A constant demand for the reverse engineering of products has led to the acquisition of a Hexagon 6-axis measurement arm to improve speed and accuracy of work.
A little-known aspect of Newtown’s business is the supply of small to medium assemblies of parts which are often, but not always, built around a bearing. These assemblies can include shafts, housings, spacers, seals, and gearboxes.
In many cases the client has limited information on file which can make the development of drawings quite challenging, and Newtown’s technical team often has to reverse engineer these items to produce the necessary production drawings.
To date, measurements have been made using a variety of calibrated verniers, depth gauges and other tools which then allow for the development of 2D CAD and 3D models. But to speed up the flow of work and improve the accuracy of measurements, the company has purchased a new 6-axis measurement arm which will allow accurate dimensions to be quickly transferred into the CAD system.
“Not only will this equipment assist with the capture and digitisation of the measurements of parts and assemblies received for quotation to create CAD models, but it will afford us a greater degree of quality control on incoming parts.” Lester Milton, Group Technical Manager.
Another use for the arm will be the accurate measurement of slewing rings and ring gears often sent in by trade clients and for which the company is already well known. “Most slewing rings are fairly easy to measure and have regular bolt patterns or bolt spacing, but every now and then we see an OEM part that has an extremely variable bolt pattern and these can be a nightmare to measure with traditional methods”, says Lester.
“Using the new arm will eliminate any possible errors. The 1.2m unit will be installed at the company’s Stafford Park facility but is portable and could be used on-site if necessary. Another great feature is that all Hexagon arms use the same software, so larger units could be hired for on-site work and no additional training would be required.
All in all, it is an exciting time at Newtown as the company continues to improve its quality control systems and release new product ranges such as the QCB Extreme Series of shaker screen bearings and the QCB double row slewing drives.
As well as this, they are expanding the QCB Thermoplastic range to include blue coloured housings
to complement the green and white already offered.
Contact here: +44 1952 222400 / sales@newtownbearings.co.uk / www.newtownbearings.co.uk
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