Apparatus for measuring or setting two-dimensional position coordinates

Claim 3

A device according to claim 1, in which each scanning grid consists of a plurality of lines extending parallel to each other, the spacing and thickness and orientation of said lines being equal to the spacing and thickness and orientation of lines in the associated measurement grid.

Claim 4

A device according to claim 2, in which said scanning grids are carried directly on the slide.

Claim 5

A device according to claim 1, in which said measurement and scanning grids are disposed on facing surfaces of said support and slide.

Claim 6

A device according to claim 1, in which signal-interpolation means has separate electrical connection to the respective signal outputs of said sensors.

Claim 7

A two-coordinate positional-sensing device, comprising support and object-bearing slide members having uniformly spaced adjacent surfaces and including means guiding and supporting the same for only two-component relative motion, a first pair of orthogonally related grids carried directly on one of said surfaces, a second pair of orthogonally related grids carried directly on the other of said surfaces, one grid of each pair being orthogonally oriented with respect to and in intersecting overlap with one grid of the other pair, thereby establishing first and second intersecting pairs of grids, a single set of plural parallel grid lines on each of said grids, the grid lines of both grids of one intersecting pair being oriented in the same direction, the grid lines of both grids of the other intersecting pair being oriented in the same direction but orthogonal to the grid lines of said one intersecting pair, first-component interpolator means including a first photoelectric device responsive to light modulation produced as the grids of said one intersecting pair are displaced with any component of motion transverse to the grid-line orientation thereof, and second-component interpolator means including a second photoelectric device responsive to light modulation produced as the grids of said other intersecting pair are displaced with any component of motion transverse to the grid-line orientation thereof.

Claim 8

A two-coordinate positional-sensing device, comprising support and object-bearing slide members having uniformly spaced adjacent surfaces and including means guiding and supporting the same for only two-component relative motion, a first pair of orthogonally related grids carried directly on one of said surfaces, a second pair of orthogonally related grids carried directly on the other of said surfaces, one grid of each pair being orthogonally oriented with respect to and in intersecting overlap with one grid of the other pair, thereby establishing first and second intersecting pairs of grids, a single set of plural parallel grid lines on each of said grids, the grid lines of both grids of one intersecting pair being oriented in the same direction, the grid lines of both grids of the other intersecting pair being oriented in the same direction but orthogonal to the grid lines of said one intersecting pair, first-component interpolator means including a first photoelectric device responsive to light modulation produced as the grids of said one intersecting pair are displaced with any component of motion transverse to the grid-line orientation thereof, and second-component interpolator means including a second photoelectric device responsive to light modulation produced as the grids of said other intersecting pair are displaced with any component of motion transverse to the grid-line orientation thereof.

Claim 9

The device of claim 6, including display means connected to both said interpolator means for concurrent display of the coordinate outputs of said respective interpolator means.

Claim 10

The device of claim 6, including separate orthogonally related drive means for each of two coordinates of positional displacement involved in said relative motion, selectively operable means for setting each of two components of desired relative positioning of said members, each said drive means being connected for differential response to the interpolator means and to the selectively operable means for the associated component of desired positional displacement.

Claim 11

The device of claim 6, wherein one of said members is the slide support of a microscope having an optical viewing system wherein a measurement mark is centrally viewed, the respective orthogonally related grids of said one member extending radially with respect to the optically projected intercept of said mark at said surface of said one member.

Claim 12

The device of claim 6, wherein one of said members is a transparent plate and said grids are lines of equal width and spacing.

Claim 13

In combination, slide-support structure and an object-bearing slide movably supported by said structure, guide means coating between said slide and said support structure and limiting to two orthogonally related directional components the displacement of said slide with respect to said support structure, first and second elongate narrow measurement grids respectively parallel to said components and fixedly disposed on said support structure, the point of intersection of the alignments of said grids coinciding with a generally central measurement mark, first and second elongate narrow reading-index grids extending in orthogonally related directions parallel to said respective directional components of displacement and fixedly carried by two adjacent margins of said slide, each reading-index grid having perpendicular intersecting overlap with one of said measurement grids, and means including two photoelectric sensors movable with said slide for tracking reading-index traverse of the respective measurement-grid intersections therewith.

Claim 14

In combination, slide-support structure and an object-bearing slide movably supported by said structure, guide means coating between said slide and said support structure and limiting to two orthogonally related directional components the displacement of said slide with respect to said support structure, first and second elongate narrow measurement grids respectively parallel to said components and fixedly disposed on said support structure, the point of intersection of the alignments of said grids coinciding with a generally central measurement mark, first and second elongate narrow reading-index grids extending in orthogonally related directions parallel to said respective directional components of displacement and fixedly carried by two adjacent margins of said slide, each reading-index grid having perpendicular intersecting overlap with one of said measurement grids, and means including two photoelectric sensors movable with said slide for tracking reading-index traverse of the respective measurement-grid intersections therewith.

Claim 15

The combination of claim 11, in which said measurement grids each extend on one side only of said measurement mark.

Claim 16

The combination of claim 11, in which said slide-support structure is a microscope wherein said measurement mark is on the optical axis of the microscope.

Claim 17

The combination of claim 11, in which said slide includes a removable transparent rectangular field-defining element with said reading-index grids respectively forming integral parts of two adjacent margins of said element.

Claim 18

The combination of claim 13, in which said measurement grids terminate short of intersection of their alignments, whereby observation of the object field in the vicinity of the measurement mark is unimpaired by said measurement grids.