3D Inspection for the Height of Connector Pins

Connectors have meanings for some industries that we sometimes cannot even grasp. During the development of a connector for several different demands concerning design and production process should be taken care of. Therefore during transmission of high energy such as batteries and generators or engines it should be taken into account that sometimes it also concerns the transmission of data and signals. Take a train signal for example. What happens if it fails and two trains collide?

Some faulty connector, deep down in the electronic system in cars, in trains, in airplanes could cause catastrophic outcomes. Flaws in the inspection system can take lives and can lead to high costs. Therefore EVT has gotten to the challenge of optimizing the inspection system of connectors and to set up a 100%-quality control – and this is all in 3D.

Some distant time ago the quality control was down to the human eye. But as we all know by now the human eye gets tired and makes mistakes quite easily. So some got the idea to check the pins of connectors with a 2D method. To use several conventional 2D-cameras and use them from different positions to capture the connector and therefore to check for defects. The whole setup is due to the amount of cameras extremely complicated and spacious. In this cases the 3D image processing offers a better and safer and finally also cost-effective solution.

Therefore the EVT Creative Department has optimized a method for the inspection of connectors respectively the inspection of pins. But it is not limited to only one kind of connectors, it is a flexible system and works for almost any connector, to check the flawlessness of the pins.
Therefore, with only one scan by the EyeScan AT 3D sensor with the EyeVision software, the following characteristics of the scanned object can be measured. For one thing the software is carrying out a measurement of the so called wobble-circle. These are gauges to measure connector tolerances and staggering of the pins. And another thing is the measurement of the embedment depth of the pins. Thanks to the 3D-inspection it is possible to measure the height of the pin tip. And additionally the pin tips are not only measured in there x- and y-direction but also in z-direction. Furthermore the system can detect flaws such as e.g. if the connector pins are straight or bent, if the pins are stuck too deeply into the housing or if the pins stick out too far out of the housing.

The EyeScan AT 3D sensor is also very precise. The laser triangulation sensor delivers 2048 points per profile in a time of 25.000 profiles per second. "Laser triangulation“ means that, a camera is following a laser line which is projected onto the scan object and from that captured image the line profile and height information are calculated. During the passing by of the scan object under the camera, several profiles are created, which are used to make 3D image.

Company Contact
Margarita Palmer        
Tel: 49721-626905-82