APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CHECKING POSITION AND/OR SHAPE OF MECHANICAL PIECES

An apparatus for checking mechanical pieces comprises a base (1), a locking and reference system (31), an optoelectronic measuring system (53), displacement systems (3, 9, 26) and a processing unit (25) for receiving and processing the signals of the optoelectronic system. The displacement systems also enable mutual translation displacements, along a transversal axis, between the optoelectronic system and the piece to be checked. A method of checking foresees to detect signals provided by the optoelectronic system relating to a surface (51) of the piece in the course of the mutual oscillations, at at least two different transversal positions (A, B), and carry out a processing in order to obtain information relating to a virtual surface (51′). The method and the apparatus enable to obtain information relating to the position and/or the arrangement and/or the shape of even very small-dimensioned component parts of hard disk storage units.