Tightening Program Configuration - General Parameters
The Tightening program configuration menu contains some general parameters that are not directly part of the tightening program. These are described below:
All the parameters for a tightening program are entered and edited in the Step configuration menu.
Select a controller in the Plant structure
workspace .Select the Tightening program
tab.The Tightening program overview shows a list of tightening programs.
Double-click the name of one of the tightening programs in order to view and/or configure it.
The step configuration menu has two tabs: Tightening and Loosening.
Menu control | Description |
|---|---|
 | Collapse the Properties menu. This provides better screen utilization. |
 | Expand the Properties menu. This provides access to all the configurations. |
Parameter | Description | Default value |
|---|---|---|
Name | It is recommended to issue the tightening program with a unique name. The index number is created when the tightening is created and is fixed. The lowest available number is assigned to the program when it is created. | Program |
Description | An optional description of the tightening program. | |
Strategy | The available options depend on the controller software and license version. |
|
Direction | Thread direction defines the tightening direction of the spindle to clockwise (CW) or counterclockwise (CCW). The rotation of the spindle will always be in this direction, except during the loosening step used in the Three step strategy. | CW |
Rehit detection | Early: Terminates the tightening immediately when an already tightened screw/bolt is detected. The tightening will be considered as NOK. Requires that Soft start is activated. Complete: Even though an already tightened screw/bolt is detected, the tightening is not terminated until all tightening stages have been executed. The tightening will be considered as NOK. To make a rehit detection when Soft start is not used, the Rehit detection Complete option must be selected. Rehit detection Complete will not terminate the tightening until all tightening stages have been executed. The tightening will be considered a rehit if the speed fails to reach half of the rundown speed, a rehit error is then indicated. Off: No rehit detection will be performed. Combination Soft start = Off and Rehit = Early is not allowed | Early |
Current monitoring | Current monitoring provides extra security to monitor the tightening torque. This is a complement to the torque sensor in the tool. On: At final target torque, the rotor current is measured and converted to a torque value. If the calculated torque is within 10% of the measured torque, the tightening is considered to be OK. Off: Current monitoring is disabled and the tool torque is measured by the torque sensor. | |
True angle compensation | Certain tools can detect and measure the tool rotation during tightening. If the tool is rotated during tightening, the angle measurement may be corrupted. This may lead to a faulty tightening if the tool movement is too large. For variations within specified limits, the controller can compensate these rotations and make a correct tightening.  This is an additional Licensed Feature, available per Virtual Station. | Off |
Negative angle limit | Active if True angle compensation is set to ON Defines the maximum negative rotation of the tool. If the value is exceeded the tightening is terminated and an error is reported. This is expressed in a numeric angle value. | 30 degrees |
Positive angle limit | Active if True angle compensation is set to ON Defines the maximum positive rotation of the tool. If the value is exceeded the tightening is terminated and an error is reported. This is expressed in a numeric angle value. | 30 degrees |
Attachment tuning enabled | Attachment tuning gives the possibility to compensate for front attachments on the tool. The compensation can be made for each tightening program. An operator can hot swap attachments and then select a tightening program tuned for that specific attachment. Attachment tuning is available for all conventional strategies, excluding the STwrench. Attachment tuning requires some special steps that are described separately. | No |
Validation
During the configuration of tightening programs, the entered values are compared with the tool capability values to prevent parameters being outside of the selected limits. User defined maximum values are useful if many different tools are being used.
If Validate against tool values is set to Off, these values are ignored, and the validations are made according to the maximum tool capability.
If Validate against tool values is set to On, then It shall be possible to choose a tool to validate the Tightening program(s) against from all the connected tools. The tool to validate against is done per client, giving the operator the possibility to validate against different tools from different clients.
Parameter | Description | Default value |
|---|---|---|
Tool | Manual | |
Max Torque | The maximum limit used in the validation. Can be selected to any value but it is recommended to use the actual tool value. This is expressed in a numeric torque value. | |
Max speed | The maximum limit used in the validation. Can be selected to any value but it is recommended to use the actual tool value. This is expressed in a numeric rpm value. |
A controller may have several virtual stations including tools that have different capabilities. The User defined values can be selected per each tightening program.
History
Tightening program history stores the last ten user changes. Select any stored version in order to see the parameter details. Activate the selected version by clicking Replace. To print all stored parameter history details of the selected tightening program, select History > Report > Print.
Select the Print button to open a shortcut window that displays all the current tightening program configurations and the parameter values. This window can be sent to a printer.
To print a stored tightening program, select a program in History and select the Report tab.
Tightening program validation
The ToolsTalk 2 application automatically compares the entered parameters with the parameter rules and the optional tool capabilities. If the validation detects any errors then these are reported together with an error description.
Some parameters have a default value when a new program is created. It may happen that tightening rules are violated and that the Error Indicator appears.
The Error indicator symbol. 
The location of Error indicator points towards the faulty parameter. Let the pointer hover over the Error indicator, a pop-up field explains which rule is violated. In the case of an error, change the parameter. When the parameter is correct the Error indicator will disappear.
