Faro has launched its Visual Inspect product family that allows large, complex 3D CAD data to be transferred to an iPad and used for mobile visualisation and comparison to real world conditions. This enables real time, actionable manufacturing insight through earlier stage error detection in the production, construction or design processes.
Visual Inspect is being described as a next-generation solution as it moves 3D CAD viewing away from the traditional desktop PC to a mobile ‘in hand, on demand’ system. The 3D CAD data is stored locally on the iPad through a compressed, mobile format which provides a high degree of flexibility and mobility that together drive increased productivity, says Faro. The end user is able to document problems and errors with text and images and then export both into a Microsoft Excel office document.
The product family is available in two options: Visual Inspect, which enables mobile viewing, verification and documentation of complex 3D data; and Visual Inspect AR, which allows complex 3D data to be overlaid and compared to actual data in real time.
The integrated iPad camera supports Visual Inspect AR as a more cost-effective alternative to other augmented reality (AR) products that require expensive cameras.
Visual Inspect can be ready for use via a simple three-step process that includes first downloading the iPad application from the Apple Apps store, calibrating the iPad and then activating the application with the calibration file.
For further information www.faro.com
When William ‘Bill’ T Cox Jr talks about his business, the conversation turns naturally to the Cox Manufacturing Company’s strapline ‘Cox delivers confidence’ – and it is technology from Tornos that helps him make good on that promise every day.
Situated in San Antonio, Texas, one of three metropolitan Texas cities that make up the Texas Triangle region, Cox Manufacturing specialises in custom screw machine products and CNC turning. The company’s customer-centric legacy began in 1956, when Cox’s father, William T Cox Sr, founded the company and started making bobbins for early computer memory systems.
“We are committed to doing what we say; we don’t give up,” states Bill Cox. “Perseverance is one of our core values. We put a lot of emphasis on building systems to manage orders and that helps us to maintain blanket order relationships and ensure quick delivery to our customers. As a result of the robust processes we have in place, our customers know they won’t encounter any surprises when they do business with us.”
Cox Manufacturing was founded with his father’s bold bid to start “some sort of manufacturing company” after coming across a Swiss-type screw machine at an auction. Though he had limited knowledge about the machine and knew next to nothing about automatic screw machines and Swiss automatics, Cox was passionate about manufacturing and had a prowess for solving engineering problems. Those were the cornerstones on which he built a business that has become a leading supplier of precision machining services throughout the US southwest. Today, Cox Manufacturing supplies high-volume, tailor-made components for some of industry’s most discerning customers in the aerospace, automotive, trucking, defence and medical technology sectors.
Bill Cox’s commitment to the family business began early. After his father’s sudden death in 1968, when he was just 12 years old, his mother took him aside and explained that Cox Manufacturing’s biggest customer was interested in buying the business. Was he interested in someday running the business himself? His answer was an emphatic, “yes,” and he was off and running in his quest to learn everything necessary to continue building on the foundation his father had established. He quickly learnt to read financial statements and joined his mother in meetings with bankers, lawyers, accountants and contractors. Cox Manufacturing
“I realised early on that the diversity of our customer base was limited,” he says. “Around 80% of our business was with the electronics industry. We were highly dependent on five customers buying the same product from us. I knew that we needed to learn to make other parts.”
After attending Texas A&M University for two years, just long enough to take the courses that would serve Cox Manufacturing and its soon-to-be growing customer base, the 20-year-old Cox began working full-time at the family business.
When he joined the business full time, Cox Manufacturing was using Bechler and Index machines, as well as some Swiss-type machines and Index single-spindle cam machines, but Cox was looking to the future. He began buying up used Tornos Deco machines and today owns more than 30 of them.
“The tooling and basic machine strategies are similar, so the wealth of knowledge we had accumulated with the competitor machines was transferrable,” he says. “We found that the higher precision Tornos machines were more cost effective in the long run, despite the higher capital investment, because they were more efficient.”
Cox Manufacturing took a big leap in 1980 with its move into a new building constructed on land that Cox and his mother purchased when he was still in high school.
“When I look back, it still amazes me because nothing happened overnight. We were thinking ahead by buying that land and building the facility, moving into multi-spindle machines. Today, we have 33 Deco machines, including the Deco 10, Deco 13 and Deco 20, and we still run some Tornos R10, R125 and MS-7 cam machines. However, we are gradually retiring those and replacing them with Tornos CNC machines.”
More recently, Cox bought a new Tornos SwissNano, which is turning out to be a perfect fit for his business. As a result, this visionary entrepreneur already has his eye on further SwissNano purchases.
“The beauty of the SwissNano is the access and ergonomics,” he explains. “This makes it so much easier to work with fine, small parts. A good example is a precision brass medical part with a ±10 µm tolerance. The stability of the machine and its ease of use make the SwissNano a lot more efficient than other options. Previously, we would have made this part with a Deco 10 and, before that, on an MS-7. The SwissNano is compact and it fits nicely into the same workshop footprint as an MS-7; certainly an investment that will serve the business well for years to come.”
For further information www.tornos.com
Pinpoint Laser Systems, a manufacturer of precision laser measurement and alignment products, has launched its latest laser-alignment tool, the 90-Line-D, for monitoring and detecting misalignment and other errors in machinery and equipment.
The 90-Line-D is Pinpoint’s newest product innovation for aligning and checking planar squareness and parallelism on assemblies, machinery and equipment. No fuss, easy set-up, and fast, precise results ensure that users can now check gantries, web and roll equipment, presses and CNC machine tools for peak alignment and efficiency. The 90-Line-D is compact, portable and available in wired and wireless versions.
An accurate pentaprism, for bending the laser precisely 90°, redirects an incoming laser beam to a new ‘square’ laser reference line. By rotating the front nosepiece of the 90-Line-D, this laser reference line forms a laser plane for additional alignment and measurements. A fine-adjust feature is included to help direct the laser beam exactly where required, while a built-in detector monitors the incoming laser beam and actively corrects for any misalignments or small errors.
The 90-Line-D is machined from a solid block of aluminium with a durable anodised finish, and features stainless steel components and internal glass optics.
The 90-Line-D is fully compatible with Pinpoint’s Microgage PRO line and works well with a variety of laser receivers, mounts and software options for the Microgage PRO Smart Display and Capture software products.
For further information www.pinpointlaser.com
For many years, PCE Instruments has been dealing with a wide variety of inspection cameras for all sorts of applications. The product range is continuously expanding with new models that are more compact and easy to use. When it comes to thermal imagers, ever-improving infrared image resolution and camera resolution are among market trends, as evidenced by this latest product release.
The new thermal imaging inspection camera PCE-TC 34, which complements PCE Instruments’ existing range of cameras, is about to be launched. This thermal imager stands out with its high IR resolution of 640 × 480 pixels, and its camera resolution of 5 megapixels, which is a relatively rare feature in the market.
PCE explains that the device works with an uncooled microbolometer FPA detector and can display temperatures between -20 and +350°C. Accuracy is ±2°C or ±2% of the reading.
The PCE-TC 34 recognises the coldest as well as the hottest spot, namely the hotspot, while the infrared camera has a thermal sensitivity of 0.05°C at 30°C. Further parameter specifications include a 24 × 18° field of view and a spectral resolution of 0.65 mrad. The spectral range is between 7.5 and 14 μm, while emissivity is adjustable between 0.01 and 1.0.
Image frequency on the PCE-TC 34 is 50Hz and the electronic zoom function allows 1 to 8 x zooming. Importantly, images and videos recorded via infrared can be saved to an SD card.
The 3.5” display allows easy viewing of the images and videos directly on the meter, although these can also be transferred to the computer via the USB 2.0 interface and then analysed further by means of software.
For further information www.pce-instruments.com
The Bowers Group has made available the latest Baty Venture XT vision system, which is said to include major advances in capability and software for both contact and non-contact measurement. Features include an extended 200 mm measuring range in the Z axis and a new FEA-optimised column design with integral counterbalance. The Z axis and lens/touch probe assembly have also been revised, while faster XY-axis drives, touch-screen compatible software, touch-screen joystick, greater field of view, and magnification up to 12 x zoom are among further enhancements.
Of particular note is a major redesign of the software, providing users with a self-calibrating zoom lens featuring field-of-view error correction and improved auto-focus that can now find and measure from a distance in one move. Furthermore, image-stitching capability allows a large XY area to be scanned and displayed as a single image, while a ‘layers feature’ allows other geographical information such as DXF files, dimensions and measured features to be overlaid on the camera image and reported.
Geoff Jackson, business and product development director at Baty says: “We are delighted to announce the release of the new Venture XT; a sophisticated vision system that paves the way for high-accuracy contact and non-contact measurement. We have received excellent feedback on the Venture XT since unveiling the system at the Control Exhibition in Stuttgart earlier this year, particularly regarding the new field-of-view tools, which have reduced program execution times. We are very excited to launch the product here in the UK.”
For further information www.bowersgroup.co.uk
