Patent ID: 7217071

Claim:
Method for testing the fit or imbalance of a tool which is replaceably accommodated in a tool spindle which spindle is mounted so that it may be driven in rotation about a central longitudinal axis and which tool has a measurement portion with a round cross-section, the method comprising the following working steps: the tool spindle is set into rotation about the central longitudinal axis, a light beam is emitted continuously from a transmitter with a radiating direction perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis and directed onto a receiver, wherein the measurement portion is located between the transmitter and the receiver, and the receiver generates a received signal from the incoming light beam, the rotating tool spindle and the light beam are moved relative to one another in a relative movement during a monotonic change of the distance between the central longitudinal axis and the direction of radiation, a first relative position is detected between the tool spindle and the light beam, in which first relative position the received signal has for the first time an intermittent signal path, and is evaluated with respect to a non-aligning fit of the tool in the tool spindle or with respect to an imbalance of the tool.