Hardness testers having a pivoting body and capable of providing power to accessories on the pivoting body

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11435270-B2
Application number	US-201916391955-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 23, 2019
Priority date	Apr 23, 2018
Publication date	Sep 6, 2022
Grant date	Sep 6, 2022

Abstract

Hardness testers having a pivoting body and capable of providing power to accessories on the pivoting body are disclosed. An example hardness testing device includes: a rotating carriage configured to: hold at least one of an indenter or an objective and at least one accessory; and rotate to selectively place the at least one indenter or objective or the at least one accessory in an operative position to operate the at least one indenter or objective or the at least one accessory; a carriage mount configured to support the rotating carriage; and an electrical contact block mounted stationary with respect to the carriage mount, the electrical contact block comprising a plurality of electrical contacts configured to make electrical contact with a counterpart electrical contact block of the at least one accessory coupled to the rotating carriage when the at least one accessory is positioned in the operative position.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A hardness testing device, comprising:
a rotating carriage configured to:
hold at least one of an indenter or an objective and at least one accessory; and
rotate to selectively place the at least one indenter or objective or the at least one accessory in an operative position to operate the at least one indenter or objective or the at least one accessory;

a carriage mount configured to support the rotating carriage, the rotating carriage configured to rotate with respect to the carriage mount; and
an electrical contact block mounted stationary with respect to the carriage mount, the electrical contact block comprising a plurality of electrical contacts configured to make electrical contact with a counterpart electrical contact block of the at least one accessory coupled to the rotating carriage when the at least one accessory is positioned in the operative position, wherein rotation of the rotating carriage causes the at least one indenter or objective to move with respect to the electrical contact block such that rotation of the rotating carriage causes the at least one accessory to move into contact and out of contact with the electrical contacts of the electrical contact block.

2. The hardness testing device as defined in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of electrical contacts comprise a plurality of electrically conductive ball and spring plungers.

3. The hardness testing device as defined in claim 2 , wherein the plurality of electrical contacts are coupled to the electrical contact block via respective nuts.

4. The hardness testing device as defined in claim 3 , wherein the plurality of electrical contacts comprise terminal connectors coupled to the ball and spring plungers.

5. The hardness testing device as defined in claim 1 , wherein at least two of the plurality of electrical contacts are offset in one or more directions over a surface of the electrical contact block.

6. The hardness testing device as defined in claim 1 , wherein the at least one accessory comprises at least one of: an LED illuminator, a laser, general illumination, a load cell, a piezoelectric drive, a motor, or an incremental measurement system.

7. The hardness testing device as defined in claim 1 , wherein the rotating carriage is configured to perform a hardness test using at least one indenter coupled to the rotating carriage when the indenter is in the operative position.

8. The hardness testing device as defined in claim 1 , wherein the operative position is located between a machine table and a rotational axis of the rotating carriage.

9. The hardness testing device as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:
feedback circuitry configured to output a signal representative of a position of the rotating carriage; and
control circuitry configured to determine a position of the indenter, the objective, or the at least one accessory based on the signal.

10. The hardness testing device as defined in claim 1 , wherein at least one of the at least one indenter or objective or the at least one accessory is removable from the rotating carriage.

11. The hardness testing device as defined in claim 1 , wherein the rotating carriage is configured to rotate around a rotational axis, the rotational axis being perpendicular to a direction of displacement of the rotating carriage by the carriage mount.

12. A hardness testing device, comprising:
a rotating carriage configured to:
hold at least one of an indenter or an objective and at least one accessory; and
rotate to selectively place the at least one indenter or objective or the at least one accessory in an operative position to operate the at least one indenter or objective or the at least one accessory;

a carriage mount configured to support the rotating carriage, the rotating carriage configured to rotate with respect to the carriage mount; and
an electrical contact block mounted stationary with respect to the carriage mount, the electrical contact block comprising a plurality of electrical contacts configured to make electrical contact with a counterpart electrical contact block of the at least one accessory coupled to the rotating carriage when the at least one accessory is positioned in the operative position, wherein at least two of the plurality of electrical contacts are offset in one or more directions over a surface of the electrical contact block, wherein a first one of the at least two of the plurality of electrical contacts is coupled to a first voltage source having a first voltage, and a second one of the plurality of electrical contacts is coupled to a second voltage source having a second voltage.

13. A hardness testing device, comprising:
a rotating carriage configured to:
hold at least one of an indenter or an objective and at least one accessory; and
rotate to selectively place the at least one indenter or objective or the at least one accessory in an operative position to operate the at least one indenter or objective or the at least one accessory;

a carriage mount configured to support the rotating carriage, the rotating carriage configured to rotate with respect to the carriage mount; and
an electrical contact block mounted stationary with respect to the carriage mount, the electrical contact block comprising a plurality of electrical contacts configured to make electrical contact with a counterpart electrical contact block of the at least one accessory coupled to the rotating carriage when the at least one accessory is positioned in the operative position, wherein at least two of the plurality of electrical contacts are offset in one or more directions over a surface of the electrical contact block, wherein the at least one accessory comprises:
a first accessory coupled to a first location on the rotating carriage, the first accessory comprising at least two electrical contacts positioned to make contact with counterpart ones of the plurality of electrical contacts on the electrical contact block including at least a first one of the offset electrical contacts; and
a second accessory coupled to a second location on the rotating carriage, the second accessory comprising at least two electrical contacts positioned to make contact with counterpart ones of the plurality of electrical contacts on the electrical contact block including at least a second one of the offset electrical contacts.

14. A hardness testing device, comprising:
a rotating carriage configured to:
hold at least one of an indenter or an objective and at least one accessory; and
rotate to selectively place the at least one indenter or objective or the at least one accessory in an operative position to operate the at least one indenter or objective or the at least one accessory;

a carriage mount configured to support the rotating carriage, the rotating carriage configured to rotate with respect to the carriage mount;
an electrical contact block mounted stationary with respect to the carriage mount, the electrical contact block comprising a plurality of electrical contacts configured to make electrical contact with a counterpart electrical contact block of the at least one accessory coupled to the rotating carriage when the at least one accessory is positioned in the operative position; and
control circuitry, wherein at least two of the plurality of electrical contacts of the electrical contact block are configured to transmit at least one of data or a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal from the at least one accessory to the control circuitry.

Assignees

• Illinois Tool Works

Inventors

• Mayer Rudolf Mathias
• Mueller Markus
• Schaefer Roland

Classifications

• G01N2203/0078

  using indentation · CPC title

• H01R13/2478

  spherical · CPC title

• G02B7/16

  Rotatable turrets · CPC title

• G02B21/248

  objective (or ocular) turrets · CPC title

• G02B21/06

  Means for illuminating specimens · CPC title