(gentle light music)
- Hi, I'm Steve Matthews from ACOEM.
Today we're gonna walk through a precision
laser shaft alignment with the ACOEM AT-100,
the newest addition
to our laser shaft alignment product line.
The AT-100 is tablet or app based
and it communicates with the sensors
through Bluetooth connection.
So the first thing we're gonna do is turn on our sensors
at the same time we open the horizontal shaft alignment app
on the display unit.
And you can see that the display unit
is searching for the sensors.
And if we touch on the settings icon,
we can look and confirm
that my sensors are indeed connected.
You see the check boxes are complete
on the sensor serial numbers.
So this generally only has to be done
the first time you use the unit
and after that, they connect automatically.
So the first thing we're gonna do
is get everything set up correctly.
And in the setup we want,
we have two chain brackets here,
and a stationary sensor and a movable sensor.
Generally, the stationary going on the side
that you don't plan on moving
and the move M sensor going on the motor
or the side that you do plan on moving.
And so in the setup we have
the chain brackets on the shafts,
and then we have a laser on each sensor
shooting at the other side.
So this is a dual laser system.
And in that setup, what we need to do is aim the laser.
It is a line laser,
so it is very easy to aim.
But we do the aiming by moving one sensor or both sensors
up and down on the post.
So now I have each of my laser lines
in the center of each sensor.
The next step of course is also gonna be that our sensors
need to be square to one another.
And we can double check that by looking at the angle display
on the display unit.
In this case, I have the S sensor at 8.9,
and the M sensor at 8.5.
So these should be within about one degree
of one another to start off with.
So now that I have everything set up,
we can go through a precision shaft alignment.
But the first thing I'm gonna do
is this display is currently oriented
as if you were standing on my side of the machine
for the demonstration.
What I'm going to do for the sake of the camera
is reorient the picture
so that the motor or the movable machine is oriented
for the camera side of the demonstrator.
So this actually comes in handy
during the alignment process.
Also, as you tend to move around the machine
from one side to the other,
the picture can be reoriented to where you stand.
Next step is gonna be to enter the dimensions
of the machine.
First thing I need to do is enter from M sensor to S sensor.
This should be done within about
the nearest eighth of an inch.
And in this case we have seven inches.
So we have seven, check.
The next dimension is from M sensor
to the center of the coupling.
In this case, I have the default value of half the distance
between the S sensor and M sensor.
If it's not, you can change that to what
the actual measurement is.
So then we have from M sensor to the front feet
of the movable machine or the motor.
In this case, you can see if I use my chain as a plumb bob,
that my M sensor is straight over top of my motor feet,
so that dimension is zero.
Next is from the front feet to the rear feet
of the movable machine.
Here we have seven inches.
Next, I'm gonna select the tolerance for my alignment.
Tolerance is generally based on machine speed,
the faster machine rotates,
the closer we want to be with our alignment tolerance.
I will select 1800 RPMs for this alignment.
And our chart has four selections.
If you want to use your own selection for a tolerance,
there is an opportunity to input a user tolerance.
So we hit the check box.
And again, you'll see each next step
of the alignment process is generally highlighted in yellow.
That's part of what we call our guide you user interface.
So what we're gonna do now
is something we call a vertizontal alignment.
We're gonna take one set of shaft alignment measurements
and complete both the vertical
and the horizontal adjustments in one step.
So I will hit the measurement icon.
And in an AT-100,
we use our tripoint measurement method.
In tripoint, it requires us to take three measurements.
And the measurements
can be start anywhere and stop anywhere.
In other words, there's no requirement
to use clock positions in tripoint.
So I'll take my first measurement at this location
which is somewhere between nine o'clock and 12 o'clock.
And once the measurement's complete,
you'll see a red zone and a green zone.
All you have to do is rotate outside the red zone
in order to take the second set of measurements.
And the little lollipop
on the rotation will turn green or red
depending on whether or not you can take a measurement.
So now I take my second measurement.
And then finally rotating around for a third measurement.
Again, just need to get outside the red zone
for each subsequent measurement.
It's also important that you not move the shaft
while it's taking measurements.
So you saw that little dancing dial.
Once the measurement's complete,
then you can move to the next step.
But it's important not to move the shaft
while it's in the measurement process.
So now we have a presentation of data.
And what you can see is all red,
meaning that all of my values are outside the tolerance.
So the top set of values are the vertical values.
And then the second set of the lower set of values
are the horizontal values.
So you can see this is where the angle
and offset are vertical,
angle and offset horizontal.
And then the numbers underneath the machine feet
indicate how much I need to adjust the machine
to get them within tolerance.
So at this point you see some positive numbers
and some negative numbers,
and you'll see in the next step exactly
what that's going to mean
in terms of where we move it the machine.
So next I'm gonna hit my shim icon,
because shimming is generally done first.
My vertical adjustment is, this is why we call vertizontal.
The vertical adjustment's done first
and the horizontal adjustment is done second.
So there is a choice offered here,
if the user wants to save the data at this point
to have a before and an after,
you can save the data,
that's what this icon is.
In this case, we're gonna make the adjustment
and then save the data
after our final alignment is complete.
So now you can see we have a picture that's drawn
to represent what the positive and negative means.
So an arrow going in means I need to add shim
underneath those feet.
And in this case, I've got front feet
where I need to add 0.021
and then rear feet where I need to add 0.037.
So I've already got some shims pulled out here
to make these adjustments.
And I am gonna loosen all four feet at the same time
and take my shims for the front feet
and make that adjustment.
And then my shims for the rear feet, 37.
Okay, so I am gonna leave.
Again, the movable machine will be left loose at this point.
Because I've done my vertical,
I need to do my horizontal now.
So again, here we have the green and glowing icon
to indicate the next step is the horizontal.
So now what we have is a live picture of the horizontal.
So as soon as I start moving these jack bolts,
you'll see it moving on the screen.
So I need to go 0.050 in the rear
and 35 in the front.
So I'm gonna hit the rear one first.
It's got quite a ways to go.
And you can see the arrows are actually scaling
to how much adjustment is required.
So you can see I made a big adjustment on the rear feet
and that arrow got a little bit smaller.
And then also once you get within tolerance,
you see the angle and offset values turning green.
Okay, and then the check mark means
that both angle and the offset have been satisfied
in terms of the tolerance.
So once we do that,
our alignment is complete.
So we're gonna tighten down our bolts
but we're also gonna come back and re-measure.
So when I re-measure,
that's gonna be when we document this alignment
with a report.
So here's my re-measure button.
Once again, we'll take a series
of three measurements, one,
rotate outside the red.
Take a second measurement.
And again to a third and final measurement.
Once again, it's important not to rotate the shaft
while the instrument is measuring.
Okay, so now we have a complete alignment
which I can confirm by looking and seeing
that I have a green check mark and a green check mark,
and all my tolerances have turned green.
So the final step here is going to be
to document this alignment,
and that is done.
Here, we're gonna save the alignment.
So there's two steps to this.
We're gonna save the alignment,
I'm gonna call this AT100.
All right, so that saves our alignment.
And then we're gonna produce our final report
by combining the shaft alignment with, if we had saved data
from a soft foot adjustment beforehand,
we can do that as well.
So in generating the PDF report,
there's several lines available for naming,
putting a plant name in, a username in, a machine name
and any machine notes that you may have.
And so we'll select the AT100 and Softfoot,
and then save it.
And then this creates the PDF report
which is a combination of those two reports put into one.
And now we have that file saved
for future reference on this device.
So that completes the shaft alignment process
with the ACOEM AT-100.
If you have any questions about this product
or its use or any of other product line,
please contact us at the details below.
(gentle light music)