IP Library Granted Patent US 10,054,434
Granted Patent B2
US 10,054,434 · App. 14/787,134 · Granted Aug 21, 2018

Surface roughness measurement device

Inventors: Guangping Xie (Shanghai, CN); Ming Jia (Shanghai, CN); Zirong Zhai (Shanghai, CN); Paolo Trallori (Florence, IT); Kevin George Harding (Niskayuna, NY); Guiju Song (Niskayuna, NY)
Assignee: General Electric Company
G01B11/303G01B11/24G01B11/30G01B11/306G01N21/47G01N21/55
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,054,434
App. No.
14/787,134
Granted
Aug 21, 2018
Kind
B2
Abstract

A surface roughness measurement device that in one embodiment includes main and auxiliary emitting fibers, multiple collecting fibers, an optical housing, main and auxiliary reflective mirrors, and an external circuit. The optical housing includes the fibers and defines an aperture for optically contacting a surface of an object. The main reflective mirror is arranged in the optical housing, for reflecting light emitted from the main emitting fiber to a detecting point of the aperture and reflected light by the object to the collecting fibers. The auxiliary reflective mirror is arranged in the optical housing, for reflecting light emitted from the auxiliary emitting fiber to the detecting point. The external circuit is for generating a laser beam to the main and auxiliary emitting fibers, collecting the reflected light from the collecting fibers, and calculating the surface roughness of the object based on the collected reflected light.

Claims (53)

1. A surface roughness measurement device, the surface roughness measurement device comprising:

a fiber bundle comprising a main emitting fiber and a plurality of collecting fibers;

a first auxiliary emitting fiber;

an optical housing comprising the fiber bundle and the first auxiliary emitting fiber and defining an aperture for optically contacting a surface of an object;

a main reflective mirror arranged in the optical housing, for reflecting light emitted from the main emitting fiber to a detecting point of the aperture and reflecting light reflected by the object to the plurality of collecting fibers;

a first auxiliary reflective mirror arranged in the optical housing, for reflecting light emitted from the first auxiliary emitting fiber to the detecting point of the aperture; and

an external circuit for generating a laser beam to the main emitting fiber and the first auxiliary emitting fiber, collecting the reflected light from the plurality of collecting fibers, and calculating the surface roughness of the object based on the collected reflected light,

wherein the surface roughness of the object is calculated based on a predetermined relationship between the surface roughness and a ratio of the intensity of a detected reflected light based on light emitted from the main emitting fiber and intensity of the detected reflected light based on the light emitted from the first auxiliary emitting fiber, and

wherein the ratio is calculated by an equation R=(MI−AI)/(MI+AI), wherein R is the ratio, MI is the intensity of the detected reflected light based on the light emitted from the main emitting fiber, AI is the intensity of the detected reflected light based on the light emitted from the first auxiliary emitting fiber.

2. The surface roughness measurement device of claim 1 , wherein the external circuit comprises:

a laser generator for generating the laser beam;

a photo-detector for detecting the reflected light collected from the plurality of collecting fibers and converting the collected light into electrical signals; and

at least one signal processor for calculating the surface roughness of the object based on the converted electrical signals converted from the reflected light from the main emitting fiber and converted from the reflected light from the first auxiliary emitting fiber.

3. The surface roughness measurement device of claim 2 , wherein the external circuit further comprises a beam switch for selectively switching the laser beam to the main emitting fiber and the first auxiliary emitting fiber.

4. The surface roughness measurement device of claim 2 , wherein the external circuit further comprises:

a charge-coupled device (CCD); and

an optical splitter for splitting the reflected light collected from the plurality of collecting fibers to the photo-detector and the CCD respectively.

5. The surface roughness measurement device of claim 1 , wherein the main emitting fiber is arranged about the center of the plurality of collecting fibers in the fiber bundle.

6. The surface roughness measurement device of claim 1 , wherein the optical housing defines an opening at one end thereof, a distal end of the fiber bundle with the first auxiliary emitting fiber is retained in at least part of the optical housing through the opening.

7. The surface roughness measurement device of claim 6 , wherein the main reflective mirror is arranged in the optical housing and positioned with respect to the fiber bundle with 45 degrees.

8. The surface roughness measurement device of claim 7 , wherein the first auxiliary reflective mirror is arranged in the optical housing and positioned with respect to the first auxiliary emitting fiber with a gradient angle which is less than 45 degrees, the distance between the first auxiliary emitting fiber and the first auxiliary reflective mirror is less than the distance between the fiber bundle and the main reflective mirror.

9. The surface roughness measurement device of claim 1 , wherein the external circuit comprises:

a laser generator for generating the laser beam;

a photo-detector array comprising a plurality of photo-detectors for respectively detecting the reflected light collected from the plurality of collecting fibers and converting the collected light into electrical signals; and

a signal processor for showing an intensity distribution image of the detected reflected light based on the converted electrical signals through a display.

10. The surface roughness measurement device of claim 1 , further comprising:

a second auxiliary emitting fiber retained in the optical housing; and

a second auxiliary reflective mirror arranged in the optical housing, for reflecting light emitted from the second auxiliary emitting fiber to the detecting point of the aperture;

wherein the external circuit is further for providing the laser beam to the second auxiliary emitting fiber.

11. The surface roughness measurement device of claim 10 , wherein the surface roughness of the object is calculated based on a predetermined relationship between the surface roughness and a ratio of the intensity of the detected reflected light based on the light emitted from the main emitting fiber and the intensity of the detected reflected light based on the light emitted from one of the first auxiliary emitting fiber and the second auxiliary emitting fiber.

12. The surface roughness measurement device of claim 11 , wherein the ratio is calculated by an equation R=(MI−AI)/(MI+AI), wherein R is the ratio, MI is the intensity of the detected reflected light based on the light emitted from the main emitting fiber, AI is the intensity of the detected reflected light based on the light emitted from the first auxiliary emitting fiber or the second auxiliary emitting fiber.

13. The surface roughness measurement device of claim 10 , wherein a plane formed by the reflected laser beam of the main reflective mirror and the reflected laser beam of the first auxiliary emitting fiber is perpendicular to a plane formed by the reflected laser beam of the main reflective mirror and the reflected laser beam of the second auxiliary emitting fiber.

14. The surface roughness measurement device of claim 13 , wherein the second auxiliary emitting fiber is arranged with a 90 degrees direction compared with the first auxiliary emitting fiber.

15. The surface roughness measurement device of claim 10 , wherein the external circuit further comprises a beam switch for selectively switching the laser beam to the main emitting fiber, the first auxiliary emitting fiber, and the second auxiliary emitting fiber.

16. The surface roughness measurement device of claim 1 , wherein the main emitting fiber is arranged about the center of the plurality of collecting fibers in the fiber bundle.

17. The surface roughness measurement device of claim 1 , wherein the optical housing defines an opening at one end thereof, a distal end of the fiber bundle with the first auxiliary emitting fiber is retained in at least part of the optical housing through the opening.

18. The surface roughness measurement device of claim 1 , further comprising:

a second auxiliary emitting fiber retained in the optical housing; and

a second auxiliary reflective mirror arranged in the optical housing, for reflecting light emitted from the second auxiliary emitting fiber to the detecting point of the aperture;

wherein the external circuit is further for providing the laser beam to the second auxiliary emitting fiber.

19. A surface roughness measurement device, the surface roughness measurement device comprising:

a fiber bundle comprising a main emitting fiber and a plurality of collecting fibers;

a plurality of auxiliary emitting fibers;

an optical housing comprising the fiber bundle and the plurality of auxiliary emitting fibers and defining an aperture for optically contacting a surface of an object;

a main reflective mirror arranged in the optical housing, for reflecting light emitted from the main emitting fiber to a detecting point of the aperture and reflecting light reflected by the object to the plurality of collecting fibers;

a plurality of auxiliary reflective mirrors arranged in the optical housing, for respectively reflecting light emitted from the plurality of auxiliary emitting fibers to the detecting point of the aperture; and

an external circuit for generating a laser beam to the main emitting fiber and the plurality of auxiliary emitting fibers, collecting the reflected light from the plurality of collecting fibers, and calculating the surface roughness of the object based on the collected reflected light,

wherein the surface roughness of the object is calculated based on a predetermined relationship between the surface roughness and a ratio of the intensity of detected reflected light based on light emitted from the main emitting fiber and the intensity of the detected reflected light based on the light emitted from one of the plurality of auxiliary emitting fibers, and

wherein the ratio is calculated by an equation R=(MI−AI)/(MI+AI), wherein R is the ratio, MI is the intensity of the detected reflected light based on the light emitted from the main emitting fiber, AI is the intensity of the detected reflected light based on the light emitted from one of the plurality of auxiliary emitting fibers.

20. The surface roughness measurement device of claim 19 , wherein the external circuit comprises:

a laser generator for generating the laser beam;

a photo-detector for detecting the reflected light collected from the plurality of collecting fibers and converting the collected light into electrical signals; and

at least one signal processor for calculating the surface roughness of the object based on the converted electrical signals converted from the reflected light from the main emitting fiber and converted from the reflected light from the first auxiliary emitting fiber.

Assignments (3)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 18, 2020
From: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
To: NUOVO PIGNONE TECHNOLOGIE S.R.L.
Reel/Frame 052185/0507 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE SPELLING OF LAST INVENTORS FIRST NAME PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 036881 FRAME: 0842. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT. Recorded Jul 5, 2018
From: XIE, GUANGPING; JIA, MING; ZHAI, ZIRONG; TRALLORI, PAOLO; HARDING, KEVIN GEORGE; SONG, GUIJU
To: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
Reel/Frame 047248/0161 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 26, 2015
From: XIE, GUANGPING; JIA, MING; ZHAI, ZIRONG; TRALLORI, PAOLO; HARDING, KEVIN GEORGE; SONG, GUIJI
To: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
Reel/Frame 036881/0842 →
Priority Claims (1)
CN 2013 1 0150620 · Apr 26, 2013 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20160069672A1 · Mar 10, 2016