About Us
Jodon Incorporated was founded in 1963 by brothers John and Don Gillespie in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. The company originally manufactured laboratory-grade Helium-Neon gas lasers used in non-destructive testing. The product line was eventually expanded to include holographic equipment, laser accessories, holographic plates and the METS (Microwave Engine Timing System).
In 1980, an engineer from General Motors approached Jodon to use our existing laser enterprise to develop a method to measure the louver angle of automotive heat exchanger fins. This project led to the development of our first non-contact measuring instrument - the LAC-1000. The system incorporated an infrared LED as a light source and a microcontroller to run the software.
In 1994, Michael Gillespie became the president of Jodon. This change in leadership came with a pivot in the primary focus of the company, moving away from laser and hologram in order to focus on non-contact measurement. With this pivot came a redesign of the LAC-1000, released as the LAC-2000. Since its inception, the LAC-2000 has become the industry standard for measuring percent light bulk transmission in louvered fins. These systems are installed at nearly every plant where automotive heat exchangers are manufactured.
Fin louvers are not the only component of heat exchangers that require measurement. In order to fulfill this need, Jodon has developed systems to measure a variety of other features, releasing the CPS-2000 in 1998 and the TPS-2000 in 1999. The CPS-2000 measures the profile of entire fin strips, while the TPS-2000 profiles heat exchanger tubes.
Jodon continues to modify and reimagine our systems as technology progresses, both in sensing/measuring capability and in the heat exchanger manufacting industry. The methods used in our existing systems can be utilized in other industries, and Jodon is excited to pursue these applications.