Different Types, How They Work, Applications & More

Checking fixtures are quality assurance tools used by industries from car manufacturers to surgical steel producers to check for the quality of manufactured components featuring complex geometrical shapes.

It’s a common misconception by even those who interact with these kinds of suppliers that checking fixtures are used during the manufacturing process. In reality, they’re used for checking—quality assurance and subsequent approval or rejection of already created components based on dimensional accuracy. They’re used as highly precise inspection tools to identify deformations, scratches, dimensional checking, and appropriate alignment of parts.

In simple terms, checking fixtures certify that the product complies with all the necessary safety criteria and specifications. In contrast to a checking gauge, a checking fixture can hold the component or the workpiece being examined securely in a highly predictable orientation. In addition, it may also accommodate any number of gauging and other workholding tools, such as locating pins, jigs, and clamps.

Depending on the particular application within the quality assurance process, the manufacturer may employ different types of checking fixtures:

A stationary checking fixture is made up of a frame that’s placed on either a table or a floor as well as the items that are inspected are mounted on said fixture. Additional gauging tools are used after the part has been appropriately secured on the fixture frame to ensure precision and consistency on the line.

The fixture frame itself can be used to attach the aforementioned gauging tools. This also includes a feeler gauge, which ensures that the component is the right shape and at the necessary distance and angle from the checking surface.

The apply-type checking fixture functions in the opposite manner from the stationary checking fixture. Instead of having components mounted onto the fixtures, apply-type fixtures mount directly onto the components being checked.

Some heavier parts, like those in the automotive industry, are just too heavy to be mounted onto a fixture. However, since product design inaccuracies may cause critical failures, fixture manufacturers profile and produce apply-type fixture designs specifically for these circumstances as well as those that require even more precision checking at the end of the manufacturing process.

Coordinate Measuring Machine Fixtures, also known as CMM fixtures, are fixtures used in conjunction with coordinate measuring machines. These machines use sensing probes to sense discrete points on an object’s surface, inspecting the physical geometry of the workpiece.

CMMs are mostly used in the automation of metal parts manufacturing, in which a probe touches a surface and sends an electrical signal to the computer. The signal is subsequently decoded by the computer, which records its exact location in a coordinate system.

While most other fixtures are used to inspect individual components of, for example, a car, they’re not suitable for checking the car in its early stages of prototyping. PIMM fixtures prevent costly mistakes during prototyping, verifying that all sheet metal parts fit together at the prototype stage. Clamps and other workholding fasteners are used to position and secure the prototype panels onto holding fixtures. This ensures a proper fitting during the prototyping phase and beyond.

The CIMM inspection fixtures are a combination of CMM and PIMM fixtures. They’re mostly used for detecting deformations caused by welding different components together, with the CIMM fixture detecting whether the deformation is within the acceptable tolerances.

The Difference Between Jigs and Fixtures

Jigs and fixtures are both workholding devices that are used to guide different types of cutting tools. The main purpose of a jig is to increase the interchangeability and repeatability of the machining process while maintaining high levels of accuracy. A fixture, on the other hand, is used to support the workplace in the correct position, maintaining its orientation with respect to the machine and the cutting tools. It, in itself, doesn't guide a cutting tool.

Industrial Checking Fixture Solutions at Reid Supply

Checking fixtures of all shapes, sizes, and scales work in coordination with one another to inspect components individually or as parts of a greater application in various industries, most utilized by the automotive industry, aerospace and more. 

Check out our alignment and locating, clamping, knobs, clamp handles and levers, go and nogo gauges, measuring and lifting components on our Check Fixture Solutions catalog below.

To learn more about Reid Supply’s industrial checking fixtures, don’t hesitate to contact our sales team at (800) 253-0421, sales@reidsupply.com or easily shop our online Checking Fixture Digital Catalog here. 

 

     

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