Gap measuring equipment

Abstract

The invention discloses gap measuring equipment, which comprises a processing part and an extension part, and is characterized in that the extension part is used for extending into a to-be-measured gap area, the extension part comprises a fitting area used for fitting a first side wall of the gap area, and the extension part further comprises a transmitting end and a receiver; the transmitting end is used for emitting a modulated laser beam to the second side wall of the gap area, and the receiver is used for receiving the laser beam reflected by the second side wall; the processing part and the extension part are separately arranged and are connected through a connecting line, a power supply is arranged in the processor, the connecting line is used for supplying power to the extension part and transmitting a signal received by the receiver back to the processing part, and the processing part is used for measuring the phase change generated after the laser beam is reflected and calculating the detection distance. According to the invention, the processing part and the extension part which are of a split structure are arranged, the extension part is attached to one side of the gap, the emergent laser beam is received, and the distance measurement of the gap is realized through the calculation processing of the processing part.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of measuring equipment, and in particular to a gap measuring equipment. Background Art

[0002] Gap measurement is an important operation process in industrial production. For example, in the process of automobile development and manufacturing, the gap measurement of the chassis is directly related to normal dynamic performance, assembly safety, and handling, and it is an important basis for the consistency of vehicle data with design data. However, due to the small gap between some suspension components and the whole vehicle, such as the buffer block and shock absorber of the front shock absorber, the front leaf spring structure and the limit block, etc., the commonly used claws and laser rangefinders in the production process do not have enough operating space, and it is necessary to measure the surrounding structure or part of the gap to obtain the gap distance by difference or accumulation. Not only is the operation process complicated, but the indirect measurement of the gap will lead to error accumulation, which affects the measurement accuracy of the gap distance; and the current laser distance measurement equipment is difficult to adapt and use at the gap position due to its complex structure.

[0003] Therefore, how to improve the accuracy and convenience of gap measurement is a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently by those skilled in the art. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of this, an object of the present invention is to provide a gap measurement device to improve the accuracy and convenience of gap measurement.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

[0006] A gap measurement device comprises a processing part and an extension part, wherein the extension part is used to extend into a gap area to be measured, the extension part comprises a fitting area for fitting a first side wall of the gap area, and the extension part further comprises a transmitting end and a receiver, the transmitting end is used to emit a modulated laser beam to a second side wall of the gap area, and the receiver is used to receive the laser beam reflected by the second side wall;

[0007] The processing unit is separately arranged from the extension part and connected via a connecting line. A power supply is arranged in the processor. The connecting line is used to supply power to the extension part and transmit the signal received by the receiver back to the processing unit. The processing unit is used to measure the phase change of the laser beam after reflection and calculate the detection distance.

[0008] Preferably, in the above-mentioned gap measuring device, the fitting area is a magnet, in a direction perpendicular to the first side wall, the projection of the magnet covers the transmitting end and the receiver, and the extension portion has a uniform thickness.

[0009] Preferably, in the above-mentioned gap measuring device, the transmitting end is a laser transmitting source, and the laser transmitting source is arranged on the extending portion and adjacent to the receiver.

[0010] Preferably, in the above-mentioned gap measuring device, the transmitting end is an optical fiber, a laser transmitter is integrated in the processing part, and the laser is transmitted to the position on the extension part for laser emission through the optical fiber.

[0011] Preferably, in the above-mentioned gap measuring device, the optical fiber and the connecting line are bonded and integrated to form an integrated wiring harness structure.

[0012] Preferably, in the above-mentioned gap measuring device, the connecting line is a flexible line, a placement cavity is provided in the processing part, and the connecting line can be telescopically arranged in the placement cavity.

[0013] Preferably, in the above gap measuring device, the thickness of the extension portion in a direction perpendicular to the first side wall is less than 20 mm, and the effective receiving range of the receiver in a direction perpendicular to the first side wall is 20 mm-300 mm.

[0014] Preferably, in the above gap measuring device, the receiver includes a receiving objective lens with a single-layer structure.

[0015] Preferably, in the above-mentioned gap measuring device, the processing unit includes a mixer, a phase detector, a signal processor and a display, the mixer is used to reduce the frequency of the laser signal, and measure the phase change of the laser beam after reflection through the phase detector; the signal processor calculates the time of the round-trip process of the laser beam through the phase change of the laser beam to calculate the detection distance L, and adds the distance compensation K between the transmitting end and the first side wall, thereby measuring the distance D=L+K of the gap area, and displaying the digital signal on the display.

[0016] Preferably, in the above-mentioned gap measurement device, the signal processor calculates and processes the detection distance L as follows:

[0017] ;

[0018] in:

[0019] is the transmission speed of the laser beam;

[0020] is the frequency of the modulated laser beam;

[0021] is the integer part of the phase period;

[0022] is the fractional part of the phase period.

[0023] It can be seen from the above technical solution that the gap measurement device provided by the present invention mainly includes a processing part, an extension part and a connection line connecting the processing part and the extension part. Specifically, a fitting area is provided on the extension part so as to be able to maintain a fitting state with a side wall of the gap area. At the same time, the extension part also includes a transmitting end and a receiver. The fitting area can keep the position of the extension part in the gap area stable and provide an accurate measurement basis; the transmitting end is used to emit a modulated laser beam, which is received by the receiver after being reflected by the other side wall of the gap area and fed back to the processing part through the connection line. The processing part measures the phase change of the laser beam based on the laser signals of the transmitting end and the receiver, and calculates the detection distance based on this combined with the speed of the laser beam, thereby realizing the measurement of the distance of the gap area. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0025] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of a gap measurement device provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the action of the extension portion between the first side wall and the second side wall;

[0027] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the structure of optical fiber transmitting laser beam.

[0028] Among them, 10-processing unit; 110-laser transmitter; 120-phase detector; 130-signal processor; 140-display; 20-extension part; 210-fitting area; 220-laser emission source; 230-optical fiber; 240-receiver; 30-connecting line; 410-first side wall; 420-second side wall. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The core of the present invention is to disclose a gap measurement device to improve the accuracy and convenience of gap measurement.

[0030] In order to make the technical personnel in this field better understand the scheme of the present invention, the embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, the embodiments shown below do not limit the content of the invention recorded in the claims. In addition, the entire contents of the structures represented by the following embodiments are not limited to those necessary for the solutions of the invention recorded in the claims.

[0031] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the gap measuring device provided by the embodiment of the present invention mainly includes a processing part 10 and an extension part 20 which are separately arranged. The processing part 10 is arranged at a position convenient for operation and observation by an operator, and the extension part 20 is used to extend into the gap area of ​​the spacing to be measured. The processing part 10 and the extension part 20 are connected through a connecting line 30. It should be noted that a power supply is arranged in the processing part 10 to supply power to the extension part 20 through the connecting line 30 which occupies a small space, so as to meet the operation requirements of the extension part 20 and avoid the extension part 20 being provided with a power supply and affecting the structural simplicity of the extension part 20; at the same time, the electrical signal in the extension part 20 can be transmitted back to the processing part 10 through the connecting line 30 for analysis and calculation.

[0032] Specifically, the extension portion 20 includes a fitting area 210, and a gap area with two side wall structures is used for explanation. The fitting area 210 is used to fit the first side wall 410 of the gap area, so that the extension portion 20 can measure the distance to the second side wall 420 based on the first side wall 410; the purpose of setting the fitting area 210 is to enable the extension portion 20 to maintain a fixed position in the gap area, so as to avoid the problem of inaccurate measurement caused by the shaking of the extension portion 20 in the gap area when only connected by a wiring harness, and based on the commonly used gap measurement requirements, the fitting area 210 can be an external magnet, or a magnet structure arranged in a plastic shell, so as to achieve a stable connection effect between the extension portion 20 and the first side wall 410 through the effect of attraction. On this basis, the bonding area 210 on the extension portion 20 is used to be set toward the first side wall 410, and it also includes a transmitter and a receiver 240 for being set toward the second side wall 420, wherein the transmitter is used to emit a modulated laser beam to the second side wall 420, and the receiver 240 is used to receive the laser beam reflected at the position of the second side wall 420.

[0033] It should be noted that modulating a laser beam refers to amplitude modulation of a continuous laser so that the intensity of the modulated light can change periodically over time to allow for the measurement of the phase change that the modulated light undergoes during the round-trip measurement process. Specifically, the intensity of the modulated laser beam changes according to a specific modulation signal, and the modulation signal is mostly a frequency in the radio band. After the modulated light reaches the second side wall 420 and is reflected back, the time from the emission to the return of the laser can be calculated by comparing the phase difference between the echo signal and the transmitted signal, thereby obtaining the distance information. The phase change analysis of the laser beam and the distance calculation are implemented by the processing unit 10.

[0034] Furthermore, on the basis of the above-mentioned embodiments, in the gap measurement device provided in the embodiments of the present invention, the processor includes a mixer, a phase detector 120, a signal processor 130 and a display 140, wherein the mixer is used to mix the emitted modulated laser signal with the echo signal reflected from the second side wall 420, and convert the high-frequency carrier signal into a lower frequency signal to facilitate subsequent phase detection and processing, thereby reducing the difficulty of phase resolution and improving the phase resolution accuracy; and then the phase difference between the modulated laser signal and the echo signal is measured by the phase detector 120.

[0035] After the mixer and the phase detector 120 act, the signal processor 130 receives the phase difference signal, and performs digital correlation operation on the collected signal through a digital signal processing chip, such as FPGA (field programmable gate array) or DSP (digital signal processor 130), to calculate the time of the round trip of the laser beam, and calculate the detection distance L in combination with the speed of the laser beam. It should be noted that L here is the distance between the emission and receiving planes of the extension part 20 relative to the second side wall 420, so the signal processor 130 needs to increase the distance compensation K between the transmitting end and the first side wall 410, and then calculate the distance D=L+K of the gap area. At the same time, the signal processor 130 is also connected to the display 140 in communication, so that the calculated distance D of the gap area can be directly displayed on the display 140 for the operator to read.

[0036] Based on the above embodiment, the signal processor 130 calculates the detection distance L by the following calculation:

[0037] ;

[0038] in, is the transmission speed of the laser beam; is the frequency of the modulated laser beam; is the integer part of the phase period; is the fractional part of the phase period; that is, by receiving the frequency and phase difference information of the laser beam, the detection distance L can be measured in combination with the transmission speed.

[0039] Further, in some embodiments of the present invention, the bonding area 210 is a magnet so as to conveniently realize the bonding setting of the first side wall 410, and it should be noted that the bonding area 210 can be a common magnet, so that it can be located at the position for measurement on the first side wall 410 through the guidance adjustment of the operator; similarly. The bonding area 210 can also be an electromagnet, which can be pulled by the operator to pull the connecting line 30 for position adjustment, and then the electromagnet is energized by connecting the circuit to realize the suction and fixation on the first side wall 410. At the same time, in order to ensure that the setting of the bonding part can improve the measurement accuracy of the gap measurement device, in the direction perpendicular to the first side wall 410, the projection of the magnet covers the transmitter and the receiver 240, so that the transmitter and the receiver 240 are both within the suction range of the magnet, so that the suction support effect of the magnet can act on the transmitter and the receiver 240 at the same time, thereby reducing the risk of relative deflection of the transmitter and the receiver 240 and improving the receiving accuracy of the laser beam. Furthermore, the extension portion 20 has a uniform thickness in a direction perpendicular to the first side wall 410, which can also improve the stability of the relative position of the transmitter and the receiver 240 after the magnets are attracted, so that the transmitter and the receiver 240 are located in the same plane parallel to the second side wall 420, so that the laser beam can be stably received.

[0040] In order to further optimize the above technical solution, Figure 1 As shown, in the gap measurement device provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the transmitting end can be a laser emission source 220, and the laser emission source 220 is arranged at the position of the extension part 20, that is, the laser emission source 220 is located between the first side wall 410 and the second side wall 420 when in use. At the same time, the laser emission source 220 is arranged adjacent to the receiver 240 to improve the accuracy of laser beam emission and reception; the laser emission source 220 arranged in the extension part 20 can be calibrated for flatness with the receiver 240 during the production process, so that the two can transmit and receive on the same plane during the measurement work, thereby improving the accuracy of the gap measurement process. And as Figure 3 As shown, in other embodiments of the present invention, the transmitting end is an optical fiber 230. At the same time, a laser transmitter 110 is integrated in the processing unit 10. The modulated laser beam emitted by the laser transmitter 110 is transmitted through the optical fiber 230 and reaches the transmitting end on the extension unit 20 for laser emission. It can also cooperate with the receiver 240 to realize effective emission and reception of the laser beam.

[0041] It should be noted that when the transmitting end is an optical fiber 230, the laser transmitter 110 is integrated in the processing unit 10 to reduce the structural complexity of the extension part 20 area, thereby reducing the volume of the extension part 20 and the difficulty of structural design of the extension part 20, so that it can enter a narrower gap to measure the distance. However, since the reflected laser signal needs to be received in time and the optical fiber 230 structure is difficult to effectively receive the reflected laser beam, the receiver 240 still needs to be set at the position of the extension part 20. At the same time, for the structure using the optical fiber 230 as the transmitting end, when the processing unit 10 performs distance measurement, it needs to combine the transmission rate of the laser beam in the optical fiber 230, calculate the distance that the laser beam is transmitted in the optical fiber 230, and subtract the corresponding distance during the measurement to complete the measurement.

[0042] Based on the above embodiment, the optical fiber 230 is preferably arranged in close contact with the connecting line 30 and integrated into an integrated wiring harness structure to avoid too many independent lines affecting the smooth use of the gap measurement equipment. At the same time, the integrated structure of the optical fiber 230 and the connecting line 30 has a larger outer diameter, which has stronger safety and can bear a certain force, so that the operator can drive the extension part 20 to move its position within the gap through the integrated wiring harness to meet the position setting requirements of the extension part 20.

[0043] In order to measure the gap area under different working conditions, in some embodiments of the present invention, the connecting line 30 is a flexible line, which can be bent and twisted to adapt to complex gap areas; at the same time, at least one of the processing part 10 and the extension part 20 is provided with a placement cavity, and the placement cavity is preferably provided in the processing part 10 to reduce the space occupied by the extension part 20 due to the structural setting; at the same time, the connecting line 30 is telescopically arranged in the placement cavity to form an extension and retraction structure similar to a tape measure, so that the extension part 20 can adjust its distance relative to the processing part 10 through the connecting line 30 to meet the measurement requirements of different gap areas, and the retractable connecting line 30 can also recycle excess connecting lines 30 according to the measurement requirements to avoid the influence of the redundancy of the connecting line 30 on the measurement operation.

[0044] Furthermore, in the gap measurement device provided in the embodiment of the present invention, unlike the receiving device in the prior art that sets multiple groups of lenses for receiving laser beams, the receiver 240 in this embodiment is used for small gap measurement, and it only includes a receiving objective lens with a single-layer structure to reduce the structural occupancy of the extension part 20, so that the extension part 20 is more compact and convenient, and can be applied to smaller gap measurement requirements. At the same time, in order to avoid the laser beam path being too long and the reflected beam being too weak, which is difficult to be received by the receiving objective lens with a single-layer structure, in some embodiments of the present invention, the effective receiving range of the receiver 240 in the direction perpendicular to the first side wall 410 is 20mm-300mm, that is, the gap measurement device is used to effectively measure the gap area within the range of 20mm-300mm; in addition, the thickness of the extension part 20 in the direction perpendicular to the first side wall 410 is less than 20mm, so that it can be smoothly placed in the gap area to be measured.

[0045] The terms "first", "second", "left side" and "right side" in the specification and claims of the present invention and the above drawings are used to distinguish different objects rather than to describe a specific order. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product or device including a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but may include steps or units that are not listed.

[0046] The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables one skilled in the art to implement or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be apparent to one skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention will not be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but rather to the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A gap measuring device, characterized in that: The device comprises a processing portion and an extending portion, wherein the extending portion is used to extend into a gap region to be measured, the extending portion comprises a fitting area for fitting a first side wall of the gap region, and the extending portion further comprises a transmitting end and a receiver, the transmitting end is used to emit a modulated laser beam to a second side wall of the gap region, and the receiver is used to receive a laser beam reflected by the second side wall; The processing unit is separately arranged from the extension part and connected via a connecting line. A power supply is arranged in the processor. The connecting line is used to supply power to the extension part and transmit the signal received by the receiver back to the processing unit. The processing unit is used to measure the phase change of the laser beam after reflection and calculate the detection distance.

2. The gap measuring device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The fitting area is a magnet, and in a direction perpendicular to the first side wall, a projection of the magnet covers the transmitting end and the receiver, and the extension portion has a uniform thickness.

3. The gap measuring device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The transmitting end is a laser transmitting source, and the laser transmitting source is arranged on the extending portion and adjacent to the receiver.

4. The gap measuring device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The transmitting end is an optical fiber, and a laser transmitter is integrated in the processing part, and the laser is transmitted to the position on the extension part for laser emission through the optical fiber.

5. The gap measuring device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The optical fiber and the connecting line are bonded and integrated to form an integrated wiring harness structure.

6. The gap measuring device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The connecting line is a flexible line, and a placement cavity is provided in the processing part. The connecting line can be telescopically arranged in the placement cavity.

7. The gap measuring device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The thickness of the extension portion in a direction perpendicular to the first side wall is less than 20 mm, and the effective receiving range of the receiver in a direction perpendicular to the first side wall is 20 mm-300 mm.

8. The gap measuring device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The receiver includes a receiving objective lens of a single-layer structure.

9. The gap measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The processing unit includes a mixer, a phase detector, a signal processor and a display. The mixer is used to reduce the frequency of the laser signal and measure the phase change of the laser beam after reflection through the phase detector; the signal processor calculates the time of the round trip of the laser beam through the phase change of the laser beam to calculate the detection distance L, and adds a distance compensation K between the transmitting end and the first side wall, thereby measuring the distance D=L+K of the gap area and displaying the digital signal on the display.

10. The gap measuring device according to claim 9, characterized in that: The signal processor specifically calculates the detection distance L as follows: ; in: is the transmission speed of the laser beam; is the frequency of the modulated laser beam; is the integer part of the phase period; is the fractional part of the phase period.

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