PETpla.net Insider 07+08 / 2019

INSPECTION 26 PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 07+08/19 www.petpla.net INSPECTION A review of inspection systems In this issue we focus on the manufacturers of inspection systems. We have asked them since when their company deals with inspection in the PET area (I), in which area of inspection they are active and where they see potential for further growth (II). We also asked them about their most exciting project and the challenges they face. (III) IMD Ltd., Matthias Hermle, CEO (I) “In 1998, we were approached by Obrist, a Swiss drinks closure man- ufacturer. I was immediately intrigued by this field, saw the potential and set out to develop the first industrial clo- sure testing system with colour cam- eras and a speed up to 1,500 cpm. In 2000, we had a pivotal meeting with one of the leading closure manu- facturer at a trade fair in Munich. That was the start of a business partnership, which is still very active today. And IMD has developed into a leading manufac- turer of testing systems for the closure inspection systems industry. All our equipment carries out a very complete set of controls, includ- ing the possibility to read the cavity number, measure dimensions and detect visual defects. But above all, our patented “grid inspection” carries out an outstanding Quality Control that other competitors cannot offer. (II) Sacmi have produced Vision Systems for Quality Control for over 30 years (the first unit was designed and sold in 1987!). Part of our produc- tion is directed to control quality in caps produced both with plastic or metal. We consider the quality control of PET preforms an important market still in growth. We will soon unveil a new PVS machine with outstanding tech- nologies.” (III) “ The PET preform is a com- plex object both to inspect and manip- ulate. The future is to design smart machines to ease the life of operators: fast changeover, easy interaction with the software, possibility to connect the equipment with the ERP and/or plant supervisor.” www.sacmi.com Sacmi Imola S.C. (I) “Sacmi sold its first PVS machine in 2005. This equipment was called PVS-1 and it was capable to inspect up to 30,000 preforms/hour for the following criteria: top seal, bottom and body. At this time we also intro- duced our patented “Grid inspection“ to identify defects usually visible with polarised light. The reason for which we decided to invest in PET preform inspection came from the consideration that we already controlled the plastic caps at 360° and each cap is then paired to a bottle, so for sure inspecting the pre- form would have become an industrial need. Moreover, other factors push up our decision: the increased production speed, the introduction of big moulds (144 cavities), the use of rPET, the weight reduction. All these factors would have increased the pos- sibility to create defects in big quantities.” “Today we count on a wide range of machines for quality control of PET preforms that spans from the QC Lab (PVS-2) to the off-line inspection (PVS-3) or in-line (PVS-5) with a very compact equipment that can be easily integrated with any new or existing injection moulding machine of any producer. Again driven by the market, we developed to a complete system provider starting by a cross conveyor throughout the cooling system, sorter and of course still the vision system controlled by one vision control center. Because others followed our way we see us as “trendsetter”, not only intro- ducing the first stainless steel system but also using colour cameras or high speed vision inspection. Still unique is, that we develop and assemble the whole system our- selves, all made in Switzerland. As every closure has “its bottle respectively its preform” it was obvious that we also developed a system for inspecting preforms. In 2007 we intro- duced our first preform testing system where the preform was hanging on an overhead vacuum conveyor. Realis- ing that this was not a “robust” way of doing it we followed with version 2 and 3. Concerning the sorting system, we collaborate with M.Tanner AG and did always rely on the roll sorter technol- ogy because we did not see rotational feeder as the appropriate technology to sort preform (spinning around parts like preforms…). As we see the market is also tending towards the “linear line” as well, we feel confirmed in our deci- sion made in the past.” (II) “The preform monitoring system Peco Lux we see as one of