Weld seam inspection for window fittings

At a glance

The two companies MACO Produktions GmbH and nLIGHT GmbH have been in contact through joint projects since March 2005. In the meantime, three processobserver systems with 2 channels each for the automated inspection of laser welds are in use at MACO.

Challenge

MACO has always seen its successes as being closely linked to the quality of its products. MACO was the first company in the industry to be certified by AGQS according to DIN ISO 9001. Quality requirements and customer demands are constantly increasing and changing. Continuous quality control down to the smallest production part is MACO’s answer to customer requirements. MACO relied on the expertise of nLIGHT Plasmo engineers to inspect the weld seams produced using laser technology.

Solution

nLIGHT Plasmo systems check the weld seams on various fittings fully automatically. During the production of these parts, two lasers are used simultaneously to weld the side plates onto a base plate. The quality control of these weld seams was previously carried out by an employee who performed random destructive tests. With the use of the plasmo processobserver, 100% of these components have since been monitored non-destructively and automatically during the manufacturing process. The different types of defects, e.g. connection errors, pores, holes, insufficient through-welding, “false friends”, etc., which can occur during the joining process, are detected by the plasmo processobserver in real time. This ensures that the manufactured parts meet MACO’s high quality standards.