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Production System

DESCRIPTION
An Automotive OEM Parts Supplier required an automated end-of-line production test system to provide an accurate metered air flow supply through a new generation of automotive engine Throttle Chambers. This Workstation provides the final Quality Control Checkpoint for 100 % of all manufactured units, so accuracy, repeatability, throughput and availability were critical elements in the design of the Test System.


SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

» Vacuum Flow at Two Discrete, widely separated Nominal Flow Rates. 
» Automated Control of Throttle Body valve motor positioning
» Part Fixturing, including air flow inlet section and Unit Under Test (UUT) mechanical/electrical mating connector
» Database for all Setup and Calibration data , as well as for all production test results data.
» Meet Production Line Cycle Time Goals of 1 part every 30 sec.
» Expandable and Flexible Data Acquisition and Control sub-system
» Expandable Air-Flow metering system and Instrumentation
» Operator Safety Interlock devices to comply with all regulatory requirements
» User-friendly Test System Controller Software for Operator, Maintenance and Engineering personnel

SOLUTION

FLOW SYSTEMS designed and manufactured an Air Flow Test System that employed two (2) Sonic Nozzles (Critical Flow Venturis) housed in a plenum to meter the air flow through each Throttle Chambers. The air flow plenum design features a unique by-pass valving arrangement for the smaller nozzle. This reduces the mass flow stabilization time by significantly decreasing the system volume. This design ensured that cycle time requirements could be met or exceeded.

FLOW SYSTEMS also designed custom UUT part-placement fixturing, including the design of the mechanical/electrical connector that automatically mates with the UUT to provide the necessary (electrical) motor control signals.

As with all FLOW SYSTEMS' Test System designs, the Test System controller, data acquisition and control subsystems, and all instrumentation are standard Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) items. This ensures that servicing or replacement of any item can be achieved in a timely manner, providing for a high-availability for the Test System.


Operator safety issues are addressed through the use of thumb-activated switches to start each test cycle, and the use of “light-curtain” technology to ensure point-of –operation work area guarding. 

 

SPECIFICATIONS

» Flow Elements: Two (2) Critical Flow Venturis (Sonic Nozzles), 1 spare position for expansion.
» Flow Range: 15 & 385 (actual) liters per minute
» Accuracy: 0.5 % of reading, traceable to NIST standards
» Repeatability: 0.2 % or better (20 successive measurements)
» Cycle Time: < 28 sec.

 

SYSTEM LAYOUT

The following illustrates the physical layout of the test system.

 

SYSTEM SCHEMATICS 

The following illustrates the Pneumatic and Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID) of the test system.

 

 

SOFTWARE OPERATOR INTERFACE 

The following image illustrates the operator interface of the test system.


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