Gear inspection apparatus and gear inspection method using the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11002525-B2
Application number	US-201816210132-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 5, 2018
Priority date	Jul 24, 2018
Publication date	May 11, 2021
Grant date	May 11, 2021

Abstract

A gear inspection apparatus includes: a measurement unit which has a probe installed to be movable forward and rearward relative to a work gear rotatably mounted on a frame, and measures a dimension of the work gear, which rotates, by a measurement ball provided at a tip of the probe; a drive unit which is installed on the frame so as to be connected to the measurement unit and moves the probe forward and rearward; and a controller which receives a displacement measurement value related to a position of the probe which is measured by the measurement unit, and converts the displacement measurement value into a digital value.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A gear inspection apparatus, comprising:
a measurement unit including a probe installed to be movable forward and rearward relative to a work gear rotatably mounted on a frame, the measurement unit configured to measure a dimension of the work gear configured to rotate, by a measurement ball provided at a tip of the probe;
a drive unit installed on the frame so as to be connected to the measurement unit and configured to move the probe forward and rearward; and
a controller configured to receive a displacement measurement value related to a position of the probe which is measured by the measurement unit, the controller configured to convert the displacement measurement value into a digital value,
wherein the drive unit includes:
a drive motor installed on the frame;
a moving block which is moved forward and rearward by the drive motor;
an auxiliary block which is connected to the moving block, has an upper portion on which the probe is mounted, and moves forward and rearward together with the probe;
a rail installed on the frame below the auxiliary block so that the auxiliary block slides along the rail; and
a fixing block positioned at a front side of a spring in a state in which the probe is inserted into the fixing block, the fixing block configured to support the spring and compress the spring when the auxiliary block moves forward.

2. The gear inspection apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a mounting unit installed on the frame and configured to rotate the work gear.

3. The gear inspection apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the mounting unit includes:
a clamping unit which is installed on an upper surface of the frame and inserted into a rotation center of the work gear;
a spindle connected to a lower portion of the clamping unit;
a spindle motor connected to the spindle through a belt and configured to rotate the spindle by a predetermined angle; and
a supply unit installed on the upper surface of the frame and connected to the clamping unit, and configured to selectively supply pneumatic pressure to the clamping unit so that the clamping unit clamps or unclamps the work gear.

4. The gear inspection apparatus of claim 3 , wherein an origin detecting sensor installed on the spindle and configured to compensate for an eccentricity of the spindle, is.

5. The gear inspection apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the measurement unit includes:
a spring into which an end of the probe is inserted and which provides the probe with an elastic force;
a gear tooth detecting sensor which is movable forward and rearward, together with the probe, relative to the work gear and senses a gear crest of the work gear so that the measurement ball comes into contact with a gear trough of the work gear; and
a displacement sensor configured to detect a magnitude of a movement displacement of the probe and transmit the magnitude of the movement displacement to the controller.

6. The gear inspection apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is electrically connected to a display unit that displays the digital value.

7. A gear inspection method using the gear inspection apparatus according to claim 1 , the gear inspection method comprising:
a first step of selecting a type of the work gear and selecting at least any one measurement item from a dimension measurement and a vibration measurement when the work gear is mounted on a clamping unit of a mounting unit;
a second step of setting a start position by detecting a gear tooth of the work gear by a gear tooth detecting sensor of the measurement unit; and
a third step of measuring the dimension of the work gear by moving the probe of the measurement unit forward and rearward relative to the work gear and inserting the measurement ball into each of gear troughs of the work gear until the work gear completely rotates from the start position.

8. The gear inspection method of claim 7 , wherein, in the first step, the work gear is clamped by the clamping unit when the work gear is mounted.

9. The gear inspection method of claim 7 , wherein, in the second step, the start position is set by the gear tooth detecting sensor when the probe moves forward toward the work gear and the measurement ball completely comes into contact with a corresponding gear trough of the work gear.

10. The gear inspection method of claim 7 , wherein until the work gear completely rotates from the start position, the third step repeats a process of moving the probe forward again to insert the measurement ball into a next gear trough when the work gear rotates by an interval between the corresponding gear trough and the next gear trough while the probe is moved rearward from the work gear.

11. The gear inspection method of claim 7 , further comprising:
a fourth step of measuring the displacement measurement value of the probe, deriving digital values based on displacement measurement values measured at the gear troughs symmetrical to each other when the work gear completely rotates from the start position, and displaying the digital values on a display unit connected to the controller.

12. The gear inspection method of claim 11 , wherein the work gear is unclamped in the fourth step.

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Motors Corp
• Signallink Co Ltd

Inventors

• Shin Sang Jong
• Choi Hyun

Classifications

• G01M13/021 Primary

  Gearings · CPC title

• G01B5/025

  Measuring of circumference; Measuring length of ring-shaped articles (G01B5/0035 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01B5/202 Primary

  of gears · CPC title

• G01B11/02 Primary

  for measuring length, width or thickness (G01B11/08 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01B11/2416

  of gears (optical projection profile comparators G01B9/08) · CPC title