Product category:
Machine vision systems and accessories
News Release from: Nikon UK | Subject: Video inspection
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 12 October 2004
Video inspection has bearing on success
Vital QC tolerance checks on components destined for use in high performance air bearings that used to take up to 25 minutes, are now being completed in less than 30 seconds.
Vital QC tolerance checks on components destined for use in high performance air bearings that used to take up to 25 min, are now being completed in less than 30s following investment by Westwind Air Bearings in a Nikon NEXIV 3020 video measuring system According to Malcolm Thurlby, who controls the quality of the company's PCB drilling spindles, "We can now take 'first-off' items from our production line, check their dimensions and give the green light for complete batch manufacturing within minutes
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 27 Nov 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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This has allowed us to cut out a previous bottleneck and push more production volume through our sophisticated CNC drilling machines." Westwind is a world leader in the production of air bearing spindles.
The NEXIV is used to check components for spindles designed for PCB drilling systems.
As the density of components on PCBs increases, there is a growing need for smaller diameter drills, which may need to rotate in excess of 250,000 rev/min.
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By rigorously controlling the specifications of its components, Westwind can ensure its spindles achieve the expected high standard of quality.
On a typical component, the NEXIV will automatically measure the position of around 20 separate apertures, and check the diameter of each at 60 different points.
It can also measure the depths and profiles.
Any misalignment of the apertures could cause a spindle to exceed its tightly-defined runout tolerance.
Malcolm, who led the project to find a new metrology system, selected the NEXIV for a number of reasons.
"For a start, I did not want to invest in another stylus-based system as video measurement offered considerable advantages in terms of its speed and flexibility.
In our evaluation, we found the NEXIV to be the fastest and most accurate video measuring system.
We also liked the format of its graphics and the contents of its reports.
The on-screen colour coding, in which out of specification measurements are highlighted in red, compared with green for passes, has proved extremely useful." Although the system has only been in use for six months, it has already been programmed to measure more than 100 different components, but this should eventually more than double.
"As well as playing a pivotal role in our QC procedures, we are using in to check the specification of incoming goods.
We can now load up a statistically meaningful number of samples, using specially constructed jigs, and leave the NEXIV to perform all the necessary measurements. Request a free brochure from Nikon UK ...
This would have been incredibly time consuming using our previous systems, and subject to unavoidable operator variance.".
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