MAXIwheel™ Xtreme M, S and ADR are Jacobsen’s flagship real-time wheel x-ray inspection systems.

The wheel manipulator has six AC servo driven axes with six all digital amplifiers. The system is available in three versions: manual (M), semi-automatic (S) and fully-automatic (ADR). X-ray imaging system is chosen according to customer specification. The system can be equipped with an image intensifier system, digital flat panel detector or digital CMOS line scan detector, or a combination thereof.

The MAXIwheel™ Xtreme ADR system is equipped with automatic defect recognition software called WHEELinspector™, and Automatic Wheel Identification System called AWIS. Entirely tilt table with a gripper wheel manipulator is equipped with gear trains and gear boxes which make chains, timing belts, and adjustments obsolete. The system requires little maintenance because all gear boxes are sealed (no maintenance for 5 years) and all flange gears are hardened.

The system also comes with one year complementary on-line technical support.  If the machine is connected to an internet connection, Jacobsen can connect to the machine and diagnose faults, recommend maintenance and even add software funtionality without the need for a site visit.

The system inspects all types and styles of wheels according to customer specification. The optimum gripping geometry is accomplished using two gear train boxes in a V-arrangement. The wheel transport distance is as short as physically possible. That translates in maximum wheel diameter plus 1” for the thickness of the radiation shielded enclosure wall. Our competitors transport the wheel for more than 7 feet. The average cycle time is between 30-35 seconds depending on wheel size, style and field of views.

This machine is capable of inspecting a maximum of 3,000 wheels per day (24/7, 50 weeks) and is built to last for minimum of 10 years. The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of the system is minimal. With an effective yield of 10 million wheels over a ten-year period of use, the system offers the best TCO/performance ratio on the market. Inspection cost per wheel is 5.7¢.

The chart above depicts the principle of the process improvement in the wheel plant. A radioscopic (real-time) x-ray inspection system and a die-casting machine are interconnected.

Cast wheels, along with the related casting parameters, arrive on a conveyor at a wheel identification station. After identification the wheel is transported into a radiation shielded enclosure and inspected. X-ray images of the wheel are stored to a computer. ADR software WHEELinspector™ analyses the images and identifies defects. In a case that ADR software declares two or three wheels in the row as a reject, x-ray images of these reject wheels are sent by fiber optic cable to remote terminal placed directly at the casting machine. The warning light in yellow (two wheels in the row declared as reject) or red (three wheels in the row declared as reject) is flashing to warn operator about necessity to do corrective action on the casting machine.

Additionally machine control software merge inspection results with wheel casting parameters and store this file in database for further evaluation.

MAXIwheel™ Xtreme ADR Specifications 

Requirements for the visibility of the wire penetrameter (Image Quality Indicators-IQI) are according to ASTM 747-97 (American) alt. EN 462-1 (European) and the duplex wire according to ASTM E2002-97 alt. EN 462-5 as a function of wall thickness for different applications. 

Please contact us for more information or a quote regarding MAXIwheel™ Xtreme or image quality measurements.