拳精度

Metal stamping is a cornerstone process of manufacturing today, one that is used to fabricate an endless variety of components. From the chassis in a desktop computer to the bracket that holds the refrigerator door in place, stamped parts are everywhere. Most are produced using a progressive die: a complex tool that is mounted in a stamping press, and which converts a large coil of sheet metal into precision components through a continuous, high speed series of punching, forming, swaging, blanking, and piercing operations. Raw material goes in one end, finished parts come out the other, often at the rate of several hundred to thousands of pieces per hour.

One of the key components in these complex tools is punch and die sets. These are often used to create round or shaped holes, but can also be employed to form dimples, tabs, recessed areas, and other part geometries. Without these important tools, vehicles wouldn't run, appliances wouldn't operate, and buildings would topple.

Tipco Punch Inc. has been making punches and dies for decades. Originally known as Tickins Industrial Products, the company was founded in 1959 and has since grown to eight manufacturing and sales locations worldwide, including Italy, England, and the US. Its headquarters in Brampton, Ontario, performs turning, milling, grinding, and EDM, and manufacturers thousands of catalog and special order items, primarily for the automotive and appliance industries.

工厂经理阿雷夫·托菲（Aref Tofigh）表示，该公司感到最近经济衰退的痛苦，并正在寻找提高商店效率的方法。在访问2014年国际制造技术展（IMTS）时，他发现了IM系列图像维度测量系统。“After the automotive market crashed, a lot of the tool and die shops we were servicing in this area closed their doors. It was a big problem for us. We took one look at the Instant Measurement system and immediately saw it as a way to cut manufacturing costs.”

Tofigh and his team arranged for a demonstration at their facility of the KEYENCE IM-6120, which the owner of the company attended. “Tickins先生看到系统的速度有多快m can measure parts,tofigh说。“像许多商店一样，我们始终依靠微米，游标卡钳和光学比较器，它们在很大程度上取决于操作员的触摸感和视觉，以实现准确的测量。当您考虑它时，这很古老。所有者对钥匙素印象深刻，并立即购买了一个。”

Tipco迅速将新的图像测量系统用于服务，使用它来测量长度，宽度，直径和其他特征，并在精确的地面部件上进行测量，许多耐受性降至0.0002英寸。Tofigh说，钥匙很容易学习。“There was an initial training of a few hours, and since then, the product engineer has helped us tremendously whenever we've had to call. The support from KEYENCE has been fantastic and ongoing.”

The Instant Measurement is primarily used in the quality lab for final inspection, but as Tofigh points out, the people on the shop floor use it as well, measuring first articles and validating in-process machine adjustments. As a result, roughly 60 percent of the work at Tipco is inspected on the KEYENCE system, including some “棘手零件特征客户正在要求Tipco的质量部门为他们记录。

“我们能够立即照顾检查并打印出具有测试结果的证书，tofigh说。“It's a real time saver for the department.”

Saving time is great, but bringing in additional sales is even better. Tofigh says his customers are equally impressed with Tipco's new measurement capabilities. “Because the KEYENCE inspects parts more quickly than traditional methods, we have time to do a more thorough check of our products. This makes our customers more comfortable with our quality levels, and they're giving us more work because of it. It was a great investment for us.”