Fully Automated Inspection System for Glass Micro-Parts: ~ 100% Inspection for Ultra-High Volumes |
Rayotek Scientific, Inc.
11499 Sorrento Valley Rd.
San Diego, CA, 92121
USA
 
Press release date: July 20, 2012
San Diego, California - Rayotek Scientific, Inc, in partnership with a national optical inspection instrument company, has successfully engineered a QA optical inspection system that can inspect glass micro-parts in very high volumes. The system is modularized to make it easily scalable, allowing for 100% cosmetic and dimensional inspection of billions of parts/year.
This novel inspection system is the final step of a multi-year engineering effort to develop processes to fabricate precision micro spacers out of glass to very exacting tolerances and cosmetic standards. Typical sizes of the spacers range from .5mm to 1mm. "What makes this project unique", says Bill Raggio, Rayotek's CTO, "is that we will be fabricating these spacers by the billions and customer requirements are for 100% inspection for parts shipped."
"Engineering the inspection system was almost as challenging as the process for making the spacers!", says Raggio.
The spacers are part of an array that goes into an assembled unit. Typically thousands of spacers go into one unit. If one spacer is out of specification, the entire unit can fail, sometimes months after assembly. Failure of a unit can be costly and potentially dangerous to the user; thus the requirement of 100% inspection with 100% pass for all spacers.
Raggio further comments, "We are very excited about implementing this system because during the prototype phase of this spacer project we had to inspect by hand, a very laborious task that drove our QA team crazy. And humans do make mistakes, this system won't."
One of the many advantages to this inspection system is its relatively compact size, even when scaled up to process billions of parts. The goal is to fabricate and inspect the spacers through automated processes in the United States even though most of the spacers will be shipped overseas. Raggio commented that, "Rayotek is committed to American manufacture for domestic and foreign sales."
About Rayotek
Founded in 1992 Rayotek, a privately held corporation, engineers and manufactures sapphire, glass, fused quartz and fused silica products. Rayotek's technologies have enabled world-class companies to bring cutting-edge products to market. Frequently sought out to solve challenging glass and sapphire issues, Rayotek's specializes in taking customer needs from the conceptual stage, through engineering, to final manufacture.
Rayotek's expertise is optical materials, as well as methods of sealing optical materials to metals and ceramics for use in deep sea, aerospace, space and semiconductor applications. With a staff of engineers and scientists supported by an extensive array of research and manufacturing equipment, Rayotek creates solutions for the most complex challenges. Among Rayotek's current projects is providing engineering support and manufacture of the windows for the Lockheed Martin Orion space vehicle.
Press Contacts:
Jessica Yadley
Rayotek Scientific, Inc.
jessica@rayotek.com
(858) 558-3671
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