Laser LS8000-3 manual Introduction, System Overview, Principle of Operation

LaserSpeed 8000-3 Instruction Handbook

Introduction

Introduction

This manual describes the installation and setup of the LaserSpeed 8000 gauge. For daily routine usage, see the LaserSpeed 8000 Operator Guide.

The Model LS8000-3 LaserSpeed® Non-contact Length and Speed gauge is an industrial, Laser-Doppler based instrument that measures the velocity and length of material. Due to the nature of the laser-based measurement, there is no physical contact with the material. This eliminates the problems of wheel wear and slippage that plague mechanical/encoder based length measurement systems.

System Overview

The Model LS8000-3 is a stand-alone instrument that requires only 24 VDC input power to operate. The system has a variety of industrial outputs. Also, a variety of information including length, velocity, system operating parameters, and setup parameters can be read and configured using the communications interfaces.

The LS8000-3 is permanently calibrated to a NIST traceable standard at the factory. Aside from periodic cleaning of the optical window, the LS8000-3 does not require maintenance.

See the Specifications section at the end of this manual.

Principle of Operation

LaserSpeed utilizes dual-beam interferometer technology to provide accurate velocity readings. The measured velocity is integrated over time to measure the length of moving objects. The opto-electronic portion of the LS8000-3 generates a laser beam that is split and then crossed in space. The two crossing beams interact, producing a fringe pattern that is orthogonal to the plane of the two beams.

Light is scattered when material passes through the measurement region. This scattered light is collected by the gauge and converted to electrical signals. The frequency of the electrical signal contains information with regards to the velocity of the material. The signal processor converts the electrical signals to frequency information that is directly proportional to the velocity of the material moving through the laser beams. The signal processor converts the frequency information into velocity information and updates user outputs. In order to determine if there is an object in the measurement area, the gauge measures the amount of reflected laser light.

Part No. 93463 / Drawing No. 0921-01561 Page 14 of 221 Revision A (Sep 2007)