First, we must first understand what is a coordinate measuring machine:
The quality goal of manufacturing industry is to align the production and design requirements of parts. However, maintaining consistency in the production process requires control of the manufacturing process. The most effective way to establish and maintain the consistency of the manufacturing process is to accurately measure the size of the workpiece. After obtaining the size information, analyze and feed back the data into the production process, making it an effective tool for continuously improving product quality.
CMM is one of the most effective methods for measuring and obtaining dimensional data, because it can replace a variety of surface measurement tools and expensive combination gauges, and reduce the time required for complex measurement tasks from hours to minutes. The function of the CMM is to quickly and accurately evaluate the dimensional data and provide the operator with useful information about the status of the production process, which is very different from all manual measuring equipment.
Second, master the method of choosing the three coordinate measuring machine correctly:
1. The first thing to determine is which type of CMM to buy. If a CMM is exactly what you need for your job, how to choose the best one? The first thing to determine is which type of CMM you want to buy. According to the orientation of the probe on the measuring machine, there are three basic types: vertical, horizontal and portable.
(1) The vertical coordinate measuring machine is equipped with a probe on the vertical arm. The accuracy of this measuring machine is higher than that of a horizontal measuring machine, because the bridge structure is more stable and has fewer moving parts, making them have better rigidity and stability. The vertical coordinate measuring machine contains various sizes, and can measure from the pinion to the engine case, or even the fuselage of a commercial aircraft.
(2) The horizontal measuring machine installs the probe on the horizontal axis. They are generally used to detect large workpieces, such as the body of a car, with a medium level of accuracy.
(3) The portable measuring machine simplifies the measurement of workpieces and assemblies that cannot be moved to the measuring machine. The portable measurement can be installed on the workpiece or the assembly or even inside, which allows the measurement of the internal space and allows the user to be on the assembly site Measurement, thereby saving the time to move, transport and measure a single workpiece.
2. In order to keep the CMM stable, in the design process, it is generally increased by increasing the cross-section of structural components, increasing the distance of the air bearing, increasing the driving force of the motor, and optimizing the selection of structural materials based on weight and temperature performance. Quality and rigidity improve measurement accuracy, repeatability, and measurement speed and acceleration. These principles are also applied to some horizontal workshop-type CMMs. This system combines the flexibility of a horizontal measuring machine with the high precision of a vertical design.
3. The direction of horizontal measurement makes the combination of measuring machine and horizontal machine tool processing equipment more reasonable. They are particularly suitable for measuring large gearboxes and engine housings that require high-precision measurements.
4. The addition of the turntable makes the four axes possible, and the dual-arm configuration can also be achieved, and all directions of the workpiece can be measured. The horizontal arm configuration is relatively easy to load and unload work pieces. The small, workshop-type horizontal arm measuring machine is used during high-speed production.