Editor

Pressroom operators who want a fast way to check blanket thickness, and a way to easily keep that data, may want to check out the Elcometer 355 F2 blanket probe.

The Elcometer is a portable handheld device that can verify nominal blanket thickness before installation, highlights surface variations after tensioning and monitors blanket performance though the life of the blanket. It uses electromagnetic induction to measure the thickness of a press blanket.

Patrick Grumley, pressroom foreman at Oakland Press, watches as Joe Walker, sales and marketing manager for Elcometer Inc., shows how to measure press blankets using the 355 F2 blanket probe. Photo courtesy of Elcometer

“We’re sending a beam that is non-destructive through that blanket,” said Joseph Walker, sales and marketing manager for Elcometer Inc. “It’s bouncing off the steel of the cylinder beneath it and bouncing back up.” He added that the machines are accurate within 1 percent.

It uses microprocessor-based technology to measure the blanket height above the cylinder bearer. According to Elcometer, the probe is designed specifically for printing blankets, with readings displayed instantly.

Users can store measurements of up to 28 different blankets. When measurements for each blanket are first calibrated, the user hits the batch button and measures the blanket. The process is repeated with each new blanket that is measured. When the next measurements are taken, the user can recall the previous measurement by calling up a blanket’s batch number.

“It also gives the guys when they are setting up their presses the ability to maximize pressure by having a real accurate reading as to the thickness of that blanket over time,” Walker said. “So they can constantly adjust their presses to compensate for the compression of the blanket. There will be no guesswork.”

Elcometer also has transfer software. The gauge’s data to be loaded into Microsoft Excel, which will track how each blanket is performing during its life.

The probe costs $2,750, which includes the probe, gauge, a case, keypad protectors, batteries, a one-year warranty on the gauge, a three-month warranty on the probe module and technical support to help newspapers get the module up and measuring.

The module is made of aluminum, and can take a tremendous amount of abuse and still function normally, said Walker. The probe can be replaced separately, in case it is damaged, but the gauge isn’t.

Many automobile manufacturers use a similar system to measure the thickness of paint on cars.

Elcometer