Confocal displacement sensor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10260859-B2
Application number	US-201815989215-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 25, 2018
Priority date	Dec 25, 2015
Publication date	Apr 16, 2019
Grant date	Apr 16, 2019

Abstract

To provide a confocal displacement sensor capable of reducing a measurement error. Light having a plurality of wavelengths is emitted by a light processing section 120 . A chromatic aberration along an optical axis direction is caused by a lens unit 220 in the light emitted by the light projecting section 120 . The light having the chromatic aberration converged and irradiated on a measurement object S by the lens unit 220 . In the light irradiated on the measurement object S by the lens unit 220 , light having a wavelength reflected while focusing on the surface of the measurement object S passes through a plurality of pinholes. Displacement of the measurement object S is calculated by an arithmetic processing section 150 on the basis of signal intensity for each wavelength of an average signal corresponding to an average of intensities for each wavelength concerning a plurality of lights passed through the plurality of pinholes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A confocal displacement sensor that measures displacement of a measurement object using a confocal optical system,
the confocal displacement sensor comprising:
a light projecting section configured to emit light having a plurality of wavelengths;
an optical member including a diffraction lens and configured to cause a chromatic aberration along an optical axis direction in the light emitted by the light projecting section, converge the light having the chromatic aberration, and irradiate the light on the measurement object, and a portion of the optical member exposed to outside being formed of a glass;
a pinhole member including a plurality of pinholes that are in the confocal optical system and allow, in the light irradiated on the measurement object by the optical member, light having a wavelength reflected while focusing on a surface of the measurement object to pass; and
a displacement measuring section including
a spectral section configured to spectrally disperse the light passed through the pinholes,
a light receiving section configured to receive the light spectrally dispersed by the spectral section and output an electric signal, and
a calculating section configured to calculate the displacement of the measurement object on the basis of signal intensity for each wavelength of an average signal corresponding to an average of intensities for the each wavelength concerning a plurality of lights passed through the plurality of pinholes, the signal intensity being based on the electric signal output from the light receiving section, wherein
the light emitted from the light projecting section is irradiated on the measurement object via the plurality of pinholes in the confocal optical system.

2. The confocal displacement sensor according to claim 1 , further comprising a first optical fiber, wherein
an end portion of the first optical fiber is the pinhole, and
the first optical fiber is the pinhole member.

3. The confocal displacement sensor according to claim 2 , wherein
the light projecting section includes:
a second optical fiber including one end portion and another end portion;
a laser light source; and
a phosphor disposed at the one end portion of the second optical fiber and configured to absorb light emitted by the laser light source and discharge light having a wavelength different from a wavelength of the light emitted by the laser light source, wherein
the second optical fiber receives the light discharged by the phosphor from the one end portion and guides the received light to the first optical fiber from the other end portion.

4. The confocal displacement sensor according to claim 2 , wherein
a plurality of the first optical fibers are provided, and
end portions of the plurality of first optical fibers are respectively the plurality of pinholes.

5. The confocal displacement sensor according to claim 2 , wherein
the displacement measuring section includes
a combining section configured to combine the plurality of lights passed through the plurality of pinholes to thereby generate a combined light, and
the spectral section is configured to spectrally disperse the light combined by the combining section,
the light receiving section is configured to receive the light spectrally dispersed by the spectral section and output, as the average signal, the electric light reception signal indicating a light reception amount for each wavelength concerning the light combined by the combining section, and
the calculating section is configured to calculate the displacement of the measurement object on the basis of the average signal output from the light receiving section.

6. The confocal displacement sensor according to claim 5 , wherein
the combining section includes a first fiber coupler, a second fiber coupler, a plurality of the first optical fibers, the second optical fiber, a third optical fiber, and a fourth optical fiber,
the second optical fiber is connected to the first fiber coupler to guide the light emitted by the light projecting section to the first fiber coupler,
the fourth optical fiber is connected to the first and second fiber couplers such that light is transmitted between the first fiber coupler and the second fiber coupler,
each of the plurality of first optical fibers is connected to the second fiber coupler to guide, to the optical member, the light guided to the second fiber coupler by the second optical fiber and the fourth optical fiber and guide, to the second fiber coupler, the light reflected while focusing on the surface of the measurement object, and
the third optical fiber is connected to the first fiber coupler to guide, to the spectral section, the light guided to the first fiber coupler by the plurality of first optical fibers and the fourth optical fiber.

7. The confocal displacement sensor according to claim 5 , wherein
the combining section includes a fiber coupler, a plurality of the first optical fibers, the second optical fiber, and a third optical fiber,
the second optical fiber is connected to the fiber coupler to guide the light emitted by the light projecting section to the fiber coupler,
each of the plurality of first optical fibers is connected to the fiber coupler to guide, to the optical member, the light guided to the fiber coupler by the second optical fiber and guide, to the fiber coupler, the light reflected while focusing on the surface of the measurement object, and
the third optical fiber is connected to the fiber coupler to guide, to the spectral section, the light guided to the fiber coupler by the plurality of first optical fibers.

8. The confocal displacement sensor according to claim 5 , further comprising:
a processing device; and
a head section, wherein
the processing device includes the light projecting section, the spectral section, the light receiving section, and the calculating section and further includes a first housing configured to house the light projecting section, the spectral section, the light receiving section, and the calculating section, and
the head section includes the optical member and further includes a second housing configured to house the optical member.

9. The confocal displacement sensor according to claim 8 , wherein
the pinhole at the end portion of the first optical fiber is provided in the head section, and
the first optical fiber is disposed to guide light from the head section to the processing device.

10. The confocal displacement sensor according to claim 2 , wherein
the spectral section is configured to respectively spectrally disperse the plurality of lights passed through the plurality of pinholes,
the light receiving section is configured to respectively receive the plurality of lights spectrally dispersed by the spectral section and output a plurality of electric light reception signals indicating light reception amounts for each wavelength concerning the respective plurality of lights passed through the plurality of pinholes, and
the calculating section is configured to average or integrate, for each wavelength, the plurality of light reception signals output from the light receiving section to thereby calculate the average signal as signal intensity for the each wavelength and calculate the displacement of the measurement object on the basis of the calculated average signal.

11. The confocal displacement sensor according to claim 2 , wherein
the displacement measuring section includes
a combining section configured to partially combine the plurality of lights passed through the plurality of pinholes to thereby generate a plurality of combined lights, and
the spectral section is configured to respectively

Assignees

• Keyence Co Ltd

Inventors

• KUGA Shoma

Classifications

• G01B11/00

  Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of optical techniques · CPC title

• G01B2210/50

  Using chromatic effects to achieve wavelength-dependent depth resolution · CPC title

• G01D5/268

  using optical fibres (G01D5/28 - G01D5/38 take precedence) · CPC title

• G01B11/0608 Primary

  Height gauges · CPC title

• G01B11/026 Primary

  by measuring distance between sensor and object (G01B11/0608 takes precedence) · CPC title