Levelable Rotation Laser Housing for Precision Parallelism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing rotating lasers used for determining the parallelism of machine parts suffer from measurement inaccuracies due to mechanical movements and sensitivity to environmental changes, particularly in mechanical engineering applications requiring precision below 10 µrad.
Innovation Solution
A rotating laser system equipped with a control device and rotary drive that allows precise angular positioning of the housing, coupled with electronic leveling means and environmental sensors, enables automatic calibration and compensation for roll angles, ensuring accurate parallelism measurements by maintaining consistent environmental conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the housing is manually leveled using spirit levels on a flat surface, then the device can be set up for measurement, but mechanical movements and environmental changes cause measurement inaccuracies greater than 10 µrad
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical leveling using spirit levels with an automated electronic leveling system. Electronic sensors (accelerometers or capacitive sensors) detect the housing's inclination angles, and a control unit automatically adjusts the housing's angular position using electric drive mechanisms. This substitution eliminates manual errors and provides continuous, precise measurement and adjustment, achieving the required accuracy of less than 10 µrad while compensating for environmental changes.
2Measurement precision
If the housing is rotated 180° for calibration, then the tilt can be adjusted to center the laser beam, but the process is time-consuming and requires multiple manual adjustments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary calibration by automatically rotating the housing to predetermined angular positions (including 180°) and measuring the laser beam's vertical position at each position using electronic sensors. The control unit calculates the required tilt adjustments based on these measurements and automatically applies them, eliminating the need for iterative manual adjustments. This preliminary automated measurement and calculation significantly reduces calibration time while maintaining high precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback control system where electronic sensors continuously monitor the laser beam's vertical position at different housing orientations. The control unit receives this feedback, compares it with target values, and automatically adjusts the housing's tilt angle using electric drives. This closed-loop feedback mechanism ensures the laser beam is precisely centered without requiring multiple manual adjustment iterations, reducing calibration time while achieving sub-10 µrad accuracy.
3Measurement precision
If manual leveling adjustments are made by rotating the housing, then the tilt angle can be corrected, but mechanical play and imperfections in the rotation affect the accuracy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical rotation and adjustment with an automated electric drive system. Electric motors or actuators rotate the housing to predetermined angles and adjust the tilt with high precision, eliminating mechanical play and imperfections inherent in manual operations. Electronic sensors provide precise angular position feedback to the control unit, which coordinates the movement of multiple drives to achieve accurate positioning. This automated system increases device complexity but is necessary to achieve the required sub-10 µrad accuracy.
4Measurement precision
If the laser device is used in horizontal position for parallelism measurement, then the axis of rotation can be aligned with machine parts, but the device must maintain consistent roll angle despite environmental changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses electronic inclination sensors to continuously monitor the housing's roll angle during parallelism measurements in horizontal position. The control unit receives feedback from these sensors and automatically adjusts the housing's orientation using electric drives to maintain a consistent roll angle relative to the machine parts. This feedback control compensates for environmental changes such as temperature variations or vibrations, ensuring measurement consistency and precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual monitoring and adjustment of roll angle with an automated electronic system. Electronic sensors continuously measure the roll angle, and the control unit automatically commands electric drives to adjust the housing position, maintaining consistent alignment with machine parts. This substitution ensures adaptability to environmental changes while preserving measurement precision, as the electronic system can respond faster and more accurately than manual intervention.
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
The system achieves measurement inaccuracies of less than 10 µrad, providing precise parallelism determination of machine parts by compensating for roll angle variations and stabilizing environmental parameters, thus enhancing the accuracy and reliability of mechanical engineering applications.
Implementation Method 1
a laser beam assembly containing a semiconductor laser and featuring several spirit levels that electronically determine the inclination of the laser beam assembly relative to a horizontal plane
Implementation Method 2
The laser beam, deflected by 90° by the pentaprism, sweeps a 360° angle, lying in a horizontal plane, as the pentaprism rotates
Implementation Method 3
the housing can be rotated by a control unit relative to the mounting section by a rotary drive, for example, a stepper motor, about a rotational axis to predetermined angular positions
Implementation Method 4
coupled with electronic leveling means and environmental sensors, enables automatic calibration and compensation for roll angles, ensuring accurate parallelism measurements by maintaining consistent environmental conditions
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5a~5c
AI summary
The invention relates to a rotary laser with a housing, with a laser beam device (2) gimbal-mounted in the housing, which generates a laser beam (3) rotating about a rotation axis (11) extending in a Z-axis in a plane of rotation (X/Y-plane) with a rotating head (17), with first and second leveling means (4, 5) for determining an inclination of the plane of rotation (X/Y-plane) to a horizontal plane, with a control device (9) for driving actuators (6, 7), an adjustment device for adjusting the inclination of the laser beam device (2) relative to the housing (1) about an X-axis and a Y-axis in response to control inputs, and with a mounting section (8) opposite the head (17) with respect to the axis of rotation (11).To improve parallelism measurements and for self-adjustment, it is provided that the housing (1) can be rotated by the control device (9) relative to the mounting section (8) by a rotary drive (47) about a rotation axis (10) which extends at least approximately in the same direction as the rotation axis (11) into predetermined angular positions.