APPARATUS FOR MEASURING THE THICKNESS PROFILE OF STRIP MATERIAL

Apparatus for Measuring Profile Thickness of Strip Material. This invention provides apparatus for measuring the thickness profile of steel strip comprising a radiation source reciprocally movable in a stepwise fashion across the strip width on one side thereof and a single elongated detector on the other side of the strip aligned with the scanning source. This detector may be a fluorescent scintillator which is responsive to the incident radiation, the amount of which is in turn dependent on the degree of absorption by the strip. Means are provided for sensing the degree of excitation in the detector in synchronism with the scanning source whereby to provide an output respresentative of the thickness profile of the strip. The profile may conveniently be displayed in analogue fashion on a television screen. A conventional thickness gauge, e.g. of the X-ray type, may conveniently be used in conjunction with the profile gauge to compensate the output of the latter for any variations in the strip thickness along the length of the coil.