Company
Profile and Time Line
Founded in
1917,
Rieker Instrument Company Inc began manufacturing high quality inclinometers using
hand blown glass tubing to exacting customer specifications. It's
earliest applications were used in the medical and aviation fields, providing
accurate quality low cost solutions for measuring tilt and acceleration.
In the early
1920's, the
US Government contracted to
produce
bubble
style
pitch
and
roll indicators for the
fast
emerging
aircraft market. specialty
glass
department
still
hand
crafts
replacement
slip indicators
for
vintage
aircraft
around
the
world. One of
original instruments was
the Dare
Hemoglobinometer,
a
handheld
instrument
used
to
detect
anemia
in
patients
when
doctors
made
house
calls. This device worked by comparing
blood
samples
on
slides
to
red
colored
glass
backlit
by
a candle. Precision of specialized hand blown glass made it's mark in
manufacturing. The modern version
was
used
around
the
world
until
the mid 1980's.
In
the
1960's developed
a
line
of
inclinometers (or clinometer in the marine world)
specifically for the sailboat industry, which became
the
standard
in
determining
heel
angle. Model
2056
was
designed
with
2
different
scales,
one
to
determine
whether
the
boat
was
loaded
level,
and
the
other
for
heel
angle. With it's dual scales, level of accuracy, durability and cost this
particular model
remains one of
the
most
popular
inclinometers of sailboat owners around the world. It has been featured on
some of the race
boats
in
the
America's
Cup
challenge.
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During
the
early 1970's found an emerging
market
in
the
Construction
Industry. This
industry
was
trying
to
find
a
simple
way
to
help
operators
identify
when
they
were
transcending
too
great
a
slope
for
the
equipment
in
an
effort
to
prevent
a
'tip
over'. decided
that
the
same
technology
used
in
aircraft
to
determine
slip
would
work
to
determine
tilt.
With
some simple modifications the
manual
inclinometers
were
outfitted
with
color
zones
(such as the 1017SPL models)
to
help
determine
Manufacturers
recommended
safety
limits
for
tilt. Over
the
years
many
versions
of
Inclinometers
were
developed
along
with
variations
of
Gradiometers
when
percent
grade
was
preferred.
Once
the
Industry
realized
that
these
products
worked
for
the
life
of
the
vehicle,
and
were
relatively
inexpensive,
these
indicators
were
being
applied
on
original
equipment
worldwide.
In
the
1980's noticed
another
angle
indicator
in
the
Construction
Industry
that
needed
improvement,
the
pendulum.
A
simple
indicating
device
was
being
used
to
determine
the
angle
of
Lifting
Equipment. On
the
Boom
was
a
pendulum consisting
of
a
gravity
referenced
pointer
and
a
decal
indicating
degrees. The
pendulum
had
problems
of
getting
stuck
when
it
froze
or
rusted
and
the
shortcomings
of
this
device
were
apparent
to
the
industry,
however
with
no
alternative. developed
the
4120
Boom
Angle
Indicator
to
alleviate
these
environmental
problems
by
using
the
same
hermetically
sealed
technology
used
by
inclinometers
to
ensure
smooth
operation
no
matter
what
the
weather. This
was
not
only
a
great
improvement
in
performance
but
made
for
fast
and
easy
installation
in
the
field.
The
1990's
were
a
time
of
electronic automation
in
general. In
response
to
this put
it's
efforts
into
developing
less
expensive
ways
to
indicate
tilt,
inclination,
and
acceleration.
The
SlopeAlert Tilt Warning System was
invented
to
address
the
issue
of
roll
over
for
mobile
equipment. The
industry
had
several
low
cost
tilt
indicators
available,
however
none
performed
under
the
harsh
environment
of
a
track
vehicle
moving
over
unpaved
terrain. Not
only
was
this
unit
inexpensive,
it
worked
flawlessly submerged
under water, and is shock proof to 500g. The units were tested
for
one year prior to production with no
evidence
that
the
unit
would fail for
years
to
come. worked
hard
during
this
time
to
design and engineer
inclinometers
and
accelerometers
that
would
work
for
most
applications. Different
technologies
are
used
depending
on
the
desired
performance
and
new
ones
are
being
developed
even as
you
read
this.
Today, is
constantly improving and developing new
products
that are user friendly, easier to install, and provide multi-functionality (e.g.
RDI Series of Digital Inclinometers). We
understand that our
customers
need
tilt indicating devices
that
simply
work, without
installation hassles, and are flexible enough to meet their requirements. To
this
end
we
are
currently
applying
our
efforts.
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