Apparatus for and method of measurements of components

1. An arrangement for measuring components, comprising a manipulator; at least one measuring system in operative connection with said manipulator, said at least one measuring system including at least one contour measuring device associated with said manipulator and generating an optical sensing surface sweeping a measuring region; an at least one measuring object arranged in said measuring region and at least one reference feature associated with said measuring object, wherein said contour measuring device is arranged on said manipulator so as to be linearly movable.

2. An arrangement as defined in claim 1 , wherein said manipulator is formed as a multi-axes working robot.

3. An arrangement as defined in claim 1 , wherein said contour measuring device has at least one signal source for generation of said optical sensing surface and at least one registering unit which reproduces an intersecting region of said sensing surface with said measuring region.

4. An arrangement as defined in claim 3 , wherein said signal source is formed as a laser sensor.

5. An arrangement as defined in claim 4 , wherein said laser sensor is formed as a laser light section sensor.

6. An arrangement as defined in claim 3 , wherein said registering unit includes a detector and an objective which is in operative connection with said detector, said detector detecting said intersecting region and making it available as an electronic output signal for a further processing.

7. An arrangement as defined in claim 1 ; and further comprising a component carrier provided for receiving the component and being linearly movable.

8. An arrangement as defined in claim 1 , wherein said measuring region is arranged spatially separate from said manipulator and occupies an arbitrary position in space.

9. An arrangement as defined in claim 1 , wherein a plurality of said measuring objects and a plurality of said associated reference features are arranged on the component.

10. An arrangement as defined in claim 1 , wherein said measuring object forms a defined geometry of a component.

11. An arrangement as defined in claim 1 , wherein said reference feature incorporates a stationary geometric reference point; and further comprising a computing unit which stores said reference point in its position in space.

12. An arrangement as defined in claim 1 , wherein said reference feature is formed as a geometrical body with a position changeable in said measuring region.

13. A method of measuring components with at least one measuring system in operative connection with a manipulator, comprising the steps of providing in a measuring region at least one measuring object and a reference feature associated with the measuring object; sweeping the measuring region with a sensing surface which is generated by a contour measuring device of the measuring system that is in operative connection with the manipulator; determining by the contour measuring device a spatial position of the measuring object relative to the reference feature; and retaining the manipulator during a measuring process in an immovable position and changing a position of the contour measuring device relative to the manipulator with which it is in the operative connection and using an output signal of the contour measuring device for measuring the component.

14. A method as defined in claim 13 ; and further comprising representing a spatial position of a geometry of the measuring object at least partially in a spatial coordinate system; and making the spatial position available by the contour measuring device as an output signal.

15. A method as defined in claim 13 ; and further comprising using a spatial position of the measuring object for a qualitative assessment of a geometry of the measuring object.

16. A method as defined in claim 15 ; and further comprising providing in the qualitative assessment a determination of shape and position deviations.