The manufacturing of electronic connectors has become more complex as miniaturization has driven the need for components to become smaller with tighter tolerances.

At the same time, hundreds of thousands of connectors are produced each day for automotive, aerospace and medical devices. This requires a faster, more accurate and automated inspection of connector components to enable zero-defect production.

Traditional manual methods of inspection, such as measuring microscopes, cannot cope with the high production rates, do not provide any insight on internal dimensions –unless they are sliced- and are prone to user errors.

With Nikon CT systems you can:

• Verify complex internal structures
• Isolate and inspect included components
• Measure internal dimensions without sectioning the sample
• Automatically detect and measure internal voids/volumes
• Reveal internal and external surfaces with ease
• Reduce total inspection time
• Reduce number of iterations to fine-tune (pre-) production parameters

Challenges

With the developing trend of autonomous vehicles, and the constantly increasing emphasis on the environmental aspect of vehicles, electronic safety features and the quality of the components are becoming increasingly important.

Application-specific switches and actuators, sensors, security alarms, vehicle tracking devices and monitoring services are subject to extensive testing and quality control. These items are critical to the safety of road-users and vehicle security and component failure is not an option.

Typical challenges include:

• Zero-defect production to avoid costly production losses
• Production deviations and trend analysis, often impossible due to lack of digital reporting data
• Traditional inspection methods are time-consuming and operator dependent
• Quality demands of customers increase

Benefits

Nikon Industrial CT is designed to meet the increasingly high demands that automotive connector manufacturers require. Nikon CT makes analysing internal structure and dimensions quick and straightforward. No need for disassembly or destruction of expensive prototypes or assemblies, CT introduces faster problem solving and more effective decision making with micron-level accuracy and high-resolution images.

Nikon CT benefits include:

• Fast, multi-part inspection with automated dimensional analysis
• NDT inspection preserves samples
• Micron-level accuracy for internal / external dimensions
• Fully programmable IPC software interfaces with external devices (Robots, Loading systems)
• “Go/No Go” instant reporting
• Central digital storage of data for trend analysis

Interior controls and safety components such as indicator storks and HVAC switches are another example. Consisting of plastic moulded structures with electronic components inside, CT is able to verify structural integrity and alignment of the housing as well as internal electronic connections. With one scan, the 3D volumetric model can be manipulated endlessly to obtain the information required, all without damaging, dissecting or even touching the component. 

Read more in the Mindarika case story

In-process CT

Recent advances in high-resolution high-flux rotating targets for X-ray sources, coupled with easy automation of CT scanning parameters and analysis techniques allow samples to be scanned, reconstructed and evaluated in under two minutes.

This opens the gate to a broad span of automation inspection applications, varying from simple  pass/fail inspection to full in-line automated CT inspection with feedback to the production process.

Find out more here.