PETpla.net Insider 01+02 / 2021

INSPECTION 24 PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 01+02/21 www.petpla.net PETplanet: What must users be prepared for? Are the new systems easy to integrate into existing pro- cesses? What is the technical and financial expenditure? Closure manufacturers as well as bottlers should work closely with the vision supplier to carefully review the particular closure designs and the quality requirements. In many cases, this process will be no different than it would be with a standard closure, with similar costs and installation requirements. However, more com- plex closure designs and/or customer requirements could indicate a need for additional development work to produce a satisfactory inspection solu- tion. www.pressco.com Sacmi Imola, Mr Stefano Severi, Sales Specialist Manager, Rigid Packaging Technologies BU PETplanet: Has your company already developed inspection systems for tethered caps? If so, what were the challenges during development and what are the new inspection param- eters? This subject actually covers two different situations: tethered caps with the cut made inside the mould and those on which the cut is made externally with a scoring machine such as a Sacmi SFM. If the cut is made inside the mould, it is large enough to be inspected with standard CVS systems. Sacmi has, for many years, been designing vision systems for the inspection of complex caps such as sport or hinge caps. Our globally renowned CVS360-3D applies 3D algorithms that can accurately ‘unroll’ the sidewall of a cap, whatever its shape, to create a 2D image, dynamically compensating for any deformation that may stem from the object’s spatial position, perspective or lens deformation. This builds a perfect image on which we can apply all our inspec- tion algorithms. Already successfully applied in hundreds of applications, this technique has also been used in the inspection of tethered caps. If, instead, the cut is made exter- nally with a scoring machine (e.g. an SFM), it is very thin (a few hun- dredths of a mm) and is very difficult to inspect with conventional vision systems. For this type of application, Sacmi recently presented a new machine called PFMC (Pull Force Measuring-CVS machine) which per- forms a mechanical breakage test of the tamper-evident band. This machine periodically takes a number of caps from production and per- forms mechanical breakage tests. It also incorporates a CVS system (called CVS-CUT); the latter is con- figured with an ultra-high-resolution camera that unrolls the cap sidewall and ensures the cut is controlled to perfection. Among the numerous checks performed by CVS-CUT, the most interesting for cap manufactur- ers are: cut quality (thickness and straightness), measurement of the bridge section, marks on the knurls, misaligned cut joint, etc. Of course, PFMC is also suitable for inspecting tethered caps with tamper-evident bands produced in the mould, pro- viding additional information on the breaking force related to each single cavity and more precise inspection of cuts and bridges. PETplanet: Can all tethered cap designs be inspected with just one inspection system? Yes, the flexibility of our Sacmi Computer Vision Software easily lets users create dedicated inspection recipes for different cap types. PETplanet: What must users be prepared for? Are the new sys- tems easy to integrate into existing processes? What levels of technical effort and financial expenditure are involved? As mentioned above, the approach to tethered cap inspection differs depending on the type of cut (in-mould or external). Sacmi can provide simple vision systems (CVS – Cap Vision Systems), inspection solutions that integrate vision and handling (CHS machines), or dedicated machines specifically designed to test the pull force needed to break the tamper-evi- dent band (PFMC machine). CVS and CHS can be configured or expanded according to customer requirements. While CHS machines are usually delivered with the CVS360-3D module pre-installed, which makes them ready for the inspection of tethered caps, standard CVS models are usually con- figured as per the customer’s require- ments, so it may be necessary to add the CVS360-3D module: this requires only a small investment and some additional space in the conveyor. Both solutions (CVS and CHS) fea- ture the same software platform (our well-known Sacmi Computer Vision Software), so operators do not have to learn something completely new, they just have to learn how to use the CVS360-3D. Moreover, a Wizard greatly simplifies this operation, which can be completed in just a few steps. The PFMC machine, instead, incor- porates a CVS-CUT Vision System. This means that workers who already know how to use the Sacmi CVS can immediately operate this new machine too; in addition, untrained workers can learn easily via the software platform’s user-friendly HMI. www.sacmi.com