1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to automatic production line quality control and more specifically to an automatic system for measuring various dimensions of a vehicle chassis or similar structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to alleviate tedious manual work it has been previously proposed to measure the dimensions of a vehicle using a reflected light beam technique. Viz., in order to measure the various dimensions in a manner to determine the accuracy with which the vehicle chassis (or the like structure) has been assembled, the chassis is carefully disposed in a predetermined position in which a predetermined measuring coordinate grid is defined. Measuring devices which are located in predetermined locations of the coordinate grid are then used to scan the structure using laser beams or the like. The data derived from the scanning is then used to develop an image or images which can be compared with blueprint models to determine if the required degree of accuracy has been attained or not.
However, this system has suffered from the drawback that even though care is taken to assure that the chassis is located in exactly the correct position within the coordinate grid, still erroneous readings tend to be produced and the need for manually executed backup checking and the like, to be executed is induced.