Zeiss horizontal optimeter

Made:
1939 in Jena
maker:
Carl Zeiss, Jena

Zeiss horizontal optimeter, 1939 with stand, lamp and projection unit and mirror and prism.

Zeiss developed a reputation for the highest attainable standards in optical and metrological equipment. The horizontal optimeter was first exhibited at the 1920 Leipzig Fair (this particular example dates from 1939); it soon became one of the most useful and widely-employed instruments in engineering standards rooms for gauge inspection and control – in this sense, the optimeter was the arbiter against which many other items of metrological equipment were checked.

During the inter-war period, Britain relied heavily on Zeiss instruments like this one. When World War Two broke out, the UK was placed at a severe disadvantage as the supply of instruments from Germany ceased while demand for them in armaments production had never been higher. A result of this was the introduction in the UK of ‘BTZ’ instruments, examples of which we also have in the Industrial Metrology collection. These were pirated copies of Zeiss machines, ‘BTZ’ standing for ‘Better Than Zeiss’.

Details

Category:
Industrial Metrology
Object Number:
1982-915
Materials:
steel (metal)
type:
measuring machine and comparator
credit:
Gift of Nottingham City Museums & Galleries

Parts

Zeiss horizontal optimeter, 1939

Zeiss horizontal optimeter, 1939

Zeiss horizontal optimeter, 1939

Measurements:
overall: 16.9291 x 36.6142 x 12.9921 in.; 43 x 93 x 33 cm
Materials:
steel
Object Number:
1982-915 Pt1
type:
measuring machine
Projector unit for Zeiss horizontal optimeter

Projector unit for Zeiss horizontal optimeter

Zeiss horizontal optimeter, 1939; projector unit

Measurements:
5.9055 x 10.2362 x 3.5433 in.; 15 x 26 x 9 cm
Materials:
steel (metal)
Object Number:
1982-915 Pt3
type:
measuring machine
Mirror in stand for Zeiss horizontal optimeter

Mirror in stand for Zeiss horizontal optimeter

Zeiss horizontal optimeter, 1939;small mirror in stand.

Measurements:
2.3622 x .0197 x 1.9685 in.; 6 x .05 x 5 cm
Materials:
steel (metal)
Object Number:
1982-915 Pt4
type:
measuring machine
Prism unit in metal frame, for Zeiss horizontal optimeter

Prism unit in metal frame, for Zeiss horizontal optimeter

Zeiss horizontal optimeter, 1939;small prism unit in metal frame

Materials:
steel (metal)
Object Number:
1982-915 Pt5
type:
measuring machine
Operating manual for Zeiss horizontal optimeter

Operating manual for Zeiss horizontal optimeter

Zeiss horizontal optimeter, 1939;operating manual

Measurements:
8.2677 x 5.9055 x .0157 in.; 21 x 15 x .04 cm
Materials:
steel (metal)
Object Number:
1982-915 Pt6
type:
operating manual