An innovative instrument for measuring an automobile engine’s internal capacityBy sensing sounds and vibrations that are invisible to the eye and making them visible, we can create new value. at’s been the backbone of our busi-ness at Rion ever since our founding. is approach has resulted in many remarkable products, including the sound level meter, vibration meter, and particle counter. From time to time, unique products have also been devel-oped by freely exploring new ideas. e acoustical capacity meter and the acoustical volume meter are examples of such products. ese instruments are capable of making precise measure-ments of capacity and volume in air, regardless of the shape of the measure-ment target. Once calibration has been completed, no special training or skills are needed to take measurements of capacity or volume. is is an advantage widely appreciated by the public and a perfect example of how to generate new value from sound measurement.Yukihito Iseki of the Environmental Instrument Division knows the whole story of the development of the acousti-cal capacity and volume meters. I asked him what advantages these instruments oered.“Measurement of capacity and vol-ume generally relies on the burette method using liquid. You ll the space whose capacity you want to measure with liquid, then you measure the amount of liquid poured in. On the other hand, Rion’s acoustical capacity meter naturally doesn’t require liquid, so you don’t have to get stu wet. is is the great advantage oered by the instrument. Currently, our acoustical capacity meters are used mainly to measure automobile engines. Engine production involves various standards and regulations, and one process that’s crucial for compliance is measuring engine capacity. e method of pouring liquid to measure capacity requires another step to dry the target once the measurement is complete, which is a time and labor consuming process. And since it takes skill and training to pour the liquid, it can’t be done by just any worker. In contrast, our acoustical capacity meters produce precise results no matter who handles the measure-ment, facilitating skills transfer to the next generation of workers. Under-standing this advantage, almost every Japanese automobile manufacturer now uses our instruments. In recent years, we’ve also delivered our products to foreign automobile manufacturers. We’ve dealt with sound since our founding, and I’m proud that these are uniquely Rion products.”We all know that automobile engines have complex shapes. Quality control of engines requires precise measurement of the capacity of the internal space created by the intricate structure. As the conventional approach to capacity measurement relied on the method using liquid, Rion’s acoustical capacity meters revolutionized the workplace environment. Meanwhile, Rion’s acoustical volume meters are primarily used these days to measure the volume of various reference weights for scales. Both the capacity meter and volume meter are based on acoustic principles, and both were based on original ideas. Iseki adds to his story.“Since our instrument makes rela-tive measurement of capacity using calibrators made of metal, it should, in principle, be able to measure the capaci-ty of containers made of rigid plastic or glass in addition to metal. On the other hand, it would be hard to measure the capacity of containers made of materials like sponge.”e fundamental principle on which these instruments are based is taken from Boyle’s and Charles’ laws, Archimedes’ principleIt is believed that this principle was discovered by Archimedes, an ancient Greek scholar, as he lay in a bath pondering how to verify whether or not a golden crown was actually made of pure gold. The principle states that the upward buoyant force exerted on a body immersed in a fluid (liquid or gas) is equal to the gravitational force of the mass of the fluid that it displaces. Many of our readers may recall applying this principle in experiments to measure the volume of objects.Acoustical Capacity MeterDemonstration of acoustical capacity meter usage. The instrument measures capacity or volume by sensing pressure changes with two microphones installed inside.Illustration by Megumu KannoYukihito IsekiMeasuring Instrument Technical Support Sec, Environmental Instrument Div. Yukihito Iseki is a certied environmen-tal measurer and pollution control man-ager (S&V). He was chosen for the development and manufacture of the acoustical capacity and volume meter when he was in S&V Engineering Sec. His current responsibilities involve for-mulating proposals, demonstrating, and consulting on the operations of our prod-ucts to customers. 3
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