Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement via Reflected-Wave Matching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing thickness measurement technologies using ultrasonic waves face accuracy issues due to the erroneous detection of waves with larger amplitudes being mistakenly identified as back-surface reflected waves, leading to reduced measurement precision, particularly for objects with varying thicknesses.
Innovation Solution
A thickness measurement device and method that includes an ultrasonic transmitter and receiver, with extraction units to identify first and second reflected waves, a matching degree calculation unit to determine the most similar candidate as the back-surface reflected wave, and a thickness calculation unit to accurately measure the object's thickness based on reception times.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the received wave with the largest amplitude is assumed as the back-surface reflected wave, then the detection process is simple, but measurement accuracy is reduced due to erroneous detection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by extracting multiple candidate waves before final identification. Instead of directly selecting the wave with largest amplitude, the system pre-processes the received waves to extract several candidates that could potentially be the back-surface reflected wave, then evaluates them against multiple criteria to identify the correct one, thereby avoiding erroneous detection while maintaining systematic processing
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the evaluation parameter from solely amplitude-based selection to a multi-parameter assessment including amplitude, time interval from front-surface reflected wave, and waveform characteristics. This parameter transformation allows the system to distinguish the true back-surface reflected wave from other waves that may have larger amplitudes but incorrect temporal or waveform properties
2Measurement precision
If multiple candidates are extracted and evaluated, then measurement accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the wave extraction and evaluation process into distinct functional modules: a first extraction unit for identifying the front-surface reflected wave, a second extraction unit for generating multiple back-surface reflected wave candidates, and a determination unit for selecting the correct candidate. This modular segmentation manages complexity by organizing the processing into manageable, specialized components rather than a monolithic system
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary extraction of multiple candidate waves with defined characteristics before final determination. By pre-organizing candidates based on objective criteria (time intervals, amplitude thresholds, waveform features), the system reduces the complexity of the final selection process, as the determination unit only needs to evaluate pre-filtered candidates rather than process all raw received waves
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
Enhances the accuracy of thickness measurement by correctly identifying the back-surface reflected wave, reducing erroneous detections and improving precision, especially for objects with small thicknesses.
Implementation Method 1
ultrasonic waves are transmitted to a front surface of the measurement object, and the thickness of the measurement object is measured based on a difference between a time at which a front-surface reflected wave reflected by the front surface is received and a time at which a back-surface reflected wave propagated inside of the measurement object and reflected by a back surface is received
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a thickness measurement device, including: an ultrasonic transmitter configured to transmit ultrasonic waves to a measurement object; an ultrasonic receiver configured to receive the ultrasonic waves reflected by the measurement object; a first extraction unit configured to extract a first reflected wave reflected by a first surface in the measurement object; a second extraction unit configured to extract a plurality of candidates for a second reflected wave reflected by a second surface in the measurement object; a matching degree calculation unit configured to calculate a matching degree between the first reflected wave and each of the plurality of candidates, for the each of the plurality of candidates; a candidate determination unit configured to determine, from the plurality of candidates, a candidate having the largest matching degree as the second reflected wave; and a thickness calculation unit configured to calculate a thickness of the measurement object.