What is a QV? The Mitutoyo Quick Vision unit is a measuring machine used in metrology. It is not a microscope or measuring/toolmakers microscope since it uses a CCD camera to output an image to a computer. There is no provision to view the enlarged image optically.
The QV weighs at least 10x what it looks like it weighs.
This QV project was started in 2018 when I was lucky enough to find this unit at a DVD manufacturing facility ( I wonder if they are still in business in 2021?). The original buyer backed out when he saw the size of the unit, so the seller accepted my offer of just $300 USD, in cash!
The QV was on my radar at that time looking for a QV-Objective HR 2.5x / 0.21 NA lens, which is similar to an HR M Plan 5x/0.21 but on a 100mm tube lens so the magnification is pushed down. This QV unit came with a normal QV objective, not a QV-Objective HR. I was able to sell the non-HR lens for $350 USD on eBay anyway.
Buying this unit saved something of value from being trashed since the seller planned to literally toss the QV in a garbage dumpster before I came along. Maybe I should have offered them $100 instead?
This bare QV scope would end up sitting in my garage for 2.5 years
To give you some idea what this QV weighs, just one plate from the XY table weighed in at 28 pounds stripped down, no motor, or bearings, just bare aluminum, and this is only one of the XY plates, there are two. The aluminum base, easily weighs over 100 pounds stripped down.
QV closeup
At the bottom of the above photo you can see the CCD camera attached to the top of the power tube lens turret housing with the Moritex light guide connected on the right side. This light feeds the beamsplitter for direct flat lighting. The cable system is attached a large counter weight in the tower.
QV 1x Lens and two part power ring light
My hope was to find an HR 2.5x QV objective but this was just the base model 1x QV unit. Still I was able to sell the lens for $350 USD. The power ring light has 4 selectable white lights.
Two part power ring light side view
The power ring light has two movable parts and is capable of 3 different light angles, with 4 separate lights.
Closeup of the power turret tube lens setup
The QV scopes are huge, that is a Toyota Highlander
Full load in a Highlander
The QV is even heavier than it looks
PC tower, PRL controller and QVC controller
This QV has 6 light sources for the 8 Moritex light guides
Mitutoyo QV scope pre-teardown
Bare QV without XY table
Wiring
Lighting cables
Turret housing and objective mount on the left
Power right light, this is the toroidal lower half of the mirror. The parabolic half is not shown
Power turret and tube lens housing side view. You can see the beam splitter on the right
The 4 LED light ring light is only on the PRO-II model, this is the QV model with white light
Beamsplitter and objective mount at the bottom
Beam splitter
Tube lens turret. The 6x has a tiny rear element
1x, 2x, and 6x tube lenses
Spanner marks on the retainer ring indicate the 6x lens was serviced at some point in its life
1/2 inch sensor out of the QV scope
The tiny size of the QV CCD sensor was a major disappointment. 1/2 inch sensor used in this QV means the system has very limited value for photomacrography due to the tiny image circle, the diagonal is just 8mm! This QV uses a Sony XC-75 1/2 inch monochrome CCD camera made for machine vision with a whopping 570 x 560 TV lines of resolution! The QV was used at the DVD factory to find errors on disk masters.
Any questions or comments, send me a message.
Links for more info on QV systems
QV section of the Mitutoyo e-catalog:
https://ecatalog.mitutoyo.com/Vision-Measuring-Systems-C102.aspx
Current QV PDF from Mitutoyo:
https://www.mitutoyo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/2118_Quick_Vision.pdf