Werth measurement technology
| Werth Messtechnik GmbH | |
|---|---|
| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | April 26, 1951 |
| Seat | Giessen , Germany |
| management | Ralf Christoph |
| Number of employees | about 400 |
| Branch | Coordinate measuring technology |
| Website | www.werth.de |
Werth Messtechnik GmbH , headquartered in Giessen, is a company in the field of multi-sensor coordinate measuring technology .
history
1951-1957
Siegfried Werth founded an apparatus and mechanical engineering company in Düsseldorf in 1951 , which at that time produced special measuring devices and profile projectors. In 1955, Werth developed a compact profile projector in desk design and with a fully integrated optical beam path. In the case of the profile projector, the optics project a true-to-scale image of the measurement object onto a screen. A direct comparison of the depicted workpiece area with the dimensions of the drawing can be made by means of a transparent test drawing, which is also true to scale. The advantage lies in the quick testing of several features with the simplest operation. In essence, however, only a good / bad statement is possible. In order to be able to use the profile projector not only for the visual comparison of drawings but also for non-contact manual measurements, they were equipped with a cross table. This was the hour of birth of the measuring projector. Profile and measurement projectors were used in particular for non-contact manual measurement, for example of stamped parts.
1958-1980
In 1958, the company relocated to Giessen in Hesse, a region with a long tradition in the field of precision mechanics and optics production. In the 1970s, Siegfried Werth developed what is known as the "touch eye", the first optoelectronic sensor for measuring projectors that allows object points to be touched automatically. It takes on the task of the human eye for high-contrast objects. In connection with a CNC control, this sensor system made it possible for the first time to automate optical coordinate measuring machines in 1980. The measurement uncertainty of devices at that time was in the lower micrometer range.
After 1980
The technological change to digital image processing that began in the mid-1980s was followed by Werth in 1987 with the introduction of the Werth Inspector. This multi-sensor coordinate measuring machine already had an edge detection based on gray value image processing, an integrated laser distance sensor and an electronic 2-step zoom. These devices now make it possible to recognize object edges in gray levels fully automatically even in reflected light and to measure them fully automatically in CNC mode.
The breakthrough of this technology began with VideoCheck in 1992. Due to the PC-based image analysis and its Windows user interface, it now offered inexpensive and powerful alternatives to the projector. In the years that followed, additional sensors such as switching and measuring probe systems, distance and area sensors (lasers, interferometers, confocal microscopes, focus variance methods) and microswitches were integrated into the measuring devices. For example, Werth holds a patent for the world's smallest stylus, the Werth WFP fiber stylus, with a stylus ball radius of up to 10 µm. This micro probe was developed for measuring small geometric features with the lowest possible contact forces. Due to its operating principle, the fiber probe, along with the image processing sensor, is currently one of the most precise sensors for multi-sensor coordinate measuring machines.
Another development step was the introduction of X-ray tomography in coordinate measuring technology. Here, too, Werth Messtechnik GmbH did pioneering work and presented a world first in 2005: the Werth TomoScope was the first measuring device with X-ray tomography specially developed for coordinate measuring technology.
By selecting the appropriate X-ray components (voltage range of the X-ray tube, detector type), the device can be optimally configured for different materials. For example, low voltages are required for measuring plastic parts that are easily penetrable, high voltages are required for measuring metal parts that are difficult to penetrate.
In 2008, a newly built wing with a total area of 2500 m 2 with offices and rooms for training courses and demonstrations was opened. In the same year the production area was expanded by approx. 2500 m 2 .
Products / fields of application
The range of devices extends from measuring devices for industrial use in production control to high-precision multisensor coordinate measuring machines with measurement deviations of just a few tens of nanometers and includes the following product groups: multisensor coordinate measuring machines, optical coordinate measuring machines, coordinate measuring machines with computed tomography, and measuring and profile projectors.
Examples of fields of application are: aerospace, automobile construction, electronics industry, jewelry manufacturing, toolmaking, plastic injection molding, medical technology, turbine construction as well as aluminum and plastic extrusion.
literature
- A. Weckenmann, B. Gawande: coordinate measuring technology . Carl Hanser, Munich 1999.
- HJ Neumann: Coordinate measuring technology in industrial use. (= The Library of Technology. Volume 203). modern industry, Landsberg 2000.
- Ralf Christoph, Hans Joachim Neumann: Multisensor coordinate measuring technology. (= The Library of Technology. Volume 352). sv onpact, Munich 2013.
- Ralf Christoph, Hans Joachim Neumann: X-ray tomography in industrial measurement technology. (= The Library of Technology. Volume 331). sv onpact, Munich 2011.
Web links
- Website of Werth Messtechnik GmbH
- Foreign representatives of Werth Messtechnik GmbH
- Book multisensor coordinate metrology
Individual evidence
- ↑ Armin Schilling, Egon Wiegel: Optical coordinate measurement - fast, precise and safe. Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 1989. (Special print from the journal Feinwerktechnik & Messtechnik)
- ↑ Microproduction 1/2005 / Rauh, Wolfgang: Precision with glass fibers
- ↑ Press release Physikalische-Technische Bundesanstalt: "Purring motors thanks to excellent measurement technology (2008)."
- ↑ page 2 of the dissertation by Dr. Philipp Martin Krämer, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (PDF; 3.8 MB)
- ↑ Press report from the industry portal MM: "Multisensor coordinate measuring machine awarded innovation prize."
- ↑ Golden EuroMold AWARD 2005: Werth TomoScope honored as an outstanding innovation.
- ↑ Inpect 1/2005 / press release Werth TomoScope
- ↑ Press report MdB Helge Braun on the occasion of the delivery of the funding notification from the BMBF (2012) ( Memento from April 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ BMBF press report on the joint project FLEXOMESS
- ↑ Description of the BMBF-funded joint project FunkProMikro ( Memento of 26 November 2013, Internet Archive ) (PDF, 135 kB)
- ↑ Press report of the industry portal MM on the research project FunkProMikro