Featured quality control products from Renishaw include the Equator Extended Height gaging system, designed to add flexibility for tall, fixtured and automatically loaded parts, and the SFP1 probe option for the REVO five-axis measurement system, which allows surface finish inspection to be fully integrated within coordinate measurement routines.
The Equator 300 Extended Height comparative gage offers double the space below the measuring volume of the original model, providing a 300 mm height to accept tall parts or those attached to machining fixtures. The additional space also facilitates automated part handling with robots and conveyors. The system can inspect features on parts up to 300 mm tall, with rapid changeover to smaller parts using an extended fixture plate spacer.
Equator is capable of high-speed comparative gaging for inspection of high-volume manufactured parts. It may be used for flexible manufacturing processes or accepting parts from multiple machines.
"By using fixturing that positions parts to within 1 mm of where the master was measured, there is no significant effect on system repeatability and the need for expensive precision fixtures is removed," said a company spokesperson. "The Equator fixture plate can be easily exchanged for other plates, each mounted to the Equator base using highly repeatable three-point kinematic seats. The plates can also be exchanged for fixture plate spacers, allowing smaller parts to be gaged in the same measuring volume."
Equator's gaging technology is based on the traditional comparison of production parts to a reference master part. Re-mastering involves measuring a production part and then compensating for any change in the thermal conditions of a shop floor environment. With the calibration file loaded into the Equator software, measurements made in the Equator system can be referred back to the CAD or drawing nominals.
An Equator-specific stylus changing rack, included with the system, adds versatility and allows automated in-cycle changing of SH25 stylus holders. The SH25 holders couple to Renishaw's SP25 probe, allowing Equator users to swap the stylus configurations without re-qualifying each time. Up to six stylus combinations can be loaded into the rack at any time and they can be used on a single complex part or with multiple parts of varying geometries.
Renishaw's SFP1 probe option for the REVO five-axis measurement system features a measurement capability of 6.3 to 0.05 Ra. It eliminates the need for hand-held surface measurement devices or transporting parts to a dedicated surface measuring machine. The system allows automated switching between dimensional measurement and surface finish measurement, with the analysis contained in a single report.
The SFP1 probe is a fully integrated option for the REVO 5-axis measurement system, supplied with two dedicated styli, straight and cranked, which are selected via the measurement program control using the system's modular rack system (MRS). The probe incorporates a C-axis that, combined with the infinite positioning of the REVO head and choice of stylus holders, allows the probe tip to be automatically oriented to any angle to suit the part. This enables flexible access to component features, combined with the consistency of fully automated CNC control. Using the straight stylus, the SFP1 can perform a measurement trace within a 10 mm diameter bore to a depth of 100 mm.
A skidded probe with a 2 µm (0.000079 in) radius diamond stylus tip, the SFP1 probe outputs Ra, RMS and raw data formats to the metrology application software via Renishaw's UCCServer software using the I++ DME protocol. The raw data can subsequently be presented to specialized surface analysis software for more detailed reporting.
Calibration of the probe is also automated under the CMM program. A surface finish calibration artifact (SFA) is mounted on the MRS rack and is measured using the SFP1 probe. Software then adjusts parameters within the probe in accordance with the artifact's calibrated value.
For more information contact:
Renishaw Inc.
5277 Trillium Blvd
Hoffman Estates, IL 60192
847-286-9953
usa@renishaw.com
www.renishaw.com