One-dimensional measuring machine and its control program

Abstract

To provide a measuring instrument having improved usability and capable of reducing inspection time.SOLUTION: A one-dimensional measuring instrument measures a one-dimensional dimension of a measurement object. The one-dimensional measuring instrument includes: an input unit that has at least one display switching button; a storage unit that stores display switching setting information that specifies a display content to be displayed when the display switching button is pressed; a measuring unit that measures a one-dimensional dimension of the measurement object; a display unit that displays one or more measurement results obtained from measurement by the measurement unit, in a tabular form; and a control unit that controls the measurement unit and the display unit. When the display switching button is pressed, the control unit narrows down measurement results to be included in a measurement result list that the display unit is caused to display on the basis of, the display switching setting information stored in the storage unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a one-dimensional measuring machine such as a height gauge for measuring the height of an object. [Background technology]

[0002] One-dimensional measuring machines that measure the one-dimensional dimension (i.e., the length between two points) of a measurement object are known. A height gauge that measures the height of an object placed on the surface of a surface plate is a type of one-dimensional measuring machine, and includes a base that is placed movably along the surface of the surface plate, a support that is erected on the base, a slider that is vertically movable along the support and has a measuring element, and a displacement sensor that detects the amount of displacement of the slider in the height direction.

[0003] In addition to measuring the height of the top and bottom surfaces of an object to be measured, a height gauge can also measure the maximum height position, minimum height position and the difference between these on the top and bottom surfaces, the diameter and center position of a circular hole or shaft, etc. Such various measurements can be easily performed by the user (operator) by operating an operation interface provided on the measuring machine to select and execute the desired measurement, or by preparing a part program that defines the measurement procedure and executing the part program to execute an automatic measurement (program measurement). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 4009379 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In the field where height gauges are used, there are often situations where multiple measurement points on a measurement object are measured, or multiple types of measurement items are measured. A specific example of this is a situation where the center coordinates Z (Z1 to Z3) and diameter dimensions D (D1 to D3) of holes C1 to C3 in the measurement direction (height direction) of a measurement object W having a shape shown in Figure 7 are measured for each of the multiple measurement objects W. Alternatively, instead of / in addition to the center coordinates Z and diameter dimensions D of the holes C1 to C3, the displacement ΔZ (ΔZ12, ΔZ23) between the center coordinates of the holes may be the measurement item.

[0006] When a measurement is performed with a height gauge using center coordinate Z and diameter dimension D as measurement items, the measurement results are displayed as a measurement result list in which diameter dimension D and center coordinate Z are arranged in the order in which they were measured, as shown in Fig. 8(a), for example. When a measurement is performed with a height gauge using the displacement ΔZ between the center coordinates Z of holes in addition to center coordinate Z and diameter dimension D as measurement items, the measurement results are displayed as a measurement result list in which diameter dimension D, center coordinate Z, and displacement ΔZ between the center coordinates are arranged in the order in which they were measured, as shown in Fig. 8(b), for example.

[0007] As shown in these display examples, the measurement results are displayed on the height gauge display as a list of measurements that contains a mixture of measurements for multiple measurement items, so the user must work carefully to find the measurement result of the measurement item they are interested in from the list of measurement results. As a result, when repeating measurements while checking the measurements, it takes time because the measurements cannot be seen at a glance, and there is a risk of misreading the measurements.

[0008] Furthermore, in situations where one wants to check at a glance not only a specific measurement item but also the results of a pass / fail judgment (pass / fail) of whether or not the measurement value falls within a specified tolerance range, for example, measurement results that have failed, it is not easy to quickly and thoroughly find the results one wants to see (for example, failed measurement results that are sparsely present in the measurement result list) in a display format in which many measurement values ​​are displayed in the order of measurement.

[0009] The present invention aims to provide a measuring instrument that improves usability and shortens inspection time by presenting the user with a display switching section for a measurement result list that enables the user to check at a glance only common measurement results (e.g., measurement results with common measurement items, measurement results with common pass / fail judgment results, measurement results falling within a specified numerical range, etc.). [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] A one-dimensional measuring machine according to an embodiment of the present invention measures a one-dimensional dimension of a measurement object. The one-dimensional measuring machine includes an input unit including at least one display switching button, a storage unit that stores display switching setting information that specifies the display content to be displayed when the display switching button is pressed, a measurement unit that measures a one-dimensional dimension of the measurement object, a display unit that displays one or more measurement results obtained by the measurement unit as a measurement result list in a table format, and a control unit that controls the measurement unit and the display unit. The control unit is characterized in that, in response to pressing the display switching button, it narrows down the measurement results to be included in the measurement result list to be displayed on the display unit based on the display switching setting information stored in the storage unit. In the present invention, it is preferable that the display switching setting information is configured to be changeable by the user.

[0011] The one-dimensional measuring machine according to the present invention includes a base that is movably mounted along a surface of a surface plate; The height gauge may include a support pillar erected on a base, a slider that is movable up and down along the support pillar and has a measuring element, and a displacement sensor that detects the amount of displacement of the slider in the height direction.

[0012] A program according to one aspect of the present invention causes a computer to function as a control unit in any one of the one-dimensional measuring machines described above. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view illustrating a height gauge according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the height gauge according to the embodiment. [Diagram 3] 1 is a flowchart showing a basic measurement procedure using a height gauge. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a display of a measurement result list in the height gauge according to the embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a transition diagram of a measurement result list in the height gauge according to the embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a transition diagram of a measurement result list according to a modified example. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a measurement target together with measurement items. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a display of a measurement result list in a conventional height gauge. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same members are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description of members that have already been described will be omitted as appropriate.

[0015] Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a height gauge according to a first embodiment, and Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the height gauge according to this embodiment.

[0016] The height gauge 1 according to this embodiment is a measuring instrument that measures the height of an object placed on a surface plate 10. The height gauge 1 includes a base 11 that is placed movably along a surface plate 10a of the surface plate 10, a support 12 erected on the base 11, a slider 14 that is provided along the support 12 so as to be able to rise and fall and has a measuring probe 13, a displacement sensor 15 that detects the amount of displacement of the slider 14 in the height direction, a memory unit 20, and a control unit 19. The slider 14 may be configured to be driven by a motor or the like to rise and fall under the control of the control unit 19.

[0017] In addition, a grip section 18 is provided on the back side of the support 12 on the base 11. A display section 16 such as a rotatable LCD and an input section 17 are provided on the upper surface of this grip section 18. The input section 17 is provided with various operation buttons, such as numeric buttons (ten-key pad) for inputting numbers, alphabet buttons for inputting alphabets, measurement buttons for each type of measurement, a display switching button, etc.

[0018] The input unit 17 may be realized not by physical buttons but by a touch panel superimposed on the display unit 16. A pattern simulating each operation button may be displayed on the display unit 16, and when contact with the position of the pattern is detected by the touch panel, it may be treated as pressing the button of the pattern. The input unit 17 may also be realized by combining physical buttons and a touch panel. For example, some buttons may be permanently provided as physical buttons, and other buttons may be made available only when necessary by a touch panel combined with the display unit 16. In this embodiment, a configuration in which the display switching button B1 (see FIG. 4) is realized by a touch panel will be described as an example.

[0019] The storage unit 20 is configured with a storage medium such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), an HDD (Hard disk drive), or an SSD (Solid State Drive). The storage unit 20 stores programs executed by the control unit 19, various data used in the programs, measurement results obtained by measurement, etc. Specifically, the storage unit 20 stores a part program that defines the measurement procedure when performing automatic measurement, measurement results obtained by measurement using the height gauge 1, a display control program that switches the contents of the measurement result list displayed on the display unit 16 in response to pressing of the display switching button B1, and display switching setting information that specifies the display contents to be displayed when the display switching button B1 is pressed, etc.

[0020] The control unit 19 is composed of, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) etc. The control unit 19 is responsible for control. For example, the control unit 19 performs measurement control such as execution of measurement in response to operation of the input unit 17, execution of repeat measurement described later, execution of automatic measurement by a part program, display control of the display unit 16, change of settings in response to input operation to the input unit 17, etc.

[0021] (Basic measurement procedure) Next, a basic procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in Fig. 3, taking as an example a case where a user operates the height gauge 1 configured as described above to perform measurement. Note that, here, an example will be described in which the center coordinate Z, diameter dimension D, and distance between center coordinates ΔZ are measured in order for holes C1 to C3 in one measurement object W as shown in Fig. 7.

[0022] First, the measurement object W is placed on the surface plate 10 (step S01). At this time, the measurement object W is placed so that a reference surface (the bottom surface in this example) of the measurement object W for the target measurement is in contact with the surface plate 10.

[0023] Next, the height gauge 1 is moved horizontally on the surface plate 10, and the slider 14 is moved up and down along the support 12, to move the probe 13 to a measurement location on the measurement object W (step S02). In this example, the probe 13 is moved so that the probe 13 is inserted into the hole C1.

[0024] Next, the user operates the input unit 17 to set measurement conditions as necessary (step S03). Note that the setting of measurement conditions (step S03) may be performed prior to steps S01 and S02. Then, the user presses a measurement button (circle (hole) measurement button in this example) on the input unit 17 that corresponds to the desired measurement, thereby executing the measurement (step S04). When executing the measurement, guide information that guides the user on the measurement method (for example, information encouraging the user to move the probe along the inner wall surface at the bottom of the hole C1) is displayed on the display unit 16.

[0025] The measurement results obtained by performing the measurement are stored in the memory unit 20 and are also displayed on the display unit 16 (step S05). When the measurement of the measurement point (hole C1) is completed, the user moves the probe 13 away from the measurement point (hole C1) (step S06).

[0026] If there is no next measurement point (step S07; No), the measurement ends. If there is a next measurement point (step S07; Yes), which step the process returns to depends on whether or not the measurement object W is to be repositioned (step S08). If the measurement object W is to be repositioned (step S08; Yes), such as when changing the reference surface of the measurement object W (for example, from the bottom surface to the side surface) or when measuring a new measurement object W, the process returns to step S01. If the measurement object W is not to be repositioned (step S08; No), the process returns to step S02, and the probe 13 is moved to the next measurement point.

[0027] In this example, holes C2 and C3 are measured without repositioning the measurement target W, so the probe is moved to the next measurement point, hole C2, to measure hole C2, and then the probe 13 is moved to hole C3 to measure hole C3. That is, steps S02 to S06 are repeated as many times as the number of measurement points. Once the measurement of hole C3 is complete, there are no further measurement points, so the measurement of that measurement target W ends. Each time the measurement of each measurement point ends, the measurement result is displayed in step S05. To further measure the next measurement target W, the process returns to step S01 via steps S07 and S08, but in this example, since there is only one measurement target W, the series of measurements ends.

[0028] When the measurement target W is measured as described above, not only are the measured values ​​of the center coordinate Z and diameter dimension D obtained for each of the three holes C1 to C3, but also the distance between the center coordinates ΔZ is calculated for each pair of holes measured consecutively (i.e., the pair of holes C1 and C2, and the pair of holes C2 and C3) based on the center coordinates of each hole. In step S05 of the above flowchart, in the case of basic (initial) display settings, a row is added each time a value is obtained for all of these center coordinates Z, diameter dimension D, and distance between the center coordinates ΔZ, and the results are displayed as a tabular measurement result list, and finally, as shown in FIG. 4, a measurement result list containing a mixture of measured values ​​for multiple measurement items, similar to the conventional method, is displayed together with the display switching button B1.

[0029] In the height gauge 1 according to this embodiment, the measurement items displayed in the measurement result list are changed each time the display switching button B1 is pressed under the control of the control unit 19. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 5, when the display switching button B1 is pressed in a state in which the initial measurement result list including all measurement items is displayed, the display is switched to a measurement result list including only the center coordinate Z and the distance between the center coordinates ΔZ. When the display switching button B1 is pressed again from this state, the display is switched to a measurement result list including only the center coordinate Z. When the display switching button is pressed again, the display is switched to a measurement result list including only the distance between the center coordinates ΔZ. When the display switching button B1 is pressed again, the display returns to the initial measurement result list including all measurement items. The measurement result list can be switched at any timing in the above flowchart, and once the display is switched, it is maintained unless the display switching button B1 is pressed again.

[0030] This configuration, which sequentially switches between measurement result lists with narrowed down measurement items in response to simple button operations, allows the user to view only the measurement results that he or she wishes to check on the LCD display, thereby reducing examination time compared to conventional methods.

[0031] The display switching setting information that specifies the measurement items to be displayed by sequentially switching when the display switching button is pressed can be changed (customized) by the user. This allows the display to be set / changed (customized) so that, for example, only the diameter dimension D is displayed in the measurement result list, instead of the center coordinate Z or the distance between the center coordinates ΔZ as described above. To realize such a configuration, the storage unit 20 stores the display switching setting information that specifies which measurement item is displayed when the display switching button is pressed, and the control unit 19 controls the display switching when the display switching button is pressed based on the display switching setting stored in the storage unit 20. Specifically, it is preferable to store the display switching setting information as a list that associates the number of times the display switching button is pressed from the initial state with the measurement items to be displayed.

[0032] [Modifications of the embodiment] Although the present embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not limited to these examples. For example, in the above embodiment, the contents (specific measurement items, etc.) displayed in the measurement result list are changed in sequence each time one display switching button is pressed, but multiple display switching buttons (either as physical buttons or using a touch panel) each assigned with contents to be displayed in the measurement result list may be provided, and the corresponding contents may be displayed according to the display switching button pressed. The display contents assigned to each of the multiple display switching buttons may be configured so that they can be set and changed (customized) by the user.

[0033] In the above embodiment, when the display switching button is pressed, the measurement results displayed in the measurement result list are narrowed down by the type of measurement item (center coordinate Z, distance between center coordinates ΔZ, diameter dimension D, etc.), but the display contents may be narrowed down by conditions other than the measurement item. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a pass / fail judgment may be performed on whether the measurement result is within a predetermined tolerance range, and when the display switching button is pressed, only the measurement results whose judgment result is fail (or pass) may be displayed in the measurement result list. In addition, it is also possible to display only the measurement results whose measurement values ​​are within a predetermined range in the measurement result list when the display switching button is pressed, regardless of the tolerance. In addition, a configuration may be adopted in which label information according to the measurement location can be added to the measurement result, and when the display switching button is pressed, only the measurement results to which the predetermined label information is added are displayed in the measurement result list.

[0034] Furthermore, any combination of features of the above-described embodiments, in which a person of ordinary skill in the art has appropriately added or deleted components or modified the design, is also included within the scope of the present invention as long as it contains the gist of the present invention. [Industrial Applicability]

[0035] As described above, the present invention can be suitably used in devices for measuring the surface shape as well as the height of an object. [Explanation of symbols]

[0036] 1…Height gauge 10…Fixed plate 10a…Surface plate surface 11...Bass 12…post 13... Probe 14...Slider 15...Displacement sensor 16…Display section 17...Input section 18…Grip section 19...Control section 20...Storage section

Claims

1. A one-dimensional measuring machine for measuring a one-dimensional dimension of a measurement object, an input section including at least one display switching button; a storage unit that stores display switching setting information that specifies the display content to be displayed when the display switching button is pressed; A measurement unit for measuring a one-dimensional dimension of a measurement object; a display unit that displays one or more measurement results obtained by the measurement unit in a table format as a measurement result list; A control unit that controls the measurement unit and the display unit, The label information corresponding to the measurement location can be added to the measurement result, The control unit, in response to pressing the display switching button, narrows down the measurement results to be included in the measurement result list to be displayed on the display unit based on the display switching setting information stored in the storage unit; The display switching setting information is a list in which the number of times the display switching button is pressed is associated with the measurement items to be displayed, The control unit changes the display items to be included in the measurement result list to be displayed on the display unit to measurement results with predetermined label information attached, depending on the number of times the display switching button is pressed.

2. 2. The one-dimensional measuring machine according to claim 1, wherein the display switching setting information is configured to be changeable by a user.

3. A base that is movably placed along a surface of the surface plate; A support pillar erected on the base; a slider that is vertically movable along the support and has a measuring element; 3. The one-dimensional measuring machine according to claim 1, further comprising a displacement sensor for detecting a displacement amount of the slider in a height direction.

4. A program for causing a computer to function as a control unit in the one-dimensional measuring machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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