Abstract:
A detecting apparatus for detecting the angle of a bend in an electrically conductive workpiece is provided. The detecting apparatus includes a platform, a holding bracket mounted on the platform, at least one detecting portion slidably mounted to the platform, a processor, and an indicator electrically connected to the processor. The holding bracket is grounded and configured for holding and electrically connecting with the workpiece. The at least one detecting portion includes a short pin and a long pin. During operation, the pins are normally at high potential and go low if they contact the workpiece. The pins are electrically connected to the processor. The processor judges an eligibility of the angle of the workpiece according to the potential pattern of each pins. The indicator outputs a detecting result done by the processor.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to detecting apparatuses, and particularly to a detecting apparatus for detecting the angle of a bend in an electrically conductive workpiece quickly and accurately. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    An angle of a bend in a workpiece must be within a certain tolerance. For example, an angle in a fastener for a heat sink cannot be too small or too large, otherwise the heat sink will not fit properly when mounted to an electronic component. An angle gauge is used for detecting whether the angles of the workpiece are eligible. The workpiece is put on the gauge. An operator observes whether angles of the workpiece match corresponding angles of the gauge to decide if the workpiece is eligible or not. However, the aforementioned detecting method is inefficient, because the result is very subjective and not accurate enough. 
         [0005]    What is desired, therefore, is a detecting apparatus for detecting the angle of a bend in an electrically conductive workpiece quickly and accurately. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    An exemplary detecting apparatus for detecting the angle of a bend in an electrically conductive workpiece is provided. The detecting apparatus includes a platform, a holding bracket mounted on the platform, at least one detecting portion slidably mounted to the platform, a processor, and an indicator electrically connected to the processor. The holding bracket is grounded and configured for holding and electrically connecting with the workpiece. The at least one detecting portion includes a short pin and a long pin. The pins are normally at high potential. Any of the pins can contact the workpiece and turn to low potential when the at least one detecting portion is slid. The pins are electrically connected to the processor. The processor judges an eligibility of the angle of a bend in the workpiece according to the potential pattern of each pins. The indicator output a detecting result done by the processor. 
         [0007]    Other advantages and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is an exploded, isometric view of a detecting apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention with a control box and a workpiece, the control box having a processor set therein; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a front elevational view of the workpiece; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a left side elevational view of the workpiece; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a bottom plan view of the workpiece; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is an inverted view of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is an assembled view of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is similar to  FIG. 6 , showing an angle in the workpiece being gauged by the detecting apparatus; 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  is similar to  FIG. 7 , but viewed from another aspect; 
           [0016]      FIG. 9  is an inverted view of  FIG. 8 , without the control box and the processor; 
           [0017]      FIG. 10  shows an electrical relationship between the workpiece, and some parts of the detecting apparatus in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 11  is an isometric view showing the workpiece having an ineligible bend angle being gauged by the detecting apparatus; 
           [0019]      FIG. 12  is similar to  FIG. 11 , but viewed from another aspect; and 
           [0020]      FIG. 13  is an inverted view of  FIG. 12 , without the control box and the processor; 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0021]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , an exemplary detecting apparatus includes a platform  30 , a holding bracket  40 , a detecting device, an indicator  70 , and a control box  90  covering a processor  80 . The detecting apparatus is used for detecting whether the angle of bend in an electrically conductive workpiece  20  is eligible. 
         [0022]    Referring to  FIGS. 2 to 4 , the workpiece  20  includes a shaft  22 , and two arms  24 ,  26  respectively extending from two ends of the shaft  22 . The shaft  22  includes an offset section  222  at the middle thereof offset a distance from two aligned end sections. The offset section  222  and end sections of the shaft  22  are parallel with each other, and cooperatively define a plane. The two arms  24 ,  26  are perpendicular to the shaft  22  and extend to different sides of the plane. An acute angle A is formed between each arm  24 ,  26  and the plane. The workpiece  20  is a fastener for a heat sink in the embodiment of the present invention. If the angle A is not in an eligible range, the heat sink will not fit properly when mounted to an electronic component by the workpiece  20 . Therefore the angle A is the angle to be gauged. Each arm  24 ,  26  forms a clasp  242 ,  246  on a free end thereof. 
         [0023]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  5 , and  8 , the platform  30  is a plate supported by four legs  32 . The holding bracket  40 , the detecting device, the indicator  70 , and the control box  90  are all mounted to the platform  30 . 
         [0024]    The holding bracket  40  is mounted to the middle portion of a top surface of the platform  30 . The holding bracket  40  includes a vertical wall on the lower portion thereof. Two pairs of holding blocks  420  are formed on the vertical wall. Each pair of holding blocks  420  defines a holding slot  422  therebetween, for receiving the shaft  22  of the workpiece  20 . Two holding tabs  424 ,  425  are respectively formed on two sidewalls of the holding bracket  40 . Each holding tab  424 ,  425  forms a supporting post  428 , for supporting the workpiece  20 . The holding tab  424  defines a vertical groove  426  therein. A handle  44  and a cantilever  48  are connected to an upper portion of the holding bracket  40  by pivots. The cantilever  48  includes a retaining block  46  on a free end thereof. A bottom wall of the retaining block  46  is a plane. The handle  44  is pivotably connected with the cantilever  48 . When the handle  44  is operated up or down, the cantilever  48  is driven to move the retaining block  46  towards or away from the vertical wall of the holding bracket  40 . The holding bracket  40  is grounded. When the workpiece  20  is held by the holding bracket  40 , the workpiece  20  is grounded. 
         [0025]    Referring particularly to  FIGS. 1 and 5 , the detecting device includes two detecting portions  52 ,  56 , and an interlock bar  50  connected between the detecting portions  52 ,  56 . A middle portion of the interlock bar  50  is pivotably mounted to the bottom surface of the platform  30 . The interlock bar  50  defines a sliding slot  502  at each end thereof. The detecting portions  52 ,  56  respectively extend through two slots  34  defined in the platform  30 , thereby being horizontally slidably mounted on the platform  30 , adjacent the holding bracket  40 . Each detecting portion  52 ,  56  forms an interlock post  522 ,  562  on a bottom surface thereof. The posts  522 ,  562  are slidably received in the sliding slots  502  of the interlock bar  50 , respectively. Each detecting portion  52 ,  56  includes an insulating block  523 ,  563  (see  FIG. 7 ). Each insulating block  523 ,  563  includes a long pin  524 ,  564  and a short pin  526 ,  566  extending therethrough. The short pins  526 ,  566  are nearer to the holding bracket  40  than the long pins  524 ,  564 . The distal ends of the long pins  524 ,  564  are further from the platfrom  30  than the distal ends of the short pins  526 ,  566 . The height of the short pins  526 ,  566  relative to the platform  30  is predetermined corresponding to a minimum limit angle A (see  FIG. 4 ) in the eligible range. The height of the long pins  526 ,  566  relative to the platform  30  is predetermined corresponding to a maximum limit angle A in the eligible range. The pins  524 ,  564 ,  526 ,  566  are electrical conductors. Each pin  524 ,  564 ,  526 ,  566  is electrically wired to the processor  80  of the control box  90  (see  FIG. 10 ). The pins  524 ,  564 ,  526 ,  566  are all normally at high potential, and insulated from the platform  30  and the holding bracket  40  by the corresponding insulating blocks  523 ,  563 . The detecting portion  52  forms an operating portion  528  on an end thereof, adjacent the long pin  524 . The operating portion  528  can be pushed to drive the detecting portion  52  to slide along the slot  34 . The detecting portion  56  can be driven to slide by the interlock bar  50  when the detecting portion  52  is driven. A touching switch  530  is mounted on the bottom surface of the platform  30 . The touching switch  530  is wired to the processor  80 . The detecting portion  56  touches with the touching switch  530  when it is in an initial position and the workpiece  20  is received in the holding bracket  40 . When the detecting portion  56  is slid away from its initial position, it will not touch the touching switch  530  any more. Therefore the touching switch  530  turns on and activates the processor  80 . Referring particularly to  FIG. 8 , the detecting portion  56  forms a projection  568  on an end thereof, adjacent the short pin  566 . A pole  570  parallel to the top surface of the platform  30  extends from the projection  568 . A trigger pin  572  is formed on a free end of the pole  570 . An abutting block  574  is formed on the top surface of the platform  30 , adjacent the slot  34 . The abutting block  574  defines a through hole for the pole  570  to extend through. A spring  576  coils around the pole  570 . Two ends of the spring  576  abut against the projection  568  and the abutting block  574 , respectively. A photoelectric switch  580  electrically wired to the processor  80  is mounted on the top surface of the platform  30 . A slot  582  is defined in the photoelectric switch  580 . When the trigger pin  572  of the pole  570  is inserted into the slot  582 , the photoelectric switch  580  responds and sends a detecting-over signal to the processor  80 . 
         [0026]    The indicator  70  is fixed on a corner of the platform  30 , for indicating detecting results. The indicator  70  is electrically wired to the processor  80  of the control box  90 , for receiving the detecting results from the processor  80 . The indicator  70  includes seven lights  71 ,  72 ,  73 ,  74 ,  75 ,  76 ,  77 . The light  71  is a power indicator light. When the detecting apparatus is switched on, the light  71  turns on. The light  73  is a detecting-over indicator light. The turning on of the light  73  indicates the detecting process of the workpiece  20  is over. When the trigger pin  572  of the pole  570  is inserted into the slot  582 , the light  73  turns on. An on/off pattern of the lights  72 ,  74 ,  75 ,  76 ,  77  indicate whether the workpiece  20  is eligible. 
         [0027]    Referring to  FIGS. 6 to 10 , in detecting, the detecting apparatus is switched on, and the light  71  turns on. The shaft  22  of the workpiece  20  is received in the holding slots  422 , and held by the holding blocks  420  and supporting posts  428  of the holding bracket  40 . The handle  44  is turned to drive the retaining block  46  toward the vertical wall of holding bracket  40 . The shaft  22  of the workpiece  20  is then held between the retaining block  46  and the vertical wall. The offset section  222  contacts with the vertical wall of the holding bracket  40  to prevent the workpiece  20  from pivoting around an axis of the shaft  22 . The arm  24  extends through the groove  426  of the holding bracket  40  to prevent the workpiece  20  from sliding along the axis of the shaft  22 . At this time, the workpiece  20  is grounded through the holding bracket  40 . 
         [0028]    The operating portion  528  of the detecting portion  52  is pushed to drive the detecting portion  52  to slide along the slot  34  of the platform  30 , toward the indicator  70 . At the same time, the detecting portion  56  is driven to slide away from the touching switch  530  toward the photoelectric switch  580  by the interlock bar  50 . When the detecting portion  56  disengages from the touching switch  530 , the touching switch  530  turns on and sends a detecting-start signal to tell the processor  80  of the control box  90  that a detecting process of the workpiece  20  starts. The processor  80  records any change in potential of the pins  524 ,  564 ,  526 ,  566  to correspondingly control the lights  72 ,  74 ,  75 ,  76 ,  77  to turn on or off. 
         [0029]    The situation is that if any pins  526 ,  524 ,  566 ,  564  contact the workpiece  20 , its high potential will turn low because the workpiece  20  is grounded through the holding bracket  40 , and if else, its high potential will keep on. The workpiece  20  is made of elastic material and can be deformed without being destroyed. Therefore the pins  526 ,  566 ,  524 ,  564  can slide through under the arms  24 ,  26  even if one or more pin  526 ,  566 ,  524 ,  564  contacts the corresponding arm  24 ,  26 . 
         [0030]    In the sliding movement of the detecting portions  52 ,  56 , the pins  526 ,  524 ,  566 ,  564  approach the corresponding arms  26 ,  24  of the workpiece  20 . If the angle A of the arm  24  of the workpiece  20  is too small, the short pin  566  will contact the arm  24  of the workpiece  20 . Therefore the potential of the short pin  566  goes low, and the processor  80  controls the light  76  to turn on and the light  72  to remain off for indicating that the angle A of the arm  24  is too small and the workpiece is ineligible. 
         [0031]    If the angle A of the arm  26  of the workpiece  20  is too small, the short pin  526  will contact the arm  26  of the workpiece  20 . Therefore the potential of the short pin  526  goes low, and the processor  80  controls the light  74  to turn on and the light  72  to remain off for indicating that the angle A of the arm  26  is too small and the workpiece  20  is ineligible. 
         [0032]    If both of the angles A of the arms  26  and  24  of the workpiece  20  are too small, the lights  76  and  74  turn on at the same time. 
         [0033]    If the arms  26 ,  24  of the workpiece  20  are eligible, the short pins  526 ,  566  will slide through under the corresponding arms  26 ,  24  with no contact, then the long pins  524 ,  526  will contact the arms  26 ,  24 , respectively. The potential of the short pins  526 ,  566  keep high and the potential of the long pins  524 ,  526  go to low, and the processor  80  controls the light  72  to turn on for indicating the workpiece  20  is eligible. 
         [0034]    If the angle A of the arm  24  of the workpiece  20  is too large and the angle A of the arm  26  is in the eligible range, firstly the short pin  566  slides through under the arm  24  with no contact and the short pin  526  slides through under the arm  26  with no contact, and then the long pin  564  slides through under the arm  24  with no contact wheile the long pin  524  contacts the arm  26 . Therefore the potential of the short pins  566 ,  526  and the long pin  564  keep high and the long pin  524  goes low, according to which, the processor  80  controls the light  77  to turn on and the light  72  to remain off for indicating that the angle A of the arm  24  is too large and the workpiece is ineligible, and controls the light  75  to remain off. 
         [0035]    If the angle A of the arm  24  of the workpiece  20  is too large and the angle A of the arm  26  is too small, firstly the short pin  566  will slide through under the arm  24  with no contact when the short pin  526  will contact the arm  26 , and then the long pin  564  will slide through under the arm  24  with no contact when the long pin  524  will contact the arm  26 . Therefore the potential of the short pin  566  and the long pin  564  keep high and the short pin  526  and the long pin  524  go low, according to which, the processor  80  controls the light  77  to turn on and the light  72  to remain off for indicating that the angle A of the arm  24  is too large and the workpiece is ineligible, and controls the light  74  to turn on for indicating the angle A of the arm  26  is too small. 
         [0036]    If the angle A of the arm  26  of the workpiece  20  is too large and the angle A of the arm  24  is in the eligible range, firstly the short pin  526  will slide through under the arm  26  with no contact when the short pin  566  will slide through under the arm  24  with no contact, and then the long pin  524  will slide through under the arm  26  with no contact when the long pin  564  will contact the arm  24 . Therefore the potential of the short pins  526 ,  566  and the long pin  524  keep high, and the long pin  564  goes low, according to which, the processor  80  controls the light  75  to turn on for indicating that the angle A of the arm  26  is too large and the workpiece is ineligible, and controls the light  76  to remain off. 
         [0037]    If the angle A of the arm  26  of the workpiece  20  is too large and the angle A of the arm  24  is too small, firstly the short pin  526  will slide through under the arm  26  with no contact when the short pin  566  will contact the arm  24 , and then the long pin  524  will slide through under the arm  26  with no contact when the long pin  526  will contact the arm  24 . Therefore the potential of the short pin  526  and the long pin  524  keep high, and the short pin  566  and the long pin  564  go low, according to which, the processor  80  controls the light  75  to turn on and the light  72  to remain off for indicating that the angle A of the arm  24  is too large and the workpiece is ineligible, and controls the light  76  to turn on for indicating the angle A of the arm  24  is too small. 
         [0038]    Referring to  FIGS. 11 to 13 , if both of the angles A of the arms  26  and  24  of the workpiece  20  are too large, the long pins  524 ,  564  will both slide through under the corresponding arms  26 ,  24  with no contact. The detecting portions  52 ,  56  continue sliding along the slots  34  of the platform  30 , until the trigger pin  572  of the pole  570  is inserted into the slot  582  of the photoelectric switch  580 . The photoelectric switch  580  is on, which activates the processor  80  to control the light  73  to turn on. At the same time, the potential of the short pins  526 ,  566  and the long pins  564 ,  524  still keep high. The processor  80  receives signals that the photoelectric switch  580  is on and all the pins  526 ,  566 ,  564 ,  524  are in high potential, and controls the lights  75 ,  77  to turn on for indicating both angles A of the arms  24 ,  26  are too large and the workpiece  20  is ineligible. 
         [0039]    The operator can push the detecting portions  52 ,  56  sliding along the slots  34  until the light  73  turns on, then record the results indicated by the indicator  70 . Of course, the operator can finish the detecting of the workpiece  20  when one or more lights  74 ,  76  turn on. 
         [0040]    In sliding the detecting portion  56 , the spring  576  is deformed between the abutting block  574  and the projection  568 . When the detecting is finished, the detecting portion  56  is slid backward by the rebound force of the spring  576 . The detecting portion  52  is driven to slide backward by the interlock bar  50 . The detecting portion  56  contacts and deactivates the touching switch  530 , which activates the processor  80  of the control box  90  to wait for a next detecting process for another workpiece  20 . 
         [0041]    The meanings of on and/or off patterns of the lights  71 ,  72 ,  73 ,  74 ,  75 ,  76 ,  77  above are shown in the table below. Note that “NC” means not care. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
                 Light pattern 
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 71 
                 72 
                 73 
                 74 
                 75 
                 76 
                 77 
                 meaning 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 on 
                 NC 
                 NC 
                 NC 
                 NC 
                 NC 
                 NC 
                 detecting device power on 
               
               
                 on 
                 on 
                 NC 
                 off 
                 off 
                 off 
                 off 
                 workpiece 20 eligible 
               
               
                 on 
                 NC 
                 on 
                 NC 
                 NC 
                 NC 
                 NC 
                 photoelectric switch 580 on, detecting 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 process over 
               
               
                 on 
                 off 
                 NC 
                 on 
                 off 
                 NC 
                 NC 
                 angle A of arm 26 too small, workpiece 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 20 ineligible 
               
               
                 on 
                 off 
                 NC 
                 NC 
                 NC 
                 on 
                 off 
                 angle A of arm 24 too small, workpiece 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 20 ineligible 
               
               
                 on 
                 off 
                 on 
                 off 
                 on 
                 NC 
                 NC 
                 angle A of arm 26 too large, workpiece 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 20 ineligible 
               
               
                 on 
                 off 
                 on 
                 NC 
                 NC 
                 off 
                 on 
                 angle A of arm 24 too large, workpiece 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 20 ineligible 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0042]    In other embodiments, the lights of indicator  70  can be replaced with other devices, such as a display, or a sound alert device. 
         [0043]    It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.