Improving Airbag Leak Testing Delivers Significant Cost Savings
Recently, an industry-leading airbag supplier, looking for performance improvements in their standard leak detectors to reduce the high level of maintenance required for continuous use, integrated a fully-automated INFICON leak detection system into its production line – and found tremendous success.

After running for 12 months without a problem or adjustment of any kind, the engineers confirmed that the INFICON leak detector could deliver huge cost savings. The INFICON account manager estimates that the INFICON units “may need the first adjustment after about 24,000 hours,” or, a few years after installation.

Finding the proof
Quality engineers at this global manufacturer carried out a comprehensive test procedure that included long-term accuracy of the INFICON leak detector every 10 seconds for 600,000 minutes (10,000 hours of run); they determined that there was no performance drift. After testing the accuracy and long-term stability of the LDS2010 and Modul1000 leak detectors from INFICON over 3,600,000 times, the test results came up with no appreciable difference.

For an air bag supplier, running 800,000 airbag generators, which are checked every year with only a single leak detector, uptime and high throughput are incredibly important. They found the new LDS2010 and Modul1000 leak detectors from INFICON are perfectly suited for such requirements. For example, the LDS leak detector is capable of running for more than 8,000-12,000 hours without any calibration or product maintenance – providing consistent cycle times and quality control throughout the year.

Meeting industry demands
Like the rest of the automotive industry, this supplier is under extreme pressure to continually improve productivity by evaluating more efficient management and production processes. The LDS2010 and Modul1000 helium leak detectors from INFICON provide the high uptime, extremely accurate reproducibility, and the resulting low cost of ownership to meet these demands.