In order to improve the testing capacity of its measurement laboratory, the quality department of chassis and safety department of Continental, an automotive equipment manufacturer in visprin, Hungary, has invested in the purchase of two LK metering alternating multi-sensor coordinate measuring machines (CMM).

Continental needs a high-capacity system capable of fast inspection cycles, combined with fast surface scanning and accurate feature measurement, in order to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the company's products. The series includes electronic and hydraulic braking and chassis control systems, wheel and engine speed sensors, airbag electronics and electronic air suspension systems.

The company's quality department is known for its expertise in driving safety and plays an important role in the company's success. The daily work of the measurement laboratory includes feature and surface inspection, linear dimension measurement and GD & T analysis to monitor production quality from the workshop and assist in new product development. The quality department processes about 1600 inspection reports every year, each of which consists of about 20 measurement parts, but they need to obtain faster and more comprehensive insight and more information of each report.

In the Measurement Laboratory of Continental Airlines, a CMM with touch probe is responsible for most of the detection work. Peter Somogyi, a measurement technician, suggested that the main limitations of the existing CMM are its slowness and low capacity. Tamas Brunner, a quality engineer, added that the software did not meet their standards in automated testing and the latest GD & T. Because there are too many measurement tasks to deal with, CMM cannot keep up with the throughput through touch probe detection, let alone provide the necessary insight. Mr Tamas calculated that they needed to halve the inspection cycle.

Before starting to look for new solutions, the quality department outlined its desire to use multisensor technology in facility restructuring. After consulting several CMM suppliers, LK's Altera 8.7.6 CMM is considered an ideal solution. The quality department decided to install two of them, each of which provides multi-sensor function, supplemented by lk-camio software.

In addition to Nikon lc15dx digital laser scanner, the new CMM also includes Renishaw tp200 tactile measurement probe. The Acr3 replacement rack ensures smooth and automatic exchange between tactile and non-contact probes controlled by Camio acquisition and processing software. Since all measurement data have been stored and can be used for reprocessing or further analysis, the new inspection system is an important tool for processing potential customer claims. The quality of the new inspection process improves the understanding of the key dimensions, cavities and functional characteristics of the parts, thereby accelerating corrective actions.

The direct benefits of using multi-sensor technology in CMM, such as faster inspection cycle, higher productivity and fast and easy report generation, enable continental to achieve its objectives. Mr. Somogyi said, "multi-sensor coordinate measuring machines allow almost all types of measurements to be completed on one machine, while previously we needed to use multiple detection devices, such as tactile probes, microscopes, projectors and constructors." Tamas Brunner pointed out that software is an important benefit, and he confirmed that, "Graphical reports are quick and easy to understand, parts need to meet many different tolerances, and reports must provide clear information."

Since the installation of dual sensor, multi-sensor CMM in the quality department, the new equipment has attracted the interest of Continental's molding capability center, which is evaluating how optical testing can speed up the pre production and development cycle.