The heavy equipment manufacturing industry is becoming high-tech. Critical areas like reliability, safety, and quality are now being heavily measured more than ever before. The tools that are used to fasten this equipment must be traceable, accurate, high quality, and must pass rigorous reliability standards. Not only does the industry require these specifications but also consumer’s demand safe and correctly assembled manufactered items. There are many available assembly tool options for manufacturing.
Impact Wrenches
This is the fastest type of fastening tool. Impact wrench tighteners which are great for removing stubborn bolts are commonly used for heavy equipment and they do offer a higher amount of value. To measure torque accuracy, operators need to test each bolt with a clicker torque wrench. Clicker torque wrenches are generally inaccurate for measuring over-torqued bolts. Impact wrenches tend to be much louder compared to more advanced tools.
Direct-current (DC) fastening tools
Tool controller’s power these fastening tools, which transfers current through the power cord. DC tools are considered exceptionally accurate and traceable, the negative, of course, is that they are limited in mobility because of the power cord, usually are slower at fascinating, are more expensive, and requires technical training for operators using the tools.
QX series
There is a tool that combines the benefits from different designs of assembly tools. The Ingersoll Rand has found the sweet spot that meets and exceeds the expectations of assembly workers. The QX Series is a cordless electric drill with advanced torque control. This makes it an incredibly smart, powerful, fast, and mobile. A closed-loop transducer delivers precision accuracy and traceable results and the operator can program the tool to achieve multiple speeds throughout the run-down process. Settings are simple to implement, alleviates over tighten bolts, and delivers better accuracy. The tool records data for up to 1200 fastenings in the onboard computer, which eliminates the need to manually record torque values of the paper and pencil.
Pneumatic fastening tools
Pneumatic fastening tools are typically more powerful than impact wrenches but can vary in power due to several factors. Air-powered fastening ools are generally not highly accurate because compressed air isn’t always clean, air funneled through a long hose can create a loss of pressure to the impact tool during tightening, and impurities in the air can decrease torque output. Because of these variables, it can be difficult for an operator to know if proper fastening is taking place.
Pneumatic tools require high torque and are generally used for heavier equipment and machinery. To avoid injury you need a reaction bar to offset the force of the torque applied to the fastener. The power of the pneumatic tool comes with its limitations it doesn’t track traceability, measure torque being applied in real-time, and can’t easily be programmed to achieve multiple speeds during the rundown process.
A benefit of using smarter, safer, and quieter tools is cost savings. The safer and quieter the tool, the lower the insurance premiums will be and higher productivity from reliable tools. Operators will face less injuries and less rework will be required on the assembly line.
