Customer
We supply test benches manufacturers or distributors of taps, mechanical cartridges or thermostatic cartridges.
Tested product
Single taps, mixers, mechanical mixers, thermostatic mixers, timed taps, electronically controlled taps, sequential mixers, mechanical cartridges, thermostatic cartridges and other tap products
Thermostatic cartridges:
Thermostatic cartridges are components of fittings. They are used to automatically regulate the water temperature.
Objective
To design a test bench that can automatically test all types of taps and cartridges for compliance with standards.
The bench must be able to accommodate a variety of product geometries and adapt to our customers' hot and cold water supply systems.
Problematic issues
Our customers each had specific testing issues in their field:
For valve manufacturers:
- Performing RetD testing, and verifying compliance with standards.
For cartridge manufacturers:
- RetD testing and verifying that their customer's product (faucets), which will incorporate the cartridge, will comply with the standards.
For faucet distributors:
- Verify the product characteristics announced by the suppliers. Test products returned by customers to assess defects.
For testing laboratories:
- Verify compliance with standards.
In addition, each customer has different hot and cold water supply systems, so our bench must be able to adapt to these different architectures.
Solution and result
Design of a performance bench that can test several types of products (cartridges, mechanical or thermostatic valves, etc.).
LF Technologies has designed a modular performance bench that can be adapted to a multitude of products, whatever their geometry, and that can be integrated into the various hot and cold water supply systems of customers.
In particular, the bench incorporates an adjustable valve positioning and orientation system, and an arch that allows the motorised actuators to be mounted in a variety of directions to suit different product geometries.
The design of the bench is modular, incorporating many different options (modules). Thanks to this modular design, we can offer optimised equipment according to the type of valve and the standards tested.
These different modules also allow us to adapt to a multitude of hot and cold water circuits (closed or waste water circuits, pressurised or gravity feed, internal temperature control, etc.).
The control software allows manual or automated testing according to programmable test procedures. The bench is supplied with test procedures in accordance with the standards.
