Eliminating Fastener Defects with 3D Inspections
FEATURE
From automotive, trucking, and heavy equipment to aerospace, agriculture, and high-volume appliance/electronics, manufacturers looking to reduce weight (or for cost savings) have turned to lightweight materials like aluminum, plastics, zinc and magnesium, according to a press release from General Inspection. The associated fastening issues require zero defects from fastener manufacturers as production speed and quality depends on them.
While fastener manufacturers have long relied on sorting to remove defects before they enter production, the fact is that cold heading, moving, and inscribing metal with threads is not entirely predictable. Each piece must be inspected for visual imperfections like burrs, scratches, thread damage or head cracks to dimensional measurement such as thread parameters, lengths, diameters, tapers, radii, straightness, perpendicularity, recess depth, and head protrusion.
With today’s high-volume, auto-feed systems and pass-through parts, fasteners require more integrity than ever. To maximize production uptime, critical part safety, enhance brand, as well as prevent potential rework, recall, or liability, manufacturers expect fasteners today to have zero defects despite the use of lightweight materials on the mating hole/application.
Accordingly, the fastener industry is increasingly relying on higher resolution, 3D inspection of billions of fasteners. Gauging, sorting, and cylindrical part inspection systems incorporating laser, vision, and eddy current for dimensional measurement and determining metallurgical defects are now used for high-speed inspection of fasteners ranging from bolts, screws, studs, and cylindrical parts to nuts, washers, fittings, and bushings.
Click here to read the full article in PRODUCT NEWS.
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