Digital display vernier caliper

Abstract

The digital display vernier caliper comprises a vernier caliper mechanical body, a capacitive grating sensor, a control circuit and a WIFI communication module, the vernier caliper mechanical body comprises a main scale and an auxiliary scale, the capacitive grating sensor is installed on the main scale and the auxiliary scale, and the capacitive grating sensor, the control circuit and the WIFI communication module are sequentially connected. The capacitive grating sensor measures the sliding distance of the auxiliary ruler relative to the main ruler to obtain size data of the object to be measured and transmits the size data to the control circuit, so that the control circuit controls the WIFI communication module to send the measured size data to external equipment in a wireless mode. The digital display vernier caliper has a wireless communication function and can realize association of a plurality of measurement data.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of vernier caliper technology, and in particular to a digital vernier caliper. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, digital display vernier calipers have been developed, which can directly read measurement results from the screen, eliminating the need for traditional reading methods. They are easy to use and have been widely adopted.

[0003] With the development of electronic, computer, and communication technologies, Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) technology has become very mature and its security has been greatly improved. It is now widely used and has become a basic feature of electronic products such as laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. However, current digital display vernier calipers do not have wireless capabilities and cannot transmit measurement data wirelessly to the measurement system.

[0004] Furthermore, while traditional digital vernier calipers can conveniently measure data and automate and digitize data reading without requiring traditional vernier caliper reading skills, simplifying their use and lowering the barrier to entry, effectively reducing the demands on technicians, the measured data are isolated and cannot effectively correlate multiple data points. Utility Model Content

[0005] The present invention aims to at least partially solve the technical problems in related technologies. Therefore, the purpose of this invention is to provide a digital vernier caliper with wireless communication capabilities and the ability to correlate multiple measurement data.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, this utility model is implemented through the following technical solution:

[0007] A digital vernier caliper includes a vernier caliper mechanical body, a capacitive grating sensor, a control circuit, and a WIFI communication module. The vernier caliper mechanical body includes a main scale and a secondary scale. The capacitive grating sensor is installed on the main scale and the secondary scale. The capacitive grating sensor, the control circuit, and the WIFI communication module are connected in sequence. The capacitive grating sensor measures the sliding distance of the secondary scale relative to the main scale to obtain the size data of the object to be measured, and transmits it to the control circuit so that the control circuit controls the WIFI communication module to send the measured size data to an external device wirelessly.

[0008] Preferably, the digital vernier caliper further includes a serial communication module, which is connected to the control circuit and the host computer respectively. The host computer interacts with the control circuit through the serial communication module to realize the function customization of the digital vernier caliper, so as to realize the correlation of multiple measurement data.

[0009] Preferably, the digital vernier caliper also includes an LCD screen connected to the control circuit for displaying measurement data.

[0010] Preferably, the digital vernier caliper further includes a button circuit connected to the control circuit for button control of the control circuit.

[0011] Preferably, the serial communication module is a USB-to-serial circuit, one end of which is connected to the host computer via a USB interface, and the other end of which is connected to the control circuit via a serial port.

[0012] Preferably, the digital vernier caliper also includes a power module for supplying power to the digital vernier caliper.

[0013] Preferably, the power module includes:

[0014] Lithium-ion batteries;

[0015] The system includes a voltage conversion circuit and a charging circuit. The charging circuit is connected to the charging terminal of the lithium-ion battery. The output terminal of the lithium-ion battery is connected to the input terminal of the voltage conversion circuit. The output terminal of the voltage conversion circuit is connected to the power supply terminal of the control circuit. The charging circuit uses a BQ2057 chip to implement the charging function.

[0016] Preferably, the digital display vernier caliper is also communicatively connected to a mobile device, which serves as the control terminal, so as to communicate and interact with the mobile device.

[0017] Preferably, when there is one digital display vernier caliper and one control terminal, the digital display vernier caliper acts as a wireless node and the control terminal acts as a terminal device, and the two are connected point-to-point.

[0018] When there are multiple digital vernier calipers and one control terminal, the control terminal acts as a wireless node, and the multiple digital vernier calipers act as terminal devices and are all connected to the control terminal.

[0019] Preferably, when there are multiple digital display vernier calipers and multiple control terminals, the multiple digital display vernier calipers and multiple control terminals are all connected as terminal devices through a router, and the router is a wireless node.

[0020] This utility model has at least the following technical effects:

[0021] This invention combines WIFI technology with a digital vernier caliper, enabling both convenient data acquisition and wireless data transmission. Furthermore, this digital vernier caliper is equipped with a serial communication module, which facilitates communication between the caliper and a host computer. This allows for customized functions and the association of multiple measurement data sets. Additionally, this digital vernier caliper can connect to external mobile devices, enabling communication and interaction between one or more digital vernier calipers and one or more mobile devices.

[0022] Additional aspects and advantages of this invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. Attached Figure Description

[0023] Figure 1 This is a structural block diagram of a digital vernier caliper according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the control circuit in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a USB to serial port circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the charging circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of all the display marks on the liquid crystal display screen according to an embodiment of the present utility model.

[0028] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example of a liquid crystal display screen according to an embodiment of the present utility model.

[0029] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram showing the connection between the digital display vernier caliper and the first embodiment of the mobile device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram showing the connection between the digital display vernier caliper and the second embodiment of the mobile device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0031] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram showing the connection between the digital display vernier caliper and the third embodiment of the mobile device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0032] The following describes this embodiment in detail. Examples of the embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and intended to explain the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

[0033] The digital vernier caliper of this embodiment is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0034] Figure 1 This is a structural block diagram of a digital vernier caliper according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 As shown, the digital vernier caliper includes a vernier caliper mechanical body, a capacitive sensor, a control circuit, and a WIFI communication module. The vernier caliper mechanical body includes a main scale and a vernier scale. The capacitive sensor is installed on the main scale and the vernier scale. The capacitive sensor, the control circuit, and the WIFI communication module are connected in sequence. The capacitive sensor measures the sliding distance of the vernier scale relative to the main scale to obtain the size data of the object to be measured, and transmits it to the control circuit so that the control circuit can control the WIFI communication module to send the measured size data to an external device wirelessly.

[0035] Furthermore, the digital vernier caliper also includes a serial communication module, which is connected to both the control circuit and the host computer. The host computer interacts with the control circuit through the serial communication module to enable customized functions of the digital vernier caliper, allowing for the correlation of multiple measurement data. The digital vernier caliper also includes an LCD screen and a button circuit, both connected to the control circuit. The LCD screen displays measurement data, and the button circuit controls the control circuit. The digital vernier caliper also includes a power module to supply power to the caliper.

[0036] Specifically, the vernier caliper's mechanical body uses a general-purpose vernier caliper structure, including a main scale and a secondary scale, and can be used to measure inner diameter, outer diameter, and depth. The capacitive grating sensor is a general-purpose capacitive grating sensor used to measure the sliding distance of the vernier caliper's mechanical body. It is installed on the main and secondary scales of the vernier caliper's mechanical body, and its installation method is the same as that of commonly used digital display vernier calipers. The serial communication module is used by the host computer to exchange data with the control circuit via a wired connection, enabling multi-functional customization, and is also used for program debugging and system upgrades of the control circuit. The WIFI communication module is used for wireless data exchange with the control circuit, mainly for uploading measurement data. The LCD screen displays the current measurement value of the digital display vernier caliper, the name code of the current measurement value, and the working status of the vernier caliper. The button circuit is used to input commands such as power on / off, metric / imperial switching, data zeroing, and sending data via the WIFI communication module. The control circuit is as follows... Figure 2As shown, the microcontroller is based on the STC15F2K60S2-LQFP44 model. Its pins 20 and 21, i.e., ybkc_D and ybkc_C (TP1 and TP2 terminals), are used to acquire the signal output of the capacitive grating sensor. The output of the capacitive grating sensor is then decoded, and the measurement results of the digital vernier caliper are displayed on the LCD screen. The microcontroller also acquires commands from the button circuit, serial communication module, and WIFI communication module and executes corresponding operations, and acquires lithium battery voltage, etc. Pins 4, 5, and 10 of the microcontroller are connected to the WIFI communication module to implement WIFI wireless functionality.

[0037] In this embodiment, the power supply of the serial communication module is provided by the 5V power supply built into the USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface, and is connected through the USB interface (connector). It adopts a USB to serial port circuit based on the CH340 chip.

[0038] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a USB-to-serial converter circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the serial communication module is a USB-to-serial converter circuit. Pins 5 and 6 of the CH340 chip in the USB-to-serial converter circuit are connected to the host computer, and pins 2 and 3 of the CH340 chip in the USB-to-serial converter circuit are used as serial ports connected to the control circuit. In this embodiment, the serial communication module, as described above, mainly realizes multi-functional customization and is also used for program debugging and system upgrades of the control circuit. Among them, multi-functional customization can realize the correlation of multiple measurement data.

[0039] For example, when measuring the length, width, and height of an object, traditional methods involve manually measuring and recording each dimension separately. In this embodiment, a custom length, width, and height measurement program and its associated number can be defined on a host computer. This program is then sent to the control circuit via a serial communication module. The control circuit sequentially measures the length, width, and height of the object and uploads the measurement results and their corresponding numbers to the host computer. The host computer automatically and accurately records the length, width, and height, thus achieving automatic association of multiple measurement data for the object. More specifically, for example, when measuring the three-dimensional data of an object, the host computer can automatically map and record the object's three-dimensional data along with its length, width, and height, thereby achieving automatic association of the object's measurement data. Of course, this is just one example; it can also automatically measure and record inner diameter, outer diameter, and depth.

[0040] Furthermore, the power module includes a lithium-ion battery, a voltage conversion circuit, and a charging circuit. The charging circuit is connected to the charging terminal of the lithium-ion battery, the output terminal of the lithium-ion battery is connected to the input terminal of the voltage conversion circuit, and the output terminal of the voltage conversion circuit is connected to the power supply terminal of the control circuit. The charging circuit uses a BQ2057 chip to implement the charging function.

[0041] This digital vernier caliper uses a rechargeable secondary lithium-ion battery, is powered by USB, and the charging circuit is based on the BQ2057 chip. Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the charging circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 As shown, it can convert 5V_USB voltage to BAT+, the battery charging voltage, to charge the lithium-ion battery. BAT+ can also be further converted to 3.3V voltage through a voltage conversion circuit to power the control circuit.

[0042] Optionally, most commercially available digital vernier calipers use conductive rubber for the buttons, screen, and motherboard connections to save space and facilitate installation. This presents significant problems in equipment maintenance, such as in mechanical repair where equipment and parts are often heavily contaminated with oil, easily forming an oil film on the conductive rubber and hindering operation. Therefore, this embodiment designs a digital vernier caliper where all electrically connected parts are directly welded together to reduce the impact of oil contamination and improve oil resistance.

[0043] The following describes the digital vernier caliper from the following aspects: digital display and button operation, digital vernier caliper commands, casing, and digital vernier caliper data acquisition terminal.

[0044] I. Digital Display and Keypad Operation

[0045] (1) Digital display section

[0046] This digital vernier caliper uses an LCD screen as its display device. Figure 5 The display shows the content that the LCD screen can display. This digital vernier caliper has two basic operating modes: TEST mode and working mode.

[0047] When the TEST indicator is lit, the digital display vernier caliper is in TEST mode. The numbers below the LCD screen are not affected by the caliper's movement and are used for screen testing.

[0048] When TEST is off, the digital display vernier caliper is in normal working condition.

[0049] When the PROGRAM indicator is lit, the WIFI communication module can be programmed via the USB serial port. This will not be explained in detail here. Under normal working conditions (default), this indicator should generally be off.

[0050] The POWERON logo indicates whether the system is charging; a lit logo indicates that it is charging.

[0051] The VOICE symbol indicates whether the automatic shutdown function is disabled; when lit, it means that automatic shutdown is disabled.

[0052] The ALARM symbol indicates a low battery level, meaning the battery is low.

[0053] The OPERATE flag indicates whether the WIFI communication module is enabled; a value indicates that it is enabled.

[0054] The following table shows the meaning of the numbers below in non-TEST mode (working mode). The rightmost character is defined as D1, and the leftmost character as D12. Table 1 shows the meaning of each data point.

[0055] Table 1: Illustration of Each Number

[0056]

[0057] Figure 6 An example of a display screen is given: The digital vernier caliper is currently in a low voltage state, charging, and WIFI is on; the current sampling data channel is 0102, and the current data is in metric (meters), 12.34mm.

[0058] (2) Button operation

[0059] By operating the buttons, you can perform standard functions such as switching between metric and imperial units, zeroing, and powering off the digital vernier caliper. It can also automatically transmit data via Wi-Fi.

[0060] II. Digital Vernier Caliper Commands

[0061] This digital vernier caliper transmits commands via Wi-Fi using binary data, specifically including downlink commands (transmitted commands) and uplink data (return data). The specific format is as follows, where the downlink command format is:

[0062] ZZ-YY-XX-CMD-F0 (all are hexadecimal numbers)

[0063] The returned data format is:

[0064] F0-CMD-xx-yy-……-zz-FF.

[0065] If you only need to collect data from a digital vernier caliper, you only need to use the FA command. The following is a simple example demonstrating how to use this command; collecting one data point typically requires three steps.

[0066] (1) Tell the collector to collect the data with number 0102: use the downlink command "02-01-FA-F0" (it will return an invalid length data, just ignore it), or the downlink command "02-91-FA-F0".

[0067] (2) The collector completes the measurement of the data.

[0068] (3) Measurement results can be obtained in the following two ways:

[0069] Obtain the results using the command: "02-01-FA-F0";

[0070] Send automatically by pressing the send button.

[0071] In this example, steps (1) and (3) can be superimposed using pipeline technology, so that only two steps are needed to collect one data point.

[0072] III. Outer shell

[0073] (1) Shell design

[0074] The design of the external shape mainly focuses on the housing, which houses components such as circuit boards, batteries, and interfaces. The main problem the design addresses is to rationally arrange the various components within a compact space, while considering the impact of fastening forces on measurement accuracy and component deformation, ultimately achieving the overall installation of the digital vernier caliper.

[0075] The designed casing mainly includes the main casing, battery cover, interface cover, button cover, LCD screen cover, and buttons.

[0076] (2) Selection of shell material and processing method

[0077] The primary function of a caliper housing is integration and assembly, so there are no special requirements for the strength and hardness of the material; plastic is the preferred choice. This housing is made of ABS (thermoplastic composite), a high-strength, tough, and easily processed polymer material. Furthermore, its excellent wear resistance, impact resistance, heat and low-temperature resistance, chemical resistance, and electrical properties perfectly match the material performance requirements of a caliper housing.

[0078] The most common processing method for this type of casing is injection molding, but this requires the design of specialized molds, which is not suitable for this example. Current 3D printing technology can meet the requirements, so all parts of the casing are 3D printed, while screws and other components are made from standard parts.

[0079] Based on the above method, the digital vernier caliper designed in this embodiment has a similar appearance to the traditional digital vernier caliper and is compatible with the usage methods of the traditional digital vernier caliper, so it can be used as a regular vernier caliper. If used with a corresponding (vernier caliper) control terminal, it can realize operations such as data aggregation, storage, and analysis.

[0080] IV. Digital Vernier Caliper Data Acquisition Terminal

[0081] In this embodiment, the digital vernier caliper is also communicatively connected to a mobile device, which serves as the control terminal, to facilitate communication and interaction. Specifically, when there is one digital vernier caliper and one control terminal, the digital vernier caliper acts as a wireless node, and the control terminal acts as a terminal device, with a point-to-point connection between them. When there are multiple digital vernier calipers and one control terminal, the control terminal acts as a wireless node, and the multiple digital vernier calipers act as terminal devices, all connected to the control terminal. When there are multiple digital vernier calipers and multiple control terminals, the multiple digital vernier calipers and multiple control terminals all act as terminal devices connected via a router, with the router acting as a wireless node.

[0082] The data acquisition terminal for digital display vernier calipers is implemented as follows:

[0083] (1) Control terminal

[0084] In this embodiment, an application on a mobile device is used as the control terminal (hereinafter referred to as the control terminal) of the digital vernier caliper. The mobile device application and the digital vernier caliper form a local area network, and the interaction process between them is as follows:

[0085] 1) Establish a Wi-Fi connection between the mobile device application and the digital vernier caliper.

[0086] 2) The mobile device application waits in the background for the digital vernier caliper to return the measurement data.

[0087] 3) After measuring the data with the digital vernier caliper, press the send button to return the measurement value to the mobile device application.

[0088] 4) After the mobile device application obtains the data, it displays the data in the corresponding text box.

[0089] 5) Repeat process 3) 4).

[0090] 6) Exit the mobile application and disconnect the WIFI connection with the digital vernier caliper.

[0091] The above interaction scenario is suitable for continuous batch measurements (i.e., multi-data association). Mobile applications can also support measuring individual geometric quantities. In this case, the mobile application needs to actively send the number of the individual geometric quantity. After the digital vernier caliper obtains this number, it will return the corresponding number and measurement value. This type of scenario is used when a significant error is found in a certain item after batch measurements, requiring remeasurement.

[0092] (2) Local Area Network Acquisition System

[0093] Within a local area network, digital vernier calipers can be connected to the control terminal in the following three ways.

[0094] 1) A digital vernier caliper can be used as a wireless access point (AP), and the control terminal can be used as a terminal device (STA) to achieve point-to-point connection of digital vernier calipers, such as... Figure 7 As shown.

[0095] 2) The control terminal acts as the AP (Action Point), and the digital display vernier caliper acts as the STA (Station Point), enabling the connection between one control terminal and multiple digital display vernier calipers, such as... Figure 8 As shown.

[0096] 3) The router acts as an access point (AP), while the digital vernier caliper and control terminal both act as control stations (STAs), enabling connections between multiple control terminals and multiple digital vernier calipers, such as... Figure 9 As shown.

[0097] In summary, this invention combines WIFI technology with a digital vernier caliper, enabling both convenient data acquisition and wireless data transmission. Furthermore, this digital vernier caliper is equipped with a serial communication module, which facilitates communication between the caliper and a host computer. This allows for customized functions and the association of multiple measurement data sets. Additionally, this digital vernier caliper can connect to external mobile devices, enabling communication and interaction between one or more digital vernier calipers and one or more mobile devices.

[0098] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0099] Although the present invention has been described in detail through the above preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the above description should not be considered as a limitation of the present invention. Various modifications and substitutions to the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art after reading the above content. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A digital vernier caliper, characterized in that, The device includes a vernier caliper mechanical body, a capacitive grating sensor, a control circuit, and a WIFI communication module. The vernier caliper mechanical body includes a main scale and a secondary scale. The capacitive grating sensor is installed on the main scale and the secondary scale. The capacitive grating sensor, the control circuit, and the WIFI communication module are connected in sequence. The capacitive grating sensor measures the sliding distance of the secondary scale relative to the main scale to obtain the size data of the object to be measured, and transmits it to the control circuit so that the control circuit can control the WIFI communication module to send the measured size data to an external device wirelessly. The digital vernier caliper also includes: The serial communication module is connected to both the control circuit and the host computer. The host computer communicates with the control circuit through the serial communication module to realize the customizable functions of the digital display vernier caliper, so as to achieve the correlation of multiple measurement data. An LCD screen, connected to the control circuit, is used to display measurement data; A button circuit, connected to the control circuit, is used to control the control circuit via buttons; The digital vernier caliper is also connected to a mobile device, which serves as the control terminal, to enable communication and interaction with the mobile device. When there is one digital display vernier caliper and one control terminal, the digital display vernier caliper acts as a wireless node and the control terminal acts as a terminal device, and the two are connected point-to-point. When there are multiple digital vernier calipers and one control terminal, the control terminal acts as a wireless node, and the multiple digital vernier calipers act as terminal devices and are all connected to the control terminal. When there are multiple digital vernier calipers and multiple control terminals, the multiple digital vernier calipers and multiple control terminals are all connected as terminal devices through a router, which is a wireless node. The control circuit uses an STC15F2K60S2-LQFP44 microcontroller as its core. Pins 20 and 21 are used to acquire the signal output of the capacitive grating sensor, decode the signal output of the capacitive grating sensor, and display the measured size data on the LCD screen. The microcontroller also acquires commands from the button circuit, serial communication module, and WIFI communication module and executes the corresponding operations. Pins 4, 5, and 10 of the microcontroller are connected to the WIFI communication module to realize WIFI wireless function.

2. The digital vernier caliper as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The serial communication module is a USB-to-serial circuit. One end of the USB-to-serial circuit is connected to the host computer via a USB interface, and the other end of the USB-to-serial circuit is connected to the control circuit via a serial port.

3. The digital vernier caliper as described in claim 1, characterized in that, Also includes: The power module is used to supply power to the digital display vernier caliper.

4. The digital vernier caliper as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The power module includes: Lithium-ion batteries; The system includes a voltage conversion circuit and a charging circuit. The charging circuit is connected to the charging terminal of the lithium-ion battery. The output terminal of the lithium-ion battery is connected to the input terminal of the voltage conversion circuit. The output terminal of the voltage conversion circuit is connected to the power supply terminal of the control circuit. The charging circuit uses a BQ2057 chip to implement the charging function.

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