Check Fixtures are an essential component of Quality Assurance in the development of complex products such as automobiles and airplanes. A modern check fixture allows an operator to check an interior or exterior part’s measurements or details to see if it has been produced within the tolerances of the design. There can be a number of clamps, pins, probes, or other tools affixed to the fixture and a clear set of step-by-step set of instructions to ensure that no matter who the operator of the fixture is, the result of the check will be the same. These fixtures can range in size depending on the part that is being checked, from the size of a football to the size of a vehicle and are designed with operator ergonomics in mind. It is not uncommon for a check fixture to be built on a cart so that it is easy to move around your facility.
Features and Types of Check Fixtures
CMM Fixtures are a type of Check Fixture that are designed to hold and position parts, probes, or workpieces during dimensional gauging and other measurement operations of a Coordinate Measurement Machine (CMM). If the part being checked is not held down properly, you will not get consistent results.
SPC Fixtures (Statistical Process Control) may have clamps around any number of datum points and can be used to verify any number of dimensions and critical features, such as hole locations or diameters, trim lines, part clearance, flatness using slide templates, pins, Go/NoGo gauges, and more. Materials utilized to construct these fixtures can vary depending on the needs to the customer. They can be constructed of steel, aluminum, ceramic, glass, and even 3D printed components.
A Growing Industry
There is no denying that products are becoming more and more complex. With the rapid development of new technologies and manufacturing methods come tighter and tighter tolerances. Industries are relying more heavily on geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) and the need for quality Check Fixtures to ensure that all of these critical tolerances are met.
Ideal Technology has decades of experience building and designing high-quality Check Fixtures for customers all over the world. Our team of expert design engineers will work with you to construct your fixture to the precise specifications of your gage standards or by using our in-house standards based upon the GD&T or drawings. Just as the most sophisticated digital instruments need periodic calibration, a check fixture must be certified for accuracy before it can be put into use. It is critical to use established measurement practices and equipment qualified to a NIST standard. This assures both the OEM and the fabricator that the check fixture is an accurate and reliable judge of a component’s dimensional integrity. Ideal Technology can inspect and certify your completed fixture with our in-house Laser Tracker or CMM capabilities, or send it out for a third-party certification.
iDEAL Technology Corporation provides leadership with innovative and technical services necessary in today’s global tooling market. We are dedicated to providing quality custom tooling, check fixtures and gages, rapid prototyping / 3D printing, assembly equipment, CNC machining, check fixtures / gages, studio models and bucks to the automotive and aerospace industries.