While still in its infancy, visual inspection and profiling systems are fast becoming accepted as global best practice in process inspection and quality control.
An example of this technology is the IV Series vision sensor from Keyence of Japan, distributed locally by Peter Jones Electronic Equipment. Peter Jones falls under Actum Electronics, part of the Actum Group, which also comprises Actum Industrial.
The IV Series is programmed with customised parameters that correlate, for example, with the material thickness or the presence of a barcode. The CCD scanner head, the heart of the sensor, compares the object being tested with the preset parameters by means of a visual inspection process. When an object fails to match these parameters, the manufacturing process is able to react accordingly and an operator is alerted.
“A significant benefit of vision sensors is that they provide in-process quality assurance, which means that errors and irregularities are detected earlier along the production line, reducing the possibility of repeated inconsistency in production,” Rob Howes, technical sales manager at Peter Jones, comments.
The vision sensors can test up to 99 inspection windows simultaneously, which not only improves the response time dramatically, but also helps to remove the element of human error in quality testing.
“Older in-process detection systems had an array of different sensors, with one sensor responsible for detecting a particular feature of a product. This could amount to detection systems having as many as 80 different sensors,” Howes elaborates. Therefore the development of a single-sensor vision sensor has resulted in significant cost savings.
Demonstration equipment is on hand to be used for customer training, and Peter Jones also has access to the Keyence Technical Centre in Japan, which means it can assist with on-site commissioning as well. Howes adds that the IV Series vision sensor is extremely user-friendly. “Generally someone with no experience with vision systems can find their way around the software and start programming it within 30 minutes,” he highlights.
Actum has represented Keyence in South Africa for more than 20 years, during which time it has invested heavily in nurturing the skills needed for visual-inspection processes and quality-control sensors. “The success of this relationship is mainly due to the diversity of South Africa’s industrial sector, and the growing demand for automation and quality control to help drive down costs,” Howes stresses.
Keyence focuses on the niche sector of industrial control, for which it has developed a range of proximity and estimation systems, such as its advanced two-dimensional and 3D profiling systems. The company also specialises in presence or absence detection, identification, safety and quality assurance before and after production.
For more information contact Kevin Klaff, Actum Electronics, +27 (0)11 608 3001, [email protected], www.actum.co.za
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| Email: | [email protected] |
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