(LaserLinc: Fairborn, OH) -- LaserLinc Inc., a manufacturer of noncontact laser and ultrasonic measurement systems, has developed Lobex, an innovative solution for lobing-detection in centerless grinding.

Lobing is deviation from roundness on a centerless ground part—an issue for anyone who produces or uses centerless-ground product. LaserLinc’s Lobex Lobing Detection System is a real-time tool for detection and elimination of lobing problems. The system can identify three-, five-, seven-, nine-, or 11-lobing on centerless ground products as they exit a grinder. The system can also be used for offline inspection.

A Lobex system provides repeatable and reproducible data, unlike testing with tri-mikes, which is inconsistent and prone to user-error. The Lobex software can also identify higher-frequency lobing. Tri-mikes under-report five-lobing and, compounding the error, five-lobing in a product masks tri-lobing.

Using a Lobex system, an operator can identify lobing as it begins and make the necessary adjustments to the grinder to bring the part back into spec.

The Lobex system combines a high-speed three-axis laser scan micrometer with a proprietary software package. The software package includes polar charts, trend charts, data logging, alarms, statiscal process control (SPC), customizable reports, and LaserLinc’s support.

To prove what the Lobex system can do, interested parties can send a sample for a free test. Go to http://laserlinc.com/lobex to start the process.

All LaserLinc laser scan micrometers link—via the TLAser400 micrometer interface card—to a PC running Total Vu software. Total Vu software is LaserLinc’s sophisticated, yet operator-friendly, measurement and data processing package, which runs on any Windows-based PC, providing in-process tolerance checking, trending, SPC, feedback control, data logging, recipes, and other features.

Lobing profile showing both three-lobing and five-lobing in a part