What to Look for When Shopping for Production Inspection Microscopes
Contrary to popular belief, even small businesses can make use of production inspection microscopes. Using them can infinitely help in improving the quality of your products, and this can consequently improve customer satisfaction and the overall reputation of your company.
What to Look for When Shopping for Production Inspection Microscopes
If it’s your first time to shop for this equipment, make your purchases a worthwhile investment by looking for the following product features:
Magnification – Low power magnification production inspection microscopes are affordable and more useful when scanning for defects that are only partly visible to the naked eye. In other words, they aren’t microscopic. Microscopes don’t come with just one kind of magnification but a range of them so make sure that the range provided is suitable for your needs. High power magnification production inspection microscopes are on the other hand obviously good for looking for microscopic flaws in your products.
Make sure that changing magnification of your production inspection microscope is quick and easy. If it requires you to read the user manual just to change your objective lens, dump it! If it doesn’t come with a clicking sound to indicate when you’re using the right magnification measurement, leave it!
Comfort – This is especially important if you’re assigning just one person to handle the whole process of inspecting products for flaws and errors. With just one user, he’s prone to notice earlier if a microscope doesn’t have an ergonomic design. If your worker is wearing glasses, you’ll be glad to know that there are production inspection microscopes that are designed for glass-wearing users. All functions and controls must be within reach.
Does it offer excellent hand-eye coordination for the user? Simply put, are you able to quickly and easily change microscope settings without having to take your eye from the subject.
Stand – Never go for production inspection microscopes that don’t allow you to change stands. Firstly, the microscope must have a built-in universal stand to accommodate as many possible types of samples or objects. Secondly, it must be interchangeable with other stands like those that are dual purpose (reflected and transmitted) or those that allow changes on substage illumination. Lastly, look for stand options with and without flexible arms as well.
Optical Options – Even if production inspection microscopes aren’t used for studying scientific samples, they should still come with a variety of optical styles. Among other things, they must allow you to observe your subjects using fluorescence with or without ultraviolet, epi-fluorescence, UV excitation, first-order red compensator, and polarized light. They must also allow you to study subjects in either bright field or dark field optics.
Production inspection microscopes should ideally let you use internal and external light sources as well and ensure that you’re using the most suitable illumination for whatever sample or target you’re studying.
Integrated Eye Safety Filters – Microscopes are not always completely safe to use, especially if you’re experimenting with different types of illumination. Production inspection microscopes with eye safety filters will provide adequate protection for your vision so make sure this feature is listed in the product’s specifications.
Battery Life – If your production inspection microscope is powered by batteries, you should naturally be concerned with battery life. Battery life depends greatly on what kind of battery it’s using. Lithium ion batteries usually last more than NiMH batteries. Check what kind of charger is offered and if you can purchase replacement or extra batteries as well.
Design – The most important aspect of design that you should consider is durability or protection. Production inspection microscopes must have rugged metal bodies; these will give your microscope added protection if it accidentally falls off. Secondly, consider aesthetics. Just because it’s a piece of work equipment doesn’t mean you don’t want to look good, right? So if you have the chance, choose something whose looks you’d appreciate.
Connectivity – Besides offering USB 2.0 ports, check if it can also offer other universal connector adaptors like MT-RJ, LC, 2.5 mm APC and PC. Microscopes nowadays can rarely function all by themselves; they’re integral tools, but they’re made more useful with the complementary aid from other connected electronic devices.
Stage – As much as possible, look for a production inspection microscope that comes with a mechanical stage or at least lets you use a mechanical replacement stage. Mechanical stages let you adjust the positioning of your sample without jarring its contents.
As a last word, do consider as well purchasing multi-purpose zoom microscopes instead of production inspection microscopes if you believe that you might be using it for other purposes outside work.
