Bodycote opts for touchscreen testing
Bodycote opts for touchscreen testing
Keywords Bodycote,Touchscreen
Following the lead of advanced manufacturing industries, the contract heat-treatment sector is increasingly adopting touchscreen technology in the testing of materials.
One of the latest to upgrade is Bodycote Heat Treatment Ltd. The international specialist has installed touchscreen Rockwell hardness testing in the fully computerized controlled-atmosphere centre opened in Macclesfield in July 1997.
Rockwell testing at the showpiece facility is now carried out by two Indentec microprocessor-controlled model TKs, top-of-the-range machines with eye-level touchscreens for controlling testing, monitoring and data handling.
With its 76,800 pixels,the dot-matrix graphics unit actuated by the touchscreen provides a highly flexible means of creating displays of switching, icons and test data without any need for the usual knobs and levers.
The machines can also store and recall test parameters and ongoing test data in dedicated files accessed by alpha-numeric keypads in the touchscreens. Data can be displayed in X-bar and R charts and histograms, which can be printed or downloaded to computer through one of two built-in RS232C ports in each machine.
Bodycote uses the Indentec testers for Rockwell and Superficial Rockwell tests on the broad variety of specimens commonplace in contract heat treatment, anything from hedge-trimmer blades to safety-critical parts for aerospace customers. Tests are carried out on both 100 percent and sampling schedules.
The two machines are in frequent use, each making around 60 hardness tests in a typical shift.
They have also improved Bodycote's ability to test on awkwardly located and restricted internal and external surfaces. The nose-mounted indenters a unique Indentec feature enable tests to be made on points inside case-hardened bores, a capacity beyond most conventional testers without the addition of special fixtures or attachments.
Bodycote also operates Indentec Rockwell testing machines in the heat treatment centres in Birmingham and Cheltenham, UK.
Details from Indentec Hardness Testing Machines Ltd, Lye Valley Industrial Estate, Bromley Street,Lye, Stourbridge, West Midlands DY9 8HX, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1384 896949.
