From c5ec01369b80eafa5c679e55138fad7867aab724 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: grabowski Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2026 15:26:34 +0700 Subject: [PATCH] Add stamper part marking and orientation fiducials; label alignment noted as deprioritized option --- docs/quality-automation.md | 31 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++- 1 file changed, 30 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/docs/quality-automation.md b/docs/quality-automation.md index e3cfe58..2f2abef 100644 --- a/docs/quality-automation.md +++ b/docs/quality-automation.md @@ -43,7 +43,36 @@ Ethernet/IP, but there is no off-the-shelf MES connector. Budget a light middleware service that stamps each measurement with the part serial and batch ID and writes to the genealogy database. -Industry context: even a respected stamper house checks thickness with a +### Part marking and orientation fiducials + +Every metal part gets machine-readable identity, using two complementary +marks: + +- **Dead-wax marks**: matrix codes scribed in the runout area are + established industry practice and propagate through the whole chain + (father to mother to stamper to every pressed record). Adding a small + **angular fiducial** at a defined position in the dead wax costs nothing + and makes the part's rotational orientation camera-readable at any stage. + Mothers are playable positives and can be scribed directly at their + generation. +- **Back-side laser marks**: a serial or Data Matrix code lasered on the + stamper back (outside the pressing surface) identifies the physical part + for metrology and genealogy logging, exactly as the optical disc industry + marked its stamper backs. This mark does not propagate to records; it + pairs with the dead-wax identity. + +The galvanic process itself is rotationally symmetric, so orientation never +needs to be locked through the baths, only tracked, and the fiducial does +that. The fiducial also gives the inline optical inspection a fixed angular +anchor for reading matrix codes on finished records, and it would make +label-to-groove rotation measurable per record. Actively aligning labels at +the press (vision-guided rotation in the label feed) is feasible but custom +and currently deprioritized; the fiducial keeps that option open without +committing to it. + +### Industry context + +Even a respected stamper house checks thickness with a hand micrometer at 10 points on sacrificial blanks, with nothing logged. Automated non-contact metrology with per-serial logging is ahead of current industry practice, which is exactly the point: it makes every father, mother,