Our VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparators are offered in both horizontal and vertical configurations. The decision to choose a horizontal or vertical comparator takes into consideration the specific application requirements, the particularities of the part being inspected and how it is presented in the inspection area, and the convenience of operator handling.

Vertical Digital Optical Comparators

Vertical digital optical comparators feature a glass insert on the motorized or manual stage on which the part is placed for inspection. Collimated back-illumination utilizing ultra-bright LEDs illuminate the part from beneath the glass to display the part's profile for inspection. The lens is mounted pointing downward to capture images as the XY stages moves the part in the field-of-view. Regularly spaced threaded mounting holes on the stage allow precise installation of fixtures, as required. Vertical optical comparators are well-suited for applications where the part sits flat on the glass, i.e. flat parts, such as large plates, etc...

Horizontal Digital Optical Comparators

Horizontal digital optical comparators feature a hard chrome plated X-axis stage, constructed from hardened tooling steel with dual industry-standard dovetail mounting grooves for easy and repeatable part fixturing. The part sits on the stage, perpendicular to the Z-axis and lens. The dovetail grooves make it simple for operators to add and remove fixtures or supplemental axes (e.g. rotary axes), contributing to the versatility of the system so it is widely-applicable for a variety of different inspections within a single setting. Our horizontal configuration machines are our most popular as they are ideal for a very wide range of parts. While vertical configuration machines are generally used for flat parts, the horizontal machines are most often selected for all other part geometries.

If you are upgrading an existing optical comparator to the VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator, typically your part's presentation to the camera will not change, so you can easily replace your traditional optical comparator with our system in the same horizontal or vertical format. In most cases, your existing part fixtures are already compatible with our system's mounting methods. And even though the VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator has many advanced tools and technologies not available in traditional optical comparators, we’ve provided a user interface that will be very comfortable and familiar for operators used to working with traditional optical comparators. For example: the system has a traditional-look Digital Read-Out (i.e. DRO), it supports traditional protractor-style crosshair-rotation, etc… The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator truly is a drop-in replacement for traditional optical comparators.

Single and multiple optical magnifications are equally available for each configuration, and each format achieves much greater accuracy than traditional optical comparators, regardless of the configuration. Both Vertical and Horizontal configurations of VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparators support our full customizable range of system options, including:

• extended stages for larger travels in X, Y, or Z,
• supplemental motorized, encoded high-accuracy rotary stages,
• Z-axis laser module for high-accuracy, automated height/depth measurements,
• upgraded encoders for a resolution of 0.1 micron,
• configurations for heavy loads,
• and much more...

Our vertical and horizontal digital optical comparators feature high-accuracy crossed-roller movements on all 3 basic axes (X, Y and Z) for optimal linearity and positional repeatability. These systems are all capable of high-accuracy measurements beyond the field-of-view. Autofocus is standard with all motorized systems.

All of our VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparators showcase high-quality illumination that produces stunning image clarity. All illumination is LED-based for stable and uniform intensity across the entire field-of-view, as well as being programmable and computer-controlled to ensure crisp edge profiles on your parts and strong contrast for every inspection. Multiple front illumination options are also available to inspect the surface of a part or for applications that require specialized illumination configurations.

Contact us for spec sheets, our recommendations, and for more information about how the vertical and horizontal configurations of the VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator can solve your application.