Taylor Hobson is an English company founded in 1886 and located in
Leicester, England
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nati ...
. Originally a manufacturer of still camera and cine lenses, the company now manufactures precision
metrology
Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. It establishes a common understanding of units, crucial in linking human activities. Modern metrology has its roots in the French Revolution's political motivation to standardise units in Fran ...
instruments—in particular,
profilometer
A profilometer is a measuring instrument used to measure a surface's profile, in order to quantify its roughness. Critical dimensions as step, curvature, flatness are computed from the surface topography.
While the historical notion of a pro ...
s for the analysis of surface textures and forms.
Taylor Hobson is now part of
Ametek
AMETEK, Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate and global designer and manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices with headquarters in the United States and over 220 sites worldwide.
The company was founded in 1 ...
's Ultra Precision Technologies Group.
History
Early history of the company
*1886 – Company founded by Thomas Smithies Taylor, an
optician
An optician, or ''dispensing optician'', is a technical practitioner who designs, fits and dispenses lenses for the correction of a person's vision. Opticians determine the specifications of various ophthalmic appliances that will give the nec ...
, and his brother Herbert William Taylor, an engineer, to make lenses. The company was initially based in Slate Street but subsequently moved to Stoughton Street Works in Leicester.
*1887 – W.S.H Hobson joins the company as the sales face of Taylor, Taylor & Hobson ("TTH").
*1893 – The company produces its first
Cooke
Cooke is a surname derived from the occupation of cook. Notable people with the surname include:
* Alexander Cooke (died 1614), English actor
* Alfred Tyrone Cooke, of the Indo-Pakistani wars
* Alistair Cooke KBE (1908–2004), British-American j ...
lens. The name Cooke came to TTH after an agreement with Cooke of York, who licensed some of their designs to TTH.
*1902 – A third brother, J. Ronald Taylor opens a branch in New York, with the principal customer being the Eastman Kodak Company.
*1914 – The company is reported as manufacturers of "Photographic Lenses and other Optical Goods, Engraving Machinery and other Fine Tools, Golf Ball Moulds", and "Timerecording Clocks".
*1914–1918 – The Aviar lenses, developed for aerial photography, contributed to the Allied air force in World War I. The company designed and manufactured machines for the accurate polishing of lenses, making it possible to produce large numbers of such lenses for binoculars. William Taylor devised new methods of lens manufacture for aerial photography and produced lenses for range finders, gun sights, rifle bores, and telescopes.
*1919 – William Taylor was awarded an
OBE. The King visited the Stoughton Street Works on 10 June 1919.
*1932 – TTH produced the first Cooke zoom lens for
cinematography
Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography.
Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...
. William Taylor was nominated as President of the
Institute of Mechanical Engineers
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 120,000 member ...
.
*1936 – William Taylor was nominated as Honorary Life Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.
*1937 – William Taylor died.
*1938 – Thomas Smithies Taylor resigned as director.
*1939 – Taylor Hobson supplied over 80% of the world's lenses for film studios.
How surface texture analysis was invented
![Talysurf, Snibston](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Talysurf%2C_Snibston.jpg)
William Taylor was convinced that to be a leader in optical lenses, he needed to have the best understanding and control of the surface quality of his lenses. As a result, he started to design instruments capable of helping him evaluate surface texture and roundness. After other manufacturers in various domains became aware of this, they requested to purchase these instruments. He refused, as the invented instruments were crucial to Taylor Hobson's optical lenses supremacy. After the company decided to market the instruments, Taylor Hobson became the major instrument manufacturer.
*1941 – Taylor Hobson creates the first true surface texture measuring instrument, the Talysurf 1 opening the way to
surface finish
Surface finish, also known as surface texture or surface topography, is the nature of a surface as defined by the three characteristics of lay, surface roughness, and waviness.. It comprises the small, local deviations of a surface from the perf ...
analysis.
*1946 – Taylor Hobson becomes part of the
Rank Organisation
The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribu ...
.
*1949 – Taylor Hobson invents the world's first roundness measuring instrument, the Talyrond 1.
Surface texture analysis becomes industrial matter
*1951 – Taylor Hobson invents a micro-alignment telescope.
*1965 – Taylor Hobson introduces the Surtronic range, a hand held roughness meter that is easier to use on the shop floor, thanks to a skid pick-up. The skid pick-up loses the large waves of the surface texture (waviness and form) as the skid follows the general form of the surface, but has the major advantage of allowing the easy assessment of roughness without requiring spending time levelling a datum line to set the sensor in range.
*1966 – Taylor Hobson introduced the TalyStep, that has been a reference during about two decades for the ultra-precise, low contact force measurement of step height with applications in the then raising semiconductor industry.
*1969 – Taylor Hobson acquired the optical company Hilger and Watts.
*1984 – Taylor Hobson introduces the Form Talysurf, that associates a range of several millimetres to a nanometric resolution, opening the way of measuring both roughness and form at the same time.
*1992 – Taylor Hobson receives the
Queen's award for technological achievement Queens is a borough of New York City.
Queens or Queen's may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Queens (group), a Polish musical group
* "Queens" (Saara Aalto song), 2018
* ''Queens'' (novel), by Stephen Pickles, 1984
* "Queens", a song by C ...
from the hands of
Lord Lieutenant
A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...
of
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
during an official ceremony.
*1995 – The TalyScan looking like a computer mouse (not to be confused with the TalyScan 150 and 250 introduced later, of a more classical design using slides to move the component and a fix sensor) introduced an original small 3D texture, and contact scanner.
*1996 – The Form TalySurf PGI introduced sub-nanometer accuracy using a phase grating interferometer as the height sensor principle as an alternative to inductive pick-ups, but still on a contact pick-up touching the surface, and hence independent of the optical properties of the measured surface (as demonstrates the company's early history, this surface can for instance be an optical lens).
*1996 –
Schroeder Ventures acquired Taylor Hobson from the
Rank Organisation
The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribu ...
.
*1996 – Taylor Hobson is the first metrology manufacturer to adopt the
Mountains
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...
software technology from
Digital Surf
Digital Surf is a French software company formed in 1989 mainly known for its Mountains software, that is offered as embedded or optional OEM surface analysis software by the majority of profilometer and microscope manufacturers.
History
* D ...
that associates a desk top publishing tool to metrology results issued by instruments. The collaboration allowed Taylor Hobson to introduce the TalyMap 3D surface texture analysis software as an option to the TalySurf profilers and the TalyProfile 2D surface texture analysis software as an option to the Surtronic roughness testers.
*1998 – The historical activity of the company, Cooke lenses, leave Taylor Hobson as part of a buy out that creates the company
Cooke Optics
Cooke Optics Ltd. is a camera lens manufacturing company based in Leicester.
Administratively speaking, Cooke Optics is a spin-off of the company Taylor-Hobson. However, Taylor-Hobson used to be a lens manufacturer and Cooke lenses used to be ...
.
Cooke Optics 2000s history on the Company's web site
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*2003 – Taylor Hobson introduces their first optical field profiler (i.e. based on a microscope), the TalySurf CCI as a complement to their existing scanning 3D profilometers based on styli or non-contact single-point sensors.
*2004 – Taylor Hobson became part of Ametek
AMETEK, Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate and global designer and manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices with headquarters in the United States and over 220 sites worldwide.
The company was founded in 1 ...
's ultra precision technologies group.
*2007 – The TalyRond 395, a fully automated roundness and cylindricity instrument, introduced a new trend of automated, multiple measurements (such as surface texture and roundness) on the same instrument.
* 2008 – Talysurf CCI Lite launched, Ultra Precision Benchtop 3D Optical Profiler Talyrond 290 with motorised gauge arm.
* 2009 – Talymaster launched. IT is a brand new inspection concept combining roughness, roundness and contour on a fully automated inspection system.
* 2010 – CCI MP, CCI HD launched.
* 2011 – Surtronic R50-R80, Surtronic R100 series launched. A range of roundness products robust enough for the shop floor but accurate enough for any inspection room.
References
{{reflist
External links
Official site
child development site
British brands
Engineering mechanics
Lens manufacturers
Manufacturing companies based in Leicester
Materials science organizations
Photography companies of the United Kingdom
Science and technology in Leicestershire