After extensive two year development programme, two new Electrode Force Measurement instruments have just been released for Welding and Quality Control Engineers working with Resistance Welding in the Automotive Industry.

Huntingdon Fusion Techniques Limited (HFT), since moving to their new prestigious South Wales location in the third largest town of Carmarthenshire, Burry Port, set out to meet the challenges presented by the use of new thinner and tougher coated steels in use by the Automotive Industry.

Welding Automotive joints has become ever more critical, so much so, that some of them are now regarded as life dependent seals and known in some parts of the industry as ‘Delta Welds’.

To ensure that such welds are made to the highest standards set down by parts of industry to allow only one or two welds per million made in a sub standard fashion, testing and measuring the force applied by the welding guns had to be brought to a greater level of accuracy than ever before.

In association with several key Companies manufacturing such Automotive welds, HFT designed and redesigned it’s old range of gauges until totally new instruments have emerged with far superior specifications.

Now, after two years of constant use without failures, HFT has launched two new instruments.

For Robot Welding Cells, the KR1000 Force Head measures from 0 1000kg and can be fitted into existing positions in Robot cells, vacated by old, unsuitable or failed gauges, as direct plug and play measuring instruments, with the target pads lining up precisely, so that no reprogramming of the robots is required.

The KR1000 is also available with an optional interface for those welding systems that have not as yet been fitted with force gauges or that have other Welding Controllers.For Welding and Quality Control engineers to make independent checks of their Robot Welding systems as well as their Manual welding stations, HFT has replaced its old fixed head, and swivel head hand held units with one new multiple purpose state of the art Weld Force Tester, with the SHG Swivelling and rotating Head Force Gauge.

The rugged construction of this tool is such that it can be dropped on the floor and even used inadvertently with the welding current left on, without damage to the gauge.

The new SHG all in one model measures force from 0 2,000 kg with measuring ranges changeable between kg, N, and lb. The swivelling and rotating head assembly allows easy access to weld electrode configurations in tight and awkward to reach positions and spaces.

This tough but lightweight hand tool weighs only 1085g and has a safety handle that can be mounted in one of two positions to prevent operator injury in the event that the welding gun electrodes are misaligned.

A wrist strap is also provided so that if the gauge is inadvertently released by the operator it will not fall. The large target pads allow easy access by electrodes up to 20 mm diameter and virtually all configurations of electrodes can be accommodated.

This new HFT gauge is a class III measuring device accurate to 0.2 % of reading that equates to a possible error of 4 kg at full scale. It also has an automatic peak hold facility to retain and hold the peak force measurement thus enabling the reading to be retrieved if the large LCD screen was not visible to the operator at the time the test was made.

Other features include, a facility for the operator to zero the gauge with one press of a button, replaceable insulated target pads, a rechargeable battery in an easily removed tray, a smart and rugged carrying case, a 110-220v battery charger and a calibration certificate.