PRESS RELEASE
June 18, 1996
Laser measurement instrument with touch-screen technology offers simple shaft alignment.

Shafts in rotating machines can now be quickly and simply aligned with the help of a new laser-based alignment instrument, the Fixturlaser Shaft 100.
The equipment is the first to have a user-friendly touch-screen that displays both easier operating instructions and simpler measurement readings than previous instruments. This means that the equipment can be used by maintenance personnel without special training.

“Laser-based alignment instruments not only provide faster measurements and alignments, but also more accurate ones,” says Johan Halling, the president of Fixturlaser AB in Gothenburg. “The Fixturlaser Shaft 100 is the first laser instrument to have a logical touch-screen with simple, graphical symbols. The intuitive user interface means the equipment is easy to learn without much training, so that it can be used by any maintenance employee.”
Shaft alignment using the new laser instrument is carried out using the same principles as the so-called reversed-dial-indicator method that employs two dial test indicators. The instrument’s VDU (visual display unit) shows parallel and angle errors, and the necessary correction values both graphically and digitally. All measured values can be stored for subsequent transfer to a PC for processing or storage. Readings are shown with a resolution of 0.01 mm. The actual measurement distance can be up to 20 meters.

Important Maintenance
The alignment of shafts is an important part of maintenance work in most industries. The purpose is to prevent bearing wear, vibrations, noise, and excessive energy consumption. By aligning the shafts of an electric motor that runs a pump, for example, it will not only use less electricity, but there is less likelihood of a bearing breakdown causing a shutdown of production.
Some of the types of machines that the measurement equipment can be used on are motors, pumps, transmissions, turbines, fans, and propeller shafts. Typical application areas are found in the pulp and paper industry, the process and petroleum industries, the power and heat-generating industries and the steel and shipbuilding industries./ins

Captions: (1) The Fixturlaser Shaft 100 is a new laser-based alignment instrument offering a faster and simpler way to align the shafts of rotating machinery.
(2) User-friendly touch-screen technology means that the equipment can be used by maintenance personnel without special training.

For further information, please contact:
Fixturlaser AB
Hans Hilmersson
Östergårdsgatan 11
S-431 53 Mölndal, Sweden.
Phone +46 31 86 4300. Fax +46 31 87 3450.