Thumb roller constant-pressure mechanism of slide caliper

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10690473-B2
Application number	US-201816009739-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 15, 2018
Priority date	Jun 26, 2017
Publication date	Jun 23, 2020
Grant date	Jun 23, 2020

Abstract

A slide caliper of this disclosure includes: a fine adjustment measurement part including: a finger-press type rotation part; and a supporter, wherein the finger-press type rotation part includes: a roller part including two disks; and a roller shaft part, wherein at least a portion of inner surfaces of the two disks and the main scale come into contact with each other by frictional force, wherein the roller bearing part includes: an inclined surface along which the roller shaft part is movable when the measuring force is applied; and a stopper disposed at a position where the stopper and the roller shaft part come into contact with each other, and when the measuring force is applied, the frictional force with respect to the roller part is reduced as the roller shaft part moves along the inclined surface while contacting with the stopper to limit the measuring force.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A slide caliper comprising:
a main scale; and
a measurement slider part that is provided to be slidable in a longitudinal direction of the main scale to measure a target object in such a manner that two jaws come into contact with the target object, one of the two jaws being provided at the main scale and the other of the two jaws being provided in the measurement slider part, wherein
the measurement slider part includes a fine adjustment measurement part, which is capable of finely moving the measurement slider part and which generates measuring force in the slide caliper when the target object comes into contact with a measuring surface of the other of the jaws,
the fine adjustment measurement part includes: a finger-press type rotation part, which is operable by a finger of a user; and a supporter, which has a fixing part to fix the finger-press type rotation part to the measurement slider part and a roller bearing part into which the finger-press type rotation part is loosely fitted,
the finger-press type rotation part includes: a roller part including two disks; and a roller shaft part, which is disposed approximately at a center of the roller part and connects the two disks to each other, wherein at least a portion of inner surfaces of the two disks and the main scale come into contact with each other by frictional force when the user performs operation by the finger,
the roller bearing part includes: an inclined surface along which the roller shaft part is movable when the measuring force is applied in the slide caliper; and a stopper disposed at a position where the stopper and the roller shaft part come into contact with each other when the finger-press type rotation part is operated, and
when the measuring force is applied on the slide caliper, the frictional force with respect to the roller part is reduced as the roller shaft part moves along the inclined surface while contacting with the stopper to limit the measuring force.

2. The slide caliper according to claim 1 , wherein
an angle between the inclined surface and the longitudinal direction of the main scale is less than 90 degrees.

3. The slide caliper according to claim 1 , wherein
the roller bearing part includes: the inclined surface; and an opposite-side inclined surface that is provided to be opposite to the inclined surface in the longitudinal direction of the main scale,
the opposite-side inclined surface is provided such that an angle between the opposite-side inclined surface and a direction that is opposite to the longitudinal direction of the main scale is less than 90 degrees, and
the roller bearing part includes two stoppers, one of which is a stopper performing a function with the inclined surface, and the other of which is an opposite-side stopper performing a function with the opposite-side inclined surface.

4. The slide caliper according to claim 3 , wherein
the inclined surface is provided such that the angle between the inclined surface and the longitudinal direction of the main scale is in a range from 40 to 50 degrees, and
the opposite-side inclined surface is provided such that the angle between the opposite-side inclined surface and the direction that is opposite to the longitudinal direction of the main scale is in a range from 40 to 50 degrees.

5. The slide caliper according to claim 3 , wherein
the opposite-side stopper is an elastic body.

6. The slide caliper according to claim 5 , wherein
the elastic body of the opposite-side stopper includes any one of rubber, sponge, plastic.

7. The slide caliper according to claim 3 , wherein
the elastic body of the opposite-side stopper is a coil spring and a bar spring.

8. The slide caliper according to claim 1 , wherein
the inclined surface is provided such that the angle between the inclined surface and the longitudinal direction of the main scale is in a range from 40 to 50 degrees.

9. The slide caliper according to claim 1 , wherein
the stopper is an elastic body.

10. The slide caliper according to claim 9 , wherein
the elastic body of the stopper includes any one of rubber, sponge, plastic.

11. The slide caliper according to claim 1 , wherein
the elastic body of the stopper is a coil spring and a bar spring.

Assignees

• Mitutoyo Corp

Inventors

• Kimura Kazuhiko
• Ueda Kenji

Classifications

• G01B3/008 Primary

  Arrangements for controlling the measuring force · CPC title

• G01B3/22

  Feeler-pin gauges, e.g. dial gauges (for measuring contours or curvatures G01B5/20) · CPC title

• G01B3/20 Primary

  Slide gauges · CPC title