A comparison of the probes with a cantilever beam and a double-sided beam in the tool edge profiler for on-machine measurement of a precision cutting tool

This paper describes a comparison of the mechanical structures (a double-sided beam and a cantilever beam) of a probe in a tool edge profiler for the measurement of a micro-cutting tool. The tool edge profiler consists of a positioning unit having a pair of one-axis DC servo motor stages and a probe unit having a laser displacement sensor and a probe composed of a stylus and a mechanical beam; on-machine measurement of a tool cutting edge can be conducted with a low contact force through measuring the deformation of the probe by the laser displacement sensor while monitoring the tool position. Meanwhile, the mechanical structure of the probe could affect the performance of measurement of the edge profile of a precision cutting tool. In this paper, the measurement principle of the tool edge profile is firstly introduced; after that, slopes and a top-flat of a cutting tool sample are measured by using a cantilever-type probe and a double-sided beam-type probe, respectively. The measurement performances of the two probes are compared through experiments and theoretical measurement uncertainty analysis.