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WO1998030380A1 - Method and arrangement for manufacturing a marking unit provided with a coating - Google Patents

Method and arrangement for manufacturing a marking unit provided with a coating Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO1998030380A1
WO1998030380A1 PCT/SE1998/000031 SE9800031W WO9830380A1 WO 1998030380 A1 WO1998030380 A1 WO 1998030380A1 SE 9800031 W SE9800031 W SE 9800031W WO 9830380 A1 WO9830380 A1 WO 9830380A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
film
sheet
combined
bringing
coating
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
PCT/SE1998/000031
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Thorleif Josefsson
Jörgen TACKMAN
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Qualisys AB
Original Assignee
Qualisys AB
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Qualisys AB filed Critical Qualisys AB
Priority to EP98900800A priority Critical patent/EP1015224A1/en
Priority to JP53080998A priority patent/JP2001508000A/en
Priority to AU55839/98A priority patent/AU5583998A/en
Publication of WO1998030380A1 publication Critical patent/WO1998030380A1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B5/00—Optical elements other than lenses
    • G02B5/12—Reflex reflectors
    • G02B5/126—Reflex reflectors including curved refracting surface
    • G02B5/128—Reflex reflectors including curved refracting surface transparent spheres being embedded in matrix
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C51/00—Shaping by thermoforming, i.e. shaping sheets or sheet like preforms after heating, e.g. shaping sheets in matched moulds or by deep-drawing; Apparatus therefor
    • B29C51/14—Shaping by thermoforming, i.e. shaping sheets or sheet like preforms after heating, e.g. shaping sheets in matched moulds or by deep-drawing; Apparatus therefor using multilayered preforms or sheets
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B5/00—Optical elements other than lenses
    • G02B5/12—Reflex reflectors
    • G02B5/122—Reflex reflectors cube corner, trihedral or triple reflector type
    • G02B5/124—Reflex reflectors cube corner, trihedral or triple reflector type plural reflecting elements forming part of a unitary plate or sheet
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C2791/00—Shaping characteristics in general
    • B29C2791/004—Shaping under special conditions
    • B29C2791/006—Using vacuum
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C51/00—Shaping by thermoforming, i.e. shaping sheets or sheet like preforms after heating, e.g. shaping sheets in matched moulds or by deep-drawing; Apparatus therefor
    • B29C51/10—Forming by pressure difference, e.g. vacuum

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a three-dimensional marking device having a substantially solid shell of a first material and a coating of an elastic film with substantially reflecting or retroreflecting characteristics, which shell consists of an attachment part for attachment to an object and a top reflection part.
  • Motion analysis is now a well-known method using a camera unit and computer aid to analyse, e.g. bio-mechanics of human, animals or motions of a robot arm etc.
  • markers are attached to the object to be analysed.
  • the object provided with the markers was first filmed and then manually analysed and digitalised to determine the correct position of the markers. This was a time-consuming procedure.
  • the markers must be fully visible to be registered by the camera, i.e. they must have some illumination.
  • the marker is usually provided with a reflecting coating to reflect the light from spotlights or flashes arranged in the surroundings.
  • the reflecting coating is affixed onto the surface of the marker by manually cutting and then gluing the same onto the marker. This is a time consuming and expensive operation.
  • the surface is not even and does not reflect the light completely.
  • the object of the present invention to overcome above problems by presenting a novel, efficient and fast apparatus and method for manufacturing markers or the like, having a smooth, reflective or the like surface.
  • a method according to the preamble comprising the steps of: bringing together a sheet of said first material and said film, bringing said combined sheet of said first material and said film in vicinity of a mould having one or several cavities, substantially shaped as a part of said marking device, exposing at least parts of said combined sheet of said first material and said film to heat, and bringing parts of said combined first material sheet and said film into said form by generating a force directed into said form, so that said combined first material sheet and said film forms a part substantially having the form of the mould and the coating uniformly covers the formed part.
  • the apparatus is characterised in that it comprises means for bringing together a sheet of said first material and said film, means for bringing the combined sheet of said first material and said film in vicinity of a mould having a form substantially shaped as a part of said marking device, means for heating said combined sheet of said first material and said film, and means for generating a force directed into said form for bringing at least parts of said combined sheet of said first material and said film into said form.
  • Fig. 1 is an embodiment of a marker made according to the present invention, with some part removed.
  • Fig. 2 is a schematic view of a part of a sheet of materials and a mould for making markers according to the invention, before a shaping step.
  • Fig. 3 is a schematic view of part of a tray of materials and the mould according to fig. 2 at the shaping step
  • Fig. 1 shows a marker 10 according to the present invention.
  • the marker is formed substantially spherically with a hollow inner space, having an upper fully semispherical part 11 and a lower essentially semispherical part 12, provided with an attachment surface 13.
  • Theshell 14ofthemarker is made of a plastic material, covered with a reflecting or retroreflective material 15.
  • the retroreflective material for example made by 3M, is an elastic film, which on one surface is provided with glass beads embedded in a substrate. The light falling on the retroreflective surface, on its way in, will be first refracted by the surface then it will be reflected inside the glass beads, then the reflected light is again refracted in its way out by the surface. This feature makes such material useful as substantially entire light is reflected back towards the light source.
  • the attachment surface 13 is used to attach the marker to an object to be surveyed.
  • the manufacturing steps are illustrated in figs. 2 and 3.
  • sheets of shell 14 and coating 15 materials are brought together into a new sheet, manually or by means of an apparatus not shown.
  • the sheet of materials is then brought into vicinity or in contact with a mould 16.
  • the mould 16 is a plate provided with one or several cavities 17 in the shape of the upper or lower parts of the marker 10.
  • a hole connecting the cavity through a pipe 18 to a vacuum pump (not shown) is arranged.
  • a vacuum pump not shown
  • a heat generating means such as an UN -radiator, microwave transmitter, heating elements or the like, is used to heat the entire surface or spots of the sheet material from the side not facing the mould.
  • the vacuum pump When the material is heated sufficiently, so that it is substantially softened, the vacuum pump is operated to evacuate the air in the cavity 14 under the sheet materials. The vacuum state generated in the cavity sucks the material into the cavity, as shown in fig. 3.
  • the formed sheet of materials is removed and new sheet material may be delivered to the moulding site.
  • the second part of the marker is manufactured in the same way.
  • the invention is not limited to said embodiment, variations and modifications may be occurring within the scope of the attached claims.
  • the form av the marker is not limited to the spherical or semispherical shape.

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Blow-Moulding Or Thermoforming Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)
  • Optical Elements Other Than Lenses (AREA)

Abstract

A method and apparatus for manufacturing a three-dimensional marking device (10) having a substantially solid shell (14) of a first material and a coating (15) of an elastic film with substantially reflecting or retroreflecting characteristics, which shell consists of an attachment part (13) for attachment to an object and a top reflection part (14). The method comprises the steps of: bringing together a sheet of said first material and said film; bringing said combined sheet of said first material and said film in vicinity of a mould (16) having one or several cavities (17), substantially shaped as a part of said marking device (10); exposing at least parts of said combined sheet of said first material sheet and said film to heat; and bringing parts of said combined first material sheet and said film into said form (17) by generating a force directed into said form (17), so that said combined first material sheet and said film form a part having substantially the form of the mould and the coating uniformly covering the formed part.

Description

METHOD AND ARRANGEMENT FOR MANUFACTURING A MARKING UNIT PROVIDED WITH A COATING
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a three-dimensional marking device having a substantially solid shell of a first material and a coating of an elastic film with substantially reflecting or retroreflecting characteristics, which shell consists of an attachment part for attachment to an object and a top reflection part.
BACKGROUND AND RELATED ART
Motion analysis is now a well-known method using a camera unit and computer aid to analyse, e.g. bio-mechanics of human, animals or motions of a robot arm etc.
In a simple system markers are attached to the object to be analysed. In the past, the object provided with the markers was first filmed and then manually analysed and digitalised to determine the correct position of the markers. This was a time-consuming procedure.
One problem related with the markers is that they must be fully visible to be registered by the camera, i.e. they must have some illumination. Generally, it is difficult and expensive to have self illuminating markers. Consequently, the marker is usually provided with a reflecting coating to reflect the light from spotlights or flashes arranged in the surroundings. The reflecting coating is affixed onto the surface of the marker by manually cutting and then gluing the same onto the marker. This is a time consuming and expensive operation. Moreover, the surface is not even and does not reflect the light completely.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention to overcome above problems by presenting a novel, efficient and fast apparatus and method for manufacturing markers or the like, having a smooth, reflective or the like surface. These objects are achieved by means of a method according to the preamble comprising the steps of: bringing together a sheet of said first material and said film, bringing said combined sheet of said first material and said film in vicinity of a mould having one or several cavities, substantially shaped as a part of said marking device, exposing at least parts of said combined sheet of said first material and said film to heat, and bringing parts of said combined first material sheet and said film into said form by generating a force directed into said form, so that said combined first material sheet and said film forms a part substantially having the form of the mould and the coating uniformly covers the formed part.
The apparatus according to the preamble is characterised in that it comprises means for bringing together a sheet of said first material and said film, means for bringing the combined sheet of said first material and said film in vicinity of a mould having a form substantially shaped as a part of said marking device, means for heating said combined sheet of said first material and said film, and means for generating a force directed into said form for bringing at least parts of said combined sheet of said first material and said film into said form.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the following the invention will be described with reference to enclosed drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is an embodiment of a marker made according to the present invention, with some part removed.
Fig. 2 is a schematic view of a part of a sheet of materials and a mould for making markers according to the invention, before a shaping step.
Fig. 3 is a schematic view of part of a tray of materials and the mould according to fig. 2 at the shaping step
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT
Fig. 1 shows a marker 10 according to the present invention. The marker is formed substantially spherically with a hollow inner space, having an upper fully semispherical part 11 and a lower essentially semispherical part 12, provided with an attachment surface 13. Theshell 14ofthemarker is made of a plastic material, covered with a reflecting or retroreflective material 15. The retroreflective material, for example made by 3M, is an elastic film, which on one surface is provided with glass beads embedded in a substrate. The light falling on the retroreflective surface, on its way in, will be first refracted by the surface then it will be reflected inside the glass beads, then the reflected light is again refracted in its way out by the surface. This feature makes such material useful as substantially entire light is reflected back towards the light source. The attachment surface 13 is used to attach the marker to an object to be surveyed.
The manufacturing steps are illustrated in figs. 2 and 3. In a first step, sheets of shell 14 and coating 15 materials are brought together into a new sheet, manually or by means of an apparatus not shown. The sheet of materials is then brought into vicinity or in contact with a mould 16. The mould 16 is a plate provided with one or several cavities 17 in the shape of the upper or lower parts of the marker 10. In the bottom of each cavity, a hole connecting the cavity through a pipe 18 to a vacuum pump (not shown) is arranged. In this example only the mould for the upper part 12 of the marker is presented.
When the sheet of materials is in a heating position, a heat generating means (shown by arrows) such as an UN -radiator, microwave transmitter, heating elements or the like, is used to heat the entire surface or spots of the sheet material from the side not facing the mould.
When the material is heated sufficiently, so that it is substantially softened, the vacuum pump is operated to evacuate the air in the cavity 14 under the sheet materials. The vacuum state generated in the cavity sucks the material into the cavity, as shown in fig. 3.
After cooling, the formed sheet of materials is removed and new sheet material may be delivered to the moulding site. The second part of the marker is manufactured in the same way.
The finished parts, lower 11 and upper 12 parts, respectively are then brought together, affixed and each marker is removed from the sheet of materials at the area of attachment composing the marker as fig. 1.
Although, we have described and shown a preferred embodiment, the invention is not limited to said embodiment, variations and modifications may be occurring within the scope of the attached claims. The form av the marker is not limited to the spherical or semispherical shape.
LIST OF DESIGNATION SIGNS
10 Marker
11 Lower part
12 Upper part
13 Attachment surface
14 Shell
15 Coating
16 Mould
17 Cavity
18 Pipe

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a three-dimensional marking device (10) having a substantially solid shell (14) of a first material and a coating (15) of an elastic film with substantially reflecting or retroreflecting characteristics, which shell consists of an attachment part (13) for attachment to an object and a top reflection part (14), characterised in, that the method comprises the steps of:
- bringing together a sheet of said first material and said film, - bringing said combined sheet of said first material and said film in vicinity of a mould (16) having one or several cavities (17), substantially shaped as a part of said marking device (10), exposing at least parts of said combined sheet of said first material and said film to heat, and
- bringing parts of said combined first material sheet and said film into said form (17) by generating a force directed into said form ( 17), so that said combined first material sheet and said film forms a part substantially having the form of the mould and the coating uniformly covers the formed part.
2. A method according to claim 1, characterised in, affixing said attachment part (13) and the upper refection part (14) to build said body (10).
3. A method according to claim 1, characterised in, that said first material is plastic.
4. An apparatus for manufacturing a three-dimensional marking device (10) having a substantially solid shell (14) of a first material and a coating (15) of an elastic film having substantially reflecting or retroreflecting characteristics, which shell consists of an attachment part (13) for attachment to an object and a top reflection part (14), characterised in, that the apparatus comprises means for bringing together a sheet of said first material and said film, means for bringing said combined sheet of said first material and said film in vicinity of a mould (16) having a form (17) substantially shaped as a part of said marking device (10), means for heating said combined sheet of said first material and said film, and means for generating a force directed into said form (17) for bringing at least parts of said combined sheet of said first material and said film into said form (17).
5. An apparatus according to claim 6, characterised in, that said means for generating the force into said form ( 17) is a pump for generating a substantially vacuum state in said form (17).
PCT/SE1998/000031 1997-01-10 1998-01-12 Method and arrangement for manufacturing a marking unit provided with a coating Ceased WO1998030380A1 (en)

Priority Applications (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP98900800A EP1015224A1 (en) 1997-01-10 1998-01-12 Method and arrangement for manufacturing a marking unit provided with a coating
JP53080998A JP2001508000A (en) 1997-01-10 1998-01-12 Method and apparatus for manufacturing a marking unit with a coating
AU55839/98A AU5583998A (en) 1997-01-10 1998-01-12 Method and arrangement for manufacturing a marking unit provided with a coating

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
SE9700064-0 1997-01-10
SE9700064A SE9700064L (en) 1997-01-10 1997-01-10 Method and apparatus for the manufacture of a coated body

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1998030380A1 true WO1998030380A1 (en) 1998-07-16

Family

ID=20405396

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/SE1998/000031 Ceased WO1998030380A1 (en) 1997-01-10 1998-01-12 Method and arrangement for manufacturing a marking unit provided with a coating

Country Status (5)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1015224A1 (en)
JP (1) JP2001508000A (en)
AU (1) AU5583998A (en)
SE (1) SE9700064L (en)
WO (1) WO1998030380A1 (en)

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2164762A (en) * 1984-09-21 1986-03-26 Potters Industries Inc Retroreflective particles and method of making the same
EP0565765A2 (en) * 1992-04-17 1993-10-20 SWARCO VESTGLAS Vestische Strahl- und Reflexglas GmbH Retroreflective body, particularly for road marking

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2164762A (en) * 1984-09-21 1986-03-26 Potters Industries Inc Retroreflective particles and method of making the same
EP0565765A2 (en) * 1992-04-17 1993-10-20 SWARCO VESTGLAS Vestische Strahl- und Reflexglas GmbH Retroreflective body, particularly for road marking

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
JEAN O. CEDWALL et al., "Perstorpsboken", 1975, AB GRAFISKA GRUPPEN. *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
SE9700064L (en) 1998-07-11
SE9700064D0 (en) 1997-01-10
AU5583998A (en) 1998-08-03
EP1015224A1 (en) 2000-07-05
JP2001508000A (en) 2001-06-19

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