The Challenges of Inspecting Connector Pins
Electrical connectors are familiar parts—they are used to join two wires, a wire to a device, a cable to an electrical board, two electrical boards, and in many other applications. They come in different styles, but many use pins to make the connection. If one connector pin is defective, the entire device can fail. Defects can be caused by friction, foreign material, and corrosion or oxidization. To minimize failures, manufacturers use strict quality control measures, and microscopes play an essential role.
When inspecting connector pins using a microscope, inadequate depth of focus makes it impossible to focus the entire pin, from the root to the tip, at once. The poor focus complicates the inspector’s ability to spot defects and know which part of the pin is defective.
Inadequate depth of focus makes it impossible to focus the entire pin (magnification 26X)
Focused only on the tip |
Focused only on the root |
As a workaround to poor depth of focus, you can use software to create a fully focused image of an entire pin. However, the process is slow and, because you are not looking at a live image, it can be time-consuming to view different parts of the pin since you have to switch back to the live image to navigate to different areas. Fortunately, these challenges can be overcome using a digital microscope with high-performance objective lenses.
How the DSX1000 Digital Microscope Improves Connector Pin Inspection
The DSX1000 microscope’s objective lenses offer the depth of focus and resolution required to focus an entire connector pin at the same time without using software, greatly simplifying and speeding up the inspection process. For larger pins where focusing the entire piece is still challenging, the microscope’s depth of focus up function deepens the focus depth at the push of a button.
*To guarantee XY accuracy, calibration work must be undertaken by an Olympus service technician.
Objective lenses
Depth of focus button
An image captured using a DSX1000 digital microscope, showing the entire pin in clear focus (magnification 26X)
