool to be adjusted in two dimensions in a common plane, the carriage bears an imaging camera connected to an image processing computer and directed at the tool cutting-edge. The camera has a planar array with computed crosshairs stored as an associated reference system in the image processing computer, and the carriage is equipped with motors controlled by the image processing computer to adjust the carriage in both coordinate directions. The image processing computer operates under control of a program which constantly ascertains the distances of the cutting-edge from the coordinate axes of the crosshairs and outputs pulses to the motors to move the carriage until, in a new tool position, the deviations in the X and Z directions are nulled and hence the tool has been accurately measured. The image processing computer is connected through an interface to a digital counter displaying the toll cutting-edge's coordinate values X, Z in relation to the tool holder.