Automotive company relies on torque data
A
Crane Electronics product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Mar 23, 2007
At its Burton-on-Trent factory, Johnson Controls is now using two TorqueStarOptas and four CheckStar in-line transducers with measurement ranges of 2.5-25Nm and 7.5-75Nm.
Car seats today are far more than a place to sit, often incorporating safety-critical elements such as airbags and seat belt buckles.
It is therefore vital to ensure that these are correctly installed and for this reason Johnson Controls Automotive (UK) is relying upon Crane Electronics' TorqueStarOpta torque data collectors with CheckStar rotary transducers to audit the assembly processes used on threaded fasteners.
Moreover, Johnson Controls has to store detailed records in case its customer, Toyota, requests data relating to the seats it installs in the Avensis and Corolla models.
Matthew Winter, the Maintenance and Facilities Co-ordinator, explains why the Crane solution was felt to be superior: "The storage capacity on the TorqueStar Opta is sufficient to hold the data for a full five days' worth of readings".
"On the nearest competitive product, there is only enough space for one day's data".
"Furthermore, if you were to start the second day's rounds without downloading the first day's data, the records would simply be overwritten, with no prior warning".
"To lose data like this is simply unacceptable, and even with the best will in the world, people are not at their best at 6.00AM when we do the tool rounds".
"Losing data would be a genuine risk that we are not prepared to take".
A further benefit stems from the TorqueStarOpta's graphical display that enables the operator to view trends as soon as a reading has been taken.
This means potential problems are identified immediately, without the data having to be downloaded from the instrument first.
At its Burton-on-Trent factory, Johnson Controls is now using two TorqueStarOptas and four CheckStar in-line transducers with measurement ranges of 2.5-25Nm and 7.5-75Nm.
While the safety-critical components are assembled with conventional threaded fasteners and electronically controlled tools, other components are fastened with self-tapping screws and pneumatic drivers.
Every electric and pneumatic driver used on the line is audited on a daily basis, and click wrenches are audited at six-monthly intervals.
The TorqueStarOptas and CheckStar transducers take all of this in their stride, and the instruments' UTA identification technology means that each transducer is automatically identified and recorded for each torque reading, with no need to rely on an operator to record anything manually.
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