Importance

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Abstract

An apparatus for measuring an object comprises a rotatable fixture that holds the object to be measured with one end positioned at a fixed location spaced from the axis of rotation of the fixture and the other end projecting freely from the fixture. A scanner that generates a planar unidirectional scanning beam is positioned with respect to the fixture and object such that at one point of rotation of the object the free end of the object intersects the plane of the scanning beam, and along a subsequent portion of the arc of rotation, the entire object, in cross section, projects through the beam. A sensor located at the terminal end of beam travel and coupled to the scanner detects the interruption by the object of the scanning beam as the object rotates, and produces signals indicative of (a) the distance between the point where the object first intersects the scanning beam and a reference line in the plane of the beam, which signal is a function of the length of the object and (b) the width of the beam blocked by the object when it projects through the beam, which signal is a function of the dimension of the object along an axis lying in the beam and perpendicular to the beam direction. Several widthwise measurements can be made as the object rotates through the beam.

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First Claim