Quality Control Processes

The Keyence Corporation of America, Itasca, Ill., recently added a new product to its popular IV Series vision sensor family—the IV-H vision sensor—that reportedly increases the stability and functionality of visual inspection, the company announced in a Jan. 29 news release. The new IV-H models boast increased stability and versatility with a brand new toolset.

Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence, formerly Hexagon Metrology, recently unveiled its new, top-of-the-line addition to the ROMER Absolute Arm portable coordinate measuring machine product line—the 77 Series, which the company described as the most accurate ROMER Absolute Arm to date.

The 3D-Sensor New Generation from Haimer USA LLC builds on the success of its predecessor, the Haimer Universal 3D-Sensor, according to a Haimer USA blog post dated Jan. 12. The 3D-Sensor New Generation reportedly features enhanced mechanics, a compact and easy-to-grip casing, and a large 1/100mm dial gauge with two easy-to-read hands.

These enhancements improve operations, eliminate restrictions to the working area and allow an extremely precise display of the spindle position, the company said. The new sensor is said to be capable of fast, "math-free" positioning of the spindle axis on the edges of the workpiece, and offers precision of 0.01mm when used with original Haimer probe tips.

CHALLENGE: Upgrade QC to reduce the amount of time required for dimension measurements. SOLUTION: Utilize an image-dimension-measuring system that enables hundreds of features to be measured in seconds. END USER: Autocam Corp. Inc., (800) 747-6978, www.autocam.com. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Keyence Corp. of America, (888) 539-3623, www.keyence.com.

Metrology is evolving to allow inspection to be moved closer to the production area. Is it time to remove your inspection lab and retire your old, reliable coordinate measuring machine? Has portable metrology equipment reached a point where all your parts can be measured directly on the shop floor? The answer to both remains a resounding, "Not quite yet."

Optodyne Inc., Rancho Dominguez, Calif., a maker of laser measurement, calibration and compensation systems, recently introduced a new and improved laser calibration system—the MCV-500H and MCV-5000H. The MCV-500H and MCV-5000H laser calibration system is a basic system for linear displacement measurement, the company said in a news release issued Dec. 17, 2015.

Northern Tool, a division of Star Cutter Company, Farmington Hills, MI, is well-known for designing and producing special carbide cutting tools, often for automotive powertrain production, that accomplish more than one cutting operation in a single pass.

The American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH), Lansing, Mich., issued a reminder to workers and industry of the potential for exposure to microbial pathogens in metalworking fluids following a story in the Belfast Telegraph about metalworkers at a local shipyard who were diagnosed with pneumococcal disease. The workers are believed to have been exposed to aerosols containing the bacteria.

When not required by the customer, inspection is a likely target for shops seeking to eliminate inefficiencies within the manufacturing process, suggests the Shop Technology column in the June 2015 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

A direct-drive, servomotor robotic finger.

The Eriez HandyTec Model HH-10 hand-held metal detector has the ability to pinpoint small pieces of ferrous contamination in shallow layers of nonferrous product.