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The Cubit was the first noted form of measurement dating as far back as ancient Egypt where the length of a grown man’s arm was used as the primary form of measurement which was approximately 20.62. The Greeks were then the first to subdivide the cubit, and from this standards and variances in measurement lengths began. There is a clay tablet in Istanbul which was written around 2050 BC which is the oldest written law code known to man which is proclaimed by the Sumerian King to contain a reference to honest weights and measures. Stonehenge, in Britian, which is one of the mysteries of the world, has an interesting tie to measurements. One is that the enormous stones were clearly measured for placement, and by examination were dated approximately 2000 BC. The great mathematical philosopher Archimedes in approximately 200BC, discovered the principles of hydrostatitics, the lever, the pulley, and the screw helix, none of which were really considered important at the time. Romans were large contributors in the evolution of the screw replacing the wedge as a fastener. Like many items we know of today, screws were initially made out of wood before the material was changed to metal.
As long as man’s only tools were of stone, bone, or wood, their exact size was of little importance. When man started using metals, it was realized that he could control size and could duplicate any tool that had proved exceptionally effective. This began the coexistence of tools and metrology which has led to civilizations advancement ever since.
During the renaissance period, the slide rule, vernier, lead screw, the micrometer, and many other forms of measurement and weight were invented. These contributed to the European invention of the metric system and the beginning of structured organizations to monitor measurements and weights such as the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, NIST, JIT, etc.
What early forms of gages were used for.
One development that significantly promoted the importance of metrology, was the growth of the firearm industry where Eli Whitney started the interchangeability of parts for the rifle. Whitney realized that the handcraft of one final product by one worker was wasteful in time and money. With this concept, he realized that interchanging of parts meant that multiple workman could contribute to a final product by specializing in one particular stage of the build and passing it to the next stage. He also realized that if multiple people were working contributing to a final product, each man’s work would need to be dimensionally controlled in order to ensure that every component would assemble properly. The first gage block was made to assist in the accurate measurement for these applications. Automotive industry, mass production practices, aircraft industry, and global war were next in contributing to the growth of the metrology and gaging market. The scientific study of measurement metrology was a key element in production and a requirement for the machine tool. From the time of the conveyor belt and assembly line, where parts were manufactured in mass quantities, quality measurements became essential.
How they've changed.
Original dial indicators, dated back to 1880’s were not much different in appearance from today’s indicators. The movement on the inside, however, was quite different. Initial indicators utilized watch movements and chains where today’s rack and pinion movement and segmented gears are used in high accuracy dial indicators, is much more common. Digital indicators have also become commonplace with simple numerical readouts as opposed to the familiar dial face.
Earlier forms of gages were fixed size snap gages (go/no go type) and their sensitivity for tolerances were no where near the accuracy and adjustability available today. The manufacturing expansion since the industrial revolution has caused society to stive to perfect product. This has introduced many other forms of gaging such as dimensional, optical, pressure gauges and fluid-level gauges.
Article Source: http://www.articlemotron.com
History of inspection instruments. From the ancient Egypt, through Greeks and Romans to modern inspection tools. How they have changed since their invention.
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