What is an optical comparator?
The optical comparator is a device that enlarges and projects the image of the object located on its phase on the screen so that part can be compared and measured with a set of known data. These machines are used to compare parts at different stages of production to ensure agreement with standards, and can also be used to create degrees of wear in the working parts. This measurement is achieved by placing the part in the glass staging table under powerful lighting. The complex arrangement of the lens then enlarges and transmits the image to the view screen. This image can then be compared to a reference grid or a template of the part connected to the screen.
The optical comparator was developed in the early 1920s as a tool for measuring and comparing complex screw thread profiles. These machines use a heavily illuminated horizontal glass table and a vertical screen. An object to be checked or compared is firmly held in staging assembly and then placed on a staging table where the force is illuminatedby a halogen or a cold source of optical light. The optical elements of the machine that can be adjusted for different magnification and for fine focus, then projected the image on the screen screen. These images can then be used to check the production parts in terms of conformity or work items for wear or degradation.
The tracking screen may have an extension grid or a part of the part sample connected as a transparent overlap that allows the operator to compare the projected image with a set of standard measurements. The image projected on the screen screen can be a simple part of the part or includes a surface detail depending on the selected lighting position and process requirements. This measurement method allows you to compare small, complex profiles with great accuracy. Some optical comparator system allow you to turn part to allow comparison with multiple axis and can capture and store the expected devotionZky for reference or newer analysis.
One of the disadvantages of the optical comparator is subjectivity in the interpretation of the projected image. This has led to industrial progress, such as automatic edges detection, allowing you to use a digitized computer model to compare the planned results. Another problem that occurred in older systems was the inability to compare the part in more than two dimensions. Modern comparator systems dealt with this problem with including non -contact readers of lasers and touch probes that allow the axis measurement to be added.
The latest optical comparison progress is video measurement systems that allow computer measurement to compare images with pixels for ultra accurate measurements. These video systems are fast and enable extremely accurate, 3 OS surface and dimasg mapping of samples. Although it is still a starting technology, progress made in a video of a comparative arena is likely to cause a conventional optical comparator in a nearbyIt stops the future.