Plastic film extruder required multiple systems to inspect and track defects
A US plastic film client with 19 US locations approached OneBoxVision with a challenge. The company was producing bags for powered milk. The goal was to inspect the film while being extruded on a blown film line and alert the operators in real time to carbon specks so that it can be corrected at source. The extruded plastic would then be shipped to a second site where the film would be used on an automated line producing bags. The client wanted us to check again and also allow the second plant to access the inspection data for the first process.
The equipment installed on Flexo and RotaGravure printing presses included 100% color inspection designed to work with stretching films on old presses, job control and matrix viewing cameras to enable high resolution display of register and ink lay down. The team at OneBoxVision used it’s own software solution PackFlow, , a set of print inspection algorithms optimized to automatically deal with stretch , metallic inks and clear films. The solution included commercial cameras line scan cameras and LED lights from a well know supplier in Germany, that is well supported globally. This approach enables converters deploy high performance solutions at a lower cost with reduced risk.
OneBoxVision used SurfaceFlow as the key technology enabler. It’s a complete quality package that can be deployed on plastic film lines to automatically detect:
- Gels
- Holes
- Carbon
- Contamination
- Wrinkles
- etc.
One of the challenges for this application is that the inspection system is placed after a rotary punch. The system must not only inspect for defects, but check that the perforations are made and in place, while still looking for holes that should not be there. OneBoxVision’s perforation analysis is a key add on for this requirement.
The second system on the right is a single camera system installed on the bag line. The challenge for this application is that the inspection system must automatically detect seams and tears but also do automated machine vision inspection on the rest of the bag or pouch.
OneBoxVision has developed a suite of tools that enable this, perforation analysisand seam analysis are key for this requirement. the presence and quality of the tears and seams. The application has to support the fact that there may be perforations in the film but random holes are not permitted. The adaptive film inspection and seam analysis combined are> designed specifically for this application.
To learn more access our white papers or for a free consultation, contact us now. OneBoxVision operates globally with solution partners in North America, Europe and Asia.