Rotation-free Centration Measurement Increases Speed and Flexibility OptiCentric® Linear

06 Sep 2018

TRIOPTICS’ OptiCentric^® Linear measurement system performs the centration inspection of lens systems without rotation and regardless of the sample mounting position.

One-shot Centration Measurement

For a qualified optomechanical analysis of lens systems, centration measurements are the standard approach – especially when precision lenses with tight tolerances need to be checked for quality compliance. When a conventional centration measurement is conducted, the lens is rotated around a vertical axis. However this is time-consuming and not ideal for lens systems with position sensitive lenses, e. g. if they are equipped with floating elements.

The Measurement Principle

As it is true for all OptiCentric^® instruments, the centration measurement with OptiCentric^® Linear is also conducted in reflection. However, the OptiCentric^® Linear does not need a rotation of the system – which is conventionally made use of – as reference. Instead it’s measurement method uses the trajectory of the autocollimator’s focus spot during its linear movement as reference axis. In order to reach an accuracy of < 1 μm, a calibration of the focus spot is performed to compensate for remaining non-linearities of the movement. No lens rotation takes place. The actual testing process measures the centers of curvature relative to the focus position of the collimator.

Rotation-free Centration Measurement Offers New Possibilities

As rotation of lenses is not necessary with the OptiCentric® Linear technology, a variety of new applications becomes possible. These are, for example:

• Measurements are more efficient, allowing for a complete and fast quality control – even for serial measurements and for production.
• All conventional requirements for the positioning of test samples can be ignored as the lens’s orientation is fully flexible. Position-sensitive lenses, for example, can be measured in a horizontal setup.