Gerhardt Gear (Burbank, CA), a 54-person operation, has been known for its specialty gear work since 1982. General manager John Kim says the company had been using a large coordinate measuring machine (CMM) for many of its dimensional measurements until about a year ago when it was "basically replaced" by a CX1 Digimar height gage from Mahr Federal (Providence, RI).

Gerhardt Gear is a third-generation and family-owned small manufacturing shop that specializes in developing and manufacturing precision and commercial gears, splines, serrations, sprockets and timing belt pulleys.

The Digimar CX1 is part of a family of motorized, programmable height measuring systems which offer a combination of features and performance previously available only in higher-priced equipment. The line is well suited for both gage lab and production measurement use.

"We're very pleased with the Digimar," says Kim. "It's very simple to use, very simple to program and much quicker to program than the CMM." But the real advantage is its speed of measurement. Kim says Gerhardt Gear uses the CX1 in its lab for a wide range of measurements-including inside and outside diameters, linear measurements and positions, and center-to-center distances-and that "it has cut our inspection time just about in half."

Kim cited one example where it took the CMM nearly 20 minutes to perform a certain measurement. "The Digimar did the same measurement in less than a minute," he says.

All Digimar height gages from Mahr Federal feature fully motorized measuring slides that minimize operator influence on part probing for greater measurement precision and repeatability. Key measuring functions can be executed with a single press of a button and readily programmable measuring routines make it possible to sample batches of mass-produced parts quickly and easily.

The Digimar CX1 has numerous functions and setting possibilities including optoelectric incremental measuring system. The motorized measuring carriage simplifies the measuring task and minimizes operator influence. It also has an easy-to-read LCD with pictographs and background illumination.

Numerous measuring and evaluation functions include the measurement of planes, grooves, bores and shafts, and the calculation of distances and symmetries. Maximum-minimum measurements also are supported, as are perpendicularity measurements in conjunction with a digital-dial indicator. Canned routines for basic features and simple teach-and-learn techniques make it easy to program the CX1 for a wide range of measurement tasks.

Gerhardt Gear likes the height gage so much it is considering another one for the shop floor, Kim says. "Operators aren't as kind to equipment as the folks in the lab, but we think the Digimar is rugged enough and is so easy to operate that it will do just fine. Because every measurement is programmable, it will really help with our in-process inspection."

Benefits

• Much faster than a CMM and easier to use, the CX1 has cut inspection time in half.
• The Digimar height gages have fully motorized measuring slides that minimize operator influence on part probing for greater measurement precision and repeatability.
• Key measuring functions can be executed with a single press of a button.
• Readily programmable measuring routines allow operators to sample batches of mass-produced parts quickly and easily.

Mahr Federal Inc.
(800) 333-4243
www.mahr.com
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