CAPS & CLOSURES 23 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 03/23 www.petpla.net the individual needs and situation of each customer. Dr Gerd Fuhrmann, CEO of Intravis, comments on this: “With us, customers always receive a system developed and built specifically for their request. Of course, this is especially needed for projects with multi-part closures or even unusual dimensions of the closure. We rarely have any one project that is like the other, because every system and every order brings its challenges. Production line space is usually very limited. And sometimes special inspections have to be developed for a closure. With a standard solution, limits are quickly reached.” In addition, Dr Fuhrmann continues, the company has been investing in a large service network for years in order to supply customers with turnkey systems that are ready to run after installation. Tethered caps With the EU Directive 2019/904 Single Use Plastics (SUP), the need arose that caps are permanently connected to the bottle. As a result, this led to the development of an inspection solution for tethered caps. Even though these are similar to standard caps in many requirements, they do have some challenging elements, for example the CAMs located inside the closure. To avoid damaging them during micro-hole inspection, Intravis produced its patented, non-contact HV inspection. As the name indicates, this inspection no longer dips into the closure during inspection to find microholes in the head plate of the closure. The external shape and dimensional stability of tethered caps are further challenges that the inspection system must handle. Practice has shown that Intravis’ form-fitting, patented lateral star wheel separation copes well with external features, such as hinges. Moreover, the separation technique precisely handles the high sensitivity of increasingly thinner closures even at the highest production speeds, states the company. In addition, Intravis uses software that can cope with any orientation of rotationally asymmetric closures like tethered caps. Specifically, this involves equipping individual modules with a new core algorithm based on Deep Learning. Marius Pötting, product manager for closure inspection systems at Intravis, describes it this way: “The heart of our systems is the IntraVision, our self-developed software. It has been using Deep Learning algorithms for some time. As a result of our constant development efforts, we have succeeded in applying Deep Learning to the detection of anomalies.” Anomalies are any deviations from a pre-defined, optimal standard including deviations that are difficult for the customer to describe in advance. Whereas previously a large number of samples were needed for each type of defect to be found, the new logic changes the approach completely. The software is first trained based on a pool of good parts, and thus learns how the optimal closure appearance looks like. This pool of good parts is necessary to evaluate natural variations as “OK parts” on the one hand, but also to evaluate small, real defects as “not OK parts” on the other hand. The quality of what has been learned is then checked and optimised based on bad part samples. In the subsequent real world production process, everything that does not correspond to this trained optimum is sorted out. By means of the adjustment options, the operator still has the possibility to influence the sensitivity of the inspection and, thus, the ratio between efficiency and object quality. “The special feature of this software technology is its fast-learning capability. For example, if I teach the software with closures in different rotational positions, I do not need to align asymmetrical closures during inspection. And if I teach the system with other closure designs, it can also immediately inspect these as well,” says Marius Pötting, summarising the possibilities of the technology. Applied closures Closures are naturally intended to be applied to filled bottles – and thus in the wet area of a production line. To enable customers to use Intravis systems as well in this area, the company developed a washdown design for its CapWatcher FC system. Marius Pötting mentions, “The CapWatcher FC is an Intravis system developed exclusively for the wet area of the filling line behind the filler and capper. We have already been able to gain experience in the wet area in various projects over the past few years, which we have used and transferred to this stand-alone product.” Based on this experience, the CapWatcher FC – both the inspection unit itself and the related electrical cabinet – is completely splash-proofed according to the IP65 standard as well as designed in accordance with the bottlers’ hygienic measures. This makes cleaning the system easy and uncomplicated, even with aggressive methods and means. One important inspection in this area is the quality control of the application angle of the closure. With three side cameras, the CapWatcher FC uses index marks to inspect whether the closure is screwed down to its target position – or whether it is screwed down too far or not far enough. Marks on the closure and on the neck support ring that are barely perceptible to the end user are detected by the system. If these marks are within a tolerated range to each other, the system assumes that the closure has been completely and correctly applied – and the bottle is released for packaging. This new technology is used for the first time. Of particular interest to the production line operators are the comprehensive statistics that correlate the average application angle with the capping head. Thus, the operator can detect a malfunction of a capping head at short notice. www.intravis.com With the CapWatcher FC, there is now also a separate Intravis system available just for the wet area.
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