Insuring Perfect Geometry

Inspection system by GEFRA GmbH controls and sorts metal and plastic parts such as stamping parts, bushings, standing parts with internal threads or screws. Modular digital cameras from Allied Vision allow for flexible inspection.

In industries such as the automotive or aerospace industry, even the smallest manufacturing flaw can stop production, generating costs in millions of dollars. This is one reason why these industries put extremely high quality requirements on their suppliers, often expecting proven 0 ppm (zero defect parts out of one million). The only way for suppliers to guarantee such a high level of quality is to perform a 100% inspection of the parts before delivery. A task that only a smart image processing system can achieve in an economical way.

GEFRA GmbH of Germany has gained a worldwide reputation as a leading provider of inspection systems. The majority of GEFRA customers are suppliers of the major automotive sub-contractors and the aerospace industry. "Variants of our Optisort series are in use in many countries around the globe and ensure that the inspected fasteners reliably meet requirements", says Thomas Rothweiler, founder and managing partner of the company proudly. "Our equipment must therefore meet the highest demands in terms of reliability", underlines Rothweiler.

The majority of objects inspected with GEFRA Optisort units are metal components in the so-called fastener sector, such as screws, nuts or disks. Plastic components, release pins for airbags or a selection of sealing caps are also checked for geometric and surface characteristics by the company's automated machines.

This wide variety also has its perils as Rothweiler explains: "Every new part to be tested is always accompanied by certain challenges. This starts with the feeding technique, continues with automated handling and ends with the changing demands for machine vision, a key element in all our inspection processes."

According to Rothweiler, the injection gates often present a problem with injection molded components, as they can vary considerably in terms of geometry. "Such effects can turn into a real challenge for material flow and optical inspection", says the GEFRA founder. "Reliable detection of scratches or coating faults, i.e. on metal disks, is usually not easy to accomplish at the speeds required."

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