What is a laser micrometer ?

A laser micrometer is a tool generally used for non-contact inspection and measurement of physical properties such as the dimensions, shape and uniformity of an object. What distinguishes it from a conventional measuring device is that measurements are made without contact through the use of a laser beam. Laser measurement is noteworthy because it has very high measurement accuracy and a very fast acquisition speed.

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A tool to measure wire diameter

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Laser micrometers are especially useful for measuring tiny objects because of their high performance levels and non-contact technology.There are many measuring instruments on the market that use scanning laser technology. A transmitting unit emits a laser beam that scans an object located in the measuring window at a very high speed. This object "blocks" the beam and produces a shadow on the receiver located behind it. When measuring the diameter of a wire, the shadow time measurement corresponds to the diameter of the wire. Then, technicians can store, analyze and print out all measured data for process control or quality certification.Laser scanning is done through a system of rotating mirrors. However, this widespread technology is limited by its scanning speed and the use of rotating mechanical parts that reduce the reliability and lifetime of the laser micrometer. Also, this technology is highly sensitive to wire vibration, and so it averaging invariably has to be used to obtain final values.

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CERSA diameter measurement sensor

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Laser micrometers have used a variety of light sources: laser diodes, helium-neon (HeNe) laser tubes, and LEDs. Our gauge also uses a laser beam to measure wire diameter, but without any mechanical moving parts inside it. Our measurement technology based on diffraction provides very high accuracy for each measurement and high repeatability. Our LDS instruments are also wire vibration independent. Therefore, the measurements do not need to be averaged and offer a true tracking of fluctuations in diameter. Because CERSA has mastered diffraction measurement for many years, our instruments are able to measure the diameter of very thin wires from 2 mm down to 5 µm!

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LDS exists in two versions:

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- 1-axis version with dedicated accessories for off-line measurement

- 2-axis version to monitor diameter in-line. This is often used by manufacturers to check drawing dies by measuring the drawn wires.

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Our LDS device with its accessories plus CIM software is the prefect measurement solution widely used in customer workshops.