Quality Applications

ScanMax Flexible Gage Benefits Visually guides operators through    inspection CAD-compatible Built to withstand shop-floor    conditions www.zeiss.com

Shop-Floor Scanning Gage Speeds Measurement
ScanMax Flexible Gage

In today's competitive market, automakers require manufacturers to verify and document the reliability of airbags and other safety products. To meet this demand and help ensure component quality, VAW of America, a Phoenix-based aluminum extruder that produces parts for Toyota, General Motors, Ford and others, invested in the ScanMax manual flexible gage from Carl Zeiss IMT Corp.

 ScanMax eliminates many of the problems associated with the slower speed and inconsistencies of previously used methods such as noncontact photographic measurement machines and touch-probe coordinate measuring machines (CMMs).

 "People depend on our products for safety," says VAW Plant Manager Randy Wieseler. "I wanted an inspection system that could measure product profiles quickly and boost operator performance." Wieseler's primary goal was to find an inspection system that could accurately and efficiently measure the irregular contours of passenger-side airbag canisters as well as VAW's extensive array of other aluminum products.

 Wieseler found that the shop-floor compatible ScanMax measures a variety of metals accurately and quickly and is easy to use. An added benefit, according to Wieseler, is that the software-driven system compatibility allows the integration of measurement results with other programs, improving the total inspection process. In fact, within nine months of installing the ScanMax, VAW has reduced inspection time by 50 percent, eliminating a bottleneck in its manufacturing processes.

 Aluminum manufacturers have typically used optical inspections (i.e., noncontact photographic measurement) to detect defects. Because of the time-consuming setup required for an optical inspection system, extruders began using touch-probe CMMs, which measure certain points on a part profile, connect the points and mathematically compute measurements. However, this process produces results that vary depending on the operator's skill and experience. Additionally, most inspection systems must be housed in an environmentally controlled area unaffected by temperature variations, dust or vibrations. Prior to using the ScanMax, VAW workers had to transfer parts from the shop floor to one of two CMM labs for inspection.

 To remedy a cumbersome product verification process, Wieseler turned to ScanMax scanning measurement technology. "Scanning converts all of the points into one constant contour, ensuring an easier and faster way to accumulate accurate results," Wieseler says. "The repeatability factor of scanning tolerances supports the accuracy of our products and our extrusion dies."

 ScanMax is capable of consistently measuring to tolerances as tight as 0.0002 in., depending on the surface and features measured. The ScanMax software, ScanWare, captures up to 200 data points per second. Touch probing, by comparison, can only record six or eight data points in a few minutes. ScanWare visually guides the operator step-by-step through the measurement process. To inspect a part's profile, the operator places the work piece on the ScanMax's granite work surface, clicks on the part icon on the computer screen and manually traces its profile.

 The ScanWare software displays the work piece--a cylinder, plane or square--and the scanning start and stop points. It also prompts the user when it's time to switch to a different point on the work piece and displays the type of metal used and its heat expansion rate. Additionally, ScanWare alerts the operator if too much pressure is being put on the probe during tracing.

 Mario Quijada, ScanMax lead operator for VAW, received Zeiss training on the ScanMax to learn how to program the machine and troubleshoot inspection problems. "After installation, I spent two days familiarizing myself with the machine," he says. "I was up and running on the third day." Quijada set up 30 different part programs so that almost everyone at VAW could use the machine.

 ScanWare is CAD-compatible, allowing users to inspect products utilizing a method that reflects a part's schematic drawing and provides documentation to prove it. Using the CAD file, VAW operators overlay the scan on the actual dimensions of the part and use the screen display to see if the part falls within the specifications.

 The ScanMax was placed in VAW's extrusion tool and die department, where it's most needed for inspection purposes.

 "ScanWare allows the gage to withstand a typical manufacturing environment, including temperatures as high as 95 degrees, grinding dust and vibration caused by some of our hand tools and presses," says Wieseler.