Visual quality firewall

Catch the defect before the leak test does.

Image-backed quality control and traceability for cooling-equipment lines, before leak, pressure, and end-of-line testing.

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ARGUS inspection station
Pre-leak test
LIGHTROI-3 FIN HOLDROI-1 BRAZEROI-2 FITTING PASSSERIAL CX-48817-ASKU HX-3R-024STATION S4
Fin-pack deformation
Hold
Braze-region surface
Review
Fitting orientation
Pass
Image record tied to serial, SKU, station, and downstream result
Leak testQueued

Representative station view. Example data.

The operating reality ARGUS is built for

598kU.S. quality-control inspectors employed in 2024.BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook
63%Share of quality-control inspectors working in manufacturing.BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook
148.5kU.S. payroll jobs in HVAC and commercial refrigeration equipment manufacturing, Apr. 2026.BLS CES
69,900Projected U.S. quality-control inspector openings per year, 2024-2034, mostly replacement.BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook

Defects are most expensive when they are found downstream.

Makers already invest in leak, pressure, and functional testing. But many visible defects start earlier, at insertion, brazing, manifold joining, and assembly. Found downstream, they cost retest, diagnosis, rework, and delayed shipments.

COST TO RESOLVEARGUS INTERCEPTAssemblyBrazingLeak testPressureEOL testRework
Plant-floor reality

The defect was visible at the braze station

When a coil fails leak test, the cause is often a workmanship issue that was visible an hour earlier, several stations upstream.

Inspection bottleneck

Rework starts with a diagnosis problem

A failed unit reaches rework with no image of how it was built. Teams reconstruct what happened from memory and guesswork.

Traceability gap

Pass / fail without a record

Final test gives a verdict, not a history. When a defect mode trends, there is rarely an image trail back to station, shift, or SKU.

Station checksS4 ยท Pre-leak test
Capture
2 camera views
Lighting
Dome + bar
Signals
Serial + presence
  • Braze-region surface review
    ROI-1Review
  • Fitting seated and oriented
    ROI-2Pass
  • Fin-pack deformation
    ROI-3Hold
  • Port cap and plug presence
    ROI-4Pass
  • Label and SKU match
    ROI-5Pass
5 checks activeImage record enabled
Product

A visual quality firewall for critical stations.

ARGUS configures station-specific checks for visible process defects, then records the image evidence by serial, SKU, station, and downstream test result.

Fixed capture at the station
Cameras, lighting, and sensors capture repeatable views of the unit at the point where visible defects are created.
Every check is an image-backed record
Each inspection is tied to serial number, station, operator, SKU, timestamp, and the downstream test result.
Complements the testing you already trust
ARGUS sits before leak, pressure, and EOL testing. It does not replace hard tests or experienced inspectors.

Built first for coil and heat-exchanger lines.

Current focus: HVAC and refrigeration coil lines, from fin press and tube insertion through brazing, manifold joining, leak and pressure test, rework, and final QC.

ARGUS inspection station Existing line station
S1

Fin press

Pass-through
S2

Tube insertion

Inspected
S3

Tube expansion

Inspected
S4

Brazing

Inspected
S5

Header / manifold

Inspected
S6

Leak / pressure test

Pass-through
S7

Rework

Inspected
S8

Final QC

Verdict

One pass through the cell. A record that follows the unit.

Each unit passes through the cell once. ARGUS reads its identity, captures the build, runs the checks, and ties the result to what happens downstream.

Scan

Read serial, station, SKU, and operator as the unit enters the cell.

Capture

Cameras, lighting, and sensors record the build state at the station.

Inspect

Station checks review the configured visible defect families for that cell.

Flag

Surface a pass, a hold, or a defect region for the operator in line time.

Record

Write an image-backed record tied to serial, station, SKU, and timestamp.

Correlate

Link the record to the downstream leak, pressure, and EOL test result.

The defect families ARGUS is configured to catch.

Visible process and assembly defects that are cheap to fix at the station and expensive to find at final test.

Damaged or bent fins

Fin-pack deformation and crush before tube insertion.

Tube misalignment

Hairpin and return-bend position drift across the pack.

Missing fittings

Absent or mis-seated fittings ahead of joining.

Brazing workmanship

Visible joint coverage and fillet anomalies at the braze cell.

Wrong or unreadable labels

SKU and barcode mismatches before they leave the cell.

Missing caps, plugs, brackets

Open ports and absent hardware before pressurization.

Manifold orientation

Header and manifold rotation against the build spec.

Rework confirmation

Image-verify that a returned unit was actually corrected.

Traceability

Not just pass / fail. A record of what happened.

Inspection images become a searchable quality record for rework, audits, and root-cause analysis, showing which stations, SKUs, shifts, or defect modes drive late-stage failures.

serial, SKU, station...
StationShift ALast 24h
SerialStationOperatorTimeResult
CX-48817-AS4 BrazeA. Reyes09:41:12Hold
CX-48816-AS4 BrazeA. Reyes09:40:48Pass
CX-48815-BS5 ManifoldD. Okafor09:40:05Pass
CX-48814-AS2 InsertM. Boucher09:39:31Fail
CX-48813-AS4 BrazeA. Reyes09:38:57Pass
CX-48812-CS7 ReworkL. Tran09:38:20Pass
Defect modes28 days
  • Braze fillet12
  • Fin deformation7
  • Missing cap4
  • Label mismatch3
  • Tube offset2
Example record. Illustrative data.
Correlate byStationSKUFixtureShiftDefect modeDownstream result

Scope one measurable station evaluation.

ARGUS starts with a focused station, a visible defect family, and a baseline tied to rework, first-pass yield, or image traceability.

  1. 01One station
  2. 02One visible defect family
  3. 03One measurable baseline