High-speed system inspects fasteners

Given the rapid growth of the manufacturing and assembly industries in China, quality control of fasteners during the production process is essential. To meet this need, Shanghai Kingtek (Shanghai, China; www.kingtek.net) has develop the KT-200 fastener-inspection and automatic sorting system that images each fastener from four positions and removes defective fasteners as they pass through the station.

The fasteners travel from a centrifugal feeder bowl onto a conveyor line that sorts and positions them before moving them past four Impact cameras from PPT Vision (Eden Prairie, MN, USA; www.pptvision.com). The first camera looks at the threads, checking for dust and chips. The second looks up at the interior of the chamfer. The third camera performs a top surface measurement check and the fourth measures the total height plus the outer diameter at several levels and grooves. Each rejected fastener is blown into a bin of fasteners with similar defects.

Shanghai Kingtek used the Impact Inspection Builder platform, including the Vision Program Manager, to develop the image-processing and management program. The cameras are networked to a common GUI, displayed on the exterior of the cabinet enclosing the system, from which a user can readily pick the part style of fasteners to be inspected. Xia Lin, president of Shanghai Kingtek, says that more than ten KT-200 systems have been sold and he sees good interest from potential customers.