Case study

Customer demand:
HRC hardness tester to test a large variety of finished and treated gears. Motorized and automatic hardness tester. Test specific points like gear teeth.

Problem:
Place the gear on the tester in order to have a horizontal orientation of the teeth surface. Be able to rotate the gear to test each teeth. Be sure to point the right zone of the teeth in order to prevent damages to the diamond indenter.

Situation before purchase:
Old hardness tester with naked indenter and no clamping protection. One big clamping vise to fix the gears under the tester. Manual orientation of the teeth surface to be more or less horizontal. Very bad repeatability of results and very bad accuracy. Large amount of spare diamond indenters.

AFFRI solution: We projected a fully automatic system where the core is the 3332MRSA measuring system (See MRS hardness tester). One specific support for each type of gear with easy fixing and flipping tool to rotate the gear. Big table base with rollers for the sliding of the different supports under the testing head. Long indenter with long clamping to protect the diamond and able to reach points between two teeth. Laser pointing system for precise positioning before the contact with the gear.

Situation after purchase: The customer was extremely happy about the machine and approved the equipment the same day of the installation. The operators were satisfied for the easiness of operations. The customer was able to manage a very big quantity of tests per day. The time saving of the new system gained to the customer a very fast absorption of the equipment cost. Till today, we didn't received any request for new indenters or issues about the tester.

Main features

LASER POINTER SYSTEM
 

 
The laser pointing system helps to define the indentation area before the contact between the indenter and the specimen. Reach extreme points with lack of illumination, edges of gear’s teeth or inside holes.

CUSTOM GEAR SUPPORT
 

 
One specific support for each type of gear with easy fixing system. The support blocks the gear and assures the perfect horizontal linearity of the testing zones (teeths) to be perpendicular to the indenter.

Easy rotating system
 

 
Each support is designed for easy rotation of the sample in order to test multiple teeths without removing and place back the specimen. The very precise movement allows accurate positioning.

ROLLERS
 

 
The big custom table is equipped with two long sliding guides for easy and light movements of the different supports under the testing head.

LONG INDENTER
 

 
The long indenter can reach deep side zones of the gear and it is protected from accidental damages with a long clamping protection.

Command box
 

 
An ergonomig station with all the buttons, input commands and the emergency. The operator will use the machine in a easy and safe way.

TECHNICAL FEATURES