It is often a preconceived notion that precision is the defining strength of a measurement device. While it is true that many applications require extreme precision and accuracy, other applications can simply benefit from the versatility of such devices. Laser trackers are portable coordinate measurement devices where in most applications their precision is called upon [...]
One of the most common tasks involving machinery alignment is locating machine components during installation. The erection process of a large or complex machine can be a daunting task. In some cases, the process involves thousands of components that fit perfectly together on the design engineer’s CAD software, but in reality are subject to real [...]
Large and small machinery is susceptible to the effects of temperature variations due to fundamental properties of materials at the molecular level. Basically, when various materials change temperature, they change dimensionally. When the size of the components affected is considerable, the coefficient of thermal expansion of the material is high, and if there is enough [...]
What is level? Level is an imaginary plane level to Earth at any particular tangential point on our planet. Due to Earth’s gravity (which is approximately normal to the curvature of the Earth) the level plane can be measured quite easily by several methods. A very crude but effective way to measure level is by [...]
The many uses of the word “alignment” describe a structure between objects, ideas, or people. When mechanics use the word alignment, they generally mean the relationship between one mechanical component and another. In a three dimensional world, that implies that the component relationship is described in a way that leaves no degrees of freedom unaccounted [...]
One of the nation’s leading producers of rotogravure printed flexible packaging required alignment of the chill rolls of one of their printing presses. Additionally, they had developed severe wrinkling through the foil section of their Rotomec coater/laminator. The printing press is a 10-color Rotogravure printing press with in-line lamination capability. The materials produced on this [...]
This is the first in our “How to Align Machines” series. This post deals with shaft alignment. In industry, the requirements for alignment are numerous. From shaft alignment to satellite antenna alignment to roll alignment, engineers and technicians benefit from a wide range of technologies and methods to accomplish their measurement and alignment needs. Shaft [...]
One of the largest packaging facilities in the Midwest requested an alignment survey of the double backer through the wet end of their corrugator. During the initial survey, OASIS found significant misalignment conditions. After a complete realignment of the machine, this facility has seen a marked improvement in production and supplied the following impressive data: The [...]
