Method and apparatus for automated quality control for cutting machines of flexible material parts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Manual quality control of cut material parts, especially for airbags, is costly, prone to errors, and difficult to scale with increasing complexity and throughput, leading to potential defects in production due to subjective human perception and repositioning issues during inspection.
Innovation Solution
An automated inline quality control system integrated with cutting machines, where cut material parts are inspected immediately after cutting without repositioning, using a recognition unit and marking unit to ensure accurate detection and marking of defects, thereby enhancing reproducibility and traceability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual quality control is performed by employees, then quality inspection can be conducted, but it is costly, prone to errors, and difficult to scale with increasing complexity and throughput
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical inspection system with an automated optical recognition system. Cameras and image processing algorithms automatically detect and evaluate cutting quality, eliminating human subjectivity and fatigue while maintaining high inspection accuracy regardless of throughput volume or part complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The quality control system performs self-inspection by automatically capturing images of cut parts, processing them through algorithms, and generating quality assessments without human intervention. The system serves itself by continuously monitoring and evaluating its own output quality at full production speed.
2Reliability
If cut material parts are repositioned to separate quality control tables, then inspection can be performed, but the position of tabs or protrusions may be changed and deviations cannot be recognized
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the cutting station and quality control inspection into a single integrated system. The recognition unit is positioned to inspect parts immediately after cutting without relocation, maintaining their original positions and orientations. This eliminates the need for separate inspection tables and complex repositioning procedures while ensuring accurate deviation detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The quality inspection is performed as a preliminary action immediately after cutting, before any repositioning or further processing occurs. The system captures images and evaluates quality in the exact position where parts are produced, preventing any subsequent position changes that could conceal deviations.
3Reliability
If manual quality control is performed, then quality assessment can be conducted, but it is subject to subjective perception leading to different sorting depending on the employee
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces human sensory perception and subjective judgment with automated optical sensors and algorithmic evaluation. The recognition unit objectively measures cutting quality based on predefined criteria, eliminating employee-specific subjectivity and ensuring consistent quality standards across all inspections regardless of who would have performed manual inspection.
4Productivity
If faster cutting processes are implemented to increase throughput, then productivity improves, but the burden on employees for quality control increases and quality control becomes the limiting factor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuous quality inspection that operates simultaneously with the cutting process at full speed. The recognition unit continuously captures and evaluates parts as they are produced, eliminating any interruption or bottleneck in the workflow. Quality control time is effectively reduced to near-zero since inspection occurs in real-time during production rather than as a separate sequential step.
Data Source
AI summary
In order to specify an automated method and an apparatus enabling a quick, reliable and reproducible quality assurance and being easily integrated in existing machines, a cutting machine is specified, comprising: a conveyor (10) for conveying flexible material (100); a machining unit (20) for cutting the flexible material (100) into material parts (200); a recognition unit (30) for detecting the flexible material (100) and/or at least one cut material part (200), the recognition unit (30) being arranged in the conveying direction after the machining unit (20), and a control unit (50) configured to generate a quality result and to control the cutting machine based on information of the recognition unit (30) and/or on marking information.