Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim
220 words
A method of determining a contact pattern representative of contact patterns on successive gear teeth, said method comprising: providing a first digital image comprising one of (1) the drive side tooth surfaces comprising contact patterns of a plurality of successive gear teeth or (2) the coast side tooth surfaces comprising contact patterns of a plurality of successive gear teeth, providing a second digital image comprising one of (1) respective drive side theoretically correct tooth surfaces of said plurality of successive gear teeth or (2) respective coast side theoretically correct tooth surfaces of said plurality of successive gear teeth, representing each theoretically correct tooth surface by a matrix grid comprising a plurality of grid elements, superimposing said drive side or coast side theoretically correct tooth surfaces on respective said first digital image tooth surfaces to congruently match said first image tooth surfaces to the respective theoretically correct tooth surfaces, identifying grid elements of each theoretically correct tooth surface which contain at least a portion of said contact pattern image, providing a consolidation matrix grid comprising said plurality of grid elements, identifying grid elements in said consolidation matrix corresponding to respective identified grid elements in each of said theoretically correct matrix grids, the identified grid elements in said consolidation matrix representing a consolidated contact image for said plurality of successive gear teeth.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
220 words
A method of determining a contact pattern representative of contact patterns on successive gear teeth, said method comprising: providing a first digital image comprising one of (1) the drive side tooth surfaces comprising contact patterns of a plurality of successive gear teeth or (2) the coast side tooth surfaces comprising contact patterns of a plurality of successive gear teeth, providing a second digital image comprising one of (1) respective drive side theoretically correct tooth surfaces of said plurality of successive gear teeth or (2) respective coast side theoretically correct tooth surfaces of said plurality of successive gear teeth, representing each theoretically correct tooth surface by a matrix grid comprising a plurality of grid elements, superimposing said drive side or coast side theoretically correct tooth surfaces on respective said first digital image tooth surfaces to congruently match said first image tooth surfaces to the respective theoretically correct tooth surfaces, identifying grid elements of each theoretically correct tooth surface which contain at least a portion of said contact pattern image, providing a consolidation matrix grid comprising said plurality of grid elements, identifying grid elements in said consolidation matrix corresponding to respective identified grid elements in each of said theoretically correct matrix grids, the identified grid elements in said consolidation matrix representing a consolidated contact image for said plurality of successive gear teeth.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 1 wherein said first digital image is transformed from a video image.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 2 wherein said identifying grid elements of each theoretically correct tooth surface comprises assigning a value to each of said identified grids.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
59 words
The method of claim 3 wherein, for each grid element in said consolidation matrix, said identifying grid elements in said consolidation matrix comprises adding said value from the corresponding grid element of each said theoretically correct tooth surface to produce a total grid element value, said total grid element value being assigned to the respective consolidation matrix grid element.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
10 words
The method of claim 4 wherein said value is one.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method of claim 5 wherein each grid element of said consolidation matrix having a total grid value greater than or equal to one is represented in the same manner and each grid element of said consolidation matrix having a total grid value less than one is represented in another manner.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising transforming said consolidated contact image in said consolidation matrix to an axial plane projection illustrating said consolidated contact image.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 1 wherein said plurality of theoretically correct tooth surfaces comprises a gear segment which is oriented in a defined coordinate system.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 1 wherein said first digital image comprises an image from a master gear set member.