Inline QC station: concept setup on an aluminium profile frame
User, 18 Oct 2026: create a setup for the inline optical QC, an aluminium extrusion frame with all sensors and a conveyor mounted to it. - docs/equipment/inline-qc-station/: FreeCAD script (build_station.py) and model (.FCStd) of one station, 1.9 x 0.65 x 1.5 m on 27 m of 40x40 and 3.8 m of 40x80 profile: rim-belt conveyor (two 6 mm PU round belts under the unrecorded rim, open centre), label gate with top and bottom colour cameras on the fly, inspection position with a lift and rotate chuck (75 mm lift, expanding mandrel, belt-driven servo), top and bottom 4k line-scans on opposite radii with coaxial, dark-field and backlights, two warp lasers, optional thermal camera, light-tight black tunnel with door switch, rodless-cylinder reject pusher with chute and bin, outfeed stop, cabinet, PLC, NixOS edge PC, HMI, stack light. - render_station.py renders six views (open and closed iso, front, plan, inspection detail and elevation via clipped temporary documents). - inline-qc-station-bom.csv: 32 lines with sources; USD 16k to 33k per station without the thermal camera. - inline-optical-qc.md: new section "The station setup" (flow table, inspection zone, cycle ~5 to 6 s, control, BOM by group, open points); cost table updated (two launch stations ~USD 50k to 105k, still inside the metrology launch tier); Duplex/Classic flow now via the conveyor. - README bullet and tree.
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@@ -19,8 +19,11 @@ parts:
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- a servo turntable with a centring chuck;
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- an edge PC running open-source vision software on NixOS.
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The hardware costs about USD 12k to 30k per station (estimate). The launch
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plant needs two stations, one for the Duplex cell and one for the Classic.
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The hardware costs about USD 16k to 33k per station (bill of materials,
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partly estimates). The launch plant needs two stations, one for the Duplex
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cell and one for the Classic. A concept model of the station, an aluminium
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profile frame with a rim-belt conveyor and all sensors mounted to it, is
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in [the station setup](#the-station-setup-frame-conveyor-and-sensors).
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## What the station has to catch
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@@ -133,22 +136,160 @@ each cell needs no conveyor and catches a non-fill streak within a cycle
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or two. The calculator's iso view draws a conveyor to one optical
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station; that drawing is schematic.
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## The station setup: frame, conveyor and sensors
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A concept model of one station, drawn in FreeCAD from the script
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[`build_station.py`](inline-qc-station/build_station.py) (views from
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[`render_station.py`](inline-qc-station/render_station.py); model file
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[`inline-qc-station.FCStd`](inline-qc-station/inline-qc-station.FCStd)).
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It is a layout to take to a machine builder, not a fabrication drawing:
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the profiles are drawn as plain 40 mm bars and the bought parts as their
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outline boxes.
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*Records run from the infeed (back left, a translucent red special on
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the belts) through the light-tight tunnel to the reject pusher and the
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outfeed stop (front right). The cabinet sits under the outfeed, the
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reject bin behind it.*
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**Frame.** The frame is built from 40 × 40 mm 8-slot aluminium profile
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(27 m in 37 pieces) on two 40 × 80 mm base beams, with eight levelling
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feet. It is 1.9 m long, 0.65 m wide and 1.5 m high, plus the stack
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light. The reject bin adds 0.4 m behind it. Records travel at 900 mm,
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a normal working height.
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The middle 0.8 m is a tunnel closed with black panels on all sides
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(4.3 m²), because the line-scans need their own light only. The front
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panel is a door with a safety switch. The records enter and leave
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through low slots in the end walls. The reject zone has a clear polycarbonate guard.
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All camera and light brackets clamp into the slots, so heights and angles
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can be moved during the lighting trials.
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**Conveyor.** Two 6 mm PU round belts run under the record's rim, 148.5 mm
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from the centre line. That is outside the recorded area: a 12" record is
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301.6 mm across and its grooves end at 292.6 mm at most (IEC 98, as
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[tabulated here](http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~yosh/standards_table.htm)).
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The belt therefore touches only the raised edge that records are made to
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stand on, never a groove. The centre stays open, so cameras and the chuck
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can reach the record from below.
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The belts run on UHMW slide strips and are driven by one shaft at the
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outfeed end. Side guides with a flared mouth centre the record at the
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infeed. Supported on two rim lines, a warm 180 g record sags about 1 mm
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in the middle (beam estimate); the trials should confirm that this does
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no harm. For 10" and 7" records the belt spacing moves in on a slide;
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the model shows the 12" setting.
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| Station | Position from the infeed end | What happens |
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|---|---|---|
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| Infeed | 200 mm | the operator (Duplex) or the unloader (Classic) puts the record down; a presence sensor starts the cycle |
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| Label gate | 520 mm | both colour cameras flash the labels on the fly through the open centre (exposure about 20 µs, under 10 µm blur at 0.5 m/s); the top camera also reads the dead-wax code that ties the record to its stamper, and so to its press and cycle (readability to test, as in [digital factory](../digital-factory.md)) |
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| Inspection | 880 mm | a through-beam on the leading edge stops the belts; the chuck lifts the record 75 mm off them (the pad waits below the belt plane), expands the mandrel in the 7.24 mm hole and turns it once in about 1 s |
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| Reject | 1,320 mm | a pneumatic rodless cylinder on a bridge pushes a reject sideways by its edge onto a felt-lined chute at the back and into the bin |
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| Outfeed | 1,715 mm | good records wait at a soft end stop; the station holds the next one while the outfeed is full |
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**Inspection zone.** The record is shown lifted on the chuck. The two
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line-scans look at opposite radii along the conveyor axis, because no
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belt crosses that line:
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- **Top camera:** reads the downstream radius, from 50 to 155 mm, from
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330 mm above. A coaxial line light sits under it, two dark-field line
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lights sit at 20° either side, and a diffuse backlight below the
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record gives transmitted light for clear colours.
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- **Bottom camera:** reads the upstream radius from below with the same
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set of lights.
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- **Bottom dark-field lights:** these sit outside the record's footprint,
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above the rails, so the conveyed record passes them. They light the
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underside at about 8°, true dark-field.
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- **Warp lasers:** two lasers under the record trace circles at 90 and
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130 mm radius during the turn.
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- **Spindle drive:** the spindle servo's encoder clocks both line-scans
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and the lasers.
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- **Lift drive:** the lift is a guided pneumatic cylinder, and the
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spindle is belt-driven from a servo set to the side. That keeps the
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bottom camera's view cone clear, which the elevation shows.
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- **Thermal camera (option):** hangs at the tunnel entry.
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**Cycle per record (estimate).**
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| Step | Time |
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|---|---|
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| Convey to the inspection position | 1.5 to 2.5 s |
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| Lift and clamp | 0.5 s |
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| One turn, with run-up and stop | 1.3 s |
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| Lower | 0.3 s |
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| Convey out, with a push if rejected | 1 to 2 s |
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| **Total** | **about 5 to 6 s** |
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A Duplex cell delivers a record every 15 to 20 s and the Classic one
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every 28 s. The PC finishes the verdict while the record is lowered and
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carried to the pusher.
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**Control.** A small PLC (Mitsubishi FX5U or Delta class, both common in
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Thailand) runs the conveyor, lift, mandrel, spindle and pusher, plus the
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safety circuit (e-stop, door switch, safety relay). The NixOS edge PC
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under the outfeed takes the four GigE cameras on PoE, the lasers and the
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light controllers. It sends pass or fail with a reason to the PLC, and
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the result string and images to the factory system (see
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[digital factory](../digital-factory.md)). Utilities are 230 V single
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phase at about 1 kW and 6 bar compressed air (estimates).
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**Bill of materials.** The line-by-line list with sources is in
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[`inline-qc-station-bom.csv`](inline-qc-station/inline-qc-station-bom.csv).
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By group, per station:
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| Group | USD | Main parts |
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|---|---|---|
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| Frame | 0.7k to 1.5k | 27 m of 40 × 40, 3.8 m of 40 × 80, brackets, feet |
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| Enclosure and guards | 0.3k to 0.7k | black panels, polycarbonate, door switch |
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| Conveyor | 0.5k to 1.4k | round belts, pulleys, slide strips, drive |
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| Handling | 2.0k to 4.9k | guided lift cylinder, 200 W spindle servo, spindle head with mandrel, rodless cylinder, pneumatics |
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| Vision | 7.7k to 12.5k | 2 line-scans, 2 colour cameras, lenses, 2 coaxial, 4 dark-field and 2 backlights, 2 ring lights, controllers |
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| Sensors | 1.3k to 4.0k | 2 laser distance sensors, presence and stop sensors |
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| Control | 3.5k to 7.8k | PLC, edge PC with GPU, HMI, safety, cabinet and wiring |
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| **Total** | **16k to 33k (0.53M to 1.08M THB)** | thermal camera (USD 2.1k to 3.0k) not included |
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**Open points for the machine builder.**
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1. **Sag:** confirm that the rim-only support does not mark or bend warm
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records.
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2. **Static:** fresh PVC attracts dust, so an ionising bar at the infeed
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may be needed. Otherwise the station counts dust it attracted itself.
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3. **Classic hand-off:** where and how the Classic's unloader sets the
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record down.
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4. **Belt width:** a quick-change spacing for 10" and 7" records.
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5. **Space in the cell:** check that the 1.9 m length fits the 5 × 3 m
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Duplex cell next to the trimmer.
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## Where it sits
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- **Duplex cell.** The station sits after the edge trimmer, in front of
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the operator, before the spindle. The flow per record:
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1. The operator puts the record on the chuck.
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2. A presence sensor starts the scan.
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3. A stack light shows green or red.
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4. A reject goes into a bin, and a small screen shows the reason.
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1. The operator puts the trimmed record on the infeed conveyor.
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2. A presence sensor starts the cycle.
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3. A stack light and the HMI show green or red.
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4. A reject is pushed into a bin, and the HMI shows the reason; a good
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record waits at the outfeed for the spindle.
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The operator still sees every record, so the visual check stays as it
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is today.
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- **Classic.** The Classic unloads by itself onto the spindle stack. Ask
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Newbilt whether the unload handling can set the record on an inspection
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chuck first, or hand it over to a small pick-and-place unit by I/O. If
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neither works, use a fixed area camera over the unload position. That
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covers surface and label, and leaves warp and eccentricity to samples.
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Newbilt whether the unload handling can set the record down on the
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station's infeed instead; a conveyor takes a record dropped within a few
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millimetres, which is easier than hitting a chuck. If that does not
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work, use a fixed area camera over the unload position. That covers
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surface and label, and leaves warp and eccentricity to samples.
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- **Warm records.** Records leave the press warm and settle in the stack;
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24 hours of cooling is the usual practice
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([Stamper Discs](https://stamperdiscs.com/horns-and-quality-issues-in-vinyl-record-pressing)).
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@@ -197,11 +338,11 @@ simulated.
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| Item | Estimate |
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| Hardware per station, from the table above | USD 12k to 30k |
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| First station: mechanics, lighting trials, software, training data | 2 to 4 person-months, USD 15k to 40k (our own team with a local machine builder) |
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| Launch plant: two stations, Duplex cell and Classic | about USD 40k to 100k (1.3M to 3.3M THB) |
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| Hardware per station, from the [bill of materials](inline-qc-station/inline-qc-station-bom.csv) | USD 16k to 33k (0.53M to 1.08M THB) |
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| First station: frame build and machined parts, lighting trials, software, training data | 2 to 4 person-months, USD 15k to 40k (our own team with a local machine builder) |
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| Launch plant: two stations, Duplex cell and Classic | about USD 50k to 105k (1.6M to 3.5M THB) |
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All three figures are estimates. They fit inside the existing metrology
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All three figures are estimates; the bill of materials names a source for each priced line. They fit inside the existing metrology
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launch-tier line, USD 170k to 460k for XRF, inline vision and the audio
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station ([total investment](../finance/total-investment.md)). The plan
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prices therefore do not change. That line has no published split, so the
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