Torque tester controls calibration routines

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Nov 29, 2005

Manitou has invested in a Crane Electronics TorqueStar Opta and associated Bluetooth wireless barcode reader technology.

Manitou is a world leader in the development and manufacture of rough-terrain masted forklift trucks for the construction equipment and agriculture industry.

In its production plant in Ancenis, Western France, the company has hundreds of hand tools to check.

To simplify the management of this critical work, the company has invested in a Crane Electronics TorqueStar Opta and associated Bluetooth wireless barcode reader technology.

Along with cutting and soldering, assembly has an important place in the activity of the busy Ancenis production site.

Most tools in the assembly process used on site are impulse tools of all types.

These are all checked and calibrated following a precise procedure and schedule.

For a long time the company has been using Crane's data collectors and rotary transducers for this work.

However, R Bulteau, Manitou's Engineer in charge of Maintenance and Supervisor of all control functions on site, wanted to go further in torque control and management procedures for the tools.

The solution he was looking for had to be operator friendly and portable.

Another critical requirement was the ability to save data to a database.

This should be easy to interrogate, quick to retrieve information from and be capable of checking all tools according to their individual schedule and required accuracy.

To achieve these goals, the company invested in Crane Electronics' TorqueStar Opta torque indicator and data collector and the SPC software Opta Comms.

Manitou also wanted the search for a particular tool within the TorqueStar Opta to be as efficient as possible and Crane recommended a barcode solution to identify each tool.

A barcode label was generated for each tool containing information including its serial number and required torque accuracy.

To keep the portability of the solution, avoid additional cables and carrying a charger for the barcode reader, a wireless barcode reader system using Bluetooth technology was suggested.

The French company Baracoda, a specialist in this field, offered a product perfectly adapted to Manitou's application and the specification of the TorqueStar Opta data collector.

The compact Bluetooth receiver is easy to connect to the RS232 connector of the TorqueStar Opta.

Recharging for the data collector and scanner are kept to a minimum due to efficient power management.

The receiver is equipped with an on/off switch, saving the TorqueStar Opta's battery when the data collector is not in use.

There is also an automatic shutoff of the data collector after one minute when not in use.

The complete solution was easy to install and to set up.

Combining the TorqueStar Opta from Crane and a wireless barcode reader has allowed a quick and simple search of any tools due for their scheduled calibration check, while maintaining the portability of the data collector.

Bulteau states: "The time saved is considerable and allows for a better quality of the checks to be carried out without increasing the operators' workload".