Patent ID: 7336373

Claim:
A surface shape measuring apparatus to measure locations of distortions on a curved surface of a work piece and a location of a reinforcing material that is provided on an interior surface of the work piece comprising: a measuring portion, wherein said measuring portion comprises: a non-contact sensor disposed a pre-selected distance away from the curved surface of said work piece, the non-contact sensor being adapted to scan the curved surface of the work piece; Z-axis moving means for moving said non-contact sensor with respect to the curved surface of said work piece along a curved direction in which the curved surface of said work is curved; X-axis moving means for moving said non-contact sensor with respect to the curved surface of said work piece in a direction intersecting at right angles with said curved direction; Y-axis moving means for moving said non-contact sensor with respect to the curved surface of said work piece along a confronting direction in which said non-contact sensor and the curved surface of said work piece oppose each other, while maintaining a constant distance in the confronting direction; and processing means for receiving scan data obtained from the non-contact sensor, the processing means being configured to identify locations of distortions that are present on a surface of the work piece and to identify a location of the reinforcing material that is provided on the interior surface of the work piece, wherein the processing means calculates positional relationships between the locations of the identified distortions on the surface of the work piece and the location of the reinforcing material.