The Alignment Instrument: Some Devices & Their Uses

By Carey Bourdier


When you think about alignment, you probably often think about your automobile and especially your vehicle tires. These tires need alignment from time to time to ensure that your vehicle is safe to operate. Poor alignment can affect steering as well as your automobile's suspension, so it is wise to bring it to a trusted mechanic and have them use an alignment instrument or instruments to bring the tires back into the proper position.

While we might all understand the importance of tire alignment, there are many types of alignment about which most of us are unfamiliar. For instance, some professionals will use a device called an alignment instrument for various tasks. In some cases, this alignment telescope will simply be called a line scope, although it also sometimes is referred to as a line of sight telescope. This type of alignment instrument is helpful for the process of collimation.

Of course, it's probable that most people do not know much about collimation and perhaps have never heard this word before. Collimation is a way to make light beams or rays parallel. You will use an instrument such as an alignment collimator to combine many rays of light coming into the device at a variety of angles. The device will take these rays and combine them all to form one beam of light, where all the rays line up.

The device known as an alignment collimator (although often misspelled as alignment collimeter) can be used whenever one needs to establish a position in reference to a line of sight. The alignment collimator also can be used to check and adjust many types of optical alignment instruments. The alignment telescope looks similar to the alignment collimator, although the telescope does have a sighting tube.

When buying a collimator or an alignment telescope, it is important to select the right model for your needs as there are several choices. These choices include general-use models of alignment telescopes as well as the spherical alignment telescope, which may or may not include a micrometer. When making a purchase, it often is wise to consider some helpful accessories, including fixed base or perhaps a base with rotating capabilities. There are also helpful telescope mounts that you might think about purchasing.

Many of these alignment instruments actually can purchased online from companies such as Warren Knight. This company has been around since the early 20th century, and provides all types of alignment instruments and optical instruments. Their selection includes many kinds of alignment telescopes as well as collimators, inclinometers, theodolites and many devices that can be used for leveling.




About the Author: