A portable leak finder is available for locating small leaks in chambers, connections or parts. The unit has a rechargeable container for helium gas with a spray nozzle similar to an aerosol can. Helium is sprayed on the suspected leak location of a part or chamber and can then be observed on a mass spectrometer system that continuously measures the helium concentration in the part while under vacuum. A leak is immediately identified if the vacuum inside draws helium into the part or chamber. The kit includes a recharge fitting and comes in a protective, custom-made carrying case. Integral to this fitting are valves, pressure gage and pressure relief valve to allow safe recharging of the canister.
The 400 Series of Knoop/Vickers testers provides a microhardness testing solution for Knoop and Vickers testing of metals, ceramics and other non-metallic materials. The series is available with manual or automatic turrets. Having eight dial-selectable test forces ranging from 10 grams to 1,000 grams, the system can be adjusted to the correct setting for the specific specimen being tested. An optional 2,000-gram test force system is available. Equipped with optics that have a total magnification of 100X and 400X, the operator can measure the indention made during the test. The series is equipped with a 100 millimeter by 100 millimeter precision XY stage with 25-millimeter movement in each direction.
This cart-mounted Eddy Current Inspection System offers the operator the capability to inspect small lots of parts by hand on a mobile platform. Occurring in real time, inspections can be performed to verify part geometry, chemistry or hardness. The Pro Series Profiler is used to inspect parts; it is capable of profiling parts with either noncontact or contact eddy current probes and then displaying these profiles on a computer screen. The inspection system automatically calculates the part accept/reject limits from a review of 10 good parts during a “learn” process. These limits can then be adjusted by the operator, as required, to represent the characteristics of the ideal virtual part. The system’s memory is capable of storing the learned profiles from any number of parts, as well as the part profiles themselves. This information can then be downloaded from the system via USB or Ethernet ports mounted on the monitor stand.
A digitizer system and software bundle offers digitizing, archiving and sharing of film images. The bundle includes the Kodak Industrex V2.0 Digitizer Software and the LS-85 Large Format Film Digitizer, which includes either a single or automated six-sheet feeder. The software offers increased productivity for film digitizing with an automatic file save and naming function, allowing operators to capture and review images quickly. In addition, the digitizer’s six-sheet film feeder allows automatic digitization of multiple film sheets without manual handling.
The HMX handheld XRF film thickness and composition analysis measurement tool is suited to the needs of the fastener, connector and general metal finishing industries. The unit’s measurement capabilities include at-process measurement for quality control, plating line and analysis lab applications, and at-sample analysis in the factory or in the field along with alloy sorting and alloy identification for substrate materials management. The Batch Measurement mode lets the operator calculate the average thickness of a batch of small parts with a single measurement. Point and shoot and the analyzer automatically generates an average thickness for the entire lot. In addition, the unit is an XRF solution for measurement of large samples that commonly cannot be measured in chamber-based systems because of part size.
Hall Effect gages are particularly important in the blow molding industry for measurement of wall thickness in plastic bottles and similar containers, as well as many other situations involving relatively thin, nonmagnetic products such as aluminum containers, plastic and glass tubing, scientific glassware, and many small machined or molded plastic and composite parts.
On a recent Thursday morning, I went to New York for a plant visit. I live in Chicago, so instead of my usual drive, my morning commute was a two-hour flight. It was a short trip: one taxi picked me up at 6:30 a.m. and another one took me home 12 hours later. Though I only spent a few hours with the company, I considered the trip a success because I learned a lot and-no small miracle when flying out of O’Hare airport-both flights were on time.
New 3-D analysis capability in stereomicroscopy is available. Conventional stereomicroscopes now transform into true 3-D measurement devices with full analytical capability to generate profile, roughness, area and volumetric measurements.
Within the myriad of inspection systems and technologies available in the industry that are relatively inexpensive and can be fully automated, one inspection technology stands out-eddy current inspection. It is available to the machining industry in two forms: noncontact and contact.
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