ZF STEERING SYSTEMS Steering Systems Nacam, based in Ebbw Vale in Gwent, produces steering columns for most of Europe's car-makers. One of its customers is Jaguar, for which Nacam recently built a test rig to ensure that the screw threads used in universal joints for the new Jaguar XF are within specification. The test rig was designed by Nacam's manufacturing engineering manager Paul Richards with technical assistance from the torque sensor specialist Kistler, and was built by AC Solutions of Neath. It uses two miniature torque sensors to check that both threads have been formed correctly and that they are neither too loose nor too tight. This tightness is important because during installation on the car, the clamping screws are inserted after the steering column is in place, and space is tight. If the threads are not within spec, the whole column has to be removed: an expensive operation, for which Nacam has to pay Moreover, if a single joint fails customer inspection, the whole batch will be rejected.
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