KC-01KC-18KC-20From importing and selling overseas products to developing our own productsDevelopment of the KC-01, the first of Rion’s light scattering airborne particle counters, began in 1974. The product was released in 1977. Incorporating a halogen lamp light source, it met the performance standards set by the Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS). The model was capable of measuring particle counts across five diameter ranges from 0.3 µm and larger to 5 µm and larger.Released in 1988, this model used a He-Ne (helium-neon) gas laser as its light source and a photomultiplier as its photodetector. As the successor to the KC-17, with a minimum detectable particle size of 0.18 µm and a sample flow rate of 10 L/min, it was Rion’s first model capable of counting particle numbers across five diameter ranges from 0.1 µm and larger to 0.5 µm and larger.In 1989, we established optical sensor technology for liquid-borne particle counters that used a semiconductor laser as its light source and a photodiode as its photodetector. This technology also eventually led to the replacement of optical systems in airborne particle counters with semiconductor laser units. The KC-20, released the same year, was one such model. Featuring a minimum detectable particle size of 10 µm and sample flow rate of 30 L/min, it was introduced as a particle counter for coarse particles.Rion began handling airborne particle counters in 1972 with the import and sales of products manufactured by the US company Climet Instruments Company. We could see that airborne particle counters would be essential to expanding our business in the environmental and health industries. Thus, Rion started to also import and sell products manufactured by Technical World in 1974.Rion encountered various technical issues with the im-ported particle counters. Due to near-prototype quality, additional modifications and improvements were required, which ultimately led us to decide on an in-house develop-ment project in 1974. Contributing to this decision, Japan at the time faced severe pollution problems, which became a major social issue. Thus, there was a growing demand for a device capable of measuring the size and number of airborne particles.The fundamental principle of particle counters is as follows: First, light is irradiated onto the sample (air sam-pled from the space being investigated) as it is fed into the instrument through a nozzle. When light strikes the particles within the sample, scattered light is produced. A photodetector receives this scattered light and converts it into electrical signals, from which the particle number and size are calculated. The light source is the key technology for particle counters.Development at Rion continued. The goals included making the instruments more compact than foreign products, offering functional stability, and lowering the price point. In 1977, Rion released the KC-01, its first airborne particle counter. Harnessing the phenomenon of light scattering, it employed a halogen lamp as its light source and could measure particles as small as 0.3 µm. The manufacture and sales of our own products marked a major step forward for Rion.The first major step in technological evolution emerged in 1983 with the KC-14, which adopted a He-Ne (helium-neon) gas laser as its light source. In contrast to models employing halogen lamps, which could only detect particles down to 0.3 µm, the KC-14, using laser light, achieved a minimum detect-able particle size of 0.11 µm. Many of the core technologies that allowed our products to compete with the performance of overseas products were established during this period.The next major turning point came in 1989 with the development of the KC-16, which used a semiconductor laser (laser diode) as its light source. Semiconductor lasers make it possible to design smaller housings than gas lasers. For the photodetector unit, we transitioned from a conventional photomultiplier to a photodiode, which contributed to more compact dimensions and significantly enhanced robustness compared to preceding models. Since then, optical systems in airborne particle counters have been completely replaced by semiconductor devices. That’s led to smaller sensors and improved reliability while dramatically enhancing ease of maintenance.8
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