In any application where the fastening of bolts and screws is critical—which includes aerospace, automotive, medical device, electronics, and packaging industries, to name a few—businesses depend on torque tools to deliver the precise amount of force necessary to hold a fastener in place indefinitely.
Whether you’re in manufacturing or maintenance, the most important attributes your torque wrench should have are quality and reliability. The best way to be sure the wrench you’re investing in will hold up on the line is to choose the right torque wrench technology.
Applying the right amount of torque to each fastener maximizes its holding potential. When too much torque is applied, it can strip or crimp threads, damage the fastener, or harm the assembly. Under-tightening can cause a screw or bolt to work free under stress, vibration, and fall out.
Torque Wrench Mechanisms
In essence, all torque wrenches do the same thing: They apply a radial force to a fastener to tighten or loosen it. However, the torque wrench must have some mechanism to limit the amount of torque its operator applies. The type of torque-limiting mechanism is what separates different torque wrench technologies.
Each class of wrench relies on different torque limitation methods, and other techniques are most effective for various applications. Selecting the appropriate wrench is essential as it will determine the type of technology and budget invested for the fastening solution.
Click Wrenches
The most common type of torque wrench in the world, and the simplest, is the click wrench. Click wrenches are basic tools. A click wrench typically deflects by 3° and emits an audible “click” sound when the predetermined torque amount is reached. The click mechanism is not 100 % process safe as the wrench is easily susceptible to torque failures and over-torque results. Often an operator misses the “click” sound nor feels the click movement because a click wrench does not physically prevent an operator from applying additional force. They unknowingly generate over-torque.
Cam-Over Wrenches
The cam-over wrench, also known as the poka-yoke wrench, is a game-changer. It features cam-over technology that prevents over-torque. The wrench uses an internal cam-over mechanism to reduce the risk of operator error by disengaging once torque is achieved. This error-proofing wrench removes the operator’s influence on the torque equation, delivering an accurate and repeatable fastening result. Upgrading to a cam-over wrench ensures that any operator can deliver the correct torque, time after time, without the risk of over-torque.
Download White Paper: “Click vs Cam-Over Wrench Technology”
Learn the benefits of upgrading from a click wrench to a cam-over torque wrench, which physically prevents its operator from applying too much torque from this white paper.
What You Will Learn:
- Why a click wrench cannot stop the operator from applying too much torque
- Ways to test and confirm a click wrench over tightened a fastener
- How cam-over technology prevents over-torque
- Understanding the quality and productivity benefits of implementing a preset cam-over wrench
- Making an error-proofing method seamless throughout the entire assembly process
- How to ensure correct torque is consistently applied.
Safeguarding against fastening failures requires you to deploy a torque wrench designed to error-proof the assembly process. Whether you’re in manufacturing or maintenance, the most important attributes your torque wrench should have are quality and reliability. The best way to be sure the wrench you’re investing in will hold up on the line is to choose the right torque wrench technology.
Mountz cam-over torque wrenches are U.S. manufactured and engineered with Silicon Valley innovation and excellence. To see our full range of products, shop our store. Contact us anytime to ask a question. To inquire about price, request a quote. If you’d like to see our equipment in person, schedule an appointment. To get the latest torque-related news, follow us on LinkedIn.
