Shop Floor CMMs

In the last several years we have witnessed a migration of measuring tools to the shop floor. The coordinate measuring machine now seems to be following suit. The new generation of shop hardened CMMs are gaining popularity with industrial users. Notable amongst this equipment are the Brown and Sharpe SF, the Sheffield SF, the Sheffield Discovery, the TIGO SF, the Hexagon SF and the Brown and Sharpe One machine. These machines possess the following desirable features for shop floor use:

• Hard bearings. Because an air supply is not necessary contaminants and moisture introduced by shop air is eliminated. This means maintenance costs are cut drastically.
• Sealed and covered guide ways: All the hard bearing machines mentioned above are gantry style machines with the bearing surfaces completely enclosed.  Most air bearing machines are bridge designs with the following leg (slave) running directly on the granite plate without any protection. Indeed, the bridge axis is uncovered and exposed to the elements.
• Real-time temperature compensation. This is another prime feature on the shop floor machine. It’s really not the temperature itself that causes problems it’s the fluctuation of temperature that happens within the shop floor environment.

Portability. These machines are mounted on a roll around stand and can be moved anywhere on the shop floor. Their small footprint allows the machines to be pushed through a standard sized door.