Digital Indicator Spindle Sliding Beyond Detectable Range
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional digital indicators require a costly and bulky design due to a limited slidable range of the spindle, which restricts their use for measuring articles with varying shapes and sizes, especially when the detectable range is small but the slidable range needs to be large.
Innovation Solution
A digital indicator with a spindle that can slide beyond the detectable range of the detector, allowing for continuous measurement by detecting absolute displacement and returning to the detectable range, enabling a larger slidable range while maintaining a compact size.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the slidable range of the spindle is increased to measure variously shaped articles, then the adaptability is improved, but the device becomes bulky and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The measurement process is segmented into multiple detection cycles. The spindle performs multiple sliding movements within the detectable range, with each cycle measuring a portion of the total displacement. The detector head remains within its detectable range while the spindle accumulates total displacement through repeated measurements, effectively extending the slidable range without increasing device size.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary detection within the detectable range and accumulates displacement data before the spindle needs to return to the starting position. This preliminary action allows the spindle to cover a larger total range by repeatedly sliding within the detector's limited range, measuring cumulative displacement across multiple cycles.
2Length of moving object
If the detectable range of the encoder is increased to accommodate larger measurements, then the slidable range is improved, but the device becomes costly and bulky
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a single large-scale encoder with extensive detectable range, the system uses multiple measurements within a smaller detectable range to copy and accumulate displacement information. The detector head repeatedly measures segments of the total spindle travel, and the control unit synthesizes these measurements into the complete displacement value, effectively creating a virtual extended range without physical expansion.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the measurement parameter from a single large-range detection to multiple small-range detections with cumulative calculation. By altering the detection strategy from spatial extension to temporal repetition, the system achieves equivalent measurement capability with a compact encoder design.
3Length of moving object
If the spindle is allowed to slide beyond the detectable range, then the slidable range is improved, but the detector fails to detect displacement
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit continuously monitors the detector head's position relative to the scale and manages the spindle's sliding movements accordingly. By implementing feedback control, the system ensures the detector head remains within its detectable range while coordinating multiple sliding cycles to achieve the desired extended slidable range, maintaining detection accuracy throughout the measurement process.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables the use of digital indicators for variously shaped articles with small detectable ranges and large slidable ranges, such as measuring the bottom thickness of a glass, by ensuring detector functionality even when the spindle slides beyond the detectable range, ensuring accurate and comparable measurements.
Implementation Method 1
the detector may be an encoder including an electrostatic-capacitance scale provided along an axial direction of the spindle and a detector head that is provided on the main body and is capacitively-coupled with the scale to detect a displacement amount of the spindle
Data Source
AI summary
A digital indicator (1) includes: a main body (10); a spindle (11) being axially slidable and having a contact portion (12) on one end, the contact portion abutting a to-be-measured portion; a detector (13) that detects an absolute displacement amount of the spindle (11) relative to the main body (10); and a display (14) that digitally displays the displacement amount of the spindle (11) relative to the main body (10) detected by the detector 13. The spindle (11) is slidable in a direction away from the contact portion (12) beyond the detectable range of the detector (13).