PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2017

INSPECTION 33 PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 03/17 www.petpla.net Closure inspection system IMDvista Twin with new conveying technology Flying closure for accurate inspection After more than 15 years of experience in inline closure testing systems, IMDs team came to a point where advancing was only possible, after questioning everything they had done very successfully in past years: how can a closure truly be 100% inspected without a conveying system hiding a part of it? After the inspection “on the fly” bad closures are blown downwards, under natural gravity, with a small and fast air valve. Robust cavity reading independent of the surface quality The challenge in cavity reading these days is no more the reading algorithm (OCR) nor the inspection speed. It is more the changing contrast. The more the moulding tool is used, the more sur- face variations around the cavity number interfere with the reading. Cavity reading becomes more and more challenging. Adding a backlight for robust contrast A simply adapted backlight offers a stable contrast independent of the surface quality for cavity reading. The backlight offers even more options for inline closure testing: colour change, colour distribution and changes in the brightness can be detected with maximum resolution. Now drifts can be detected and corrected before they affect the quality of the closures, thanks to the addition of backlighting. To fulfil an all embracing inspection system the proven pinhole detection with the reliable high tension technol- ogy is integrated into the Twin system. The system saves significant energy because there is no longer any need for a vacuum pump and the maintenance work is reduced as well because no filters have to be changed. The noise level may thus be reduced to a mini- mum. For a compact layout IMDvista redesigned its waterfall feeder (WFS) to include a bunker. www.imdvista.ch/en INSPECTION S P E C I A L Closure production, especially in the beverage industry, is one of the most automated and optimised production processes in the plastic industry. Vision inspection systems are state of the art and well established. Customers invest in a vision inspection system with five or even six cameras but they do not inspect the most visible aspects, namely the face of the closure. New ‘flying closure’ conveying technology Two belts are used for spacing the closures and bring them into a controlled and stable flying condition. Dimension change can be done with simple spindle adjustments, no read- justment of the spacer required. Belt change takes less than a minute; it is no longer a time relevant maintenance factor. IMDvista Twin “flying clo- sure”: there are no guides or conveyors hiding a part to be inspected. The inspection of the face from below is now integrated. Users, from operators to process engineers, are able to analyse and optimise the process with added backlight. Stabel contrast for reli- able cavity reading and colour measurement.