In-process diameter measurement gage

1. A measurement system, comprising,

a position detection subsystem detecting when a rotating part has completed all or part of a revolution;

a one-way wireless transmitter associated with the position detection subsystem transmitting signals representative of rotation of the rotating part to a dimension measurement subsystem;

the transmitted signals are transmitted by the wireless transmitter and received by the dimensional measurement system nearly instantaneously and with consistent latency;

the dimension measurement subsystem comprising a dimensional transducer contacting the rotating part and generating data representative of a dimensional property of the rotating part, and data processing circuits for generating a value of the dimensional property of the rotating part;

a communication component associated with the dimension measurement subsystem and receiving the signals from the position detection subsystem, and transmitting data to a data processing subsystem; and

the data processing subsystem receiving the data transmitted from the dimension measurement subsystem and displaying the value or a corrected value of the dimensional property.

2. The measurement system of claim 1 , wherein the measurement system has a dimensional property accuracy of at least 0.0002 inches.

3. The measurement system of claim 2 , wherein the dimensional property of the part is diameter.

4. The measurement system of claim 3 , wherein the dimensional transducer comprises a contact wheel of known diameter and a rotation encoder generating between 12,500 and 50,000 signals for each complete revolution.

5. The measurement system of claim 4 , wherein the position detection subsystem comprises an optical switch with a field of view, and a trigger that rotates in time with the part into and out of the field of view once every revolution of the part.

6. The measurement system of claim 1 , wherein the value of the dimensional property generated by the dimensional measurement subsystem is from at least 4 to 10 revolutions of the part.

7. The measurement system of claim 3 , wherein the data measurement subsystem determines a diameter run out of the part.

8. The measurement system of claim 1 , wherein the part rotates at manufacturing speeds up to 400 SFM.

9. The measurement system of claim 3 , wherein the dimensional property is taper.

10. The measurement system of claim 4 , wherein the contact wheel is biased against the part with a force between about 7 lbf and about 9 lbf.

11. A method of measuring a dimension of a rotating part, comprising, providing a rotating part from which a dimensional measurement is desired;

providing the system of claim 1 ;

contacting the dimensional transducer to the rotating part

transmitting the signals representative of rotation of the part from the position detection subsystem to the dimensional measurement subsystem;

determining a dimensional property of the rotating part in the dimensional measurement subsystem;

transmitting the dimensional property to the data processing subsystem; and

displaying the dimensional property or a corrected dimensional property.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein transmitting the signals is transmitting analog radio frequency signals.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the dimensional property of the part is diameter.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the dimensional measurement subsystem comprises a contact wheel of known diameter and a rotation encoder generating between 12,500 and 50,000, inclusive, signals per revolution.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the dimensional property is determined from at least 4 to 10 revolutions of the part.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the corrected dimensional property is determined from a temperature of the dimensional transducer contacting the rotating part, from a temperature of the rotating part, or from both temperatures.

17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transmitted signals are analog radio frequency signals.

18. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transmitted signals are digital signals.

19. The system of claim 1 , wherein the dimensional transducer comprises a contact wheel having an edge with a transverse radius equal to a diameter of the contact wheel.

20. The system of claim 1 , wherein the corrected value of the dimensional property is determined from a temperature of the dimensional transducer contacting the rotating part, from a temperature of the rotating part, or from both temperatures.