Our mill has recently purchased an infrared camera to monitor couplings. The problem is every one of our couplings has a fully enclosed guard that has no openings for a scan. Does anyone out there have any experience or ideas (OSHA approved) on how to retrofit our coupling guards? Some ideas from people in the mill is polycarbonate window or expanded metal.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Scott

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Scott L,

Expanded metal will work but your camera may not "see" through plexiglass. You'll instead be reading the surface temperature of the plexiglass. You can test that easily enough before you modify the guards.

Our machines have U-shaped coupling guards open at the bottom. We can view couplings with assistance of a first-surface mirror. Very cheap to purchase ~ $30. But a little tough to carry around (fragile... possible hand cut hazard if doesn't have proper rims around edge of the mirror glass0.

IRISS is a manufacturer of IR inspection windows, the IR polymer they use for their lens material could easily be customized for this application.

www.iriss.com

They provide custom solutions all of the time.

good luck,
Marty

I have seen coupling guards that have hinged inspection doors. An in-house retrofit can be done if safety department approves and I'm sure they will need to understand purpose and access limitations.

Thanks for all the replies. I have submitted everyones ideas to our safety department for approval.

Can be a polish metal mirror