The leading supplier of cutting edge technology

Inspection Of Connectors In 3D

20 May 2004

The final step in the production of multi-pin connectors is a check on the correct insertion of the pin or contact element itself. The high speed manufacturing process requires inspection of the connector at equally high speeds. Many connectors have walls around the array of pins and using a 2D inspection technique will only detect misaligned or missing pins. This means that if the pin has not been inserted to the right depth, a critical requirement for making a good connection, this will not be detected by the inspection system. A3D inspection is required to establish that the pin is correctly inserted in X, Y and Z.

Using an IVP Ranger 3D imaging system overcomes this problem. The Ranger uses a line of laser light projected across the width of the back of the connector and the Ranger detector is focussed on the beam. Every frame acquired by the Ranger generates a 3D profile of the scene and adding the profiles together produces a full 3D view of the top of the connector. The 3D images can be processed in much the same way as 2D images. Comparing the 2D and 3D image data, the contrast information in the 2D image is replaced by height value in the 3D image.

Calibration of the measured data is given by the optics and triangulation geometry used and by synchronising the profile acquisition with the scanning motion. The Ranger camera has a flexible synchronisation interface where pulses from position encoders can be inputted. Due to the high contrast between the laser line and the background, laser triangulation as a principle is almost immune to stray light interference. This can be further enhanced by the use of a narrowband filter on the camera lens centred on the laser's wavelength.

Rates at which the inspection can be carried out are very high, 9000 parts/hour for connectors of 100mm x 25mm rising to 54,000 parts/hour for a connector of 10mm x 5mm.


For more information contact Doug Bell at Lambda Photometrics Ltd
Lambda House, Batford Mill, Harpenden, Herts AL5 5BZ
Tel: 01582 764334 Fax: 01582 712084
E-mail: doug@lambdaphoto.co.uk
For more information on the IVP range of products click here

Latest Press Releases

  1. Stanford Research launch the SR1 Audio Analyser
  2. Quantel launch Pizzicato picosecond Nd:YAG laser
  3. The New UP19K-VR Volume Absorber from Gentec Electro-Optics
  4. New Zygo Transmission Spheres
  5. New FS730 & FS735 Distribution Amplifiers from SRS
  6. Opolette HR and HE Optical Parametric Oscillators
  7. Replacement lasers for Durst Lambda digital photographic printer
  8. The PR 4400 Precision Reflectometer from Luna Technologies
  9. Lambda Photometrics builds on 30 years success
  10. Prosilica Launches Line of GigE Vision Single-Board Cameras
  11. New DG645 8 channel digital delay/pulse generator
  12. New IR OPO’s for MALDI-TOF applications
  13. Fan-Cooled 500W thermopile detector
  14. Stanford Research Launch New Range of Products
  15. ZYGO Introduces Next Generation 3D Optical Profiler
  16. PRS10 Rubidium frequency standard OEM Module
  17. Prostream Digital Video Recording Software for Multiple Networked Cameras
  18. Quantel announce improved YG980 Nd:YAG laser specifications
  19. Zygo Open Seminar in association with EMAN
  20. Latest Vibration Acquisition and Analysis Software