Thread inspection solution for oil and gas industry

As can be seen from the current Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, the financial and ecological consequences of the failure in the field of an oil industry component can be catastrophic, so the meticulous inspection of all critical aspects of a component is vitally important. Pitch diameter is used as the "control" diameter for the design of rotary connectors. If a connector's pitch diameter is machined incorrectly, the quality of the connector is severely jeopardised. The commonly used ring and plug stand-off gauges are unable to directly detect variations in the component's pitch diameter. Historically, pitch diameter has remained a connector feature that has been left to interpretation, by the perceived "fit" of a ring or plug gauge. At best, the ring or plug would identify a discrepancy in either lead, taper or thread form. Although any one of these features could render a connector unusable, the manufacturing operator has never been able to identify which element is responsible for the problem, until now. The Joint Strength System is an ingenious method of accurately gauging the quality of a rotary shouldered meaning pitch diameter can now be used as a criteria to accept or reject a connector's quality. The comprehensive system combines some of the company's existing gauges with ingenious new products, while the TDWIN TAPER software enables the selection, calculation, setting and reporting of the measured sizes of the components. JSS is able to check thread cone taper, thread lead, thread height, thread form, and also pitch diameter at the pitch plane. Bowers Metrology is the UK agent for Gagemaker.