Dirt in paint is one of the most expensive and difficult factors to control in an automotive paint shop. Simply being able to reliably detect and repair dirt on a consistent basis has dogged paint area managers for decades. Today most assembly plant statistics indicate that manual inspection is capable of finding only 70 % of dirt-type defects on major surfaces where customer satisfaction is paramount. Not being able to find these defects in a reliable and consistent manner runs up warranty costs. The Industrial Dirt Counter (IDC) by Autospect is a totally new inspection system for automatically locating surface defects in paint. Defects as small as 0.1 mm2 in areas and 15 microns in height are detected regularly and reported on a defect map of each vehicle produced. This information can assist with determining the source of the contamination. Most importantly, this information is automatically stored in an easily accessible database where statistical trend information can be generated in seconds. Questions like, 'Are defects increasing?' or 'At what times are defects more prevalent?' can be answered with complete confidence. The IDC uses structured light and solid-state sensor technology to determine the size and shape of each defect found. High-speed DSP processors process each inspection image in under 100 milliseconds, so a continuous scan of the surface is performed. Sophisticated software techniques allow the IDC to 'learn' the locations and sizes of vehicle body features such as door seams, so they are not confused with actual defects. Inspection data is reported in real time to the inspectors on the finesse deck and the manager in the paint office. When defects exceed preset conditions, an alarm is automatically triggered alerting personnel of the problem and improving response time. The IDC fits into existing paint shops requiring less than 1.5 m of line space, uses normal 480 VAC or 120 VAC power and does not interrupt production flow.
Industrial dirt counter
Schmutzüberwachungssystem für die Karosserielackierung
1997
7 Seiten, 2 Quellen
Conference paper
English
British Library Conference Proceedings | 1997
|British Library Conference Proceedings | 1997
|Automotive engineering | 1997
|British Library Conference Proceedings | 1996
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