Now part of Littelfuse, Chippenham-based IXYS UK Westcode Ltd has its origins in the mid 1920s, when Westcode Semiconductors began life as part of the Westinghouse Brake & Signal Co (making copper oxide-based semiconductors).
Manufacturing commenced at the Chippenham site in the 1930s, and during the following 30 years the company developed products based on selenium and germanium. Silicon-based power devices were introduced in 1957 — a technology that is still in use today.
Now supporting a diverse range of global customers and industrial sectors, IXYS has evolved into one of the world’s leading manufacturers of very-high-power semiconductors; and to help ensure the continued production of first-class products, the company regularly invests in both ‘state of the art’ production plant and advanced metrology equipment for its quality control department.
Having recently embarked on a major project to manufacture a new high-power module with a difficult-to-measure shape and challenging dimensional tolerances, IXYS decided that it needed a very precise and flexible means of measurement — one that was readily programmable and capable of precisely measuring high volumes of parts in automatic mode.
In addition, the proposed new equipment needed to be ‘future-proof’ and capable of accommodating a wide range of other company products.
IXYS process engineer Fiona Lambert said: “Our products, which comply with the RoHS and REACH directives and are used in thousands of applications, are the subject of rigorous testing and quality standards, with ISO9001 and IEC68 providing the benchmarks against which all of our products and services are measured.
“Given the unusual form of our new high-power module’s base-plate, with its flat top and curved underside — plus demanding geometrical and dimensional tolerances — we searched for a suitable measuring technology, finally taking samples to Mitutoyo’s demonstration facility in Andover.”
‘3-D map’
The samples were placed on the bed of a Mitutoyo Quick Vision Active CNC vision-based measuring system (
www.mitutoyo.co.uk).
This quickly performed a complex measuring procedure and generated an accurate on-screen 3-D map, which showed both the topography and the dimensions that IXYS required.
Subsequent measuring routines confirmed the accuracy and repeatability of the instrument, and an order was placed.
“After attending a two-day training course, our operators soon became skilled in the use of the new Mitutoyo measuring system and were achieving excellent results.
“Given the high volumes that we will be measuring when full production of the new high-power module commences, we have had robust fixtures manufactured to hold them securely in place while they are being measured.
“These fixtures will also allow quick loading and unloading. We have written several measurement programs that allow fast, accurate and automatic CNC measurement routines to be performed.
“This detailed preparatory work will prove invaluable when we are in full production. Trials have confirmed that our new measuring system can provide the necessary levels of precision and repeatability.”
Mitutoyo Vision measuring systems are available in a wide range of sizes and accuracy classes to cover most precision 2-D and 3-D measuring applications.
Based on a compact design, the Quick Vision Active (as purchased by IXYS) combines the flexibility of a high-quality zoom lens with the speed of a ‘state of the art’ digital colour camera.
Features of the system include a programmable LED stage and coaxial lighting, a programmable four-quadrant LED ring light, a high-resolution and high-speed CMOS colour camera and high-quality seven-step zoom optics with interchangeable lenses.
Mitutoyo’s Quick Vision 3-D CNC measuring systems are supplied as standard with Windows 10 QVPak v13 user-friendly measuring software.
This ‘smart’ software controls all relevant processes, such as light control, magnification and part programming.