Feature: Machine vision
Figure 1: Example of CAD to CT comparison of deviations in just-manufactured electronic connector pins.
Green is golden mesh, blue is CAD model, magenta shows deviation outside of customer-specified tolerance that would cause the part to be rejected
Guaranteeing product quality with in-line CT scanning inspection
By Peter Davis, CT Automation Manager, and Jake Rickter, Automation Specialist, Pinnacle X-Ray Solutions
T
an individual part, but the potential coupling of a defective part with another one, or late detection of a problem that results in the manufacture of hundreds or thousands of bad ones. Even worse is a jammed high-speed machine, leading to a complete line shutdown. Companies that make connectors, for example, want to assure
their customers that the product they are delivering by the thousands is completely free of defects. This seems to imply that 100% of those connectors have been inspected, something that in reality is difficult if not impossible to achieve. In-line inspection of every single part using high-speed
computed tomography (CT) can help, when coupled with powerful scan-data analysis software. A significant driver for the adoption of in-line scanning has been the leap in data- processing speeds. Set up on the factory floor at the point where just-manufactured parts emerge, such a system can scan, analyse and accept or reject a part in as short a time as five seconds.
he benefits of automation in manufacturing of electronics parts and components may appear self-evident, with speed and the avoidance of human error high on the list. Yet, automation can also bring challenges to quality control. Legacy visual, manual/physical or periodic/
batch sampling methodologies are of limited use with today’s high-speed production lines, and can result in a significant proportion of discarded parts. The issue is not the low cost of
34 November 2021
www.electronicsworld.co.uk
Example A connectors manufacturer was looking for an automated solution to effectively carry out inspection on all its products directly on the production line. The part in question consisted of a small baseplate on which a large number of metal pins were mounted, then over-moulded with plastic. Its previous setup could not detect if a metal pin was deformed or out of position, before going to the insertion machine. An in-line CT system was then used, tailored to the precise
speed and efficiency metrics of the connector manufacturer’s automated production process. Located where the finished parts emerge on a conveyor belt, the system from Pinnacle X-Ray Solutions rapidly CT scans
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46
