Tie Bolt Scanner

The strength of UniWest's tie-bolt inspection system is in the simplicity of the design. Using both gravity and thread angle, the probe is driven along the thread pattern and then manually manipulated along the rest of the shank and head radius. The entire inspection can be completed in less than seven seconds. There are no expensive fixtures to replace. All standard size tie bolts can be inspected with this one instrument. Special modifications can be made to fit over and undersized bolts. Tie-bolts are placed in the system bed on two rotating cylinders and rapidly rotated in a clockwise direction on a series of embedded rubber o-rings. An X–Y ball slide positions the probe for optimum inspection along the length of the tie-bolt. Probe travel stops at the end of the thread pattern and free spins. The operator then manually moves the probe along the shank of the bolt and positions it at a 45 degree angle for inspection of the radius under the bolt head. A single probe can accommodate a variety of bolts for proper centering of the coils for flaw detection. The probe body is slotted to fit into the probe holder and locked into place by a set screw. The system is shown with the UniWest US-454 EddyView® test instrument with both strip chart and impedance plane display of the indications. This allows easy and uncomplicated signal interpretation by the operator.