OFDA4000 - Length & Diameter Measurement
Measurement Modes
Top Mode
The main mode of operation for the OFDA4000. Designed to work with tops or slivers.
This mode is used with IWTO Test method 62 for world standard measurement of wool tops.
A sliver of fibres is fed into the OFDA4000 comb bed by an operator, this is the only manual user involvement required. The OFDA will then draw the sample and analyse it, set an appropriate density of scan and then measure up to the preset sample limit.
A standard measurement of 4000 fibres takes approximately 5 minutes with 30 seconds of user input required.
Tuft Mode
This mode comes from the demand of customers who want a length measurement of their fibres but do not have a combed sample.
A tuft is taken from a sample and placed on the chute plate. The OFDA then will conduct a similar measurement to top mode and analyse the diameter and length of the fibres.
Applications
Top Makers
Use the OFDA4000 to feed back directly into your production process. With quick information giving you key metrics such as short fibre percentage,
Research
The OFDA4000 gives unparalleled information for research into all kinds of fibres. Because of the various measurement modes, new possibilities to study are unlocked.
Results
Diameter Distribution
See your diameter distribution in any of the measurement modes.
Automatically calculated mean, SD, CV and comfort factor.
Fibre length
Get length data in an average + CV + Short fibre content.
Hauteur automatically calculated from the true length + diameter profile.
All length data is available in a histogram + percentage of fibres at a length format. See the distribution of length or data like common breakage/ cut length.
X axis - Length [mm], Y axis - Percentage [%]
Blue Lines - Length Histogram
Black Line - % of fibres at that length
Automation
The robotic mechanisms of the OFDA4000 automatically process and measure a sample with minimal user input eliminating operator bias.
3 in 1
The OFDA4000 combines sample preparation, diameter measurement and true length measurement into a single instrument.
Optical over capacitive
Unlike the older capacitive based Almeter technology, the OFDA4000 uses an optical machine vision system to directly scan fibres. This gives a true length value with an accurate short fibre content instead of Hauteur.
IWTO Test Method 62
Compatible with IWTO-62 for fibre length and diameter distributions of wool tops and slivers.
Clean Snippet Mode
The OFDA4000 comes standard with clean snippet mode, also known as 70mm glass slide mode. This measurement mode is also available on the OFDA2000.
Non-greasy samples are cut into 2mm long snippets with the guillotine before being distributed onto a 70mmx70mm glass slide with the Automatic Spreader. This slide is the placed into the OFDA for measurement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Hauteur measurements assume all fibres in a measurement are the same diameter, we know from the OFDA4000 diameter profile measurement that this is not correct. The larger the diameter profile the more incorrect hauteur will be.
The OFDA4000 was originally designed for wool but is now being used globally for many different fibre types. Please get in contact to send us some samples for a free report on the measurement method and results.
X axis - Length [mm], Y axis - Diameter [microns]
Average diameter at a specified length.
Note: Shorter fibres are finer, longer fibres are coarser - normal trend as fine fibers are more likely to break and become many short fibres.
Diameter Profile
The OFDA4000 has given the industry new data that was unobtainable before. See The diameter of your fibres at a certain length.
It is common to see that the shortest fibres are the finest since they are more likely to break in processing.