If you’ve ever wondered who buys our laser alignment equipment and why, here’s a story about a recent customer, their unique needs, and how we helped them get back into alignment.
Recently, we were contacted by a large manufacturer of thermal processing equipment. They needed to align the conveyor belts on their machines. These machines are used in solar, nuclear, and electronics manufacturing.
The application consists of two rollers, one is a drive roller and the other is an idler roller. These two rolls must be parallel to each other within about .020 over a distance of about 60 feet.
They had been performing their alignment using standard levels and string pulled tight between rollers to determine if the machine was level and the rollers were parallel. This method involved a lot of trial and error and was very time consuming.
Laser Alignment Equipment Was the Answer
We suggested the Microgage 2D Universal laser alignment equipment kit. The Microgage 2D is set up quickly to see how well the rollers could be aligned. The Microgage laser is mounted on the Leveler Rotational Mount which is mounted on our sturdy Pinpoint tripod. The laser is leveled then through a process called “bucking in” it is aligned to the drive roller. The bucking in of the laser to the drive roller is achieved by using our 90-Line Right Angle Beam Bender positioned in the laser beam to project a right angle laser beam across the face of the drive roll. The laser can be adjusted so that the beam, passing in front of the drive roll, is parallel to the roll’s face.
Microgage 2D Universal Kit
Now that the laser beam is aligned to the drive roller the 90-line is moved down the machine 60 feet to a location near the idler roller. The 90-Line is placed into the laser’s path and the resulting right angle laser beam can now be used to check the alignment of the idler roll. If the idler roll is at a different elevation, the right angle beam from the 90-Line can be turned to the reference beam will scan the surface for measurements.
Without touching the laser you now compare the readings at the idle roller with the readings taken at the drive roller, the differences between each position should be equal or zero thus making the two rollers parallel.
Conclusion: Laser Alignment Equipment Is Much More Reliable Than String
By using the Microgage 2D laser alignment equipment kit instead of the unreliable string method. This company was able to perform their alignment in 30 minutes, saving them considerable time and money.
Contact our Pinpoint engineering team for an evaluation of your laser alignment needs. We can even set up a video demonstration of our products to show you how our kits and equipment can help you.
