PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2017

INSPECTION 19 PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 03/17 www.petpla.net New bottle thickness measurement Torus always strives to improve rather than just match competitive inspection systems, one such case- study is the development of the B300 bottle wall thickness gauge, (fig.1). The implementation of a new sensor technology with 4-axis motion control reduced R&R values by between 10-30%. Additionally, a solution to measure base thickness has solved a problem persistent in the industry for some time. New base designs and light-weighting techniques mean that measuring base thickness is more critical. The B300 gauge is a proven system operating in many plants worldwide. Speed versus information Plastic packaging pro- duction demands quick and reliable preform checks, whilst harmoniously working with the injection moulding process. All preform manufacturers face the following challenges; start- up, tooling changeovers, small batches, trials and continuous production; thus requiring a comprehensive and flexible inspection system. Vision-based preform inspection gauges have been used within the industry for many years, typically inspect- ing each preform produced using online systems. Unfor- tunately with high frequency inspection, important and detailed information regarding the preform performance is compromised. Torus has developed the comprehensive and modu- lar B305 preform inspection system (see fig. 2), compris- ing cavity ID recognition, neck, body and height meas- urement, body inspection, weight measurement, gate & seal inspection and polarised light. The advantages of the B305 preform inspection system include, but are not limited to, achieving true measure- ment through using patent-pending telecentric lenses and lights coupled with a traceable United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) master and verification artefacts; ‘start of thread’ is located to ensure meas- urements are taken at 0° and 90° for increased batch repeatability; and a variety of Cavity ID fonts can be reli- ably recognised using shape recog- nition, not limiting the customer to a single OCR font. (See fig. 3). Fig.2: Cavity ID station of the Torus B305 automatic preform inspection system IS STILL 50% TOO MUCH. 50% L SS P CK G NG The KHS solution for more sustainability: New avenues in packaging technology. We are continuously improving our packaging. By applying innovative technologies and swit- EJKPI QXGT VQ OQPQ OCVGTKCN RCEMCIKPI YG JCXG JCNXGF QWT RCEMKPI OCVGTKCNU QXGT VJG NCUV ƂXG [GCTU #PF YG CTG UQQP VQ VCMG CPQVJGT DKI UVGR HQTYCTF KP WUKPI PGY VJKPPGT V[RGU QH ƂNO www.khs.com interpack 2017 May 04 - 10 | Hall 13 | Booth A31