GlossaryKind of term: Manufacturing termBallooned drawing
What is a ballooned drawing?
A ballooned drawing is a copy of the drawing with a numbered balloon at every characteristic to be checked; each number becomes a line in the inspection report.
Numbered items include toleranced dimensions, geometric tolerances, roughness values, threads and notes such as ‘break all sharp edges’. For a first article inspection to AS9102 the numbers return on form 3, the characteristic accountability form. The original stays untouched as the customer's document. Some customers supply the ballooned drawing themselves.
How does a ballooned drawing work in practice?
What gets a balloon is decided by quality or manufacturing engineering, often to a customer procedure. General notes count: ‘all unspecified radii R0.5’ is a requirement someone has to check and sign off. The balloon count gives an early indication of the inspection load before a measuring program exists, though the time per balloon differs widely with the characteristic and the instrument. Ballooning takes time too, once per revision. After a drawing change, AS9102 allows a partial first article inspection of the changed or affected characteristics unless the customer asks for a full one; numbering that stays the same across revisions makes that comparison easier.
What is a ballooned drawing often confused with?
A ballooned drawing is not an assembly drawing with item numbers: item numbers point to lines in the bill of materials, balloons to characteristics you check. The circles look alike; the purpose does not.
Frequently asked questions
What gets a balloon on a drawing?
Every characteristic that will be checked: toleranced dimensions, geometric tolerances, roughness values, threads and notes. Dimensions under the general tolerance belong too under AS9102, and otherwise where the customer asks. A reference dimension in brackets usually gets none, unless the customer procedure requires it.
Can I put balloons on the customer's drawing?
On a copy, not on the original. The ballooned drawing is your working document behind the inspection report; the customer's drawing at its revision stays the document you deliver against, unless the customer issues a ballooned version itself.