Toyota Car Production Line Checking Fixture

The Toyota plant in Derby making the Auris model were having a severe problem with 3d laser cut steel steering components delivered directly from Japan. These parts were being delivered directly to the robot welding cells and the production operators were finding too late that the parts were not cut to the correct 3d profile leading to the robot welded assemblies being rejected and disrupting the production line.

A fast solution was needed so that the production operators could quickly check every component parts before it went for the robot welding operation. We carried out a 3D Laser scan with portable scanning equipment at the production plant of a part known to be correct. Following the same stages described above of 3D Data conversion, Solidworks CAD design manipulation, and creation of working data we were able to reverse engineer exact gauges produced via 3D CNC machining in solid aluminium .

Solid CNC gauges incorporated into the fixture design

To complete Toyota’s urgent requirement we designed a complete checking fixture which could accommodate and locate the component quickly and efficiently. This design was incorporated into a steel and aluminium trolly system so that the fixture could be moved easily to the various robot welding cells.