CDS Manufacturing received an order from a screw machine parts manufacturer for an automatic inspection system to inspect parts shaped like a piston for overall length and eight different diameters. Laser inspection equipment is certainly capable of sorting for these parameters but their were many challenges that needed to be addressed. Among them, a rate of 30 parts per minute, presentation of the part, and avoiding expensive equipment costs in the design of automated system.
The final product was a fully automatic inspection system that utilized a vibratory feeder, an automatic parts transfer system, and only two laser inspection units. The first unit was used for length inspection and the second unit was used for diameter inspection of each of the eight individual diameters. The vibratory feeder system fed the parts in an end to end orientation and presented each part in front of the lasers. In less than two seconds each part was measured for overall length, each of the eight diameters were presented and measured by the laser inspection equipment, and the inspected part was classified by a good and reject part gating system.
CDS Manufacturing has created several similar pieces of equipment that are currently used on our production floor to provide automatic inspection and sorting services to our customer. As time goes by, and as we receive more orders from various customers, we have modified the design to accomodate a wide range of lengths and diameters. It has proved to be a reliable method for length and diameter inspection and provides our customers with a reasonably priced alternative to expensive manual sorting.
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F. Scarson, III
Vice President
CDS Manufacturing
