Patent ID: 11927439
Assignee: SA08700334
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 0:
1. A coordinate measurement machine (CMM) comprising:
a manually-positionable articulated arm having first and second ends, the articulated arm including a plurality of arm segments and a plurality of rotary joints, the first end including a connector configured to connect to a measurement probe and the second end including a base for mounting the CMM to a mounting surface;
wherein at least one of the rotary joints of the plurality of rotary joints includes:
first and second bearings;
a shaft that engages an inner race of the first bearing and an inner race of the second bearing, the shaft configured to rotate about an axis of rotation of the first bearing and the second bearing, the shaft having two ends, each end configured to engage a respective one of two projections of a yoke of an adjacent another one of the rotary joints such that the two projections of the yoke straddle the first and second bearings therebetween;

a housing that engages an outer race of the first bearing and an outer race of the second bearing;
an outer tubular spacer disposed abutting the outer race of the first bearing and the outer race of the second bearing, and an inner tubular spacer disposed abutting the inner race of the first bearing and the inner race of the second bearing; and
at least one transducer configured to output an angle signal corresponding to an angle of rotation of the shaft relative to the housing about the axis of rotation, the at least one transducer disposed adjacent one of the two ends of the shaft not between the first and second bearings.