Quality at IMTS 2016: Sensors, Gages, Touch Probes and More

Caron Engineering Machine Sensors

DTect-IT bearing analysis on a Tsugami B0205. (Image courtesy of Caron Engineering.)
Caron Engineering’s newest product, DTect-IT, is designed to assess the health of CNC machines. The USB sensors can attach to any area of concern on a machine, and the sensor data is instantly graphed on a display PC.

This application runs standalone or integrates with the CNC control, allows the user to set limits and connects to any Windows PC with an available USB port.

The motivation for developing this application stemmed from customers’ need to easily detect bar feeder vibration near the main spindle on a lathe. If a bent bar is introduced to the bar feeder, it will have excessive vibration.

Using DTect-IT and attaching the vibration sensor somewhere near the main spindle, the vibration can be detected. The vibration level can be sent to the CNC control in a macro variable to be interrogated. If vibration is excessive, the spindle RPM can be reduced until the vibration level is acceptable to make good parts. If the RPM has to be reduced too much, and parts cannot be cut, an alarm can be generated to inform an operator to remove the bar.

DTect-IT can monitor vibration of any part of the machine tool or fixture to detect vibration anomalies anywhere on the CNC machine.

Additional sensor options include:

  • Strain Gauge Sensors can be connected and used to measure very small amounts of force. This can be used to monitor the force of machine tools or components so that corrective action may be taken.
  • Analog Sensors - Using an analog input sensor, DTect-IT can monitor 0-10v analog signals and 4 – 20 mA current signals. This allows for monitoring power, pressure, coolant flow, etc.

In addition to limit analysis, DTect-IT can monitor using the following analysis modes:

  • Bearing Analysis - By measuring spindle vibration, DTect-IT can monitor bearing health for analysis. The vibration signal analyzes the (1) acceleration value which indicates the health of the bearings, and the (2) velocity which detects misalignment, imbalance, or looseness. This application will generate and save reports over time for analysis.
  • Fault Detection - Using a vibration sensor, DTect-IT will recognize when set control limits are exceeded, identifying an excessive condition, such as machine impact, overheating or excessive vibration. This application indicates and timestamps machine faults, and records data on either side of the fault for analysis.

For more information, visit the Caron Engineering website.


Euro-Tech Micro Tool Inspection Gage

PG1000-400S-4K inspection gage. (Image courtesy of Euro-Tech.)
The new PG1000-400S-4K inspection gage from Euro-Tech Corporation is designed for micro tools, with true 4K inspection capability, magnification to 400x and X-micron linear scales.

More pixels per inch result in better image quality and higher accuracy inspections with this REACTION series gage. Officially known as UHD (Ultra-High Definition), 4K encompasses visual resolution technology offering at least 4 times more pixels than conventional 1080 pixel HD resolution.

(Image courtesy of Euro-Tech.)
The PG1000-400S-4K comes complete with Euro-Tech’s patented REACTION software. This software makes both scale and edge detection inspections possible in real time. Make, save and recall inspection scenes for new tool inspections of a tool image using scales, screen, edge detection, comparisons or DXF file overlays in multiple colors. Annotate the screen to make your own tool inspection document.

Segmented scale calibrations on any PG 1000 sold as a REACTION series gage can now be done over the entire working envelope of the microscope. Digital low light inspection technology for inspecting cutting tools is now possible with the PG1000-400S-4K, PG 1000 Advance and the PG 1000 Basic REACTION series gages.

For more information, visit the Euro-Tech website.


Marposs Touch Probe

The Mida VOP40P diamond probe. (Image courtesy of Marposs.)
Marposs will introduce at IMTS-2016 in booths E-5516 and S-8719, its new Mida Diamond line of high precision machine tool touch probes and tool setters. The Mida Diamond line has been developed to assist in controlling the entire production process in all its phases: from work-piece set-up and inspection, to tool pre-setting and control.

The products address industries that require high accuracy controls on very complex surfaces such as aerospace, biomedical and dental, mold and die production, and micro-manufacturing applications.

Mida Diamond Touch Probes for part checks utilize piezoelectric technology. The probes are available with various transmission methods including wired transmission, optical transmission and radio transmission.

(Image courtesy of Marposs.)
The Mida Diamond Visual Tool Setter (VTS) for tool checking implements a vision technology using a video camera to detect tool dimensions, in particular those of micro-tools, and for complex measurements. VTS can be used together with dedicated measuring software, for checking a wide range of tools, guaranteeing repeatability of less than 1µm.

Advantages of the new Mida Diamond probing line include reduced machining and checking times, increased production efficiency, reduced production rejects, and constant machining quality level during the entire production process.

For more information, visit the Marposs website.


Sunnen Bore Gage

The PG bore gage. (Image courtesy of Sunnen.)
Sunnen's PG Bore Gages take an intuitive approach to hole gaging with a mechanical design and speedometer-type scale for quick visual confirmation of ID (inside diameter) by a machine operator.

The gage combines lab-precise accuracy (±0.000025"/0.0006mm) with a shop-hardened design that’s compact, portable and mountable on machining stations.

PG gages can be used to examine the entire bore for diameter, taper, barrel, bell mouth, out-of-round and lobing. A sliding faceplate with adjustable stops permits end-to-end examination of bores. Stops can be set to allow examination of a particular section of the bore, with accuracy right up to the edge of ports, lands and ends.

The speedometer-type scale provides readouts down to 0.000050-in (.001 mm) for 100% inspection of machining operations or fast sampling of large vendor lots. Various models are available for gaging IDs from 0.090" to 4.310". Metric models cover IDs from 2.0-109.47 mm.

The PG Bore Gage is intended to remove complexity, skill and "feel" from the measurement process, allowing machine operators to confirm part size with an intuitive analog scale. The gages are not affected by temperature, moisture, air pressure, or vibration and they need no electrical or air connections, making them immune to fluctuations in line voltage or air pressure.

A calibration ring, traceable to NIST and international standards, comes with the gage and features nominal size at 68°F marked on the face. Calibration checks with the ring ensure that gage-setting capability retains accuracy within original limits of ±0.000020-in.

For more information, visit the Sunnen website.


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