Roundness upgrade

Tenon Engineering Ltd is a precision manufacturing company that specialises in the integrated design and manufacturing of complex electromechanical assemblies. The company is based in Dorking, Surrey and their in-house manufacturing resources include multi-axis machining, cylindrical grinding, precision sheet metal fabrication and electromechanical assembly, alongside specialist coil winding and electrical motor manufacturing. Tenon’s engineering resources also cover mechanical, electronics and firmware design, production engineering and analytical reverse engineering.

For the range of fields that Tenon Engineering operates in, extreme levels of precision are required at every stage, without lowering the efficiency or productivity. In an effort to expand this capability, they have recently invested in a Mitutoyo ROUNDTEST RA-2200 CNC instrument.

Explaining the reason for the recent purchase, Tenon Engineering Ltd, Chief Engineer, Terry Healy explained. “From concept to completion, Tenon Engineering provide high-quality, complex assemblies and precision components. We work internationally, and up to 80% of our output is exported to major markets in the USA, Asia, Africa, and Europe. Our technically demanding customer base includes some of the world’s leading suppliers of scientific equipment, including our sister company Wallace Instruments, a global leader in the quality assurance testing of rubber, plastics, and other materials.

“Due to the nature of our customers much of our output has challenging roundness and cylindricity measurement parameters. Having decided to further enhance our already high standards in this crucial area we recently investigated the availability of the relevant, high-precision products. In addition to the accuracy of the proposed new equipment being vitally important, because of the continuous throughput of high-precision components in our busy quality department, the speed and ease of use of the chosen system were also major considerations.

“Having studied the available options we concluded that a ROUNDTEST RA-2200 CNC was the best choice for our demanding precision and efficiency needs. As the advanced Mitutoyo roundness and cylindricity measurement instrument is so easy to use, following its trouble-free installation and training, our quality control staff quickly mastered its operation. Now, in addition to precisely measuring one-offs, we are able to load batches of components onto the instrument’s table, recall previously written part-programs and start rapid, CNC inspection routines. Once underway, the Mitutoyo instrument’s ability to undertake fully automated inspection tasks allows its operator to undertake other duties.

“As traceability is a crucial element of our work, having inspected a batch of components, if required Mitutoyo’s easy to use software generates comprehensive inspection reports. In addition to the ROUNDTEST RA-2200 being able to achieve the high levels of precision that we require, its fast, CNC operation has reduced the possibility of bottlenecks in the areas of roundness and cylindricity inspection.”

Using high-precision turntables, the ROUNDTEST RA-2200 CNC machines an simply and accurately centre and level a workpiece. The rotational accuracy has a specification of radial - 0.02+3.5H/10000 μm, and axial -0.02+3.5X/10000 μm, allowing the precision measurement of flatness, roundness / cylindricity and other characteristics.

The machine is also equipped with a sliding mechanism, which allows one-touch measurement of components that have deep bores with thick walls. Internal and external diameters can also be easily measured by means of a continuous internal/external diameter measurement function.  It also features a collision sensing safety function to prevent collisions in the Z-axis, and it automatically stops the system when the detector unit displacement exceeds its range. When an accidental touch is detected, the software senses the error and automatically stops the system.

These safety functions are made possible by Mitutoyo’s ROUNDPAK software, which promises  a simple, ‘rapid, intuitive operation.’

The system is highly adaptable, and not only limited to roundness measurements, but is able to measure a wide range of parameters, such as flatness and parallelism as well.