In-line machines measure, inspect tube at line speed

Haven Mfg. Corp. has introduced several new models of in-line tube length and ovality inspection machines that accept tubes from any cutoff operation and measure them at line speed.

The basic model has one station that measures overall length. A second station can be added to inspect part straightness and ovality.

The machines use either a walking beam design or a gravity-fed incline to transfer the parts through the inspection stations. Parts enter the transfer through either a kick-off or staging section, then through chip blow-out and measuring. Parts are compared to a calibration figure and specific tolerance ranges can be set. Parts that exceed the upper or lower tolerance limits are rejected. Printed inspection reports can be added and the data downloaded to a SPC recorder.

Models are available for tube diameters up to 5.00 in. For length-only inspection, rates up to 2,200 parts per hour can be attained.