What items does cartridge box acceptance cover?

Answer: Dimensions, appearance, function and packaging, with cavity and lid line under dimensions.

How is the sampling ratio set?

Answer: By lot size at inspection level II: 80 units for lots of 501 to 1200, 125 above that, drawn from three levels of the pallet.

Does a rejected lot need full screening?

Answer: By grade: critical defects mean full screening, major ones may be reworked and resubmitted.

How long are records kept?

Answer: Three years for inspection and disposition, five for gauge calibration, six months for retained samples.

What follows repeated rejections?

Answer: Three in a row trigger tightened inspection at double the sample size; five acceptances restore normal inspection. ---

Cartridge Box Acceptance Criteria: Items and Decisions

Quick answer: Criteria for a cartridge box must be judgeable, checkable and reviewable: three defect grades, 100 percent inspection on critical items, sampling by lot size, decisions against Ac and Re, and a 12-digit code that chains the records.

Grading Defects Before Anything Else
Inspection Items and Gauges
Sampling by Lot Size
Decision Rules and Failed Lots
Records, Marking and Traceability
FAQ

1. Grading Defects Before Anything Else

Acceptance sheets fail predictably: every line can be ticked, none judged. A 0.4 mm depression on a sealing face is critical; the same depression mid-base is minor. Without that split, the call goes to whoever has been on the line longest.

Grade	Consequence	Typical example	Action
Critical	Seal or latch failure	Depression on sealing face	Reject unit, hold lot
Major	Assembly blocked	Uneven lid line, colour shift	Rework unit
Minor	Slight cosmetic	Faint flow mark off the seal	Record and pass

Critical covers a broken seal, latch retention or structural strength. Major covers assembly and appearance consistency without touching function. Minor covers appearance alone; only the last two are sampled.

2. Inspection Items and Gauges

Items sit in four groups: dimensional, visual, functional, packaging. Dimensional covers cavity length, width, depth and lid line; visual covers colour shift, flow marks, sink and flash; functional covers latch effort and sealing.

Cartridge box: three cream cases in a bright hall, the large left case open with black foam inserts, one closed in front, one open at right

Gauges must match the tolerance. Cavity readings to 0.02 mm, the lid line with a 0.2 mm feeler every 100 mm, latch effort on a 200 N gauge read to 1 N. Visual work needs 1000 lux, 500 mm and ten seconds a unit, or the call drifts by shift.

Write cartridge box items so they can be judged. Flat and clean cannot be judged; no depression deeper than 0.2 mm on the sealing face can.

3. Sampling by Lot Size

Sampling follows lot size at general inspection level II, single normal sampling, and a cartridge box lot is no exception.

Lot size	Sample	Major Ac	Re	Minor Ac	Re
151 to 500	50	3	4	7	8
501 to 1200	80	5	6	10	11
1201 to 3200	125	7	8	14	15

Critical defects never enter this table: piece by piece, and one critical find sends the whole lot back.

Two gates sit outside sampling: a first article of three units runs the full list, then five units every two hours for latch effort and lid line, the line stopped on any shift.

Draw samples from top, middle and bottom of the pallet, or the units most likely damaged in transit stay excluded.

4. Decision Rules and Failed Lots

Count first, compare second. A cartridge box lot is accepted at or below Ac and rejected at or above Re, with major and minor counts kept apart and never offset.

Cartridge box: close-up of two cream latches, one flipped up to show a ribbed tongue, scuffed shell, blurred terminal seating behind

A rejected lot has three routes: screen, rework, return. Screened lots return under tightened sampling at double the sample size; reworked lots repeat the first article and carry the operation and operator in the record.

Three consecutive rejections move a supplier to tightened inspection; five consecutive acceptances bring it back. The rule is not punishment but an early view of drift.

5. Records, Marking and Traceability

Records are the other half. Without them a decision is one sentence; with them a lot traces back to machine, mould and shift two years later.

A 12-digit code works: four for date, four for mould and machine, four for shift and serial. Laser or in-mould on the non-sealing base, never a sticker, which lifts first in humid air.

Record	Carrier	Retention	Owner
First article	Paper and file	3 years	Inspector
Gauge calibration	Digital	5 years	Metrology
Retained samples, 2 per lot	Physical	6 months	Warehouse

Retained samples settle arguments: two units a lot, marked and kept six months, answer a complaint on the spot. Records must chain too, from one code up to material lot and down to shipment.

Conclusion

What matters is not how many rows a table carries but whether each row can be judged. Grades squeeze opinion out of the call, sampling and full inspection draw a hard line, decision rules give a route out of a failed lot, and records make one inspection reviewable. With all four, a cartridge box standard survives an audit.

This article discusses only the container (case body) side of specifications and design intent, and does not cover any handling, loading or use of the contents.