Tooth Form Evaluation Using Ball Artifact Development of a Measuring Instrument of a Ball Center Distance Traceable to National Standard of Length

摘要

AIST (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology) has proposed a new calibration method of gear measuring instrument using a ball artifact consisting of two master balls and an optical flat base (DBA). We measure a circular arc instead of involute tooth form. Difference of the distance between the arc of the master ball and involute curve can be calculated theoretically. For the calculation, center distance between two balls is required and the value of measurement uncertainty is less than 0.1 μm and also should be traceable to national standard of length. This paper reports on a new method and an originally developed instrument to measure the center distance between two balls using laser interferometer. The expanded uncertainty in measurement of a center distance of 44 mm was 21 nm.