Ranked as one of the world’s top 100 new universities in the ‘Times Higher Education Rankings 2017’, Portsmouth University has rapidly ascended the UK’s academic pecking order. This is credit to a £150m+ investment over the past 10 years in buildings and resources. Part of this strategy has seen the university procure the latest metrology equipment from Mitutoyo for its School of Engineering.

Commenting upon the recent purchase of four Mitutoyo metrology instruments, William Keeble, lead technician at Portsmouth University’s School of Engineering, says: “We’ve been using Mitutoyo equipment for decades. It has always been consistently precise, reliable and robust, which is a pre-requisite when equipment is frequently operated by inexperienced undergraduates. Furthermore, the Mitutoyo brand is well supported with excellent training and technical support. The software is user friendly, intuitive and gives detailed reporting, which is another critical factor for staff and researchers alike.”
To cater for its diverse demands, Portsmouth University specified the Mitutoyo Crysta-Apex S776 CMM, a Roundtest RA-1600, a Formtracer SV-C3200 and a QuickVision Apex non-contact measuring system.
“The CMM bed is considerably larger than its predecessor at 700 x 700 x 600 mm,” says Keeble. “It allows us to effectively measure more projects than our old CMM. For undergraduates to learn the basics of metrology, we have a cylinder head from an old 1960s Austin, and students will measure the diameter and concentricity of the port holes, as well as the distances between reference points. More experienced students will use the Crysta-Apex S776 CMM to reverse-engineer components.
For further information www.mitutoyo.co.uk

The new Keyence VHX-6000 series digital microscope integrates next-generation adaptive multi-lighting, advanced auto-focussing and high-definition imaging in an all-in-one system. Keyence’s VHX-6000 features the company’s VH-ZST lens with its 20x to 2000x magnification range.

With no need for time-consuming object repositioning, the direction and level of light is optimised as users simply move a digital flashlight icon around the screen for optimum illumination. All the data can be saved with the image; this function can even be applied after the image has been captured and saved to any compatible PC running VHX-6000 software. As a result, users have the ability to re-interpret images at any time, and importantly, at any location.
Adaptive multi-lighting is complemented by the VHX-6000´s real time depth composition technology, which harnesses the microscope´s high frame rate camera and graphics engine to scan through the focal range of a sample and build a fully-focused image in seconds. This one-touch process is easily repeated over the complete sample area utilising the motorised stage. Furthermore, a simultaneous 3D image may also be captured, allowing even greater inspection flexibility. These two major features combine with HDR (high dynamic range) imaging to provide optimally illuminated high-definition images with far more visual information than convention focussing systems, says Keyence.
Large area image observation at high magnification is now made possible with an image stitching algorithm that can synchronise positional information from the motorised XY stage to automatically move and stitch together adjacent images measuring up to 20,000 × 20,000 pixels.
For further information www.keyence.co.uk

Littlehampton-based Meridian Medical Ltd specialises in sterile and non-sterile medical device design, development and manufacture. Products are inspected to ensure quality and compliance to national and international standards. The company’s QA department, which remains completely independent of its production and design departments, sets standard QA/QC procedures relating to all company activities, including purchasing, production, assembly, packing and shipment. Meridian Medical’s highly developed quality culture can be illustrated by the recent purchase of an Axiom Too CMM from Aberlink.

Managing director James Fenton says: “Now fully operational, not only has our Aberlink CMM removed the potential for hold-ups in our QA department, but the machine’s CNC nature and its ability to perform rapid, automated inspection routines, means that it will be able to handle all anticipated future demands.”
Meridian Medical supplies disposable medical devices together with comprehensive sterilisation services and logistics. The company is registered to ISO9001, ISO13485 and FDA 21CFR 820, which ensure that quality and reliability are designed and built into every device produced.
Although Meridian has a range of specialised test and measurement equipment, increased volumes passing through its busy QA department prompted the company to search for a suitably accurate, universal dimensional measuring device that offered both ease of use and speed of operation.
“Our Axiom Too is now busy measuring first-off and last-off medical device components, along with undertaking work such as inspecting a given percentage of each manufactured batch, as dictated by our customers,” says Fenton. “As traceability is vital within the medical industry, it helps that the CMM is able to generate detailed reports relating to the critical dimensions of each inspected component.”
For further information www.aberlink.com