Abstract
To measure various components with nano-scale precision, a new high-precision touch-trigger probe using a single low-cost sensor for a micro-coordinate measuring machine (CMM) is presented in this paper. The sensor is composed of a laser diode, a plane mirror, a focusing lens, and a quadrant photo detector (QPD). The laser beam from the laser diode with an incident angle is reflected by the plane mirror and then projected onto the quadrant photo detector (QPD) via the focusing lens. The plane mirror is adhered to the upper surface of the floating plate supported by an elastic mechanism, which can transfer the displacement of the stylus’s ball tip in 3D to the plane mirror’s vertical and tilt movement. Both motions of the plane mirror can be detected by respective QPDs. The probe mechanism was analyzed, and its structural parameters that conform to the principle of uniform sensitivity and uniform stiffness were obtained. The simulation result showed that the stiffness was equal in 3D and less than 1 mN/µm. Some experiments were performed to investigate the probe’s characteristics. It was found that the probe could detect the trigger point with uniform sensitivity, a resolution of less than 5 nm, and a repeatability of less than 4 nm. It can be used as a touch-trigger probe on a micro/nano-CMM.
Highlights
With the development of various micro-fabrication technologies, many miniaturized structures and components with nano-scale precision have been produced in recent twenty years
A new touch-trigger probe with a small single low-cost sensor for micro-coordinate measuring machine (CMM) is presented in this paper
The optimal structural parameters conforming to uniform stiffness were obtained
Summary
With the development of various micro-fabrication technologies, many miniaturized structures and components with nano-scale precision have been produced in recent twenty years. Many touch probing systems that can be equipped onto micro-/nano-CMMs have been developed, such as (a) the capacitive probe that uses at least three high-precision capacitive sensors to detect the arm’s displacement of the floating plate of the probe [5,6], (b) the strain gauge probe that adheres strain gauges on the membrane or cantilevers symmetrically to detect the ball tip’s motion using the piezo-resistive effect [7,8,9,10], (c) the inductive probe that uses three high-precision inductive sensors and a complicated flexure hinges to construct the probe head [11], (d) the fiber probe that uses the imaging system to detect the ball tip’s motion [12,13,14] or uses long Bragg gratings to detect the axial. Due the use of since their adopted sensors do not tolerate a large tilt or a large translation of the probe tip
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